‘Don’t let him make me his weapon again. Destroy me!’
I reach up and cling to Reid and Cyrus desperately, my hands buried in their hair.
I scream as I flicker between this world and Ivan’s.
I see Ivan. His monstrous and deformed body grins as my gold appears in his room of white and metal. His twisted arch summoning me closer.
‘I see him,’ I whimper. ‘I see Ivan. PLEASE!’ I beg. ’Kill me!’
Dark Fae and human half breeds surround him as he looks at the arch collecting my gold dust again. They’re all deformed by their stolen magic. They’re all under the control of this madman.
My back arches again as the pull of power gets too intense. My scream echoes all around us.
‘We’ve connected again,’ Ivan laughs, watching as the spire atop the arch burns bright and shoots light into the sky.
And then it happens again.
The ground shakes, and something below stirs.
The Leviathan trapped beneath the First Kingdom.
I hear it laughing. I feel it’s hunger.
I press my palm into the mud.
A woman, her body made of solid marble. Her eyes are liquid gold that runs down her cheeks.
‘She’s waking up. She’s coming,’ I manage.
‘Who?’ Reid demands, pulling me closer to his chest.
A shrill scream comes from deep below. A scream that turns into a sadistic laugh.
‘The sky,’ Cyrus whispers. ‘There’s a crack in the sky.’
My back arches as the machine pulls me again.
‘She’s fading!’ Rhea screams. ‘Do something!’
Never mind my fading. The First Kingdom Leviathan is waking up!
I know what it means to take control. To accept the crown.
But if I let her rise, this kingdom will be lost. And so will everyone in it.
I find that connection I have to her. The same one I have to the creatures.
She fights me. She resists.
But I subdue her. I command her.
Sleep. Sleep!
She screams, and everyone around me yells in fear.
Sleep! I SAID SLEEP!
‘NOOOO!’ she screams.