Robbin

47. The Real Enemy

As she looked at Jake, face clean, she realized that the demons wouldn't touch him.

Terra realized in that moment that the wolves were a false threat—not in the sense that they weren't dangerous, as of course all Terra had to do was witness the claw marks on Robbin's shirt to prove that. No, the wolves were a false threat because their sudden unification was not a strategy to bring the nomad city of Parantium down, it was a misleading distraction to lead Terra's defenses away in order for the demons to do what they had always planned to do: steal her necklace.

Though, that wasn't the worst of it. The worst part was that Terra didn't think the demons were the real enemy either. The real enemy was another mysterious player, orchestrating the demons actions from behind the scenes. And if she was right, she realized only she could stop all the madness.

She also realized that just as the demons couldn't touch Jake, they could touch Robbin. They could kill him, as he wasn't a part of the grand plan. Their strange instruction was wrong, however.

"Why is Jake so important to you?" Robbin unwisely repeated his question.

The demon pummeled Robbin's face to the dirt, knocking him out cold once more. "If you won't take it from her, then we'll find another way," it said.

Terra screamed with anger.

"Because you are dispensable. Do you know why your friend is important?" it taunted over his unconscious body. "It's because Malicion says he's important."

She quaked as another vision hit her. The demon who was a man had betrayed her. Madiera had betrayed her, too. She choked on the poisonous air of Carynthia, the air that had defiled her: defiled her romantic dress, a token of her foolish nature. If she had seen it coming, she wouldn't have dressed in red. For red against stone was the last foul token that Madiera had given her.

She tried to keep her grasp on the reality that was collapsing around her. Antoinette had died long ago.

"Malicion is wrong," Terra whispered. "Back away from Robbin."

Thirty Minutes Earlier:

Long before she grasped the implications of her predicament, Terra was merely a towing package that one of the demons threw across his shoulder. The demon was careful not to injure the boy as he shepherded him forward.

Terra's visions were of Madiera and Antoinette in their carriage. Madiera wore a beautiful gold and scarlet dress. The material was much richer than Antoinette's, and Antoinette felt her sister pulled the color off better, overwhelmed as it was by bronze.

When they finally reached their destination, Antoinette grew weary of Madiera's looks.

"Why do you eye me as if I were some wild animal?"

When Antoinette got close, Madiera pulled her into a vacant room of the manor, away from the craziness of the ball.

"Because you are."

Antoinette ripped her hand away.

Terra tried to work her way out of her haze. She saw a few trees before she fell asleep once more.

"Madiera, why must you invent such lies in your evil, mischievous, rotten brain?"

Madiera, the sister she had once known, committed an act she had only dared commit once before. She transported her without her will. The first time it had been to take her away from danger, and this time, she took her to it. Madiera grasped her wrist forcefully and Antoinette felt her stomach go queasy.