Chapter 82: STUCK IN-BETWEEN
Alma’s POV
I saw a figure, far from an elf, standing in a dark, forgotten corner of a room. She wasn’t an elf, of that I was absolutely sure, but I could feel the distinct, suffocating power of the elven gemstones surrounding her entire being.
Frustration and confusion twisted violently inside my chest. What the heck was she, and why on earth was she in possession of the gemstones? I searched and strained, but I couldn't even feel a fraction of Siofra's presence around her.
Did Siofra's spirit really disappear? Did the gemstones actually pick a new queen? If yes, who is she, and why can't I see her face?!
“Why is everything so dark?!” I screamed in pure, unadulterated anger.
I violently pulled myself out of the elderly elf’s mind, my consciousness slamming back into my own body. Blinded by fury, my hands instantly came right back around her throat, squeezing with everything I had left. But she just lay there, still smiling. She was still smiling, and I hated that fucking smug look on her face with every fiber of my being.
“You... will never succeed...” she choked out, the words broken between her desperate gasps for air.
I tilted my head to the side, a wide, manic smile stretching across my face as I looked down at her.
“We will see about that. But too bad you won't be alive to witness it.”
With that, I slid a dagger out from my boots, the blade gleaming as I raised it, ready to end her miserable life once and for all. But before the metal could pierce her skin, a sudden, sharp impact cracked against the back of my head. I winced as the object bounced off my skull and rolled down past my feet.
It was a rock.
Snarls of rage ripping from my throat, I callously tossed the elderly elf’s limp body into the rushing, flooded water and spun around to face the pathetic elf standing behind me.
A cruel, mocking laugh tore from my chest the moment I saw who it was.
“Wow. The great Almaruda made her way out of the water without getting drowned. Isn't that impressive?” I let out through gritted teeth, my voice dripping with venom.
I stared at the creature before me. The once elegant, goddess-like elf princess now looked like every single one of us commoners. The only remaining evidence of her ever possessing Almaruda’s legendary power was the striking blue of her eyes.
“You coward!” Elba yelled back, her voice shaking with disgust. “Is this the fucking plan you wanted me to help you accomplish? You acting like a spoilt brat over the rejection of the gemstones?! Are you even using your senses, Alma? The gems predicted something bad about every single rejected elf princess. Shouldn't you be working on proving the gems wrong, instead of jumping right up and being just as evil as they predicted?!”
Her words hit me, making me laugh hysterically for a brief, mocking second—before a tidal wave of hot, blinding anger fired through my veins.
“I don't fucking need some gems when there are powers greater than they would ever be!” I fired back, my voice booming through the cavern. “I don't fucking need some stones telling me what should be of my life! I refuse to be the pathetic coward that my mother was!”
In a frenzy of rage, I spread my arms wide, gathering as much wild energy as my fractured core could muster. I forced the magic to sweep through the area, ripping the heavy branches off the trees standing behind me, lifting them high up into the air until they floated menacingly beside me.
“That makes you even more stupid than I imagined,” Elba snapped, her blue eyes blazing with defiance. “You're ready to bring down the whole of Álfheimr... just to prove what exactly?”
Her question only maddened me further. The sheer audacity of her standing there judging me fueled the fire in my chest. How on earth did she even make it past my rock armies?
“I can see your mouth is still as big as it was when you were Almaruda,” I snarled, my magic vibrating through the floating debris. “I shouldn't have let myself think you had drowned. I should have killed you myself!”
Elba's POV
The raw, destructive force from her scream rumbled through the very ground beneath my feet. Even the massive waterfalls crashing behind her began to shake violently. At least, that was what I thought was happening—until the wind surrounding her completely lost control. The air went vibrant, tossing and turning in wild, erratic circles until it formed a massive, towering tornado.
At first, a spike of fear hit me, assuming she was the one controlling it. But then I noticed the look on Alma's face. The wind was moving in an entirely unguided, vibrant way, ruthlessly tossing and sucking up everything in its path before throwing them away like pebbles.
What on earth is that... she's not the one controlling it!
