spellbound | book #1 | completed

X L V I I I

[edited: 24/03/2018]

Maksim did not feel that he had much of a choice but to follow Remy into the depths of the black waters below. His whole body buzzed with magic as he sprinted to the cliff's edge and peered down for any sign of life below him. There was none. No ripples, no splash, no Remy. He was already preparing to jump when his brother's voice stopped him. He had had quite enough of that irritating sound for one day, but something about the tone of it now pulled him back to listen.

"I would not do that if I were you, dear brother." Ackmard was stood beside him, looking down at the lake and feigning inspection. "Those waters ... well, they are not all they seem, and I suspect that by now your little mortal girl is long gone anyway. It would simply be a waste of time. I do not want to see you waste your time, brother."

"That is you all over, isn't it?" Maksim sneered, an uncontainable sense of hysteria bubbling within the crevices of his stomach and chest. He did not know what to feel now: fear that he was in the process of losing perhaps the only thing that had ever mattered in his four hundred years of existence; anger at his brother, who could not help but bring pain and loss with him wherever he went, who had pushed Remy down into the water below without a hint of remorse; confusion, for his mother had hidden the fact that he had a sister, and an evil one at that. It was almost enough to paralyse him, but now was not the time to be still. "The caring, loving older brother, always looking out for me. Mother's prized possession. The star of the family."

"Be careful, brother," he smirked. "Your jealousy is showing."

Maksim couldn't help but scoff at that, and without thinking, he grabbed his brother by the collar of his black robes and slammed his body against the nearest cliff face, causing Ackmard to groan in pain. This was the first time he had ever gotten physical with his brother in all their years of sibling rivalry. This was the first time he had ever hated him—or anyone—enough to hurt him not with the use of his magic, but with his bare hands. He was vaguely aware of his mother crying out for him somewhere in the distance, but he could not focus on that now. All that existed in this moment was he and his brother and the waters that held Remy beneath them.

"You are not so strong and powerful now, are you?" he snarled through gritted teeth. "I am not playing your games. Now tell me what those waters truly are before I—"

"Before you what?" Ackmard wore a mask of amusement, but Maksim could see the fear in his black eyes and wondered what he must look like, with his brother pinned against a wall and his hands balled into fists, magic sparking from the tips of his fingers. "Could it be that our baby Maksim, the good one, is not so good after all?"

"It is a void portal, Maksim!" Hilda shouted just as Makism was about to shove Ackmard further into the uneven wall. "Just as the legends say, it has the power to take and destroy anything that falls into it. It is a black hole. I am sorry, Maksim, but Remy is gone."

Maksim unfurled the hand that clutched Ackmard's shirt and stepped away from his brother, his lip curling upwards in revulsion for the creature in front of him, the one that had the power to destroy every drop of goodness that existed, including his own.

"Remy is not gone," he muttered, finally glancing at his mother. He paid no heed to the woman that stood beside her, the one that seemed to share everything with Hilda except for her humanity. His sister. "She can't be gone. I can still save her."

He inched backwards, preparing to make a run for it. His mother was pleading with him to stop, but he tuned her out again. And then he was running, diving off the edge of the cliff, his arms outstretched as the wind stole his breath. It did not take long for him to break the surface of the lake, and immediately he could feel the current dragging him under, causing his arms and legs to flail. He panicked as his entire body shuddered and the feeling of emptiness consumed him. For a moment all he could do was shout, but of course, who could hear him when the water drowned out everything it touched? He could not even hear himself.