Black Crown

XXII

Man after man, I lose track of the bodies dropping in front of me.

"Hope to the left!" Alexander shouts from behind me, and I turn just in time to drive my fist into the man's chest and emerge with his heart. I drop the still beating organ, it's blood adding to the collection of other's on my hand.

I yell as a stake is driven through my shoulder. Ripping it out, I face the man who it came from and return the favor, aiming for his heart. He gasps before falling to the ground. A sick grin crosses my face and I keep fighting.

My strength is flowing through me. Starting in my chest and stretching through my body, it pours out of me in waves. There's bodies everywhere and I try to ignore our men scattered among the dead. There was bound to be casualties, but I will not be one of them.

"Behind you-" I hear someone call, but I don't spin in time. There's someone on top of me, trying to get good of enough grip to snap my neck. When a second comes forward, I scream when they snap the bone in my arm.

I desperately try to get the off of me, protecting my chest at all costs. The first man comes close to his target, but before he can send his hand through my chest, he's thrown backwards. Alexander is standing where he was, heart in hand. I watch his face, eyes red, as he reaches for the first man still on my back. He pulls him by his arm, flipping him onto the ground.

I'm both amazed and terrified when Alexander rips his head clean off his shoulders, tossing the now useless attachment across the forest.

Snapping back into reality, I kill at least a dozen more before I hear our commander call for us to stop. The fight is over, and every single person from the attacking army in laying on the forest ground dead.

I take deep and heavy breaths as I look around at the carnage. Bodies, in one piece and in multiple, are littered everywhere. Thinking for a moment, I take the man I staked and swing his body over my shoulder. Eli, who came to stand next to me, looks at me in question as we begin to retreat back to the palace.

"We need someone to question. If I could bring Alexander back, maybe I can bring him back, too," I suggest, gesturing to the body on me.

"You don't have a good enough grasp on your ability. Mice is one thing, but a person is another," he replies, mentioning the small animals I've been practicing on. I simply shrug.

"I did it once, I can do it again." I state, not in the mood to be told what I can and can't do.

"Hope, you don't want to hurt yourself."
"Let her try," Alexander jumps in and I smile gratefully. "She'll never learn unless she tries."

When we arrive back at the palace, the brothers follow me as I bring the body to the room where the doctor did his experiments on me. It brings goosebumps to my skin, but it's the best place to get what I'm looking for.

Throwing the body onto the table, I strap his limbs in. Once the restraints are secure, I pull the stake from his chest, discarding it onto the floor.

"Remember, concentrate on driving your energy into him," Alexander instructs, coming to stand behind me. I nod and close my eyes, placing my hands on the bodies arm.

I start by trying to locate the power within myself. Once I feel it, I inhale deeply, willing it to grow. The familiar warmth starts to overcome my body. With my eyes still closed, I direct it into the man on the table. I can feel the warmth traveling down my arms, all the way to my hands, before it starts to disappear as it enters the body. When I can't feel the warmth anymore, I open my eyes and step back from the table.

The three of us watch the man in anticipation. With Alexander, it had been quick. He was alive before I even knew what happened. But I didn't know what the power felt like then. I had been so overcome with emotion that I had pushed it into him unknowingly. The mice I had been practicing on were different.