The Fanged Throne

Chapter 26

A loud drumbeat had started in Elora's heart, the beat was urgent and matched her steps. Her fingers trembled and nervously played with the soft fabric of her dress. Two armed soldiers stood waiting outside the door to the throne room and nodded at them before pushing open the large door. The room was different from the last time she was in it, placed in front of the throne on the ground was a large slab of concrete.

Ameda sat upon her throne donning a dark leather dress decorated with buckles and straps, her hair was pulled back into a braided elaborate style and was completed with a large crown on her head. She sat straight in her chair, arms outstretched while a pair of ruby coloured snakes slithered up and down her arms, between her fingers and around her ankles. She was beautiful at this moment and knew it.

Roughly, Thayer nudged her further into the room, closer to the throne and Elora stood frozen, waiting for what came next. Ameda smiled at her and stood up slowly, both her snakes draped themselves around her shoulders like a red scarf. Elora could hear Thayer backing away to stand with the rest of the soldiers alongside her.

Ameda glided across the room and stood before Elora with her hand raised to her mouth to cover her gasp. "Oh my sweet girl, you look absolutely breathtaking." Ameda's cold hands ran gently down Elora's hair and she saw no sadness or regret in Ameda's eyes. "It is time." She let go of Elora's hair and guided her to the concrete slab. "Now don't fight, it will only make things worse for you." For a brief second Elora contemplated fighting, to just wildly kick out and scream, but knew it would be hopeless and would only make Ameda furious. She hoped Thayer had a plan. Swallowing her fear, Elora allowed herself to be led on shaky legs by Ameda. When they reached the slab steel hands latched onto her arms and chest, yanking her down until she lay on her back looking up at Ameda, her head spun from knocking it against the concrete.

An awful cold sensation on her wrists caught her attention and she turned her head to watch as Ameda's snakes wrapped themselves around her wrists and chest like chains, trapping her there. Ameda snapped her fingers and the soldiers stood back, Elora looked up at her. "You don't have to do this! Please, Mother..."

Ameda rolled her eyes and pouted. "Not this again..." She bent over and gripped Elora's chin between her fingers, her long nails slowly sinking into flesh. "I need to do this; I have to do this. This is your destiny. After all, it was why I had you in the first place."

Elora felt as if all the air had been stolen from her body. "You see..." Ameda let go and straightened up. "Blood magic has a price, the more you use the more you need and as you already know, my supply is dwindling." Ameda now walked around in a slow circle, her steps echoed across the silent room. "That is where you come in darling, I knew that one day I would need a ...boost if you will, and to do this I needed my family bloodline. The only problem was that my family were already dead, so I had to create a new one, it is why I created you."

"What about my father? Did you kill him?"

Ameda stopped walking, Elora could feel her behind her head. "Your father? I met him by chance in Wirenth, and he fell in love with me faster than I had planned." Ameda gave a soft chuckle and resumed her pacing. "Everything had worked out perfectly, I was pregnant and only a few days away from labour when the King's soldiers stormed our home. Apparently, someone had tipped off the King about my practicing. Turns out you can only threaten silence from your neighbours for so long."

"Your father managed to get out in time, not me. We had a special meeting place in case things went wrong, I assumed he went there. I gave birth to you on the floor of a dirty cell and then they took you away from me! I knew I couldn't stay in Wirenth for much longer and was weak from childbirth, so I had Banu sneak me out. Together we left the Northern Realm and have been waiting for you ever since."

"What about my father? You didn't go see if he made it to your meeting place." Elora questioned her.

"I admit I did think about it, but he had out served his purpose and I had to leave." She said nonchalantly.

Elora cried out. "You're a monster!"

Ameda laughed at Elora. "Calm down, what's done is done. Now storytime is over."

Ameda snapped her fingers and Banu walked into her line of vision, in his hands he held something shiny which he handed to Ameda. Her broken sword. Elora watched as Ameda swung the weapon between her hands as if testing the weight of it. She spun the sword once more and pointed the blunt broken end at Elora's throat.

"Aha you recognise this, I'm afraid I had to take it away and put it to good use."

Elora scoffed at her. "My broken sword, good luck with it." Ameda let out a small laugh that got louder and louder until she was bent over wiping the tears at her eyes. Elora eyed her warily, not trusting her.

"Oh my, you are really and truly clueless my dear." She stopped laughing and took a step closer. "You have no idea how powerful this sword is, otherwise, you wouldn't have let it slip so easily into my hands."

"What are you talking about?"

Ameda smiled at her and ran her hand along the sword, and Elora watched in amazement as it lit up. Lining the surface were small lines and patterns.

"Warlock Runes." Elora breathed out in surprise. She recognised them as the same ones that were drawn in Thayer's cave.

"Clever girl. This sword was forged by warlocks and was made for one very specific purpose."

All at once, all the puzzle pieces fell into place and the final picture stunned her. The story of the warlocks and the witches, the way those wraiths had chased her through the Spectres Playground and the way Ameda grinned at her now.

"It will remove the time spell on the Nmerion War! Releasing the monsters into the realms and you'll have your army and..." She trailed off in shock.

Ameda clapped her hands. "Bravo! She has figured it out. Not only will I have my army, who are immortal I might add, but you've also just handed me the power to win the war without realising it."

Elora squirmed under the snakes' tight hold. "No! If you do this it will destroy all of Kophian, there'll be nothing left."

Ameda shrugged. "Probably, or perhaps I spare everyone. Imagine how grateful they would be to me, their saviour."

"That would only make you more powerful, they'll end up hating you."

Anger flashed across Ameda's face and she pulled the sword away from Elora's chest and handed it to Banu. "Enough stalling, let's begin."

Ameda took a step forward and lent over Elora with outstretched hands. Nothing happened. Elora still wriggled in her captive hold as she watched as her mother's eyes rolled back and turned black like the night as the room darkened around them. A guttural phrase was uttered by her mother, the words foreign and harsh. The hairs on the back of Thayer's neck stood up. Slowly, a burning sensation began to flow through her body as if someone had lit a fire inside her. The temperature grew warmer and her body broke out in a sweat as Elora felt a trickle of boiling bubbling blood leak from her nose and ears. The pain had become unbearable, and Elora cried out in agony as Thayer stood watching helplessly.

The pain had reached the point where she was desperate for it to end, her mother stood above her, the chanting had gotten louder. Gathering all her strength Elora stretched her head towards her chest, ignoring the muscles that strained in her neck and let loose a scream that chilled Thayer to the bone. Elora sunk her teeth into the scaled body of the snake around her chest and ripped.