Anastasia (The Bolton Series Book 1) (19 page)

saw flames rise against the mountain’s walls. It would only be a matter of time before the smoke kills us all if we didn’t get out of here soon.

“Let’s go find Daruka.”

Yelson took my hand and we ran back to the house. We ran straight to the stairs before we realized our mistake. We didn’t check to see if the house was empty. Just as I was about to turn around my world went black.

~*~

When I came to I was on the floor. My hands were tied behind me. I couldn’t see anything around me as there was no light in the room.

I tugged at my bindings to see how tight they were. I moved my hands as much as I could away from each other but it did nothing to loosen it. I pictured the rope breaking, my hands moving away from each other. Still nothing happened.

The torches that lined the side of the room lit up the moment two doors opened. Too trolls entered and walked straight to me. They lifted me up from the ground and sat me in a chair. My hands were still tied behind me so I could barely move in the chair.

Daruka then entered. He looked like a prince from an old fairytale. He wore black tight fitting pants and shirt with a very elaborate tunic. It was dark blue with embroidery around the edges. He smiled when he saw me.

“My dear princess. You have finally come.” He moved to a table on the far end of the room and poured himself a drink. “I must say you know how to keep a man waiting.”

“Where are Yelson and my sword?”

“Oh those things, I threw them out. You won’t need them.”

“You bastard,” I yelled as I tried to get out of the chair. The trolls grabbed my shoulders and pushed me back down. I fought against them but it was of no use.

He killed Yelson. I didn’t care for my plan anymore. He was going to die I was done trying to find a way around it.

“You are just like your mother. You let love blind you. If you let that go you would see what I see in this world. The potential these creatures have on earth.” He put his glass down on the desk next to me and moved to stand over me. His blue eyes sparkled at me. “Just think, being the princess of two planets. You would have everything you wish.”

“I wish you dead,” I spat as I once again tried to fight against the men who held me down. Their nails dug into my skin causing me to cry in pain. Daruka smiled at the sound.

“I have a different plan in mind princess,” he whispered in my ear because calling for the guards outside. “Bring the girls in.”

I looked frantically at who he would be bringing in. My heart broke when I saw my mom walk in holding Arabella in her arms. They both looked like they had been through hell.

My mom’s clothing hung in rags around her small body. Dirt covered her exposed skin as well as dried blood. Her hair was unevenly cut short around her once beautiful face. It made her seem more scared than anything.

Arabella was unconscious in my mom’s arms. She wore the same green dress as the day the village was attacked. It was tattered and dirty. I panicked when she didn’t wake up. It was too much like the attack on Weldon’s birthday but this time I wasn’t sure if she would wake up or not.

“Mom?” I croaked through the lump in my throat. Her sad eyes looked at me as they began to shed tears.

“You shouldn’t have come here Annie.” Her small voice seemed different than I remembered. She sounded broken.

“What’s wrong with Arabella?” I asked ignoring what she said. 

“Oh don’t worry about her,” Daruka said. His tall body leaned against a desk just next to the chair I was in. “It is a simple sleeping spell. It should be wearing off soon actually.”

As if on cue Arabella started to stir in my mom’s arms. She groggily looked around the room. Her blue eyes stopped at Daruka. She knew who he was.

“Arabella, don’t look at him okay. Just look at my mom, don’t take your eyes off her.”

She started crying but did what I said. My mom tried to calm her down as much as she could. She whispered words to her that I couldn’t hear. Arabella slowly nodded and covered her ears while keeping her eyes on my mom.

“What do you want?” I asked through my teeth. He knew I would do anything for them.

“But we are just getting started.” He motioned for the guards to take them out of the room. I didn’t protest. They couldn’t see what was going to happen in that room. Daruka grabbed his glass and pulled a chair in front of me. “I need to see just how far you will go.”

“For what?”

“Love,” he whispered as he took a sip of his drink. “Your mother died for it. I’m sure your father and friends are dying for it too. It is a stupid thing if you ask me. It makes one weak and vulnerable. It blinds them from seeing things. From seeing the truth. I have no love and look at me now. I’m more powerful than you can ever think.”

