Still holding the bottle, I spun as a single witch entered the room, her dress flowing behind her. She lifted her hand to draw magic, but she wasn’t quick enough as mine held hers in check. I tossed the bottle at her, watching the horror play on her face as it slammed against her body. I ducked the moment it struck. The room shook with an explosion, forcing me to lift from my hiding place behind a table. I peered over it through the remainder of magic vials.
“Holy shit.” I watched as the witch continued staring at me with a horrified expression as her body melted.
I could see through her stomach to the rest of the wall still behind her. My attention slid from the dying witch to the pile of bottles next to me, carefully stepping further away from them. On the far shelf that lined the back wall were ancient tomes. I moved toward them, ignoring the witch behind me, as she slowly and silently got her goop on with the floor. Talk about a hot mess!
My fingers brushed over the leather spines of the books, and a smile played on my lips. I loved books and the scent of melting witch in the morning. Actually, the witch reeked, causing my eyes to water and my nose to wrinkle at the stench.
“Book of Potions?” I asked the witch, turning to find her head gone, and her organs slowly bubbling over her hips bones. “Bad day, huh?” I asked the room, frowning as I heard footsteps shuffling above me.
I had no idea how deep into the castle I was, but I could sense enough to realize I was underneath at least one or more floors from the ground level. The decay of earth was rife, and like most potion rooms, this one sat nestled into the soil. Examining the room’s contents, I studied the large skulls from unknown creatures marked with runes and other strange carvings.
Stepping closer, I lowered my head to inspect one skull up close, frowning when I felt power pulsing from the inhuman, unproportioned skull. It was yet another gigantic bird or something similar to the skull I found in the village. Apparently, people collected things like these in the Nine Realms.
Another skull caught my attention, sending a shiver down my spine. I moved closer and paused. Swallowing hard against the unease I felt, I placed my hand onto it, frowning as the room spun around me.
I could see images flashing before me of creatures fighting against unseen foes. A man beside me rattled, exposing serrated teeth and claws before the entire world mimicked the sound and a low, eerie purring escaped from those marching toward the dark shadows and mist waiting across the field, preparing for battle.
Blood splattered my face, and I turned, releasing my hold on the skull as a man with turquoise eyes and silver hair stood staring at me. In his hand was the head of a witch whose prone body was on the floor beside me. He stared at me as a rattle echoed from deep within his chest, filling the room as he turned, placing his hand on the skull I’d been inspecting. Grabbing my hand, he held it to the skull, forcing us into the scene I’d just witnessed.
“You are of both lines,” the male whispered, his nose pushing against my hair, inhaling as he rattled, which didn’t call to me, but strangely enough, it was soothing. It lacked Knox’s intensity, but I felt the call to answer him with one of my own.
“Who are you?” I asked, uncertain that I really wanted to know.
“You’re not ready for that answer, Little One.”
“Are you, my father?” I turned to look at him as his lips twisted into a smirk.
“No,” he laughed, and my attention shifted back to the scene playing out before us as magic shot toward the monsters pushing through the witches’ ranks on the battlefield.
A moment before they would have clashed in battle, he pulled my hand away and crushed the skull, freeing the magic it had held. He stepped closer to me, watching as I backed up. His lips curved into a smile as he rattled, and mine answered his.
“You’re not even asking the right questions yet.”
“What is the right question?” I countered, continuing to move backward as he proceeded toward me.
“That’s not it either.”
“What am I?” I demanded, and his eyes danced with amusement.
“That’s closer.”
“Fucking answer me!” I hissed, digging in my heels, refusing to allow this man to back me against the wall.
“Such fire in one so young,” he laughed, smirking softly as his eyes searched mine. “Yet so much anger for what you don’t understand.” His other hand lifted, and a portal unlike one I’d ever felt before opened like a mirror into another realm, wavering, before returning to a solid backdrop. “Come with me, Aria. If you’re ready to know who and what you are, step into the portal and join me. We are the same, you and me. We have the same eyes, which I’m sure you noticed, but you know not why you were born with silver hair, nor why you rattle and wage war with the fire of a million stars burning within you. All you’d have to do to find those answers is to come with me. Are you ready?” More men stepped into sight. All with similar hair and eyes, waiting for me to join them on the portal’s other side.
“The wee little beast is terrified, is she not?” one man asked.
“I am not scared! I am pissed. There’s a huge difference,” I snapped, hiding the fact that I was indeed terrified.
“I can hear the thunder of your heart and smell the sweat dripping down the back of your neck. My creature is chuckling at your fear, Darling. Come with us. You don’t belong here, Aria. You’re one of us.”
The power of the portal felt different and yet pure. It was something I’d felt once before when Knox had stopped time around me on the cliff when we’d first met. It was as if he’d pulled me from my realm and into another, yet nothing around me had frozen in time. My attention moved around the room, noting that nothing moved, which meant I couldn’t know if time had stopped or not.
“Tell me who I am. I cannot fight this war alone and hope to win if I don’t even know who and what I am!”
“You’re not alone, Wee One. We are with you. When these witches captured you, we came. In the forest, when men sought to harm you, we killed them to protect you. You are one of us, so you are not alone unless we feel you wish it to be so. Come with us and let us show you the truth of who you are and why you are here.”
“I can’t,” I admitted through a lump forming in my throat.
“I told you she was not ready,” the warrior I’d first encountered stated, exhaling as a frown creased his brow. “When she is ready, she will find us and come to where she belongs. Maybe once she’s scratched her itch, and stops causing us issues with her scent, our time would be otherwise unhindered. Though, I do enjoy the sound of breaking bones when they come from men who would harm an unclaimed female.”
“Indeed, it is a beautiful sound, isn’t it? Still, she belongs with her people. Not with some king who mistreats her. Our warriors would duel each other if they caught a whiff of her, which admittedly, would offer some sport to the otherwise droll of the day.”
“When you’re ready, Aria Primrose, find us,” the warrior whispered, smiling as he bowed and stepped back, turning to speak to the others as he joined them through the portal.
The world went deafening, forcing my hands to my ears as all sound sucked out of the room. The place where they’d stood shimmered, and then a blinding light cut through the room with a surge of immense power. I held my arm up to protect my eyes as the shockwaves sent red-hot pain slicing through me. The moment I could see again, I peered around the room, finding it empty.