Page 82 of Magic Cursed
Tendrils of black shadow tinged in a jade-green trail him like a magnificent cape, writhing and twisting, a beautiful dark dance. His green eyes all but glow, allowing the incredible magic within to shine through. He’s completely in control, like he’s had years of practicing his skills, and I suppose he has. Unlike me, he never had a block put on his magic. It’s the magic my father unintentionally gave to him the night of the Blood Moon. The moment my father sent his magic to me, Daimis and I were holding hands and some of it must have passed to Daimis. He’s kept it a secret all this time, knowing full well that if the Regent found out, he would use it against him.
The three remaining shadow demons trail him like loyal dogs. Gone is the refined prince who hides in the shadows. Replaced is a warrior of darkness, with a vicious and unforgiving gaze set on the Regent. Fear and shock widen everyone’s eyes as they finally realize how much they’ve underestimated Daimis. He is beautifully horrifying and utterly magnificent. And may the gods above and below help anyone who crosses him.
Daimis stops, the shadow demons halting with him. He glances at me, and his face softens for just a moment.
“Daimis, let’s talk about this,” Kellan says, holding a hand out to Daimis like he’s a rabid animal. Yet Daimis looks the most calm of all of them. It’s that calm fury that is perhaps the most frightening of all.
Daimis ignores Kellan and faces the Regent head-on. “You will die for what you have done to Sahra. You chained her, tortured her, stole a piece of her soul. It will not go unpunished.”
The Regent narrows his eyes. “Everything I’ve done is for Thaaryn.”
“The entire world will burn before I allow you to harm her anymore. You will receive the same sentence you tried to inflict on her.” Daimis looks to the shadow demons. “Kill the Regent,” he commands them.
The shadow demons fly past Daimis and attack the Regent. Kellan backs away as the Regent begins fighting with the shadow demons. The Regent’s dark tendrils slice and block with those of the shadow demons. It’s a deadly dance, but there’s only one of the Regent and the shadow demons keep multiplying from three to six, and from six to twelve.
Kellan jumps into the fight in a poor attempt to save his father. But the Regent is already dying. He sealed his fate the moment he stole my magic. And even though Kellan betrayed me and took part in turning me into a wraith, for some reason, I don’t want him to die. Suffer, maybe. Perhaps it’s because while his friendship to me may have been a lie, mine to him was genuine.
“Kellan,” I call out. “There’s nothing you can do. They’ll kill you!”
The creature on the Regent turns its attention to me and then sets its hungry gaze on Kellan, as if it has just been shown a delicious meal. The creature yanks its nails from the Regent’s head and jumps onto Kellan’s back before sinking its three-inch-long talons into Kellan’s skull. Both the Regent and Kellan cry out in pain, both men grasping their heads.
“Get off of him!” I shout.
The Regent and Kellan are disoriented for a moment, and it’s just the distraction the shadow demons need to sink their spear-like limbs into the Regent, first his shoulders, then his thighs. Each strike makes a sickening squelch noise as they make their mark. The Regent’s eyes widen in surprise. Did he really think he could win this battle? Kellan stares at his father, despair etched into his features.
There is nothing more he can do for him. The shadow demons have the Regent now, I know how this ends. I saw how the demons suck the life from their victims at the black market.
The creature whispers into Kellan’s ear and he turns a hate-filled gaze on Daimis. “You did this!” he says, his voice low and threatening.
The creature on Kellan’s back pulls at him and whispers again into his ear. He nods. “This is not over,” he says to Daimis. Kellan turns to me, his expression full of pain and anguish, before running off into the forest with the rest of the Steel Guard.
I don’t know why Kellan’s gaze unsettles me so much. Perhaps because I know what it’s like to watch your father murdered in front of you. Or maybe because I saw regret, and a softness on his face that tells me perhaps it wasn’t all a lie.
The Regent’s eyes follow his son while he’s pulled to the nearest shadow demon. It closes its long, pointed teeth over the Regent’s mouth and sucks the life from him. It’s almost over, the Regent won’t be able to control the shadow demons, and his commands will die with him, saving everyone in Crystal Falls. I breathe a sigh of relief. Even though I’ll be locked in this decrepit body for as long as I can survive in it, it’s enough to know that I did everything I could to help. I didn’t run. And because of that, Daimis and Elsie were spared. That’s something I can live with.
Just before the Regent is nothing but a hollowed-out husk, he sends out one last tendril of spear-tipped shadow as fast as a whip’s lash. Before I can even blink, it makes its mark, sinking into my chest. My breath leaves me in a rush, and my body caves in around the shadow spear. I look down at the magic lance protruding from my chest until it dissolves into nothing, and my blood leaks from the gaping hole left behind. Daimis calls my name. I look up to find him running toward me. He tilts along with everything else, and I realize that I’m falling. His green-tinged shadows fly past him to catch me before I hit the frozen ground. They cradle me tenderly.
Where is the pain? The lack of it is more terrifying than what I should be feeling. I struggle to breathe. I can’t seem to get enough air in. My chest doesn’t rise and fall properly. I’m cold all over. I’m scared. I’m dying.
Daimis reaches me. Pulling me into his arms. His beautiful face is strained. “No, no, no. It’s going to be okay. I can fix this.” He places his hand over my chest, my blood seeping through his fingers, and says the incantation for healing. Nothing happens. He tries again, enunciating the words perfectly, his face hard in concentration. But again, nothing happens. He looks down at his crimson-covered hand with creased brows, like he can’t understand why his magic would fail him.
My heart breaks for him. I want to tell him everything will be okay, but I know better than to give false hope. And while I’m not ready to leave him and this screwed-up world of ours, I’m a realist.
“Save your strength,” I manage, my voice an airy whisper. Hot tears fall freely down the side of my face into my hairline. “My body…is…too…far…gone.”
Even before I was struck, I had one foot in the grave. The knowledge of that should scare me more than it does, but comforted in Daimis’s arms, the only thing I feel is regret. Regret for not having more time with him. Regret for not being able to explore more of this new relationship we’ve started together. Regret that he has to watch me die.
“No!” Daimis says, shaking his head in one fierce movement. “I don’t care what the rules are with magic. I broke them once; I’ll break them again. I will heal you.” He places his hand on me again and repeats the spell, but still, nothing happens. His eyes fill with unshed tears, and a growl of frustration rips from him.
I use my waning strength to reach up and cup his face. He stills under my touch. His skin is so hot against my icy fingers that it almost burns, and yet I can still feel that connection we share. I savor it one last time. His gaze meets mine and we speak entire novels without saying a word.
His eyes fill before tears fall down his face. “You can’t leave me again.” His words are thin and desperate. “I just got you back. You can’t go.”
I wipe his tears away with my thumb. “I’m sorry.”
He chokes on a sob and pulls me closer to him, resting his head on mine. “Ineedyou.”
“Daimis!” Tuuk and Elsie shout. “Look!”