Chapter 17: A Woman of Two Worlds

The world shatters beneath our touch. I’m hurled into gray light, Colin’s hand still clasped in mine. My eyes crack open but everything is blurry and fading. Pain sears through my shoulder as the earth groans, as if it already knows what’s coming. Our hands slip apart. I should rise and face what waits, but instead I stay sprawled, letting my gaze climb the peaks that pierce the clouds. For a heartbeat, I smile, stretching my arms wide, taking in the most stunning creation my world has ever known. A creation I’ve never seen up close. The Ranges.

The light fades. My strength is fleeting. The air bends and breathes while Colin stands firm at my side, begging me to rise. “Jo…” he says, his voice fluttering. I look up to see if it’s spoken aloud or echoing in my head.

But everything stops. A chill settles.

A shadow emerges, cloaked in obsidian. No sword, no armor, only a body held together by something else. His face is both ancient and youthful, frozen in time by stolen Magic. A crooked smile cuts across teeth black as coal. He drifts closer in that same haunting rhythm.

Klick—klack—Klick—klack.

King Kai.

He steps forward. The wind halts. My blood runs cold.

“It is you,” Kai says, his voice firm as stone. “The woman of two worlds.”

I force myself upright, willing my body to fight, but nothing answers. My vision tunnels and darkens. Colin plants himself between us with his sword raised, his boots glued into a battle stance.

“You will not touch her.”

Kai’s lips twitch. “You believe you can bite the hand that feeds you, Lord?” He laughs, sharp as broken glass. “Silly, silly boy.”

Colin steps closer with his chin dipped low. “This mission ends here, my King.”

“You think you can stand against me?” Kai’s voice swells, echoing off the stone. “You are what I made you. Every breath you take is mine.”

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Colin’s reply rumbles low. “Not anymore.”

A silence stretches. Kai tilts his head with amusement. “You dare raise your hand against your King for a girl who doesn’t even know what she is? A vessel. Flesh to bear my bloodline. Too brittle to holster such power. You waste yourself for nothing.”

Colin’s hand tightens at his side. The air sharpens like gravity itself is sharpened. His face hardens, echoing the creatures from the painting. Yet he stands for me. By me. His voice slices through the crackling air. “She is not yours to claim.”

Kai steps closer, his shadow stretching like spilled ink. “She will be, Lord. And as you resist, I will make certain you watch. Every time. For the rest of your natural life.”

Colin’s jaw clenches. His chest rises like he’s swallowing fire. The air hums and vibrates with power. He raises his hand, not to his sword, but into the air itself. The world groans as his power unfurls. The stone trembles. The air ripples. The Dark King’s throat jerks as if seized by an unseen grip. Black veins writhe across his skin as Colin holds him there, suspended in silence. For the first time, Kai’s boots scrape against rock. He doesn’t advance. He’s dragged.

Colin’s fist begins to close. His eyes blaze, his body trembling with effort, the world bending to his fury. For a moment, the King looks small. Breakable. Hope ignites, flowing freely, I inch closer to Colin, ready to slay the King once and for all..

But Kai chokes and laughs. A low, guttural rasp that vibrates through me. “You think your tricks matter to me?”

Shadows erupt from him, tendrils of black tear at Colin’s hold until it snaps with a violent crack. Colin stumbles with blood streaming from his nose. His knees buckle as if the earth itself has crushed him.

“No!” I lurch forward, but the shadows wrap around my waist and yank me back. Kai’s hand stretches, gripping not my flesh, but the fire inside me. It burns like my veins are being hollowed… stolen from within.

Colin roars and forces himself upright, but Kai slams him down with the force of his own magic. The ground quakes as his body hits the stone, the glow in his eyes dimming.

“You will watch her fall into me,” Kai says, his voice resonant and monstrous. “And you will die knowing you were powerless to stop it.”

The shadows drag me into his arms, his silver hair catching the pale light of the Ranges. Colin claws toward me even as strength leaves him. Our bond surges, his voice piercing my skull…

Run.

But I can’t. The King’s grip presses deeper, tearing me from Colin’s reach. His body is broken against the stone, his hazel eyes fixed on me. Always fixed on me. Still defiant even as they fade.

Then the dark swallows me whole.