Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)

Chapter 53 - Lance - What's Left

We barely make it to the top of the stairs before the dungeons flood. We're all soaked from the massive wave that came out of nowhere in Fauna's cell, though we thankfully all managed to duck just before the water wolves ran in. They jumped over us as we figured they would, but we definitely didn't expect them to become one massive wave of water that had even the rats and mice squirming up the steps to avoid drowning.

"Where-"

"Outside," Darius answers before I can finish my question. His eyes are pinned to the long hallway and the King's Garden beyond it.

"Go!" Garrison yells, already bending down by Svenja and the unconscious Hira. We don't wait to argue, and the three of us take off down the halls. I'd worry more if I didn't know that Rohana already called one of her sisters to get them out with whatever mind link they share. She explained it, but I've been a bit preoccupied to fully comprehend it.

My slight relief that my sister might actually be free again is short-lived. The ground starts shaking, making us stumble and throw our arms out to catch ourselves before we run into the walls.

"What in ten hells is going on?"

"I don't know. Hold on." I don't have to be told twice and grab Rohana's outstretched arm, Darius doing the same, and then the world's twisting before sunlight shines in my eyes and the ground is once again moving. I don't get the chance to look up before my feet are kicked out from beneath me and I fall into a thick pool of water. The current is too strong and I am quickly twisted this way and that, losing track of which way is up. Someone grabs onto my cloak and pulls me to my feet, my lungs gulping down air the second I break through the surface.It takes me a second of coughing and blinking to regain my senses, but I'm still knee-deep in water and have to put all effort into planting my feet to avoid being pulled back under.

"She's going to flood the castle," Darius calls over the sound of crashing waves. I snap my head up to where he stares and almost disappear beneath the waves again when I spot the cause of the flood. Thankfully, Rohana keeps me upright, but she herself seems to be just as wide-eyed.

We all look up in amazement, watching as Fauna hovers in the air, arms widespread like a bird as the water from the moat rises to her command. The earth still grumbles louder, making our feet slip beneath the mud. I open my mouth to ask them what we're supposed to do, but then something large and black comes out of the moat, trapped inside the water.

"What in ten hells is that?" A question I'll be getting quite used to, I suppose, along with the answering silence.

We watch as Fauna guides it to herself, and stares at it. I can't see what it is thanks to the obscurity of the water still enclosing it, but it looks like some sort of large balled up...yeah I have no idea what it is. The water around seems to shift further and based on the way her hands slowly come together, I'd say she's crushing it. The form gets smaller and smaller, and then it starts moving. What looks like an arm lashes out, the water keeping it from clawing her skin. Another one appears, followed by what could be slightly smaller hind legs that bend the other way.

The water at our feet rises. I hold my breath as it temporarily puts only the top halves of our bodies underwater. I try not to choke and keep what little air I have in my lungs until the water rises higher and I can breathe again. It raises with her right hand, reinforcing the ball she's already created and squeezing even further.

"What the fuck is it?"

"Is it Xaxias?" Darius asks, his brow furrowed in a way that tells me he's trying to find out for himself.

"No," Rohana answers, taking a step towards it. "It's not him, but-"

"An extension of him." Darius and I jump at the sound of Willa's voice, the woman not caring for the water soaking her as she watches the spectacle. "We wouldn't have known that his monster was beneath the castle until it shredded the entire town to pieces."