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Onyx
The woodsaround us are silent. Ominous. Even the shadow beasts who surround us are quiet. This isn't a win for them. It's a surrender. Almost like a man whose crawled through the desert for days, only to collapse, unable to go further. These beasts, these men, they can't go further. I understand. They don't have a mate to soothe the horrors of battle from their hearts. They've already lost anyone and everyone they've ever loved. Either they've had to kill them in battle, or the people they loved are slaves to the shadow king. Either way, they hit their limit.
It doesn't make me less angry at their betrayal, even though I sympathize with them. All I can be grateful for is that Ann is safe, that she escaped with Rayne, who will die to protect her. If I have to leave this world for the shadow realm, that’s all that matters. That until the Void consumes this world, maybe Ann will have some happiness with Rayne. When the darkness sweeps these lands, all the animals and plants will die, but Ann and Rayne, I imagine, will survive as long as possible.
I only wish I could give her more.
We’re bound once more, being dragged through the forest, taken to the shadow realm and this time, we aren’t breaking free. I look over at Phantom. He’s beaten and bloody. He took the worst of the onslaught that happened after our enemy shadow beasts won. His head hangs as if it’s too heavy for him to lift, but it could be a ploy. At least I hope it's a trick to make them think they have him. It’s why he’s making them hold him under the arms and why he drags his toes in the dirt. Twice they’ve stumbled and twice he’s groaned when they dropped him, not moving until they picked him up.
I just sincerely hope that he's faking it. Or maybe I don't. Maybe he should be out of it when we finally become his father's slaves.
Slade bumps my shoulder.
I look at the tired warrior with his dark hair and dark eyes. He signs, "Sorry." One of the few words he knows.
I'm not sure what to say. I can't even sign back with my hands bound with rope, but I don't accept his sorry, nor can I bring it in me to be nasty to him, so I just look away from him.
In the distance, I swear there's a disturbance. Dusk glances in that direction, but when our eyes meet, he just shakes his head. Some warriors are trying to find Ann still, worried the king won't be happy with just the three of us, even though she's our mate now. But I have a feeling that the disturbance wasn't one of the warriors, but Ann instead. And we don't want to give away her location.
She needs to stay gone. And if Rayne is half the man he thinks he is, he needs to make sure she sees the logic in our decision, even if she doesn't like it.
The last thing she needs is to see what’s going to happen once we’re back in the shadow realm. How their father will force us to shift. How he’ll control us once we do. How we’ll cease to be who we are, even though we’ll always be inside the beast, we’ll always know what we’ve lost, who we are. Until we’re crazy and only he can control what we become.
Dusk leans in a little closer so I can read his lips. "You okay?"
I nod.
He gives a small smile and mouths, "Who would have thought this was the way things would end?"
I did.I hoped it wouldn't end this way, and I didn't expect to be betrayed, but it seemed we were always going to lose against the shadow king.
We're drawing closer to the Void. I know it without seeing the Void yet. The darkness is closer here, closing in with every step, and the air is thicker though the trees are sparser here. Clouds swirl above, dark and black, and lightning splits the clouds even though the rest of the sky is calm and placid. It's not just a sign that we're close, but that the shadow king is closer to expanding his hold over this world. The Void hasn't reached this place yet, but I can feel the energy here. It's different. Darker and more dangerous.
I don’t have to ask where the sliver is that leads to the shadow world, the little opening between our world and earth. I know. It's in the Void. The center of the black, looming cloud that we've named the Void. That we fear. That's an expansion of the king's world.
I only wish I could say something now, could hear my own voice, could hear the sound of the thunder and my impending doom. It’s a stupid thought, but I can’t seem to escape it.
And I’m probably pathetic for missing it at a time like this, at a time when I should be worried about breaking free or dying. But right now, with the clouds swirling and the thunder rolling, thunder I can feel rumbling through the ground not hear on the air, all I can think of is that I’ll never hear myself again. I’ll never hear the sounds of battle as I fight to save… everyone on Earth. I’ll never hear the hiss of a fire, the flapping of leaves in a strong wind, the sound of Ann’s passion as I take her, my name as a whisper on her lips, as a cry. It's just another thing this terrible journey has taken from me.
I glance at Dusk, at Phantom. In beast form, we’ll suffer the same silence, privy only to the king’s orders. The parts of us not useful to the king will die off. And there’s not a fucking thing we can do about it, nothing we can do to save ourselves. The shadow king will kill the very essence that makes us who we are. He needs us to be moldable, amenable to his commands, unlikely, or more unwilling, to fight him. It’s what the shadow king is counting on. It’s how he breaks the wills of his people. Even though will doesn’t matter when we’re under his control. And he controls us all.
Or will.Soon.
Foreboding is more than a feeling. It’s an actual state of being. Going through the Void and going back to our shadow world will destroy us. And there’s no coming back once we’re there.
Fate really is unkind. I finally found my mate. We all did. We found her only to have to give her up. To make the decision ourselves. Even though it’s to save her, part of my soul is missing now. And it’s more painful that I could’ve ever imagined. More crushing. I don’t know that I can take the absolute destruction, but right now, I don’t have a choice. We made our stand. Fought our fight. And lost.
The Void pulls me closer. I can feel its power now in a way I was only barely aware of before. Now it calls to me, demands I move. It’s the beast responding to the shadow king’s command. His power is deeper, bigger, stronger than ever before. It's frightening, sending a chill down my spine. It's almost a whisper of warning, like a snake's rattle before it strikes. Only, it's not a sound. It's a feeling deep in my soul.
Suddenly, we come to the clearing. In it we can see this side of the Void. A giant, swirling, looming black cloud. Only, unlike before, dark clouds, whispering of a storm, have spread all around it. A warning of the space that will soon be swallowed by our world. Never have I feared the Void more. Never have I had such a soul-deep sense that my fate is sealed.
I would panic if that was my way, but I’m a tower of strength, of courage. I’m the epitome of a man facing his destiny. And it’s devastating.
Looking closer does nothing to calm me. But the choice is out of our hands. No one would choose this. Except the dumbasses who traded us for their “freedom.” They’d damned well chosen this, even if they didn’t know.
They force us forward, even though I feel like my legs are made of concrete. It's not just us slowing our procession though; our own captors are slowing. Moving toward the Void like men on a march toward death. But even though we move slowly, we're continually moving forward until we're standing just in front of it. Dusk says something to the men, something about this being our last chance, but I can read their answer in their faces. There's nothing any of us could say to change their minds, even if they're afraid too.
Slade's gaze meets mine, and then he forces me into the Void while Flame shoves Phantom and then Dusk. The air crackles with energy around us and then everything goes dark. In seconds, we'll be back in the shadow king's world. Back where he can control us.