“Yet, I’m the only one who can stop you.”

“Ah, dear princess, in order for you to stop me you would need to have a chance. Let’s face it.” He stood up from the chair. The sound of the glass being set on the table echoed through the now silent room. “You don’t.”

He turned around and walked out the door. The trolls followed him. Once the doors closed the torches went out submerging me once again into darkness.

~*~

Hours pasted by as I was left alone in the room. No one ever came to check on me. My wrists were bloody from trying to get out of the rope that bounded my wrists together. The room must have been enchanted to prevent me from casting spells because everything I tried failed hopelessly.

My eyes had already adjusted to the darkness so I looked around for something that could help me cut the rope.

The large room had three tables. A small one on the far wall that held drinks and glasses, the desk next to me, and one large one behind me. It held eight chairs and was set up for a dinner but there were no utensils and nothing around me looked sharp enough to cut the rope.

I somehow managed to get out of the chair after a few minutes of wiggling around and almost falling on my face. After a quick search around the room I found nothing. The closest thing that I could get to cut the rope was a table edge but that would take a while. I wasn’t sure how much more time I had before Daruka decided to make another appearance.

I looked at the paintings on the walls. They were all of landscapes. The only one I recognized was of the mountain we were in. I noticed one painting had a chipped frame. It looked sharp enough to cut the rope.

I pressed my back to it to keep it steady and worked my wrists around the corner. It took a few minutes but the rope started to loosen.

Footsteps echoed in the hall outside the doors. I ran back to my chair and sat down just as the doors began to open. Daruka walked in. I really wanted to smack that smile off his face.

“I thought you would like some company.” Two guards walked in dragging someone behind them. One of the guards was in my view so I couldn’t see who it was. As soon as they dropped the person all three men left the room.

Yelson was in a crumpled heap on the floor where they left him. His shirt had been torn to shreds and his torso was full of cuts. His face was swollen to the point where he couldn’t see and could barely talk.

“Yelson,” I cried as I ran out of the chair to him. I freaked when I didn’t see him move. “Yelson, wake up.”

“Annie,” he whispered when he felt me fall to the ground next to him.

“Yeah, it’s me,” I sighed with relief. I wanted to brush back the hair from his face but my hands were still confined to my back. I pulled against them one more time. They loosened a little more but not enough. “Don’t worry. We’re going to get out of this. I promise you.”

“Nice to see one of us thinks so.” He tried to laugh but instead cried in pain. It hurt me to see him this broken. He was always so strong.

“Can you heal yourself? They bound my hands and I don’t think my spells are working.”

“No. I’m fine.”

“You’re beaten to a pulp Yelson. You. Are. Not. Fine,” I said.

He sighed at my words. He didn’t want to believe that he was as bad as he felt. He had to be strong for the both of us. In his mind I knew he could tell I was panicking a little. It was in my voice.

“Turn around,” he croaked at me. He winced in pain one more time before I turned around/ His eyes had shut again and his breath became even more irregular.

I did as he said. After a few seconds I felt a slight heat at my wrist. It wasn’t enough to burn me. Yelson told me to pull and when I did the rope fell to the ground. When I turned around Yelson was passed out on the floor.

“Yelson.” I shook his body to wake him up. “Yelson please wake up. I need you.”

I placed my head against his chest to listen for a heartbeat or the sound of his breathing. There was no sound. His lungs had stopped breathing and his heart lost its beat.

“No, no, no, no, no,” I cried as I held him to me. “You can’t leave me too. Please Yelson wake up. Wake up. I can’t do this on my own. You promised me you would be there for me.”

I couldn’t control the sobs that escaped me. He couldn’t be dead. I refused to let myself believe it. Yelson was there for me since day one. He made sure that I was safe and prepared for anything. He wouldn’t leave me like that.

“Come on Yelson you have to open your eyes. I don’t think I can do this without you. You’re my guard, my best friend. I need you. If you don’t come back to me I think I may just give up. There is no way I can do this without you. We’re a team, remember?”

