Zodiac Academy 6: Fated Throne

A Nymph fell beneath the might of my sword and I twisted around, seeking out Darcy to check she was alright, but my gaze caught on Clara racing toward us. Shadows burst out from my sister, swallowing me and Blue and my pulse hammered in my ears.

I couldn’t see. I’d lost sight of the battle, my girl, everything. Whispers filled my head and all sound was lost to the dark magic consuming the world around me, the only light the glittering fire burning on the edges of my sword.

“Clara!” I called into the dark. “Show yourself.”

The darkness swept out around me so I found myself standing in a dome of shadow arching over me. Clara was kneeling at the centre of it, clutching her chest and sobbing.

“Clara?” I breathed hopefully, stepping closer to her cautiously.

“Oh Lance,” she said, her voice cracking. “Please help me.”

I reached for her shoulder and her head whipped around, her eyes as dark as pitch as she lunged at me with her fangs bared. My heart lurched and I threw her away from me with the strength of my Order, but a tendril of shadow caught my legs and flipped me onto the ground on my back.

She jumped on my chest and I snarled, throwing her away from me again so she went tumbling over the sand. I leapt up to fight, raising my weapon in defence, but how could I strike her when I knew my sister was in there?

“Lance!” Darcy’s voice reached me from somewhere out in the shadows and my chest tightened.

“Blue. Stay away!” I roared, but she called my name again like she couldn’t hear me.

“I could crush her, little brother,” Clara said lightly as she rose up on a tower of shadow ten feet above me, glaring down with venom in her eyes. “I could squeeze her in the shadows until her head went bang.”

I clenched my jaw, running forward and slicing the sword through the shadows beneath her. She shrieked, falling down and hitting the ground. I lunged for her, trying to grab her hair but my hand passed through nothing but darkness.

“You can’t hurt her, she’s stronger than you,” I snapped and she waved a hand.

Darcy’s screams rang in my head and fear sped through my body.

I ran towards Clara, but she shot away into the shadows and I took chase, running as fast as I possibly could to catch her.

“Blue!” I bellowed, but no reply came. I was lost in the dark again, running through an endless sea of it, unable to find my queen or my sister.

“Blue!” a mimicry of my voice sounded off in the mist and my heart lurched in panic.

“I’m coming!” Darcy’s reply came.

“No! that’s not me!” I shouted, but the sound came thundering back into my own ears, not seeming to go anywhere at all.

Clara’s high pitched laugh filled my head and I ran faster through the shadows as I searched for Darcy.

“You’ve been very mean to me, little brother,” Clara’s voice followed me everywhere as I sprinted, my arms wheeling back and forth beside me as I ran harder and faster. “And now you’ve chosen this dirty little Vega over me and my shadows. They were a gift, how dare you let her get rid of them?”

“Shut up!” I bellowed. “You’re not my sister. You’re Lavinia. A Nymph princess.”

“Ohhh!” she cried in glee. “Lavinia, yes, yes, yes. I’d forgotten my name. How pretty it is. La-vin-ia. I love it, I love it. Thank you, little brother.”

“I’m not your brother,” I snarled viciously.

“Yes, you’re right I suppose. But Daddy isn’t my daddy and I rather like calling him that. I think your sister liked it too once,” she chuckled cruelly. “Clara is here. Do you want to say hello?”

My breathing stuttered and I slowed my pace. “Yes, let her out. Let her be free, Lavinia. Please. She has nothing to do with this.”

“Lance,” Clara sobbed. “Please end it. Save me.”

I growled angrily, turning as my sister’s voice sounded right behind me. Two familiar eyes met mine between the shadows and I lunged for my true sister, reaching for her hand, but she immediately dissolved into the mist.

Lavinia’s dark laughter sounded once more, rattling through my skull.

Darcy screamed somewhere off in the fog and panic tore at me. What do I do? How do I find her?

“Daddy wants you alive,” Lavinia cooed at me. “But you can’t be alive and not be punished. So I’m going to make your life hurt, little brother. You’ll suffer and suffer and suffer until you beg me to take away the pain. You’ll want to return to the shadows and be by my side forever. You and me. Family. Doesn’t that sound nice?”

“Fine,” I snarled. “Hurt me, punish me, do whatever you like, just let Darcy go.”

“And why would I do that?” she chuckled. “Pain makes you suffer in the now, but I want you to suffer in the always.”

“Blue!” I called again in desperation and my voice echoed everywhere.

No reply came and fate seemed to close in, narrowing down until there was only one path to follow. And it wasn’t going to end in my favour.

“Let her go,” I demanded.

“Alright,” Lavinia chuckled. “Which will it be then, your sister or the Vega princess?”

“Both,” I hissed, my heart beating fiercely.

“Ah you little witch!” Lavinia screamed suddenly and the shadows tightened, suffocatingly thick. I was being dragged forward, guided toward something as tendrils of shadow bound me and I slashed at them over and over with my sword to try and free myself.

“Fuck you,” Darcy snarled and Clara shrieked again.

“Ow ow ow! You’re hurting. All that fire is ouchy,” Lavinia begged then started laughing and laughing. “Stay in there in the dark, I’m talking to your lover boy.”

“Lance!” Darcy cried but the sound was muffled and as she started shouting again, her voice faded away.

I battled the shadows holding me, more and more of them wrapping around my flesh and several locking around my arm as they tried to prise the sword from my grasp. But I wouldn’t let go.

Lavinia appeared before me, peering at me from behind my sister’s eyes, her head cocking to one side as she regarded me and I tried to lunge at her, finding myself unable to move.

“I need a little something,” she said with a smirk, drifting toward me and gripping my chin. “You’re a clever thing, do you know much about shadow curses?”

“No,” I said, my voice thick as the word curse sent fear dripping down my spine.

She reached out, grasping my throat and I fought harder against the shadows, trying to tear myself free of them. Her touch was ice cold as her hand slid down my skin then her fingernails drove into my flesh. “It requires some blood. And I’m fresh out.” An icy blade slashed across my arm and I snarled in pain, shoving her away, but not before she coated her hand in the blood from my wound.

“Clara,” I breathed, trying to get my sister’s attention, seeking her out in this monster’s eyes. “I’ll save you. I’ll find a way.”

She sneered, but then her expression shifted and I was sure I was looking at my true sister. Her ebony eyes were filled with endless pain and it broke my heart to see her suffering.

“I’m here, look at me. You can fight her off, I’ll help you. Darcy will help you,” I promised and she released a sob that hurt me.

“I can’t come back,” she choked. “Please free me.” Then she disappeared into the dark once more.