AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Thankfully I had escaped being crowned the new king of El Dorado, even if it was only by a hair's breadth. Otherwise, what I was about to do would be frowned on, to put it mildly. Some people might even consider it tantamount to a war crime. Still, it was this or eventually be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the cultists, especially considering my battle brothers wouldn’t use their magic since it was forbidden.
I was the only one who could do this, and it was the only thing I could think of that could save us. The problem was me. After everything that had happened between the trials and being poisoned, I wasn’t exactly in top form, but if I didn’t try, I wasn’t sure we’d make it, and that might mean that Tessa wouldn’t make it, which wasn’t a result I was willing to accept.
My magic bubbled up inside me like a volcano as I called it forth. Tessa was gone, and I was glad for it in that moment. I wasn't sure she'd ever look at me the same if she saw what I was about to do.
When the flames in my heart were as hot as I could make them, and I felt like I might be consumed by them if I didn’t let them out, I pushed them forward. A wave of fire left me, channeled by my hands as it launched forward.
The walls of the walkway that had been channeling the cultists toward us acted as a funnel, and the ones that were right in front of us just turned to ash while the others further back screamed bloody murder as my fire consumed them.
As our enemies disappeared in front of us, the four of us began moving forward, with me leading the way. Each step was cushioned by death. Ash, bits of bone, metal that hadn’t quite melted.
It was enough to make me sick, but I kept pushing, fighting to get as much of my magic out there as I could, to not let there be enough of them left to overwhelm us.
The only thing I could do was channel all my emotions into them to keep them going long enough. Every ounce of frustration at being unable to be with Tessa, at what had happened to her, and how we’d all been treated since we came back. Everything that was on her shoulders was bullshit. She was my mate, and instead of being celebrated for finding her, I was questioned, and she was looked at with disgust because she wasn’t El Doradian.
That didn’t even touch the pain she’d endured through everything or how many times she’d almost died or had, in fact, died and been revived through sheer luck.
All of it poured into my fire as we kept marching forward.
When we got to the end of the walkway, where it opened up, I felt the guys fan out to my sides before something stuck in my chest. My flames faltered, and I looked down to see the hilt of a blade protruding from me.
I knew better than to pull it out, but it also made me feel like I couldn’t get any air in my lungs. Not being able to breathe made my flames die out, and I saw that there were still more enemies in front of us.
When another blade lodged itself in my shoulder, I went down. It was almost like I was in slow motion as I fell and heard my battle brothers’ war cries as they launched forward. I couldn’t die. If I died, it was extremely likely that Tessa would as well, but I couldn’t move either.
Darkness tinged the edge of my vision before it swallowed me completely, and the last thought I had was that I’d give anything to make sure Tessa survived and didn’t feel the same pain I was going through at that moment.
2
Tessa
I fought and clawed as hard as I could to get Kai to put me down, but as the portal closed around us, the scent of the forest filled my nose, all loamy soil and woods. It was already too late. The last thing I saw was Griff looking over his shoulder one last time, and my heart may as well have been wrenched from my chest.
I was being pulled in different directions all at once, like all five of them had some kind of hold over me, and with Kai taking me, only two parts of me were going to Agartha. The rest of me was staying in El Dorado.
When the portal cleared and I felt Kai step on solid ground. I expected something. Some kind of building or structure, anything really, other than just trees. Which was exactly where I found myself. I knew from the few things I had heard Kai say about his realm and from what the others had mentioned briefly the Agarthan people were the primary creators and farmers. They were the ones that connected the four realms and eventually connected them to my own, so I had expected the portal to drop ussomewhere. A tree house, maybe, or a barn. But there was nothing around, just stones and trees.
As I took my first clear breath, the earthy scent of the forest floor filled me, and as much as I hated to admit it, it put me a little more at ease. Except for the fact that it was just the two of us standing there.
When Kai finally sat me down, I couldn't help but punch him. My emotions working their way out of me through violence rather than words, which was something I'd noticed had become more frequent the longer I'd been with the guys. I knew they could take whatever I dished out, so I didn't feel too bad.
My rage in that moment was something I'd never felt before. It rushed through my veins, making me feel like I could conquer the world. As I pushed Kai and screamed unintelligible words at him, he just stood there and took it.
"Why the hell did you take me away from them? I told you I wanted to stay! I told you that none of us left without all of us leaving!" I cried out.
Kai's voice was steady and full of sorrow as he replied, "They were going to be overwhelmed if they kept trying to protect you. The portal room could only handle so much before they were swamped."
Instead of being comforting, his words were a slap in the face. "So you're saying we just left them there to die?" I demanded, the heat of my rage dimming to something colder, harder. "You think that the cultists will stop once I'm out of the room? They hate me and everything I stand for, and they hate you by association. Just like they hate the others. With me gone, that's going to make them fight the others even harder since that's all they have left to take down."
"You can hate me all you want, Tessa, but I had to keep you safe. They wanted me to keep you safe. I was doing what was best for everybody, whether you like it or not." His voice was cold, and I knew he was just as scared that we had left them to die as I was. "Believe it or not, nothing about this situation makes me happy. I wish we could have all arrived at Agartha together, but we couldn't. It was either your life or them risking theirs. And if we had stayed, we would all have given our lives protecting you."
"Did you miss the fact that Griff and I are mates? If he dies, I die. Did that not get through your skull somehow?" I was a millisecond away from punching him again.
"Lover's quarrel?" A man's voice sounded off to the side, and I turned, practically bearing non-existent fangs at him as I readied myself for the next attack. "Forgive me. I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Timmon. The leader of the people of Agartha."
I glanced over at Kai, looking for any indication of how I should react to this man, but he gave me nothing standing as still as a statue. After another moment, he seemed to shake himself out of his stupor. "Leader Timmon, I'm sorry for our abrupt arrival. The One Realm cult attacked us, forcing us to arrive in Agartha faster than we had initially planned. That's why I'm here with Tessa by myself." His voice was formal, and his tone clipped, as though every word he said to this man was against his will.
Leader Timmon sighed heavily. "El Dorado is as tumultuous as ever I see," Timmon said.
