FIRST BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES OF FANTASILIA SERIES
𝘈𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘦-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘺. 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘦𝘯. 𝘈 𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘳.
Xanthiene Vivenca's life drones on in a cycle of finding her next meal, ensuring...
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Jarvik was dead.
No matter how Xanthy denied it, this was not a fact that she could slot into the back of her head and forget. It's there in her bones. In her soul. It will haunt her forever.
His eyes. His smile. His embrace. Everything screamed hope.
Hope that, someday, Xanthy would repay him for believing in her. Hope that someday she would be the savior the prophecy claimed she was.
Screw that prophecy. She couldn't even save him.
But she promised, didn't she? She promised that she will try to be happy. Would this moment count? Would Pidmena not require Xanthy of her soul for this? Did she really deserve a chance to achieve happiness?
How many deaths would she have to witness because of this power?
Jarvik's eyes stared at the empty air. Xanthy's fingers shook as she reached out and closed them. Chains clinked more than ever as her friends struggled. She dragged her eyes towards Marin to find the girl's eyes blank with tears flowing.
Then, she screamed.
It broke free from whatever magic that was preventing her friends from talking. The scream was raw, haunted. Like Jarvik's death, that scream would not leave her memory in a long time. Soon, the shrieking turned into a string of curses not meant to be said by a child. Marin screamed at Erin to die and go to the Land of Wonders, drown in the Sea, stab herself.
Erin strode towards the girl's pillar with an amused smile. Marin tumbled out straight into Erin's grip as the Queen touched the girl's chains. Xanthy's breath hitched. Erin yanked at Marin's hair and used it to drag the girl towards Xanthy. Marin's shrieks slammed Xanthy's ears.
Erin threw Marin to the ground feet away from Xanthy. The flintlock clicked again. Marin seethed. "You could have saved him," she hissed. Then, she lunged. "You could have saved him!"
A gunshot rang. Xanthy gasped, expecting Marin to drop dead then and there. Instead, splinters from Xanthy's pillar floated down past her periphery. Marin whimpered and ducked her head under arms. Erin massaged her forehead with a sigh. "I have had enough telmaus in this room," she blew at the smoke flaring from the barrel. "Be thankful I am feeling merciful today. When I shoot again, the girl dies."
Anger curled at the base of Xanthy's stomach. She raised her hand and called for her magic. Erin pointed the gun behind her. "Use magic and one of them will end up with a bullet between their eyes," she warned.
"Ten seconds," Erin clicked the flintlock's barrel again. The sound terrified Xanthy more than anything. "That is all you get, this time."
Xanthy hung her head. If she was to save her friends, she would put all of Umazure at risk. She would allow a bloodthirsty queen control over the Virtakios. She would be dead before she could even see that happen.
If she chose to save herself, her friends would die. But she would have protected all of Umazure. She would have been a worthy guardian of the Virtakios.
Which was why she couldn't choose either.
Her life or her friends'. The world or the lives of everyone close to her.
"Five," Erin counted. "Four. Three."
Xanthy has to do it. For everyone.
She raised her eyes to meet the Queen's. "Take it," her chest heaved. "Take it all."
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