Chapter 80: They Want to Kill Her

Elara:

The largest man charged.

I met him head-on. His fist caught my shoulder, spinning me around, but I recovered and struck his jaw. He barely moved. He grabbed my waist and threw me hard enough that my back hit the ground.

Pain exploded through me. And before I could rise, Myra threw herself between us.

"Leave her alone!"

The man stared at her as though she had lost her mind. Then he slapped her. The sound echoed through the woods.

Everything inside me went still as I watched her collapse.

"Myra."

I don’t remember deciding to move. I simply did... and attacked. I struck the first man across the face. Then the second. I kicked one hard enough to send him crashing into a tree. Someone grabbed my hair, and I twisted around and drove my fist into his nose. He stumbled back, swearing.

"Touch her again," I snarled, breathing heavily, "and I’ll-"

A hand closed around my throat.

"Elara!" Myra’s weak voice reached me.

I kicked backward, connected with a knee, and managed to loosen the grip. I dropped, rolled, and immediately got back onto my feet. But they were already surrounding me again.

I was exhausted. My ribs hurt. My shoulder burned. My head throbbed. Yet I refused to stop. Because Myra was now lying unconscious behind me. And I wasn’t going to let them take me without fighting until I couldn’t move anymore.

One of the men grabbed my wrist. I twisted to get freed. But another caught my other arm. I kicked wildly, but a third man grabbed my waist and restrained me.

"LET ME GO!"

I fought with everything I had.

My magic surged and warmth exploded beneath my skin, silver light flashing across my palms. For one brief second, every man froze. And so did I.

Something powerful stirred beneath the seal. Something that felt almost alive. Then one of the men struck me across the back of my head.

Pain exploded through my skull as the world tilted. The lanterns blurred into streaks of gold and I felt my knees buckle.

I tried to stay conscious. Tried to look at Myra. Tried to reach for my magic again. But darkness was already swallowing everything.

The last thing I saw was Myra lying motionless on the road and five dark figures surrounding me.

Then everything disappeared.

- - -

The first thing I felt was pain. It was everywhere - my head, my shoulders, my ribs, even my legs felt strangely heavy. For several seconds, I couldn’t understand where I was or why my body felt as though someone had dropped me from a height. Then I heard voices, and the memories came rushing back so violently that my eyes snapped open.

The woods. Myra. The five men. The blow to my head. Darkness.

I tried to move, but a sharp wave of dizziness forced me to stop. One of the men was standing over me, staring down with an expression so cold that something inside me immediately screamed that I was in danger.

"She’s awake," he said.

Another man stepped closer, and what he said next froze every thought in my mind. "Good. Then she can understand what’s about to happen." He paused, his eyes settling on mine. "We are going to kill you."

For a moment, I simply stared at him. Kill me. The words refused to make sense. Someone actually wanted me dead. Not humiliated. Not frightened. Not punished. But dead.

My mind immediately began racing through every name I knew in Starfall. Reign. Alaric. Liliana. Their families. The Regents. Even people I had barely met. But no matter how hard I searched, I couldn’t imagine anyone going this far simply because I refused to bow my head. Hadn’t the worst they done so far been childish attempts to make my life miserable? Surely none of them would actually order my murder. At least, I desperately wanted to believe that.

I pushed myself upright despite the dizziness, only to realize something was terribly wrong with my body. My limbs felt sluggish, my reactions delayed, and even keeping my eyes open required effort. I tried to stand, but my knees nearly gave out.

One of the men caught my arm and dragged me forward.

"What did you do to me?" I demanded.

He laughed. "You’ll be fine once you are dead."

My stomach twisted. Then I understood. Drugs. They had injected me with something. Probably enough to weaken my magic without knocking me unconscious completely. I forced myself to look around and nearly stopped breathing.

We weren’t anywhere near the academy anymore. We stood dangerously close to the edge of a cliff, with nothing but darkness and mountains stretching beneath us. The men were slowly forcing me toward it. Every step backward made loose stones slide beneath my shoes and disappear into the darkness below.

"Wait." I raised my hands slightly. "Think about this." They didn’t stop. "If you let me go, I won’t tell anyone what happened." My voice remained steadier than I felt. "You can leave here. I’ll never identify you."

One of them scoffed. "You think we are worried about that?"

"You should be." I swallowed hard. "If I disappear, there will be an investigation. People at the academy knows I went out tonight. People know where I was. Eventually, someone will start asking questions." I deliberately left Myra out of it. She was already in danger because of me, and I wouldn’t drag her deeper into this. "Killing me will bring attention to you. Letting me walk away won’t."

For a moment, they exchanged glances, and hope flickered inside me. Maybe I had reached them. Maybe they would reconsider. Then the tallest man laughed.

"You really don’t understand, do you?" He stepped closer. "You are a lost princess who returned to Starfall barely a month ago. More than half the realm doesn’t even know you are alive, let alone back." His words hit harder than any punch. "Right now, you are not important enough for the Regents to turn Starfall upside down over your death."

Another man added coldly, "If anything, some of them might be relieved."

My chest tightened.

"Our employer has already arranged everything. We’ll be gone before anyone realizes you are missing."

I backed away again, my heel nearly touching empty space. "Who is your employer?" I demanded.

"You won’t live long enough to find out." The man smiled. "And even if they investigate, we’ll be gone from Starfall by then."

My heart hammered against my ribs. I reached instinctively for the warmth beneath my skin, desperate for even the smallest spark of magic. But nothing came. The drugs had made it even harder to connect with my power.

I tried again. Still nothing.

"Please," I said, not because I wanted to beg but because I needed another second. "You don’t have to do this."

The man closest to me reached out and grabbed my shoulder. "Yes. We do."

And then... he shoved me backward.

My foot slipped.

For one terrifying second, I hung at the edge. Then I fell.

The world disappeared beneath me as I plunged into the darkness, and a scream tore from my throat. But before I could fall more than a few feet, something huge and impossibly dark burst from the shadows above. It slammed into one of the men with enough force to send him flying, followed by a roar so deep that it seemed to shake the entire mountain.

And then, as I continued falling, I saw glowing eyes turn toward me.