Lexi gasped, air tearing its way back into her lungs. Her eyes flew open, violently awakened from her hallucination. Her chest heaved as she tried to take in her surroundings.
She immediately noticed that the darkness was thinner than in the woods. She could see her surroundings more easily. Lexi sat in a clearing, the forest's edge just a few feet away. She could feel cold stone at her back, and when she turned her face to get a better look, Ariel and Valen sat beside her.
Lexi blinked, confused.
She vividly remembered the dream she had — lost in the darkness, Maren's light guiding her to their wedding party.
And then…
Lexi's head snapped up at the memory.
The chill in the monster's voice.
The blood on its breath.
And the image of the Darkwood King.
It was all so vivid in her mind. But it wasn't real— none of it was. At least, she thought so. She glanced over at her teammates, recalling that she had lost them in the beginning of her hallucination. And the more time she spent mulling it over, she remembered more and more of the situation.
"We made it out…" she whispered in disbelief.
Lexi turned her focus back to the forest, blinking, still in somewhat of a daze.
But how did we make it out? She grimaced. She glanced back over at her sleeping friends, muttering to themselves in their sleep. I suppose I should wake these two.
Lexi moved, awkwardly balancing herself to stand, when suddenly, her leg knocked into a metal object. Beside her sat a lantern — the same one from the beginning of the second test.
Her fingers trembled slightly.
The one she had placed back on the post.
The lantern was unlit but inside had five unused matches that she was sure weren't there before.
Somebody saved us, she thought. Surely not one of the other prince candidates. Hayden, Elio and Antonio were in front of us. We were tracking Darrin. The other two are with me. So…who?
As she pondered her mind for possibilities, Lexi used one of the matches to light the flame. When the lantern was lit, she noticed something carved into the dirt beside her.
Lexi's eyes practically bulged out of her head at the sight of it, her breath catching in her throat.
The outline of a tree without branches yet roots deeper than the trunk.
The banner of the Darkwoods.
Lexi gazed at it far longer than she would have liked to. She didn't know much of the Darkwood line. Only that of all the concubines the old King took, he was only able to sire six children.
Only the youngest three had inherited the infernal bloodline.
The others were said to have died in the war.
And the Empire made certain the survivors did not remain for long.
But those that complied were given special privilege. That is how her own family came under the eye of the Empire. Her cursed ancestry started with Koren Raine, but she often wondered what happened to the other descendants — to Koren's younger, half-sisters.
She remembered the names of Koren's siblings well from her history lessons.
Alessandra Valdirene.
And Drina Dacini.
Lexi's palm traced where the dirt was carved as she recalled the face of the girl who gripped her hand with such fear. Her ancestors were seen as monsters, but she knew they were just as much victims of the Darkwood King as anyone else.
She remembered that girl's dark eyes and vague features about her, but it all happened so fast that when trying to recall the others, they were a blur. The only other detail she remembered was that one of them looked different from the others.
Each of the siblings had two distinct features in common — dark hair and dark eyes.
But the boy that stood to Koren's immediate right did not have that same deep raven color hair.
His hair was an unmistakable light shade of red.
A color Lexi had only seen on one royal family in Carbouran.
Then —
BOOM!
Lightning struck the ground, far too close for comfort. Lexi could feel the storm's power, electrifying the air around them. They had to move — fast.
Ariel awoke with a strangled inhale and Valen's eyes flashed open.
Without thinking, Lexi covered the dirt tracing with her foot and moved toward the boys.
"What happened!?" Ariel cried, wrapping his arms around himself as he trembled from the cold. "Where are we?"
"We're alive?" Valen muttered, a lost look in his eyes.
"We are," Lexi confirmed, placing a hand on his damp calf to steady him. "But we have to move."
She moved away from them, collecting her sword from the ground. "I know you both are disoriented but we made it out and now we have to celebrate by continuing on."
There was a pause after her words.
"How?" Ariel asked, his voice low.
Lexi straightened.
His tone wasn't confused or puzzled.
It bordered on accusatory.
She turned around to face him, and her stomach sank when she saw it.
His eyes filled with distrust.
And she couldn't blame him either. She could have shown them the symbol on the ground. She could have told them a nameless hero saved them. But the moment she covered those tracings, she knew she would have to keep up with that lie.
At least until she knew what they were, and what they meant.
"The hallucinations affected me less," she said, plainly.
Ariel held her gaze for a moment before he let his gaze drop. "Oh…right."
The guilt sat in her heart like river stones.
I'm sorry, Ariel, she thought.
Valen was already standing, his arm reached out for Ariel.
"Thanks," he muttered, taking Valen's large gruff hand and hoisting himself up.
But Valen did not respond.
Lexi noticed Valen's somber attitude, her eyes flicking to Ariel to see if he noticed too. And when he met her gaze again, that told her he felt the change in Valen as well. She didn't know what they saw in their visions, but she was well aware that the monster inside saved her, in a way — pulling her out of something that seemed too real for comfort.
They hoisted their luggage over their backs, securing their weapons, when suddenly, a sound broke through the winds.
It was faint, but distinct from the rest of the sounds.
Screaming — not too far from where they were.
Lexi made eye contact with Ariel but before they could discuss a decision, Valen had already dashed away. Lexi sighed and ran after him, Ariel following behind.
Valen is going to get himself killed.