Panic setting in, I made a sudden run for it, trying to flee deep into the safety of the woods. But the storm was already moving too fast, closing in right behind me. It kept violently eating everything in its path, tearing up earth and trees and throwing them miles away into the sky.
What on earth did she accidentally summon this time around?
I ducked behind a massive tree trunk, desperately trying to catch my breath as I searched the chaotic battlefield for the elderly elf. I had come back for her—I just couldn't stand the agonizing thought of leaving her behind to be murdered by Alma.
But the spot where I had last seen Alma drop her was completely empty. She was gone. Even the howling wind was beginning to violently suck up the water flowing from the rock fountain, creating a blinding spray.
Through the chaos, I watched as Alma frantically tried to bend the storm to her will. But the tornado, which was now dancing erratically across the open field, sent out a massive back-blast of concussive force that sent her flying through the air, crashing brutally against the rocks at the far edge of the clearing.
It was only then, seeing her get thrown, that the terrifying truth settled in my chest. The wind was being controlled... but by who? And what kind of unimaginable force was guiding it?
Realizing she had lost her grip on the situation, Alma immediately called down her dragon pet, scrambling onto its back and exiting the scene in a desperate retreat.
Seeing her flee, I immediately turned and made a mad dash toward the woods, praying to the gods that I could catch up to the others before the relentless wind did.
I ran as fast as my legs could carry me. Behind me, the turning tornado continued to shatter the forest, breaking massive structures and piling the splintered debris right into the center of the turning winds.
Lungs burning, I finally managed to make it back to Eldarion. He was still mounted on his horse, desperately holding onto the princess’s lifeless physical body. He looked entirely paralyzed with horror, completely distracted by the terrifying wall of wind coming our way—so much so that he didn't even notice me screaming out his name.
I didn't waste a second. I jumped through the trees, running across the heavy branches until I reached the spot where my own horse was still tied.
“Eldarion, snap out of it!” I screamed directly into his face, jolting him out of his trance. He turned to me, his features twisted in absolute dread.
“What on earth is that?!” he yelled over the roaring storm.
I lunged across the space between our mounts, reaching out to forcefully take the princess’s body from his horse. I settled her securely onto mine, frantically pulling a heavy leather rope from my waist and binding her torso tightly to mine.
“That will be our death if we don't make it out of here right now!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
I violently kicked my horse into motion, forcing the terrified animal into a dead sprint. Eldarion finally snapped out of his shock and spurred his horse, riding hard right behind me.
“Where are the others?!” I yelled over my shoulder, the roaring of the wind growing deafening.
“I had Albina lead them to our village!” Eldarion responded, his voice strained. “My father has a small house hidden behind the tall trees!”
My gaze immediately flashed behind us. My heart leaped into my throat—the dark wall of the wind was closing the distance far too fast.
“You should have gone with them! Why on earth did you have to wait behind with the princess?!” I lashed out in sheer, terrified frustration.
“Well, forgive me for being considerate!” Eldarion fired back angrily as we suddenly burst into a small clearing where the path split into three different ways.
Eldarion didn't hesitate; he immediately veered to the left, riding hard to distance himself from the center of the storm. But just as I pulled my reins to follow right behind him, a massive, ancient tree came crashing down out of the sky, slamming into the dirt directly in front of my horse.
The horse let out a loud, terrifying shriek of pure panic.
The sudden obstacle threw the animal into a frenzy. It reared up violently, throwing me completely off its back. I fell hard, hitting the ground with a sickening thud as a sharp, terrifying pain shot straight up my spine. For a second, the breath was knocked entirely out of me.
Before I could even recover or push myself up, I looked down. The princess’s body was lying not far from me, the rope still holding us tightly together.
Gasping through the pain, I desperately crawled and dashed toward her. But before my fingers could even lift her form from the ground, a horrific sensation washed over me from behind.
It was the suction of the wind.
Before I could scream, the sheer, gravity-defying force of the tornado tore us off the ground, drawing us helplessly into the massive, turning vortex. It threw me around in violent, blinding circles, spinning us through the debris until I could barely hold onto consciousness.