Kaija: Queen of Stone

12.5

"She is like your precious whore," he spat, laughing. "The dead one."

I felt the anger brew inside of me. I tried not to strike. I couldn't control my words. The death of Anai was still heavy on my heart and he knew that. "Don't you dare speak ill of her!"

"I'd apologize if it wasn't true," he retaliated. Moving on from his comment, he continued, like he never insulted me. "I want you to leave with me."

"Why?"

"We were found together," he whispered. "A divine force made sure we were united. I wanted to tell you I found your way home. I know where you belong. We were always close by, we were always meant to find each other one day. We don't have to be lost anymore. There's a way out of Udan."

A way out of Udan? All these years we've been bound to Baria's side and with her death we were freed...

Though with Mara on the throne, I promised my loyalty to her. If I were to leave, I would break my promise and betray the people I've lived with since I was a boy.

"I don't believe you. Your mind is poisoned."

"I want us to go home," he went on, disregarding what I had said. "Go back to our true home with me."

I shook my head. "Udan is my home and I serve it."

"Come home, Hona."

Home. I didn't know where that was. Jonga claimed he knew but he also claimed to be apart of the Rabaka.

"No." I gritted my teeth. "I will never follow that cult."

Jonga tutted. "You know what you were told! You don't know the power they hold! The plans they have! The world has been mistreated and they want to restore it."

"So it's true then, the Guardian is dead."

Jonga stepped forward, reaching out his hand and drove it forward, lashing it toward me as he acted it out. "I tore its heart from its chest," he explained, staring into his curled hand. "I felt it beat in this very hand. It cried for mercy, but I was merciless. I drank its blood from its carcass and bottled it for the others."

I felt bile rise in my throat. This was not the same boy I spared with years before. The man I lived with.

"Why?" I pried, horrified. "I need to understand why?"

"You don't know my pain and never will," he whispered. "The Rabaka does. I wanted you to understand, but you are so damn blinded by your own selfishness. You've turned against me, and I will, against you."

He was against me the moment he stood against Udan.

Jonga fiddled with his trousers, removing a vial from his pocket. With the light of the moon, he held it in so I could see. Inside was a metallic crimson swirling like an elixir. I thought I was going to hurl. I controlled my breathing as I stared at what remained of the Guardian. The blood inside of the vial stirred like my stomach.

"This is left of it," Jonga confirmed.

My mouth numbed. "What have you done!"

"I have become more powerful than anyone could imagine," he laughed. "I can do so much now than I could before."

More powerful. The Guardian held power. From the legends, many queens and kings alike have tried to kill it... Jonga was successful. After centuries, someone had taken its Power.

"How are you able to control such a Power?" I gaped. "The ancestors of the goddess Rei were able to. Are you—"

"I am not an ancestor of the heathen Rei," Jonga interrupted, then smiled.

"Rei is dead," I whispered, remembering one lesson from before. "Isn't she?"

"That's what Baria told us in the library," he explained. "But Rei was hiding from the world and we found her."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Your precious queen won't remember who she is," he whispered, "but I know who she is. I know the truth about your Kaijan."

Nothing he was saying was making sense. "Rei?"

"Well, it's more complicated than that," Jonga said with a laugh. "If I explained everything to you, what fun would that be? If you are not willing to come with me, you'll have to piece the puzzle together yourself."

I gritted my teeth. Tonight, I would lose my brother. "I will never go with you."

"Fine," he said, walking toward the front door of the cottage. He moved like a shadow, smelling like the vile stench of blood. "I have achieved the unthinkable, the unimaginable, it's a shame you won't join me in my triumph."

"Mara will not let you destroy Udan," he vowed. "Neither will I."

"It's already being done," Jonga answered. "Since the moment you've sided with her and become a traitor, Udan has been falling, ripping apart at the seams. Once the Rabaka sinks its teeth into this land, Udan will be wiped from the map and be no more."