Page 36 of The Ruins of the Heartless Fae

A gong interrupted him, reverberating against the castle walls.

Before the sound ended, the room shook and spun, and everyone lurched forward as the floor disappeared beneath their feet. Kolfinna stifled a scream as everything washed away into a whirl of black. Her stomach churned and her body felt like it was being ripped apart. A splitting headache threatened to knock her unconscious.

And then, everything became quiet for a second before she crashed to the floor. Her back slammed into hardwood flooring and a shock of icy water splashed over her body.Kolfinna’s body swayed one way and then another, and she finally managed to peel her eyes open. The world still spun and her stomach twisted with the urge to vomit. A fishy, briny smell pervaded the air, followed by the stench of rotting meat.

The room came into view again. But this time, it wasn’t a room. Kolfinna looked around herself violently, her heart sinking. What was going on?

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The other RoyalGuards and soldiers also lay on the floor, groaning and moaning and showing the same shock she felt. Thunder crackled in the dark bluish sky and a blustering gust of wind slapped cold rain water against Kolfinna’s skin. She tried to stand, but she was thrown aside as everything rocked from side to side. Lightning dragged squiggle lines over the darkening sky. Ripped sails barely hanging on their masts quivered like streams of ribbons. Kolfinna tried to right herself again but fell on her knees, water sloshing on the deck and soaking her in frozen salty water.

She was … on a ship? Where was the castle?

“What’s happening? Where are we?” someone screamed above the wailing of the wind and rain.

Water slapped down on Kolfinna, hard. She struggled to her feet and steadied one hand on the foremast for support, and that’s when she noticed them. Dozens of half-dead monsters with rotting hands pulled their skeletal bodies over the railings of the ship. Water slopped over their bodies. Skin and rotting flesh hung to their bodies, and white bones poked through their ragged clothes. Patches of hair clung to their skulls. They held sharp swords and screamed a battle cry when they jumped onto the deck.

One of the half-dead monsters ran to Kolfinna. She raised her hands to force the stones in her vicinity to do her bidding, but nothing happened. She tried to feel deep inside herself for her mana, for a life force, foranything. But she felt empty, as if her magic had been cored out of her being. And in that minuscule second, the monster lunged at her.

Kolfinna ducked and stumbled backward, tripping on her own feet and planting on the floor. Salt water entered her mouth and she sputtered, her eyes tearing. A wave crashed against the ship and sent a flood of water to wash over her. She coughed, water clogging her throat, as she tried to pull herself back to her feet.

More and more monsters boarded the ship. Screams filled the air, mingling with the clapping thunder and pelting rain. Royal Guards were falling to the floor, crying and screaming as the monsters plunged their swords into their chests or lopped their heads off. All the blood drained from Kolfinna’s face.

What in the world was happening?

These weren’t magic beasts. Magic beasts were simply animals with magic. This? This was straight out of a nightmare.

Another skeletal creature pounced at her, sword swinging at her head. She rolled over and away from the creature before grabbing the foremast and pulling herself upright. Her hands trembled and wet tendrils of her hair stuck to the sides of her face.Breathe, breathe. Her heart raced as the skeletal creatures zoomed in on her. Three surrounded her in an instant. Their mouths creaked open in sinister smiles.

The closest one swung its sword at her, and she jumped away, but another one was in front of her in a second. It gripped her shoulder tightly, its pointy skeletal bones piercing her flesh. Pain bit into her shoulder as the monster raised its sword to slice her head off. Kolfinna pulled her fist and punched the skeletal creature in the face—once, twice, and three times. Half its skull broke beneath her fist and it stumbled back, stunned. In that split second, Kolfinna tackled it to the floor and yanked the sword out of its hand. She had never touched a sword before, much less used one, but she didn’t need to be taught a lesson on how to chop something up. She swung at its head. Bones and flesh crunched beneath the corroded steel. Her breathing was heavy and she braced herself for the other two creatures closing in on her.The smell of rotting fish and flesh intensified when they drew closer.

The first one jumped at her and struck her abdomen with its sword. Kolfinna swerved to the right, but the tip of the sword nicked her stomach. The ship tipped to the side and she flung with the motion. She threw her hands in front of her to lessen the fall, but she still slammed into the slippery flooring painfully. Salt water splashed over her face and stung her cuts. She glanced over her shoulder to find the monsters had also fallen and were rising up. She pushed herself to her feet just as the monster swung at her, aiming for her neck. She reeled back with the sway of the ship and instead of the sword burrowing into her neck, the blade slashed her arm. She bit back a scream and swung her sword wildly while she steadied herself once again.

Kolfinna stabbed her blade into the fleshy part of the monster’s chest, but it did nothing to the creature, who only tilted its head and instead brought its sword down on her. She lurched back just in time, but the monster’s blade slammed into her shoulder. Pain exploded in her shoulder and she chewed her inner cheek to keep from screaming. Great. She was injured and she lost her sword—it was still stuck in the creature.

Her breathing hitched, and her heart raced faster. Blood ran down her arm freely and her legs shook as she tried to stumble away from them. She blinked rapidly against the rain. The two creatures stepped closer to her, their skeletal mouths curved into grins. One of their eyeballs dangled out of its socket by a cord, while the other one was missing a jaw. This was it, she would die, wouldn’t she?Against these ghastly beings.

Just then, Blár came out of nowhere and kicked one of the skeletal creatures. It flew into its partner and they fell to the floor before Blár smashed their skulls with his booted feet, brain matter and bits of skull smearing the floorboards.

“What the hell is going on, fae?” he shouted above the storm.Thunder boomed above them and another wave of brackish water splashed over the deck.

“I-I don’t know!”Kolfinna cried.

More monsters boarded the ship, their eyes glowing as they screamed for blood. Kolfinna’s heart sank as a realization dawned on her: no one was using their magic. Thyra was tackled by three skeletal creatures, screaming as the monsters bit into her flesh and stabbed her repeatedly with their swords. Kolfinna’s stomach twisted and she covered her mouth with her hands. Thyra was dead.

Kolfinna turned just in time to see another Royal Guard thrown off board. And then another. One of the military men tripped over the body of his ally and was stabbed to death by two creatures.

Kolfinna couldn’t contain the contents of her stomach and retched on the watery floor.

“Calm down!” Blár grabbed her shoulder and shook her. She bit back a scream, tears forming in her eyes and pain shooting through her injured shoulder and arm. Blár released her, scanning their surroundings. “Get a grip! There’s no way I’m dying here.”

Another monster ran to them, but Blár ducked, tackled it to the floor, and pummeled it with his fist. Its skull cracked into multiple pieces, chunks of flesh painting the wet floor before being washed away. Kolfinna’s watched in muted horror. Blár was strong even without his powers.

“Why is magic not working?” Blár shouted at her, shaking pieces of the monster’s skull off his knuckles.

“I don’t know!”

A skeletal creature catapulted on her and she slammed onto the floor with a scream. The monster’s teeth tore into her injured arm and she screamed louder as her forearm throbbed painfully. She writhed beneath the monster, its rancid odor making her eyes water. Even when she punched it with her free hand repeatedly, it wouldn’t release her. Finally, Blár ripped the creature off her and kicked it. It skidded into another monster, where it twitched but didn’t get back up.

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