1
Queen Lilith of the Eternal World sat behind her desk, casually reading through the pile of documents in front of her. She grabbed her pen from the holder beside her and quickly signed her signature on the documents, knowing what they were without even reading them.
She rolled her eyes when she came across yet another page declaring how the Eternal Forest required more food and water rations. A forest surrounded the idiotic civilians who lived there. How in the holy realm could they need more food and water when they were surrounded by it?
She ripped the page in half and threw it in her wastebasket with a clear and perfect shot and rubbed her temples, trying to rein in her patience. Pretending to be the queen of this ridiculous world was more annoying than rewarding. At first, when she captured the Royal Circle, she’d loved the high of being in control of all the power, but as the centuries went by and she had to keep her true abilities hidden, it was more of a nuisance. She only allowed everyone else to see the smallest sliver of power she contained; the rest she kept locked up inside, and it was begging to be unleashed. She needed to get the members of the prophecy together soon, or else she would go insane.
A knock at the door had her growling in frustration, and she yelled out sharply, “Enter, and this better be good.”
One of her servants meekly opened the doors with an envelope in his hands, a red crest keeping the pages folded together.
“Pardon the interruption, your grace,” the servant, a small, petite male elf barely five feet tall, said in a soft voice, then cautiously approached her desk and extended the envelope to her. “But this was sent to you, and we made sure to -”
Lilith snatched the envelope from the annoying elf’s hands and started to tear the envelope open, already knowing who it was from. “You’re dismissed.”
“Is there anything else I can -”
“No! Get out!” Lilith snarled, and the elf turned on his heels and ran out of the room, hastily closing the doors behind him.
She rolled her eyes with disgust and read the message Caius Moonblood sent her.
Skylar Erikson escaped with the scroll. Tara Erikson is no longer at the Ocean Falls Academy. I don’t know where the others are. Everything’s falling apart.
C.M.
A fierce growl of frustration ripped from her throat, and she crumpled the paper in her hands, her fingernails digging into her skin hard enough to draw blood, but she was too furious to notice the pain.
Damn that idiotic sorcerer! She ran her fingers through her hair, wanting to strangle the fool with her bare hands. She would get the members of the prophecy; she was more than capable, but it was now going to be harder. She was doing all the work, presenting herself as the dependable ruler, decoding the prophecy, traveling between worlds to stake her claim. All she asked of him was to gather the others; was that so hard?
A page on her desk caught her attention. She picked it up and studied it for a moment. It was a picture of Luna, the one she’d had broadcast to the rest of the Eternal World. Luna was smirking in the picture, her eyes devoid of remorse, with smudges of blood and dirt on her face, her purple hair wild and disheveled.
She found her mind wandering to memories of the Chameleon and forced herself to shut them down. She felt her blood boil as she recalled how the girl would always find a way to ruin her plans, and even now, she was a thorn in her side.
But this time, she wouldn’t get in the way. This time, she was going to get everything she wanted. And this time, Luna would be eliminated for good. She would make sure of that.
Luna sat on her mattress, knees pulled up to her chest, gazing blankly at the wall across from her.
For the first time in her life, she wasn’t sure she would win. All her life, she won whatever battle she came across with a smirk and her middle finger raised. But ever since the Abyss Wielder showed up, she felt as though everything was falling apart.
She still couldn’t get herself to wake up from the coma, and at this point, she was unsure if she ever would. She knew bringing someone back to life would take a while to recuperate from, but something felt wrong. She felt wrong. Everything about this was bad.
For the first time in her life, she doubted herself, and that was the most terrifying thing she’d ever faced.
