Page 30 of Prince of the Phantom Sky

“Brisella!” Bree’s parents also stood, yelling at her disrespect.

Barron simply beamed, his face transforming at Kora’s promise. His threads of power evaporated around Erick and Agatha, releasing them. Instead, they slithered, winding around Kora’s limbs, securing her to the chair.

His prize.

Bile rose within as Barron pocketed the talisman, but not before Kora noticed a subtle small glow sparkling from its core. Hope choked her as the familiar bolt of energy raced in her veins, pooling in her centre, followed by a continuous beastly purr, growing louder with each passing second.

Except that vibration still lingered. Coiling in the dense air that flamed the heated arguments spilling from the individuals stood at this table. Rashi and Otto continued to berate Bree, as she screamed for the talisman’s return. Erick pleaded with Kora, begging her to reconsider her decision, as Agatha reproached him on the wills that will be.

“Father!” Blake yelled, withdrawing his sword as the doors blasted open, flying into the corners of the room. Stone cracked, moonlight faded, dust filled the air. Everyone silenced as guards by the door collapsed, writhing on the ground choking, spittle foaming in their mouths.

Quick as a flash of lightning, Ivar sped to the fireplace, tearing the chained mask from his face, his braid falling down his back. Blake gasped as Ivar rolled, reaching up the dowsed chimney, revealing his black recurve bow and quiver.

Rashi screeched as Ivar nocked an arrow, and Otto grabbed her and Bree, racing for the rear doors. Arrows followed in their wake, soaring after their backs. One plunged into Otto’s shoulder, and Rashi howled as blood spurted over her sparkling gown.

“Traitor!” Rashi glowered at Ivar. “If my brother doesn’t have your head, then I will!”

Bree sobbed, glaring across the room at Kora as her father’s blood coated her hands.

“You will always be my enemy!” Bree’s shriek was war-worthy, tears smearing her golden makeup. Rashi and Bree dragged a groaning Otto through the servant’s door, crying for help, screaming at the top of their lungs. Those poor servants.

Barron bolted upright, his chair flying back with frightening force, splintering against the stone wall. Kraken-like tendrils leaked around him, filling the air as his black eyes alighted. His midnight hair fell across his shoulders, blending in with his magic, the shadowed crown atop his head dissipating. Kora wrenched within the chair as his cold magic permeated her skin, fusing to her own.

Kora cried out, flexing her hand as the water within her glass turned black. Her scar burned, from her temple to her neck, the metal collar searing her skin with frostbite. She immediately called upon her power, senseless panic propelling her actions.

But tar leaked from her fingertips, dripping down her legs. Her water beast was shrouded within, a blanketed haze smothering it, followed by a faint cackle wrapping around her spine.

Her magic was tainted.

Chaos erupted in the far end of the room. Pirates poured in, dressed in tattered clothing hanging from their strong frames. Kora had never been more grateful to see them. Ivar faded into the background, picking a clear path to Theron. Swords glinted in the candlelight, and Erick sprang to his feet, grabbing a fallen guard’s weapon, before guiding Agatha to the far doors.

“I’m not leaving!” Agatha yelled. “This is where I’m meant to be!”

“You need to leave! This is your only chance!” Erick shouted back; his brown eyes igniting with that familiar fire of survival.

“What are you doing to me!” Kora bawled, as all the water across the table turned black, and the tendrils wrapped around her seeped into her skin.

No, no, no!

Dread consumed her as her veins mimicked Blake’s, turning black across the back of her hands and looping around her wrists like shackles. It burned. It burned so bad. Acidic yet icy. Boiling and freezing every fibre.

“You were always meant to be with me,” Barron whispered against her ear.

“That’s where you’re wrong,” a voice snarled from the entrance. Light seared the back of Kora’s eyelids as an explosion of power shot through her body, connecting her mind to her endless, dark void.

“Hello, Kordelia.”

And deep in the fathomless black, was a burning white lifeline.

“Raiden,” Kora breathed.

13

Raiden

Fuck.

He almost felt whole again as he locked eyes with Kordelia. Raiden free-fell as swirling orbs of the ocean consumed him, as though his answer for existing had given him permission to breathe again. The air suddenly seemed much sweeter, the ground sturdier. All was right with the world again.