Chapter 77: A BIGGER PROBLEM

“Your daughter is hiding well, and guess what? She broke my spell; she fucking broke my spell!”

"Alma, you need to stop this madness, release everyone, and stop acting like a freak!” 

“Did you just call me a freak?” I didn't think twice before wrapping my hand around her neck, draining the life out of her.

“You might be a mother to Siofra, but to me, you are just an obstacle.” I pushed her off, causing her to lose her balance as she fell. I watched her struggle to breathe as I smirked.

“What did you do to my sweet little Alma? My Alma will never hurt anyone; she never would have brought chaos to Álfheimr.” Her words made me laugh; it was a laugh of pain.

“Then I guess I'm a good actress. I had to struggle every single day to put up with all your nonsense, but even at this point, you still don't see the real me.

I'm guessing the stones are smarter than a woman who raised me almost all my life. If I were to be your real daughter, just like Siofra was, and you treated me the same way you treated her, then I would have killed you a long time ago.

But it's too bad. I'm not your daughter, but I will still kill you if you don't stay out of my way. Don't worry too much; I will let you see your daughter one last time before she is sacrificed on the day of the ritual.

Now if you would excuse me, I have a ritual to plan.” I stormed out of the dungeon as she was dragged back into her cell room. All I have to do is present Alda's body on the day of the ritual, and once the ritual starts, her spirit will be called back into her body.

I needed to stop by and see Siofra to give her the good news. Not everyone is opportune to be used as a sacrifice at the gate of the dead. I pushed the door open and stepped in, but I found Siofra's body missing.

I thought maybe I had walked into the wrong room, but she was gone. I felt my anger boiling like a volcano as I let out a scream that shook the whole palace.

Elba's POV

Her screams rolled off like thunder, chasing all the happy-singing birds away.

“Let's go; we need to move. An army will come looking for us in no time.” Eldarion said, hopping onto his horse, with Siofra's body resting against his.

“I'm thinking of staying behind and distracting the palace guards before joining you. Go without me; tell the queen I completed my mission and will return with the book.”

“Why not give me the book to take to her? What if Alma figures out who you are?” He was right, but I wanted to give the queen the book myself.

She needs to know what is to befall not just Álfheimr but the entire elf kingdom, and the stone is not just the key to unlocking the gate of hell; Siofra is.

“Let's get going; if they catch up to us, then I will distract them while you continue moving. Getting Siofra back to the cave is our number one priority now. She comes first before the book.” I informed Eldarion, who twisted his face in confusion, but was glad when he didn't further question me.

We both knew we had to move fast while being watchful. I'm glad Eldarion was smart enough to cover Siofra so her face wouldn't be seen. Let's hope we both make it back to the cave without getting caught.

Xender's POV

I woke up with a terrible headache. What happened? I had the weirdest dream ever; it felt so real. I pushed myself into a sitting position, and it was only then that I noticed Alda’s absence.

Where did she go? Why does my head hurt so much? And to think I remembered colliding my head against the wall in my dream, but what if it wasn't a dream?

The stones—the crystal green stones—I need to find them. I rushed out of my room into Alda's and found her handbag on the floor. I remembered leaving them there when I took those stones out.

So this wasn't a dream, or am I imagining things?

"Xender.” I turned in shock when I heard my name behind me. It was Alda; she was in her bathrobe with her hair dribbling wet, which indicates she just took her bath.

“Xender, are you okay?” She asked, coming close to me. I stared at her for a while, looking for some clue that would confirm that everything that happened last night wasn't a dream, but I found nothing. She seemed so carefree; the only expression on her face was confusion.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just woke up and couldn't find you, so I got worried.” She smiled as she took my hand.

“You worry too much; let's just go get ready and bid your family goodbye so we can go. I'm sure they might be waiting for us.” She said. She walked past me to her wardrobe as she went through it.

“I will go get ready.” I replied to her and started heading for the door.

"Xender,” I heard her call.

“You have my handbag,” she said, which made me realise I was leaving with the bag. I apologised to her, giving her back the bag before exiting the room. This is just too much for me to handle.

Alda's POV

I took a deep breath once the door closed after him. Lying to him is becoming harder than I thought. 

“Did you see the horror on his face?” I asked Siofra, who was standing across the room, observing everything.

“He is not going to know it wasn't a dream if you don't admit it, so you need to continue acting clueless.”

“I don't know how long I can keep things away from him. When he looks at me with so much trust, I feel my heart break because he trusts me, but I'm hiding things from him.”

“Telling him is not actually the issue, but how he will react after hearing your story will be the issue. What if he concludes that you are crazy or doesn't believe you?” Siofra was right, but then I just know that Xender might already have a clue that I'm not the only one sharing my body.

“Even if I am able to act like nothing happened last night, I can't hide how weak I am. I don't know how long I can stand on both feet. I feel like I'm going to die soon.

“We need to keep holding on until our portal appears tomorrow. I have lots of questions I need my grandma to answer.”

“I need to dress up and head down for breakfast. I need to find a way to convince Xender so we can go back to his house. I can't afford to have anyone else from Armstrong's family find out about our secret.”

“Your right, I just wish I could control my powers. I'm sorry; I couldn't heal you. I'm just confused, Alda. I wish everything would just go away. They are all disturbing my mental health.” I walked up to her and hugged her.

“It's okay; I believe we will get through this.” Even as I comforted Siofra, I failed to notice the pair of grey eyes peeping at me from my door.