Unity by Jessica Wayne

Author:Jessica Wayne [Wayne, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-30T22:00:00+00:00

19

Terrenia

Anastasia

Anastasia stepped out of the portal and into complete chaos.

Parents yelled for their children as they raced for their homes. A group of Fighters rushed toward the center of the village, weapons drawn, and she and Tony followed.

The village center was filled with people she didn’t recognize but knew weren’t Terrenianas. They were Jaitu, tear-stained, dirty, clutching children and each other, and they were terrified.

“Sorceress!”

Recognizing the voice, Anastasia turned. Nix ran toward them, a small infant clutched in his arms.

“Nix, what happened?”

“We have to go back!” he yelled, startling the baby. “We have to go back for Nallia!” His eyes were wide, panicked, his pale face flushed with color.

“What happened?” Tony insisted, stepping closer.

“He came for us.” Nix looked Anastasia straight in the eye. “The Luxe, he came as Dakota.”

Orlaith stepped forward, and Nix handed her the crying baby.

Not wanting to waste any time if she could save the Jaitu world, Anastasia waved her hand, conjuring a portal.

“You five, come with us,” Tony ordered a group of Fighters.

Anastasia, Nix, Tony, and the handful of Fighters stepped through and onto the decimated world.

All the greenery—trees, grass, everything—was black and withering away before their very eyes, turning into tar and collecting on the ground.

“Nallia!” Nix yelled, breaking into a run and racing through the devastation.

Anastasia followed, her heart thudding in her chest as she searched for anyone left.

“Nallia!” Nix cried out again as they burst into a clearing. A large tree had been split completely in half, its leaves dripping to the ground in an inky black just like the Luxe people she’d seen in Seattle. “No, no, no.” Nix fell to his knees, and Anastasia rushed to him.

In his arms was Nallia—or what was left of her. Her body had been drained of everything, leaving nothing but a bone-filled husk of skin.

The horror of it dropped her to her knees. Tears burned her cheeks, and the tightening of her chest was so constricting Anastasia wasn’t sure she could breathe.

“Go! Search for survivors!” Tony ordered the Fighters, but Anastasia already knew they’d find no one.

Thames had done to this world what he’d done to the Pickrie world—drained every last drop of life from it and its inhabitants.

Nix cradled his wife in his arms, holding her close to his chest and rocking as one might do with a frightened child.

“How did this happen?” he asked Anastasia.

But she couldn’t answer. What was there to say? She should have gotten here sooner, could’ve warned them about Thames and Dakota, brought them back to Terrenia and kept them safe.

Now, they were dead.

Nallia was dead.

Gone.

And Anastasia was left standing on yet another bloody battlefield.

Tony approached, carrying a smaller body in his arms. Jaw tight, he laid it down beside Nallia. The boy was drained just like the woman, but Anastasia recognized him as Henry—Nallia’s younger brother and the next king as soon as he came of age.

Nix cried out, his grief pouring through the pain-stricken cry as he gripped his wife and the hand of her younger brother.

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