Page 12 of Kiss the Filthiest King

A WHOLE LOT OF BAD OPTIONS

Ryther

Beyond the gates, there's nothing but sand. An endless expense, void of all things, all life. Though there's light, bright and blinding, it's unbearably cold, freezing me to the bone.

And yet I feel them. There's too much in this emptiness.

I could no more walk to the end of this desert than to the end of the world; I'd die before I reach anything. Instead of playing whatever game is before me, I plant my feet, and gently lay her down before me.

"Well?" I call, my voice echoing in the depths. "Were we not expected?"

At first, there's nothing. Then a ruffling; an awareness.

Some have wandered in here over the years. Their bones have long turned to the sand under your feet. Yet I feel no fear from you.

It's not a voice so much as a breath, a rustling of wind.

I don't let it get to me. What would I have to fear, death? I know that's not my fate.

You know very little and understand less, child of the wild.

This is another voice, darker and considerably less kind. I feel them both surrounding me, closing in.

You come to take us away from our bonds, do you not?

I come so that you may bring her back. It is in your power, is it not?

Then I see them, finally. Both giants, higher than any mountain, but in one step, they stand before me no taller than the folk. They're built like any fae—any mortal, even, as their ears have no point. The female's golden, and he, pale as death. I'd be hard pressed to describe any of their feature with actual physical traits. I only know that they're beautiful and terrifying all at once.

"The heart's a mess," the male sneers.

"No matter. That can be replaced." The female kneels on the shifting sand, her hand unexpectedly stuffed in one of Darina's pockets.

She removes a fist size stone from it, translucent, with a purple shine. The dragon core Loch gave her so that she'd stand a chance fleeing from the lords, despite her wayward thoughts, too easy to follow.

"This will do," she says, her eyes glistening with the exact same shine as the diamond, reflecting its light.

I note they've agreed to nothing. And I understand this well enough; Iwasraised amongst the folk. We've not agreed to a bargain yet.

"You want out of here," I say. "And you can't leave without aid. I can take you."

"You will take us both, within yourself, amongst your flesh," the male states. Then, a smirk."This was the fate you so wish to escape, is it not, child?"

There's no denying it. They might have been bound here, but clearly their eyes were wide open.

I swallow. "What will it do to the worlds? Do you mean to destroy them?"

I don't know why I ask. They have no folk blood in their veins. They're not bound by anything other than the walls of this prison. They could lie.

"Destroy the worlds?" The All Goddess huffs. "My boy, I created them."

"Right. You. By yourself, I suppose."

"There's only one thing I mean to raze."

Him. They're in conflict, these two primal forces, and the coldness in the air is the force of their hatred, powerful enough to destroy so much in its wake.

"Why didn't you kill each other here?"

---