Chapter 23
582words
"Sandra." Elias suddenly appeared at my side, stepping in front of me. "I know what you're thinking. But don't be reckless. We can find another way—"
"What other way?" I cut him off. "Attack with long-range weapons? Byron would die. Send in a strike team? That altar is surrounded by traps. We'd suffer heavy losses."
"That's still better than you going to your death!" Elias's voice was filled with desperation. "Sandra, once you get near that altar, they can drain your bloodline! You'll die, and Byron will die too!"
I looked at his anxious eyes, a complex emotion stirring within me.
This man, this true protector, was trying to shield me in his own way.
But he didn't understand.
I wasn't walking down there to save Byron.
I was walking down there to end a war.
"Elias," I gently touched his cheek. "Trust me."
Then I turned to my father, who was watching me with the same worried expression.
"Father, trust me."
I looked at Byron on the distant altar. The man I hated with every fiber of my being.
The man who had destroyed our child.
The man who had tried to seal my power.
The man who had pushed me into hell.
But now, he was using his own life to send me intelligence, to point out the enemy's weakness.
My heart was a storm of contradictions. The hate was a living thing inside me. The rage still burned hot. But beneath it all, an unwelcome guest... regret.
For everything we once had.
"I am not saving him," I said, my voice cutting through their protests. "I am finishing this."
I took a silver dagger from the command table and tucked it into my belt.
"That altar is their greatest weapon. If I destroy it, they lose their ability to take my bloodline."
"But Sandra—"
"No buts," I cut my father off. "This is the only way I see."
I walked to the edge of the platform, preparing to walk onto the battlefield alone.
"Wait!" Elias grabbed my arm. "If you have to go, at least let me go with you!"
"No," I shook my head. "You stay here and wait for my signal."
"What signal?"
I turned back to look at them, my eyes resolute.
"When I get close to the altar, the leader will let his guard down. For one perfect moment, he'll believe he's won. His focus will shift. The altar's defenses will drop for a heartbeat."
"And then?"
"Then you concentrate all your firepower and bombard the altar's energy core." I pointed to the glowing silver runes at the base of the distant altar. "Without the altar, they're just lambs to the slaughter."
Elias and my father exchanged an uneasy glance.
"What if something goes wrong?" my father asked. "What if they activate the altar before you get close?"
"Then that's my fate," I said calmly. "But at least you'll be able to avenge me."
I pulled my arm free from Elias's grasp and strode to the edge of the platform.
"Sandra!" Elias yelled after me. "You can't do this! I won't let you take this risk!"
I stopped, but didn't turn back.
"Elias," I said, and my voice was no longer Sandra's. It was the voice of a Queen, forged in fire and loss. "I am not asking for your permission. I am giving you an order."
"I will draw him out. You will destroy the altar behind him. That is an order."
