AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Not even when father forced me to come here.
Anger eats away at me. I wish I was strong like Corvan. I’m supposed to be a half-dryad, aren’t I?
If there was ever a time for my powers to manifest, it would be now.
A powerful seal requires powerful magic to break.
“Move,” one of the guards grunts, roughly shoving me forward. I stumble and fall onto the hard pavement. Pain shoots through my knees. I grit my teeth and refuse to cry out. I don’t want to give them the satisfaction.
“Get up.” Kinnivar stands over me. He reaches down and yanks me up by my collar, choking me. I hold my breath and try not to gag. I don’t want them to see my weakness.
Filled with fury but unable to do anything, I trudge forward, my boots crunching the snow. It’s a full moon, and the moonlight is unnaturally bright tonight.
I risk stealing a glance around. We’re just outside the perimeter of the castle. Thick stone walls loom on one side. On the other side is the edge of the forest, dark and brooding.
The trees stand perfectly still, their stately boughs laden with silent snow. Between them is the darkness; pitch-black and deeper than than infinity.
I glance at it. I can’t help it.
The forest beckons to me.
Come.
I thought I was imagining things before, when I sensed it had a presence.
Now, under the silvery moonlight, it feels alive.
The forest is ancient and immense, but it isn’t sinister.
In the face of all this awfulness, it’s strangely comforting. The trees can’t hurt me. They can’t steal my will or my fate.
I realize what they’re pushing me toward. A dark carriage is parked at the edge of the treeline. The windows are opaque, blacked-out with some sort of dark film. The vehicle is simple and unadorned, the cabin large enough to fit a party of four, nothing more.
It looks sinister.
Hitched to it are a pair of horses. One is grey, the other piebald.
Unlike the horses in the stables, whose terrified whinnies carry through the night, these horses are completely silent. They’re still, too, not making a sound. Not even scuffing their hooves or snorting.
They’re strange; unnatural.
Something’s wrong.
Terriblywrong.
I steel myself for pain and risk a glance over my shoulder, meeting Kinnivar’s eyes, glaring at him with all the venom I can muster.
A chill enters my heart.
The captain’s eyes glow.
The unearthly green hue fills me with dread. There’s no warmth in those eyes.
Does Kinnivar have magic too? He isn’t a vampire, though, so what is he?
“Move,” he hisses.
The guards are behind him, blocking any possible escape route. And even if I were to try and run, my arms are bound at my back. I’d be slowed down; unbalanced.
