Adri
The weeks spent training alongside Amali and Jonah have somehow been the best of my entire life. Of course, I wish with all my heart that none of this ever happened, and that Pa was still here. I never dreamed I would find solace in a Zephyr, not to mention the King himself.
Sitting in Kellan's embrace in front of a crackling fire, life almost feels too perfect to be real. Jonah sits opposite us as we share stories of our diverse upbringings. Amali is resting nearby. The poor girl has done nothing but try to prepare me for battle against her very own sister.
"Why can't you just resume control over the Hydra? Then surely Zeera would be forced to surrender," I say.
Jonah shakes his head. "It's not that simple. The beast obeys the ruling royal at Kymaerio Peak. It senses its own venom that coats our flesh when residing within the waters of the peak, but since we've been far beyond the waters affected by it, resuming command could take days."
I can't, for the life of me, figure out what he sees in her and attempt to make sense of it all. He raises his hand and declares, in a domineering voice once more, that his union with Zeera is unrelated to the battle we face, and he will not answer questions relating to it.
I get it.
He loves her. Love can blind you to the true nature of even the most heinous of beings. Plus, he's still my king, so I don't bother prying on. Still, I grapple with the thought that such a good man could have gotten caught in the web of such a poisonous, self-serving sociopath.
"I owe you both an apology," Jonah says abruptly. "It was I who led the soldiers to your location. You must understand, I was bound by ancient laws and traditions, but seeing Duran and Zeera lose their very identities when you arrived was a wake-up call. It made me realize that this had nothing to do with tradition or even the preservation of our kind; it was all about power."
Both Kellan and I are at a loss for words.
What do you say in a situation like this?
My pa would still be alive today if it weren't for him, but who even knows when King Adrav would've stopped looking for me? If it wasn't Jonah, it was going to be someone else.
Suddenly, Jonah continues, "No one should be subjected to what was in store for you."
Too terrified to ask exactly what was in store for, I simply try to reassure him that I understand. Amali awakens with a start. Her hair and face are drenched with sweat as she pants heavily.
"What's wrong?" We all ask simultaneously.
"I don't know. I can't shake this weird feeling gnawing at my insides." The air around her feels heavy, laden with ominous tension. "Something's not right."
Just then, a friend of hers emerges. It's the same friend who had helped us escape unnoticed. His face is pale, and his eyes are wide with terror.
"Speak Maruk!" Amali urges, the suspense visibly destroying her.
"The royal families...have been wiped out," his voice trembles as he lowers his head.
"What do you mean 'wiped out,'" Amali questions.
He goes on to mention the names of every single royal in the colony, and Amali's jaw drops. He turns to Jonah and pauses briefly.
"My King, your parents. They were not spared, either. Queen Zeera has lost all reason."
I watch as Amali stumbles and struggles to keep her body upright. Her world clearly tilting beneath her. My heart is shattered yet again.
All these deaths are on my hands.
Covering my face with both hands, I feel Kellan's gentle touch on my back.
"How can this be?" Amali asks, her eyes hollow with disbelief.
"The guards claim it was poison and, of course, the 'traitors' are responsible for this attack. The queen has the full force of the troops at her side now."
The tears stream down my face. "I can't allow any more deaths because of me."
Amali remains inconsolable, but the rest turn to me as though my statement sent an even bigger chill down their spines. My voice steady but filled with sorrow.
"I'll surrender. It's me she wanted dead to begin with."
"No! I won't let you!" Kellan screams, stepping in front of me.
"Then I will defeat her!"
"You're not ready!" yells Jonah. "Zeera is a force to be reckoned with."
Amali still cannot find her voice, trapped in her own grief. Jonah is equally shaken, but moves to her side to offer some form of comfort. A look of devastating realization that, armed with the troops and the Hydra, Zeera is undefeatable is written all over his face.
Ever the strategist, Jonah devises a new plan, since the original plan has now been shot to pieces.
"I'll deliver Adri and Kellan to Zeera under the pretense that this was my plan all along. I'll say that Amali had to be killed, as she refused to help bring them in."
As confident as he sounds in his plan, he glances over at his sister-in-law for approval. She allows herself to nod slightly but remains in a haze. The plan is now to get Amali to sneak into my and Kellan's 'execution' so that we can reveal her true nature to the rest of the colony.
∗∗∗
I can't describe the feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Will Amali be able to convince the colony of our innocence, or are we setting ourselves up for a gruesome slaying at the hands of Zeera?
Returning to Kymaerio Peak, bound and 'beaten,' Kellan and I are presented as trophy captures. Jonah's words become twisted as he attempts to satisfy his wife's insatiable appetite for destruction.
"I cannot believe you actually thought I had betrayed you and our people," he says to Zeera.
