All Chapters of The Curse Between Two Worlds: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

The storm ripped through the forest like it had a life of its own, wind whipping at my face as I spurred Prince forward. His hooves sank into the mud, splashing up water and leaves with every desperate stride. Beside me, Snow urged Excalibur on, his dark coat slick with rain, mane flying like a banner in the wind.“Faster!” I shouted, though the roar of thunder almost swallowed my voice. Lightning cracked above us, illuminating the forest in jagged white flashes—and in one of those flashes, I saw him. Carter.He was on the ground, robes caked with mud, chest heaving as if each breath was fire in his lungs. My stomach twisted, and I leaned forward over Prince’s neck, pressing for speed.“Hold on, Prince!” I shouted, though it was almost too late—Prince’s hooves slipped on the slick earth, sending a shower of mud in all directions. I gritted my teeth and dug deeper, heart hammering. Snow stayed close, her grip tight on Excalibur’s reins, eyes sharp, jaw set, and I could see her worry i

My lungs burned like I’d been drowning. I shot upright, gasping, my heart hammering against my ribs like it was trying to break free. Everything around me was dark—too dark. The air was heavy, thick with the scent of ash and iron. My head throbbed in rhythm with the pounding in my chest.Then I heard it. That voice.“Welcome home, Carter.”The words slid through the air like smoke, soft but suffocating. I turned toward the sound, every instinct screaming at me to run, to fight. But when my eyes landed on him, my stomach turned to stone. The Wicked stood just feet away, his crimson cloak rippling in a wind that didn’t exist. The glow of his red eye cut through the shadows, and the faint smirk twisting his lips made something inside me crawl. For a moment, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Because staring at him felt like staring into a mirror warped by time and cruelty.“What—what the hell is this?” My voice came out rough, unsteady. I looked around for anything familiar—a doorway, a

I hit the ground with a bone-jarring thud, the breath whooshing out of my lungs before I even had the chance to groan. The sky spun above me for a second before Snow’s voice cut through it like a blade.“Get up, Charlie.”Her sword hung at her side, gleaming in the sunlight. Her chest rose and fell with each sharp breath, but her expression was as composed as ever — calm, cold, unrelenting.“I will,” I wheezed, resting the back of my head against the grass. “Just… give me a sec.”“Wrong.” Her tone snapped like a whip. “The Wicked won’t give you a ‘sec.’ You hit the ground, you get back up. Instantly. Again. Get up.”I groaned, dragging myself upright and raising my hands defensively. “When’s lunch, though?”The smirk that ghosted her face vanished the second she lunged. Her blade came down fast, and I barely had time to block before stumbling backward into the fence.“You don’t get lunch when our lives are on the line!” she barked.“Okay, okay, I gotcha.” I swung again, metal clashing

Snow circled me like a wolf with patience to spare. Her steps were light, ghosting over the moss-covered ground, but her eyes were sharp—calculating, assessing every twitch in my posture.“Again,” she ordered.My arms trembled. Sweat slid down the back of my neck despite the cold. I forced my fingers to uncurl and lifted my hands, aiming them toward the boulder she’d placed in front of me—a jagged, towering thing covered in patches of lichen.I inhaled, trying to remember what Phineas had said. Magic is not something you push. It’s something you listen to.Easy for him to say.I exhaled—and a pulse of silvery light shot out, slamming into the boulder. It cracked down the middle, stone dust erupting like smoke.Snow shook her head. “Too much force. You’re treating your magic like a weapon.”“It is a weapon,” I snapped before I could stop myself. My muscles ached, my lungs burned, and the image of Carter’s new midnight-black hair with those red ends flashed across my mind like a warnin

I dug my heels into Prince’s sides, driving him harder toward the looming fortress in the distance—an obsidian castle clawing at the sky, wrapped in spiraling clouds of black and blood-red. Every thunderous stride he took hammered against the ground and against my chest, my heartbeat barely able to keep up. Excalibur’s hooves pounded beside us, Snow leaning low over his mane, her braid whipping behind her like a silver flag in a storm. Every second we wasted was a second stolen from Carter. And a second closer to the world ending.“We’re almost there!” Snow shouted over the roar of the thunder and the distant, bone-deep rumble of the earth beginning to split beneath the bleeding sky.I didn’t waste breath answering. I only urged Prince faster. His breaths came harsh and ragged, his muscles quivering with effort—but he pushed on, for me. For Carter. For all of us.I pressed a hand against his neck, felt his trembling steady beneath my touch. “Almost there, boy,” I whispered.We hit the