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And I realize that the men in human form are shocked by this. Shocked more than I imagined they would be.
Flame stands taller once more, staring around himself at the beasts. His mouth is wide, his jaw slack. This is a man surprised by what he sees. As his gaze runs over them, it's obvious he’s stunned by the beasts in front of him. It’s as if he’s seen his fate and wants to turn back. He’s going to be a slave and it’s just dawned on him that it’s his own fault.
The faces of the men who came with him are mirrors of his own. Horrified. Intense.
"What's... what's wrong with them?" Flame finally manages. I think he knew they were serving the king. But the difference between the way the beasts behaved in our world verses this shadow world is night and day. Where before they seemed like soldiers, now they seem like puppets.
I wonder if that was why these men were so quick to the throw away their freedom. They didn't truly understand what that meant.
"There's nothing wrong with them. They're simply serving their purpose and serving their king. That's what all of you want too, right?" His words are slick, filled with cruelty. He knows damn well that the men are horrified by what they're seeing, and he's enjoying every second of it.
"None of us want this," Dusk says, drawing himself up taller, even though his hands are bound. His expression says, at least, that he hasn't given up. "In striving for power above all else, you've destroyed our people and our world. You're no king to me."
"Or to me," Phantom murmurs, then he coughs so hard I think he must be coughing up blood.
Onyx stands tall and silent, not that he can say much with his hands bound, but even from where I stand, I can feel his hatred of the king. His desire to rip the man to pieces. The only time he seems to waver from his hatred is when he glances at Phantom. And I know what he's thinking. The same thing I'm thinking.Is Phantom really so severely injured? Or is this part of some plan?
I pray it's a plan. The odds are already stacked against us. Without Phantom, I have no idea how we'll get out of here. How we'll have any chance at escape.
The shadow king steps forward. The ugliness inside of him has manifested in his features. But he was beautiful once. Like his sons. But not today.
He looks at his sons, at Onyx, and takes another step closer as one of his men delivers a black box. The king holds the box to his chest but doesn’t move to open it. “It’s time you bend a knee and shift.” There's no mockery in his voice, just a coldness that runs down my spine.
Onyx shakes his head, Dusk glares, but Phantom is the one who speaks. “No.”
The king sighs through a smile and shakes his head. It’s as if he might actually be enjoying this. "And here I thought we could have a nice family reunion." Then, he looks at the other men. "Someone is missing."
Flame goes pale. "The girl ran away. We couldn't find her."
The king's gaze narrows into slits.
Another man says, "She was mated to your sons anyway, so she wasn't needed."
The king gestures to the man, and a minute later a rot troll tears his head right off his body. The troll throws the head toward the trees, which sends the monkeys screeching even louder, and the shadow beast’s headless body hits the floor.
If the men were tense before, the tension is strong enough to cut with a knife now.
"I decide whether something is needed or not," the king says slowly, then smiles, a creepy smile. "Now, my men, shift into your beast forms. Your battle is over. You've won the war. You can relax. You can let me take control. There's nothing for you to worry about any longer."
"Don't listen to him!" Dusk shouts. "Look around you. Look what waits for you."
Flame turns away from the king and looks my men in the eyes. "I'm sorry."
And then he shifts. It happens over the course of a few seconds. Where once there was a man, now there's a massive creature, like a wolf, but it's pure black, and its fur seems to be made of smoke rather than fur. When he opens his eyes, they glow red, and he moves in a robotic way, joining the other wolves that surround the men.
One by one, the shadow beasts shift until there's no one left in the center. No one but my three men.
Terror throbs through my heart and I wish we could go back. I wish we’d left the forest instead of going back to the cave. But wishing won’t do me any good now. I have to save them because without them, my soul is incomplete.
My heart races.Please let me be able to use the light. Please let me use my powers to save my men.And then, I whisper, "Please give me the power to use the light within me."
But I feel nothing. Nothing at all.
Was Rayne wrong?I close my eyes, even though the sound of the shadow beasts howling shakes the air.Please.
18
Phantom