She sits on her icy throne, shooting daggers at me with her stone-cold glare. Her brows are so constrained, you can crack a clam open between them.
"You left me with no other choice. So, what makes you think I will trust you again?" Her demeanor is more eerie than ever before, and Duran, her overeager righthand, appears even more sinister than the wicked queen herself.
"I don't trust him," he says., bearing his unusually long canines at his brother.
"Need I remind you who I am, brother? Go find something to do so I can speak with my wife."
Zeera chuckles but orders that Duran escort us to our holding cells before any talks between them can take place.
"You know you're dead, right?" Duran whispers to me. "You should've accepted your place at my side and none of this would've happened."
His hand shifts to my waist and his chin lightly scrapes my cheek as he leans in closer for another sardonic comment. "It's not too late for you. All can be forg—"
He stops abruptly before falling to the ground. A dagger protrudes from his chest.
"What?! He's been stabbed," I say, gawking over at Kellan.
"I know; I stabbed him."
Confusion and horror wash over me as I try to establish how this is possible when we are both bound.
"Jonah gave it to me shortly before we left. He also didn't really bound me, so I would have the element of surprise on my side, since I'm, you know, not magical like you guys."
It's a good thing I was unaware of this part of the plan, as I definitely wouldn't have been on board.
"We're supposed to be chained until execution. How will we keep Zeera from finding out her loyal henchman is dead?"
Kellan assures me this is part of the plan as he drags Duran's body to conceal it in a shadowy little alley. We enter our cells and await our escorts.
∗∗∗
The execution commences, and Zeera appears unphased by Duran's absence.
"Your King has returned and, once again, brought you the ones responsible for the deaths of our royals. They are here to stand trial for their heinous acts."
Jonah raises his hand, greeting his subjects, but says nothing. He scans the crowd, looking for the disguised Amali. Bingo. Gesturing with his eyes that he's located her, the plan is now in motion. Zeera, ever-loving of all the attention and praise, delivers a heartfelt speech about how my death will avenge the deaths of the royals slain that fateful night.
This must've spurred a red-hot anger in Amali because she abandons all reason and charges through the crowd to attack her sister. Jonah takes a giant leap forward and grips her by the wings. Standing in front of her, he offers a look of "You're blowing it." Before she can retreat, Zeera summons the Hydra.
"I knew this was all part of your plan to overthrow me. Now, witness the might of my command!"
Pandemonium ensues as the massive beast roars frighteningly, its heads snapping in different directions. Jonah, using his exceptional strength, manages to hold it off so Maruk can free Kellan. Amali, now exposed and discovered, attempts to use her power to immobilize the beast but is knocked down, landing at Zeera's feet.
The scene is one of nightmares, as the crowd disperses with great urgency, attempting to flee from the falling rubble and stray energy blasts.
"Untie me!" I yell at Maruk.
Amali rises to her feet as Zeera slowly approaches. At lightning speed, Zeera impales her little sister with a sword that she kept hidden. Her cry is fierce and maniacal as she yanks it back out, leaving Amali to plunge to the ground below.
"Amali!" is all I can hear myself scream.
Seeing the person who has been the only light in this darkness awakens a darkness in me that I hope never to experience again. Encircled by blinding lights, I ascend in the waters. Zeera arrogantly stands on, watching in anticipation of my next move. I don't know when or how, but my shackles have been broken, and I rush over to Amali.
Weeping hysterically, I plead for her to be okay. My hands begin to glow, and my audience stares in astonishment.
What's everyone looking at?
Amali is healed. We hug tightly as I realize that I have just unlocked my royal gift, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Seeing that her destruction has failed, Zeera, without a second thought, directs the Hydra at us.
Jonah's grip can no longer contain it, and he is slammed into the buildings below. The creature charges at us with a mighty force, and without thinking, I raise my hands and command it to stop.
"Enough!" I yell.
The hydra comes to an immediate halt and submits before me. The remaining onlookers gasp in amazement.
"She commands the Hydra!" someone calls, and every eyeball turns to me.
Zeera's face contorts with panic. The Hydra's bonding with a non-ruling royal is not only unheard of; it can only mean utter devastation for her and her plans. She soon realizes that her reign is over, and she's lost all dominion over the Zephyr kingdom and all Zephyr-kind, causing her to flee.
The anarchy caused at the hands of the demented queen, however, remains ours to resolve. Amali, now fully healed, stands on my right, and Kellan and Jonah quickly appear at my left.
We exchange a look of determination as we examine the extent of Zeera's fury.
"We can fix this," I say, taking Amali by the hand and descending to the common grounds of the colony.
The battle is far from over, but, for the first time, there is genuine hope.