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The restlessness of the Lost Land is already too much to bear, and I’ve only been here for a few minutes.
At least, I think it’s been minutes.
Time is nonsensical and jumbled in my mind. Logically, I know I just arrived, but my thoughts are tired as if it’s been weeks or months.
What would it feel like to be here for years, centuries, ormillenniamarinating in the confusion?
Utter despair, I imagine.
I’ve been through some horrific events in my life, but I’ve never considered giving up. Even when the odds were stacked against me, I held onto hope.
But there is no hope in this universe. The void of it is all around me, and it’s like falling through a pitch-black pit with no bottom.
I can’t believe I’m even having this thought, but I feel a bit of sympathy for Ellister.
I know I shouldn’t. He was banished here because he committed atrocious acts along with his fellow dark fae. Stealing human children and trying to build their own powerful kingdom was not only against the law, but an act of treason. They deserved punishment.
However, allowing the dark fae to continue existing was a bit extreme and totally reckless of our ancestors. If the criminals couldn’t be rehabilitated, then they should’ve been put to death.
Simple. Merciful.
Most importantly, final.
Just because the dark fae weren’t supposed to be able to escape from the Lost Land doesn’t mean they couldn’t.
They did, and their recent reemergence is what humans would call aplot twist.
Now they’re more dangerous than they were when they were sentenced. For the past five hundred thousand years, they’ve been trapped in a place that made them crueler than they were before, and they’re really pissed off.
Evil + angry = a bad combination.
They’re thirsty for vengeance, and they’ve been ruthless in their efforts to regain access to another world.
My world, Valora.
Hence, how Queen Ro ended up here.
When Ellister abducted her, I suppose he was following his own advice. Lie, scheme, steal—do anything it takes to escape. He even took his efforts a step further and kidnapped other royal women, too. Princess Zaylee, Princess Danyetta, and Lady Isla became additional collateral damage in this war because Ellister knew bringing females to a world occupied only by men meant he had an extremely valuable commodity to barter with. He was trying to buy his freedom from his master, Vaeront, The Overlord of the West.
But Ellister is a fool. There was no chance he’d ever be released from his servitude because his power is too rare.
He’s the one Gatekeeper in history. Never before have I heard of someone who can travel to other universes. Ellister’s ability to form a vortex and cross over to different planes is unprecedented.
Fuck, it’s the only reason I haven’t killed him.
As much as I’d love to see him dead, it’s not an option because I’d be stuck here, and so would Queen Ro.
Rubbing my temple, I try to push away my murderous thoughts and focus on my mission instead.
I must rescue the former Day Realm queen from the clutches of Armand, The Overlord of the East.
“Really, though,” Ellister intones seriously, “the confusion you feel should get better once you’re in Armand’s territory.”
He motions ahead to the crumbling stone wall lining the castle grounds.
Beyond it, there’s a shell of a palace that resembles the one in the Day Realm, only it’s dark and partially destroyed in some places near the top. And like everywhere else in the Lost Land, it’s backward, a mirror image of the world I know.
“I’ll feel better?” I ask, wondering if he’s being facetious again.
