Page 59 of King

“I don’t need you anymore,” she taunts it.

With a flick of her wrist, she sends a surge of magic into the gash at her feet. The ground moans and shudders. The queen takes a step back as the edges of the crack crumble, leaving a narrow canyon in its place.

Without turning to face us, the queen sends a frigid gust of wind, snuffing out my flames and paralyzing us in an icy grip. I strain to break free, to fry it away with my hands, but I can’t move at all. Vaegon growls as he struggles against it, too. But we’re frozen, bound by a hidden layer of ice.

She chuckles and takes a sultry step toward us. My magic flares in response, illuminating my arms and hands as it presses against her trap. The icy bindings begin to heat up, and I can sense them weakening. I can feel the heat at my side as Vaegon does the same.

The queen steps over cracks and severed vines as we push back against her magic. But we aren’t quick enough. She grabs our faces and smiles up at us like we’re treasures. There’s dirt stuck between her teeth. Her light hair is a tangled mess, woven with black and grey debris. She looks like she just stepped out of a violent windstorm. For once, her crazed exterior hints at what lies within.

“What gift do you two have for me, hmm?” she asks, digging her fingers into my cheeks.

I can sense her probing around, searching for my power. But I’ve already poured what I’d grown into the ground. What remains is mine, even what she shared with me. My magic accepted and absorbed it. There’s no separating what hasbecome one.

I move my eyes to the side and see the faint blue tint of her fingertips where they press against Vaegon’s skin. She’s siphoning the magic he’s been growing for so many years. Her eyes roll back into her head as she grows more powerful by the second.

I pour everything I have into the cold cage around me, and I can feel its hold begin to weaken. Vaegon growls and manages to move his body again. My heart races, and I gather my power to strike as soon as I’m released.

But she replaces the cage with a mere thought.

Vaegon roars in frustration. The queen chuckles, but the grating sound is cut off when Lucas rushes forward and dumps Folas on the ground beside us. Her gaze snaps to the movement, and she watches in horror as black wisps begin to swirl around his feet and creep across his body like serpents.

Folas screeches and tries to run, but a long vine coils around his knees and pins him to the ground. Shadows slither across his face and body, tightening around him like they had with Kahras.

“No!” the queen croaks, releasing our faces and falling to her knees beside him. “You can’t have him!”

A chilling whisper rises from the ground to answer her. It seems to circle around us a few times before crawling into my ears. “You promised him to me.”

“I never promisedhim!”she screams.

“He’s mine,” the voice hisses, wrapping vines around her arms and dragging her away. She breaks free, blasting the restraints and running back to the only remaining piece of her lost love.

I’m surprised she doesn’t offer up Vaegon or me instead. She obviously figured out who Vaegon is. Knowing her, she sees him as her property and feels she has every right to. Maybe she sees that it’s already after us, too. Or maybe she’s too greedy to partwith any of us.

Instead of responding to the darkness again, she drops to her knees beside Folas and continues ripping off the vines that hold him. Her fingers claw at the shadows but pass right through them.

“Mother, please!” Folas gasps, choking as the dark whisps slip into his mouth. “Use your magic.”

“No!” she growls as the shadows close in around them both. “It could kill you.”

She stands and stomps on the vines, then tries to lift Folas off the ground. It doesn’t help. The shadows have their hooks in him.

Her grip on me loosens as she struggles. I push against it, managing to free my hands. But before I can strike her, she tightens it back around me again. She’s distracted but not distracted enough. We’re trapped and defenseless, and the shadows have begun creeping toward us again. If I could just get one finger free, I could use my glow to drive them away like before.

The light… I don’t think the queen has noticed that the shadows retreat in the glow of our magic–and of her own. She doesn’t realize how easily she could free her son.

“Release us! We can defeat it together!” I yell, grasping at our only chance to get out of this.

She ignores me and pitifully tries to blow the shadows away.

“You can save him!” I shout, relaxing against her hold.

She pauses and looks down at Folas’s pale, tear-streaked face. He looks up at her and sobs, pleading for her to listen to me. She glares at me before looking back down at her weakening son.

I feel more power draining from me as the shadows creep up my legs. I doubt she has a soul left to save, but perhaps her obsession with Folas’s father will compel her to act. “He’ll die if you don’t let us help!” I yell.

With a gentle touch, she wipes away his tears, then suddenly leaps to her feet. The cold grip falls away, and my hands immediately illuminate. The shadows release me, but the queen raises her hands toward Vaegon and me in warning.

I nod, letting her know I got the message, then turn and channel my magic into the source. Vaegon follows, showing her that we’re no threat. She watches us suspiciously before glancing back at her crying son. Wisely, she turns back to the ground and unleashes a powerful strike into the source, joining our magic in the assault.

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