Chapter 95: The Great Escape
Melissa’s POV
My wrists were still restrained in iron cuffs as I sat in my chilly stone cell. I had trouble breathing. My thoughts were racing.
I would die.
There was nothing I could do to change the tribunal’s decision about my fate. No trial. No second opportunity. Only death.
I felt a chill go through me. There was nothing Kane could do to stop the Council of Elders, but he would never permit it.
I tensed when the heavy door creaked open.
A cloaked figure entered, moving quickly and carefully. The hood then dropped back, exposing-
“Lydia?” My eyes got big.
Her face was strained with urgency, and her golden hair was more disheveled than normal. “We’re running out of time,” she said.
Kane, his dark eyes full of resolve, moved in behind her before I could reply. He hurried over to kneel beside me and took hold of my hands.
“I’ll get you to leave now.”
I gave a headshake. “Kane, no-”
“Yes,” he interrupted. He tightened his jaw. “They can’t take you away from me.”
Lydia quickly took a tiny bottle out of her cloak. She covered my handcuffs with a glistening blue liquid. The chains fell to dust in a matter of seconds after the iron sizzled.
“Where did that come from?” I rubbed my aching wrists and inquired.
Lydia grinned. It was borrowed from an elderly warlock. Avoid asking questions.
I was hauled to my feet by Kane. “We must relocate immediately.”
From the corridor came the sound of footsteps.
Lydia swore. “It’s too late.”
We were found by the guards.
Kane gave a deep growl. “Remain close, Melissa.”
Three fiercely armed soldiers rushed in as the door flew open.
Kane was the first to lunge, and he quickly took down one of them with cutting claws.
The second guard staggered and coughed wildly as Lydia hurled a handful of silver dust into the air.
The third fighter rushed directly at me.
Lydia thrust a blade into my hand before I could even react.
“Fight, Melissa!” she shouted.
I didn’t consider it. I simply relocated.
I swept the blade upward, avoiding the assault with a single swift motion. The warrior howled in agony as it cut across his arm.
In a flash, Kane had him dead.
“Come on!” Lydia took hold of my wrist and dragged me in the direction of the secret entrance.
Kane took the lead, keeping an eye out for danger.
Now the alarms were going off. Time was not on our side.
And I was aware that this was just the start.
There was a strong sense of danger in the air as we sprinted through the dark woodland. I couldn’t get away so easily from the Council.
I sensed it as soon as we crossed the border into the forbidden territories.
The air had more weight. Accused of something old.
I said in a whisper, “We shouldn’t be here.”
Lydia glanced at me. “You’d rather die?”
I took a deep breath.
Kane halted abruptly. He listened with his head tilted.
An arrow flew by my ear and lodged itself in a tree.
“Go!” Kane let out a shout.
Paranormal killers. Quick. Quiet. Deadly.
My heart thumping, I ran after him. Between the trees, shadows moved, encroaching on us.
A sword aimed at my back was blocked by Kane’s move. Without hesitation, he snapped the assassin’s neck.
There were more.
When Lydia tossed a glowing rune to the ground, multiple assassins were launched into the air by a flash of blue light.
However, there were too many.
We wouldn’t survive.
Then, directly in front of me-
An archway of stone, adorned with odd symbols.
Like it was alive, it pumped with vitality.
Kane took hold of my hand. “Over there!”
We made no hesitation.
The world changed as soon as we entered.
The woods disappeared.
And we were in a completely other place.
I tried to stabilize myself as I gasped.
I had never seen anything like the location we had entered.
Gleaming carvings adorned the surfaces of towering ruins that jutted into the sky. Magic buzzed across the air.
“What is this location?” I muttered.
Lydia walked slowly around. “ancient lands.” Prohibited. Time-lost
Kane remained near, his body stiff. “But for now, we’re safe.”
Secure.
I had my doubts about that.
Because it began then.
A voice.
Not Darius’s.
Another stuff.
A darker one.
It started as a whisper, too faint to make out.
Then it became more powerful.
“Melissa…”
I tensed up.
Kane took note. “What is it?”
I gave a headshake. “Nothin’. It is
“You hear me now, don’t you?”
I let out a gasp.
Lydia gave me a startled glance. Melissa?
My hands were pressed to my head. “Someone else is there.”
The voice laughed. Low. Laughing.
“I’ve waited so long for you.”
My gut clenched with dread.
What-who-was this?
Kane put his hand on my arm. “Speak to me, Melissa.”
However, I was unable to.
Since the voice continued to talk.
Additionally, it was saying something that made me feel quite cold.
“You were never meant to be his queen…”
The voice was deep and silky, yet loaded with poison.
My breath caught.
Kane. It was discussing Kane.
“You were meant to be mine.”
Ahead, in the ruins, a shadow moved.
My blood froze.
The voice was no longer merely in my mind.
It was present.
Waiting for my arrival.