I held my breath for a whole minute waiting for him to open his eyes or gasp for breath like they did in the movies. He had to. Yelson wasn’t one to give up so easily. He would come back to me. I just had to give it some time.

Screaming erupted from the other side of the huge double doors. The sound of metal on metal found its way to me. I knew I should have gone out there to find out what happened but I couldn’t find it in me to leave Yelson. I held him closer to me as I tried to block out the noise from outside.

“I won’t leave you Yelson. I promise you that,” I whispered to his lifeless body.

I wasn’t sure if the sound from outside had stopped or if I was just getting better at blocking things out but soon there was no sound in the huge room. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my crying.

I had to stop. Yelson wouldn’t want me to act like this right now. Not when my life was on the line as well. He would want me to keep fighting, kill Daruka, and return home with my family but I couldn’t.

Yelson was my family also. Now he was gone. Ripped apart from me without a goodbye. I wasn’t sure how much more death I could handle before breaking down.

“I know what I have to do,” I whispered to him. “I love you. I’m so sorry this is what it took me to tell you Yelson. I hope you will be able to forgive me, please be able to forgive me for everything I am about to do.”

Gently, I lowered him back to the ground. His heated skin had already started to cool. I placed one kiss on his forehead before I lifted myself from the ground and walked out the doors.

I entered the hall that Yelson and I had occupied hours ago. Blood soaked the floor where people had been slaughtered. Their bodies littered the area. That was the screaming I had heard. Someone had brought these people down here and murdered them.

Daruka’s name was written all over it. He had done this to his own people. But why would he?

I walked past the bloody hallway until the stair came into view. No one living was around as I ascended them and exited the small house that hid the secret passage way.

Smoke encased the entire village. The fire must have been put out because it would have surely spread to everything and many of the houses were still in tacked. Just like before the only other persons around were the dead bodies on the floor. Only this time it was the ones Yelson and I had killed.

I moved around them, trying not to think too much about how they died, until I was on the main street once again. The smoke prevented me from seeing anything more than a few feet away from me. I stood on high alert.

There was no sound of fighting like there had been before. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my heavy breathing. I would have preferred for something to have attacked me, that way I would at least be doing something other than walking around to who knows where.

Somehow I found myself in the center of the village. The small carts that once held food and weapons were on the floor, their contents trampled over. A small dagger glinted underneath some crushed fruit. I picked it up. I needed something to protect myself with.

“Anastasia,” someone yelled from behind me. I turned to see Cabel standing just feet from me. His tattooed face looked frightened at seeing me out in the open. His clothing were torn and covered in blood. His eyes frantically moved around us as if searching for something.

“Cabel, what happened? Where is my father?”

“You must leave now. This is worse than what we had planned. You have to leave this place immediately,” he whispered as he tried to push me towards the exit. He shaking hands could barely grab onto my arm.

“What? No, I need to find Daruka.”

“It’s too late. He has the sword of Ustrina now. He is unstoppab-“ He stopped talking and his eyes grew wide. He looked down to his chest where the sword of Ustrina had entered him. His body exploded in flames in seconds.

“No,” I screamed as his body turned to ash in front of me.

Daruka stood behind where Cabel once was a huge smile on his face. My sword was in his hands but it didn’t glow blue like it did when I touched it. The only symbol that glowed was the Sirens which gave it the power to kill.

Cabel was right. This was worse than we had imagined. Now that Daruka had my sword he could do whatever he wanted. No one would dare try to stop him. No one but me.

“I should have known the wolf would have helped you escape. Where is he anyways?” Daruka looked around as if he were really searching for him. He knew he was dead, that was the only reason he had put him in the room with me. He wanted him to die in front of me to show me that no one was going to make it out of here alive except for Daruka. A slow smile spread across his lips at my silence. “Well, it is finally just the two of us. How about we have some uncle niece bonding time.”

“I have a proposal to make you instead,” I said standing my ground. I wasn’t about to let him intimated me. This was all going to end right now one way or another.

