Chapter 6 - The Dead Queen
The Queen lowered her glowing staff, her piercing green eyes locking onto Elara.
She looked exactly as she did in the royal portraits, unaged and ethereal, dressed in a tattered gown of spun silver.
"Mother?" Kaelen whispered weakly from the mud, his face pale and drained of color.
"Hush, my sweet boy, you have lost too much blood," the Queen commanded gently, stepping forward to touch his forehead.
A soothing, golden light emanated from her fingertips, immediately sealing the deep gash on Kaelen's side.
Elara watched in silent awe as the Queen effortlessly manipulated the ancient magic.
The remaining shadow wolves whined in fear and melted back into the darkness of the forest.
"I thought you were dead," Kaelen murmured, leaning against the tree as his strength slowly returned.
"The King tried to kill me when he discovered my magic, but the forest protected me," she explained, turning her gaze back to Elara.
"You have brought the celestial vessel directly to me, just as I requested."
Elara took a cautious step backward, sensing a subtle, dangerous shift in the Queen's tone.
"You requested?" Kaelen asked, pulling himself up with a sudden look of betrayal.
The Queen smiled, but it was a cold, calculating expression that sent shivers down Elara's spine.
"The demon possessing your father cannot be defeated by a simple sword, my son."
She walked toward Elara, her magical staff humming with a terrifying, contained energy.
"It requires a weapon forged in celestial blood to permanently banish the dark entity from this realm."
The Queen reached into her tattered robes and pulled out a jagged dagger made of dark glass.
"Elara must willingly drive this blade into her own heart to charge the weapon," the Queen stated matter-of-factly.
Kaelen instantly stepped between his mother and Elara, his face twisted in horror.
"I will never let you sacrifice her!" he yelled, raising his own sword against his resurrected mother.
The Queen sighed with deep disappointment, waving her hand dismissively.
An invisible force slammed into Kaelen, throwing him violently into a nearby boulder and knocking him unconscious.
Elara tried to run, but the Queen pointed her staff, freezing Elara's limbs with a paralyzing spell.
"He is too soft to do what must be done to save the kingdom," the Queen whispered, pressing the glass dagger into Elara's rigid hand.
Elara could not speak, but tears of absolute terror streamed down her paralyzed cheeks.
"Do it, or I will wake my son and force him to watch me peel your skin off piece by piece," the Queen threatened.
Suddenly, Kaelen began to convulse on the ground, but he was not waking up normally.
He coughed violently, spitting up a thick, black liquid that sizzled furiously against the wet grass.
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The Queen gasped in genuine shock, dropping her staff as she stared at her son.
"No... the demon has already infected him," the Queen whispered, realizing she was entirely too late.
