Chapter 114

***Jake***

"This isn't how it was supposed to go," I muttered, watching the battlefield shift in a way I never anticipated. Morgath’s forces wavered, Jane’s power tearing through them like a divine storm. Celeste was gone, her screams still echoed in my head, and now, Morgath himself was facing resistance unlike anything I had ever seen.

And I was standing on the wrong side of it.

Morgath turned, his black eyes locking onto mine, his lips curling into a sneer. "Jake," he drawled, stepping toward me. "You look… uncertain. Do you regret your choices?" He tilted his head, feigning curiosity, but I knew better.

I swallowed hard. "I did everything you asked. I gave you my loyalty, my forces, my..."

"Your loyalty?" Morgath cut me off, his voice a low growl. "You pledged yourself to me out of greed, not loyalty. And now, when the tides turn, you hesitate."

My hands clenched into fists. "I fought for what was mine! For what should have been mine! Allen was weak and undeserving. You promised me power! You said, "

"I said what I needed to, little prince." Morgath's smirk widened. "And you believed me. How pathetic."

Rage ignited in my chest. "You used me!"

"Of course I did!" His laugh was sharp, cutting. "You were a pawn. And pawns are sacrificed when they’ve outlived their usefulness."

A cold realization slammed into me. Everything I had done, everything I had sacrificed, was for nothing. I had given up my family, my people, and my dignity, only to be discarded like a broken tool.

I stepped back, barely catching my breath. "No… I..."

Morgath’s expression turned deadly. "You are no longer of use to me, Jake." His hand lifted, dark energy crackling at his fingertips. "And I do not tolerate dead weight."

Panic set in. I reached for my sword, but Morgath was faster. A blast of dark energy struck me square in the chest, sending me flying backward. Pain ripped through my body as I crashed into the ruins of a crumbled tower.

I gasped, my vision swimming. Blood dripped from my lips as I tried to push myself up. The battlefield blurred around me, but I could still hear the battle raging, Jane’s power illuminating the sky.

I had lost everything.

And now… I was going to die.

My breaths were ragged as I clawed at the broken stone beneath me, struggling to stand. My body refused to obey. It was as if Morgath’s magic had seeped into my bones, weighing me down with the burden of my own failures.

My fingers trembled as I reached for my sword. It had fallen a few feet away, half-buried in the rubble. I had trained my entire life for war, for power, for victory. And yet, as I lay there, gasping like a wounded animal, I felt none of those things.

Just regret.

I had thought aligning myself with Morgath would secure my throne. I had believed that with him at my side, Drakora would be mine. That I would prove myself stronger than Allen. That I would finally be the ruler our people needed.

But I had been blind.

I had been a fool.

I forced my body to move, dragging myself forward inch by inch. My chest burned with every breath, but I refused to stop. I wasn’t done. I couldn’t be.

Not yet.

Morgath’s shadow loomed over me. I could feel his presence like ice against my skin. He was watching me, waiting, amused by my suffering.

"Still crawling, are you?" His voice was laced with mockery. "Tell me, Jake, where is your ambition now? Where is your strength?"

I gritted my teeth, refusing to answer.

"Perhaps I should let you live," Morgath mused, his tone almost playful. "Not as a prince, of course. Not even as a warrior. But as an example,

I glared up at him, my body trembling with fury and exhaustion. "An example of what?"

His smile was cruel. "A failure."

My blood boiled, but I could do nothing. Not against him. Not like this.

A wave of energy surged toward me, dark and unrelenting. I braced myself, expecting agony, but before it could strike, something else cut through the battlefield: a flash of light, golden and fierce.

Jane.

Even in my haze of pain, I could see her standing in the distance, the last remnants of her power crackling around her. She was struggling, barely holding herself upright, but she was still fighting.

Still winning.

Morgath snarled, his attention shifting back to her. And in that moment, I saw something I had never seen before.

Fear.

It was fleeting, but it was there. Morgath, the being I had believed to be unstoppable, was afraid. Not of me. Not of Allen. But of Jane.

My grip tightened on my sword. Maybe… maybe I wasn’t completely out of this fight yet.

I gritted my teeth and forced myself onto one knee. "You underestimate me, Morgath," I rasped.

He turned back to me, unimpressed. "Oh? And what will you do? Bleed on me?"

I smirked, ignoring the pain that flared in my ribs. "Maybe. But I’ve still got one last move."

Summoning the last of my strength, I lunged, but it was too late as he had already sent a wave of dark energy that knocked me off my feet.