“Oh,” he said shocked. He expected me to either surrender or fight till my death.

“Yes. I think you will be happy with my plan. It will benefit the both of us.” He gave me a look to continue. “You want me dead. I just want you to stop hurting the people I love. I don’t care what the prophecy says, I can’t kill you. So, if you agree to bring back Yelson and stop terrorizing my family and the people I care about then you can kill me.”

“I can’t bring back the dead.”

“Not if you killed them with that sword. Then their souls are gone forever but we both know if someone is killed any other way their sprit is still here and able to return to its body. After all, we can see them. You are one of the most powerful sorcerer to live are you not?”

“Did you see your precious Yelson?” He knew I hadn’t but that was only because he had put a spell on the room to stop my powers from working. If I wasn’t able to cast a spell then I wouldn’t have been able to see Yelson’s sprit.

“No but we know why I couldn’t.”

Daruka looked down to the sword in his hands. He wanted to see my blood spilled on the end. To know that I would never have a chance of returning. It wouldn’t take much convincing to get him to agree to my deal. All we had to do now was seal it in blood and then I would be able to rule out my plan.

I may not be leaving this place alive but I would make sure Daruka never took another step for the rest of his life. Emilie’s words rang out about the page in my spell book. There wasn’t a spell written on it because there wasn’t a need for words to be spoken. As long as my intentions were true it would work. It had to work.

“Fine.” Daruka closed his eyes and whispered a spell under his breath. A trial of blue mist left his hands and trailed behind him. It would go down to where Yelson’s body was and console his soul into coming back. There was a chance it wouldn’t work but I had faith that Yelson wouldn’t have left me yet.

The mist disappeared telling us that it had reached his body. We had no way of knowing if it worked or not. I could only hope.

“Now, princess, we have a deal to seal.” Daruka pulled out a dagger from his waistband and cut open his palm. I cringed when the blade made contact with his skin. He handed the dagger to me. I grabbed it and quickly repeated what he did closing my eyes so I wouldn’t see my blood fall to the floor.

Daruka held his hand out for me to grab. I repeated our deal in my head making sure there were no holes in it. If it went correctly Daruka wouldn’t be able to move after this. He would be frozen forever unable to hurt anyone.

I grasped his hand with mine. A blue flame exploded from our touch and encompassed us in a circle.

“You think it would be that easy princess,” Daruka whispered as his grip on my hand tightened. My blood began to boil and my lungs constricted preventing me from breathing. My body froze. I didn’t know what was happening but I just knew I had made a mistake. “I would never let you trap me in my own body forever. Now, your family gets to watch as I kill you leaving them with no hope.”

My eyes widen. How stupid was I that I forgot to put up the walls in my head that blocked Daruka from reading my mind? Why could I never do anything right?

He squeezed my hand harder. My breath left me and I couldn’t get it back. My blood felt like it was cooking me from the inside out. I heard screaming around me. When I looked I saw a blue force field of some sort surrounding Daruka and I. Yelson was pounding away at it. I smiled at knowing Daruka’s spell worked.

I could see Emilie crying behind him as my brother held her. My father was nowhere in sight. They all looked like they had been through hell, covered in blood that I hoped wasn’t theirs. 

Daruka chuckled as he took the life out of me. Black spots clouded my vision. This was the end. I failed everyone. Now Daruka was going to kill me and everyone else I loved.

I looked to Yelson. He was still pounding away at the blue wall that blocked him from reaching me. He was screaming as he kicked and hit it until his skin was bloody from the impact.

I’m sorry Yelson
.
I sent to him before my world went black.

The end for now…

About the author:

Heaven Lyanne Flores was born in Los Angeles, raised in Las Vegas, and now resides in sunny San Diego with her family.

She is currently going to school to become a nurse but loves to spend her free time reading and writing while also managing the book blog, Indie Authors, Books & More. She also loves anything Disney princess related and has an unhealthy obsession with zombies.

For more information on the Bolton series be sure to log onto

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