Last of Her Kind (Book 1, Part 1, of the LAST series)

remnant of the souls

I laughed watching Ren spit the food out into the sink.

"Oh, stop being so dramatic." I turned to see Ilyana enter the room with a towel. "It wasn't even that bad." She turned, looking at me. "Was it?"

My eyes widened as I shook my head. "I thought it was fine."

Ren continued gagging into the sink, causing me to laugh more. Ilyana just rolled her eyes, holding the towel out to him. He quickly snatched it as he began scrubbing his tongue with it.

"Geez, Ren. Tell me how you really feel."

He held up his index finger with one hand, continuing to scrub his tongue with the other.

"Unbelievable," she muttered, throwing up her hands.

Grabbing a cup of water, he chugged it, swished it around in his mouth, then spat it back out into the sink. He turned to look at us, eyes wide. "Were you guys trying to kill me?"

I let out a laugh. "Are you serious?"

"Yes, that was awful. Don't take this the wrong way, but you both are horrible cooks. I mean, truly awful. No one deserves that."

I gasped, picking up random items and throwing it at him.

He started laughing, blocking his face. "Hey, hey -"

"Hey."

I let out a cry, pain surging up my leg.

"Forgive me." I looked up to see Aiden. "I had to stop the bleeding."

I looked down to see a bandage tightly wrapped around the wound. Reaching up, he begin unlocking the chains, causing my arms to flop down. "What's happening?" I croaked.

"The celestials wish to see you."

Grabbing one of my arms, he wrapped it around his shoulder, rising to his feet. Wincing in pain, I forced myself to stand up with him. And, boy, how it hurt. My body was heavy. My limbs were jelly and screamed in pain. I just wanted to lie down.

He half carried me out of the cell and up the steps. I tried to walk, but it was hard putting pressure on my leg, so I just let him drag me.

Reaching the top step, we walked down the hallway to the familiar two large, golden doors with a seraph standing in front. Getting closer, the seraph opened both doors to reveal the three celestials sitting up on the thrones, with a white staircase leading up to them. I was back in Empirlah, the whole room having been rebuilt.

Everything looked to be the exact same. But, honestly, it was hard to tell. My mind felt...woozy.

Aiden released me, causing me to fall to my knees on the hard floor, creating an echo. I gave him a hard look before looking at the celestials. Theo stood to the side, smirking at me, with other protectors standing around the room. If possible, I was more scared than I was when I saw them all that time ago. My heart was pumping, my head swirling even more. I wanted to throw up.

I sat up straighter, not even trying to stand to my feet.

"I hear you're on the verge of your power becoming awakened. That's good. They'll be pleased," said Mohan.

There it was once again. "Who...who is they?" my voice rasped.

The hanging lanterns flickered. "You'll know soon enough. We are to see the Elder soon."

A tingle ran down my spine. The Elder? Who was that?

"Now, we would like..." he trailed off, the doors flying open. A guardian ran past me and up the steps, whispering something to the celestials. Mohan clenched his jaw, giving the guardian a nod. Eskel and Idan rose up, following the guardian. "Aiden, go with them."