Her Cinder Throne (Completed)

Chapter 67

A perverted shape stood shuddering just a few feet away from them, a similar color to the shadows it blended into. It could have been considered vaguely human in shape, except that it was it was twice the size and so painfully thin that every bone was visible in its body. Bulging, milky eyes stared unblinking into the dimness and a portruding slit of a mouth broke the bottom part of its face. With no nose, ears, or hair, it looked as if it was a frog that had been floating dead in a lake for weeks.

"We're not here to cause you or your brothers any harm," Tanwyn said.

Lies. My brothers have been taaaaaken.

Cole shook her head. "That was the king. A horrible man who wishes to use your master for his own evil whims."

Tanwyn stepped forward. "Your master will never be safe in a place that the king knows about. He will keep coming until he destroys all of you and takes your master to make his slave."

I do not make dealsssss with those from above. You wish to take my maaaster.

"Yes," Cole said, her desperation bleeding into her voice. "Yes, we wish to take the Sparkstone to keep it safe. If the king takes it, he will destroy everything. If we take it, we will hide it away, far from him. He will never know where it went and will never be able to take it to become a minion of his plans."

I do notttttt listen to above creeeeaturessss.

"Please--"

I do nottttt listen to above creaturesssssss!

"But--"

I DO NOT LISSSSTEN TO ABOVE CREATURES!

Before they could move a muscle, the monster launched forward, grappling onto the stone flooring with both its unnaturally long arms and its hunched legs. Its nails scraped against the stone, like a sword clattering against a tombstone, and then it was looming right above Cole, its bulging like two moons beaming down above her. Its thin fingers clamped down on her shoulder, and its head lowered to sink blunt teeth deep into her arm. She screamed as pain exploded in her muscles and skin. Tanwyn shouted, throwing a punch at the creature's head. It snapped back, ripping the flesh from Cole's forearm in a deep and ragged chunk.

Black spotted her vision as she swayed in place, the pain all consuming for a moment. She saw Tanwyn drop to his knees, clutching his arm in the same place. Though he merely clutched smooth skin, Cole's hand clamped over a gaping hole in his forearm which spilled blood in ribbons down her fingertips to the cave floor. Thankfully, the creature seemed to have only caught a small section of her skin with its teeth, as the hole was only slightly larger than a human bite would be. But it still dripped blood to the floor, and was painful enough to stun both her and Tanwyn.

Brothers, brothers, help me desssssstroy those who seek to destroy us. Come proooooootect our master from their machinationsssss.

Cole grit her teeth as she struggled to stay standing. All she could see of the monster was its bulging eyes swaying in the darkness of the shadows around the stone. If it was calling more of the monsters, she wasn't sure how long the small crevice keeping them separated would last. The monster seemed fairly strong, judging from its bite, and if they thought their master was in trouble she could only imagine how much stronger they would grow.

Tanwyn pushed himself to his feet, scooting closer to her side and ducking his head so he could speak to her without the monster overhearing. "You need to claim your bloodright," he said, his teeth gritted against the pain he felt in his uninjured arm.

"I don't have a bloodright," she replied. "I'm just Cole. A miner. Nothing more. Why would they respect that?"

"You're Princess Caspia," Tanwyn replied, his hand gently taking hers. The blood from her injury slid into his palm, but he didn't pull back. "You can choose to take that name and save the world from a madman, or you can choose to take that name and merely save us from dying in this dark cave. But you have to claim it either way, because it is who you are. A princess, an Eldritch, a miner, a human. All in one."

Bitter and hot tears spilled down Cole's cheeks. She hated being the pitiful human slave of a mad king, yet somehow it had become who she was. More than anything she wanted to shed it, yet when it came time to claim who she really was, she felt herself reluctant to let go of the person she had known herself to be her entire life. Yet, to survive she would have to face her true identity and realize that she was no longer helpless. She now had some power, and it was finally time to use it.

"Keep this one busy for a few seconds," Cole whispered to Tanwyn as she swiped her sleeve across her eyes to dry them. Her fear turned to a boiling anger. At the monsters, at the king, at her mother, at Bastian, the Eldritch, Tanwyn, herself. Anger at everyone who had ruined her life and who was now forcing her to refind it.

Tanwyn launched forward, cutting to the right and toward the monster. He yelled, reaching into his robes as if he had a weapon hidden in there. The monster's drowned eyes swirled toward him, its body tensing to pounce on him as he drew near it. It was all the distraction Cole needed.

Launching forward, she ran toward the stone floating in the air a few feet away from the monster. It noticed her as soon as she started to move, but it was already half engaged with Tanwyn who now was throwing punches that the monster had to concentrate on if it didn't want to end up being pinned.

Cole only had a handful of seconds before the monster took care of Tanwyn and turned to her. She put all her strength into her feet, blasting toward the stone and reaching out to smack the palm of her injured arm against its surface. Her blood splattered everywhere, smearing the surface of the stone and landing in splatters on the monster's skin as it turned to try and rip her away from its master.

"My name is Princess Caspia of the ancient line of Eldritch rulers!" she screamed, her voice visceral and so raw that it burned her throat. "My ancestors commanded the obedience of the magical realms due to the bloodrights of their line! I now command that you honor your oath to serve those with the ancient blood and leave us in peace!"

The light of the stone pulsed, bathing Cole in the orange light of a roaring campfire.

NO! No, Maaaaaaaaster, we cannot let these above creatures trick us!

The monster writhed in place, almost like a child that had been sent to bed early. It hissed and kicked, flipping around on the floor of the cave.

Master, we cannot nooooooot! We willlllllll not!

The creature's voice shrieked in their heads, desperate and piercing. But beneath the screaming desperation of the monster, Cole felt a strange warm presence spread through her arm and chest. It was not a voice, but more of a feeling. A feeling of acceptance, letting go.

She closed her fingers around the stone and as easily as picking up a pen from a table she plucked it from the air. As soon as it was nestled in her bloody palm, it lost the strange heaviness it once held and felt like nothing more than the Sparkstone ring she had held earlier. The warm feeling in her arm and chest disappeared as suddenly as they came and the glowing of the stone began to fade into a dull pulsing that barely lit up the cave enough to see anything.

NOOOOOOOOO!

The monster slammed its limbs on the ground with enough force to splatter black blood across the stones. It rolled onto its stomach, its hands grappling to give it purchase, and it looked up at Cole.

You will not escape us. Our master will returnnnn to us!

Cole drew in a sharp breath as the crack in the wall behind them began to ring with the screeching of the other monsters. The rocks shook as they pressed against the wall, trying to get in to their master.

"Tanwyn!" Cole shouted, holding out her hand to him. The monster lunged at him, grabbing his foot as he threw out his arm to take Cole's hand. Her fingers grazed his skin as he fell from the force of the monster grappling at his legs. She heard the crack of his jaw as he landed on his stomach and his chin smacked into the rock. She felt the pain explode in her own face, but she couldn't focus on it for too long.

With the stone clenched in her palm, she pulled back her leg and delivered a heavy kick to the monster's head. It whipped backward, stunned for just long enough that Tanwyn pulled his legs free from its grasp and threw himself into Cole's arms. She took one last look at the monster scrambling toward them, and its brothers tearing down the wall to reach them, before she summoned the magic into her chest and imagined her mother's face near the campfire down the mountain. And then she told the stone to take her there, and the cave blurred around them, leaving the monsters far behind.