Chapter 45

Dravyn

The world was shifting.

Breaking apart beneath me.

And I wanted it to swallow me whole and never spit me back out.

If she is going, take me too.

But when my vision cleared and my surroundings stopped reeling, I had not moved. Nothing had taken me.

So I was forced to watch what was unfolding.

Silver and black energy wove a tangled web around Karys's body, bleeding out from the spot where she'd stabbed herself. Little fires slipped between the ribbons of that energy, as if fleeing from it. They extinguished almost as quickly as they flew away from her.

Even from a distance, I could see how pale she was becoming.

Could see that she wasn't moving.

I ran, throwing myself down beside her, gathering her against me. Her body was already stiff. Devoid entirely of color. As if that knife she'd plunged into her chest had not only killed her, but sucked her dry of all her spirit, all her magic. Where had she gotten that knife? What had it done? And why ?

Dead.

She was dead.

This could not be.

Because I would not let it happen. I would never let it happen. I'd sworn it. I would have protected her from every single hurt, every threat, every beast in every heaven and hell and everywhere in between. From anything, no matter the cost.

But this…

She'd done it to herself.

Why?

I couldn't move.

Andrel shook free of his stupor before I did. I heard him sheathing his sword, shuffling his stance.

Then he laughed .

My eyes flashed toward him.

He started to back away, still smiling.

As soon as he took a step, Karys's body caught fire, igniting into a violent pyre, its flames so thick they blinded me from all else.

Not knowing what else to do, I held even more tightly to her. Her flames had never bothered or burned me before, and I didn't care if they did now. I held to her fire like it was the very air I needed to exist.

My wildfire, my goddess, my breath …

But her body was growing lighter, slipping away from me no matter how fiercely I clung to it. Turning to threads of flame like it did whenever she transported herself…except the threads did not immediately whisk away into nothingness.

They pulled her body away from me only to gather again and weave into a different form—into the same mythical creature I'd seen on the day we'd first practiced flying together.

A phoenix.

Just as before, the creature didn't stay long.

But this time, as it faded into the air, some of its fire fell into a new shape that did stay behind: A sword.

The last of her fire, forged into a fitting weapon to finish things with.

It hung in the air, solid and waiting. I stood and reached for it, and it dropped directly into my outstretched hand.

Andrel had paused his retreat, caught up for a moment in the sight of all the magic unfolding around us. As his gaze fell to the sword I now held, he slowly backed away.

Then broke into a run.

I was faster.

There were no words exchanged. No hesitation. No other thought—there was nothing except the feel of the blade of fire in my hand and the pounding of my feet driving me closer, closer…

Close enough to grab him and yank him to a stop.

I didn't stab him in the back.

I whipped him around to face me before throwing him to the ground.

Then I pressed the tip of the sword into the exact same place where he'd left that scar on Karys, right near the heart.

"I am not the God of Death," I growled, "but I have connections. And so when your sorry, fucking pathetic excuse for a soul makes its way into the Afterlands, I am going to personally escort it straight into the deepest hell."

I didn't give him a chance to reply.

I stabbed, shoving the blade cleanly through his chest, twisting it viciously as it went.

The sword ignited and engulfed his writhing body.

As the flames rose, I released the blade and took a step back. Within seconds, he was burned beyond recognition—just another body in a battlefield full of them.

Nobody and nothing, just as he deserved to be.

But it was not as satisfying as I'd dreamed about.

A victory, but a meaningless one in the wake of what I'd lost. It felt hollow.

I felt hollow.

Unbalanced.

I surveyed that battlefield still rumbling around me. The fighting was subdued, now, with most of the participants either confused or distracted. But there were still swords in hands, poison in the air, blood pouring from wounds. There were still plenty of questions left to answer. Plenty of things that needed to be fixed.

Before I could decide on what my next move might be, a silvery light exploded at my back.

I spun around to see the phoenix-like creature alighting on the same stone plateau it had first emerged above—only it was no longer made purely of fire. Instead, this creature she had shifted into was solid, her feathers a mixture of faintly glowing shades of blue, violet, and scarlet. The same silvery light that had caught my attention surrounded her.

As I stared, that silvery energy flowed out from her, carried on a cool, mist-filled breeze that rattled the trees, stirred up dust, swept over the battlefield and cleansed it of the scent of blood and poison.

It washed over every being in sight, turning them all toward her. Swords dropped. Whispers filled the air. Soldiers kneeled, and the ones who didn't bow of their own accord were soon slipping into a daze that had them wandering, looking to the sky, shaking their heads.

It was more than awe taking over them—it was something supernatural, something beyond any power I had ever witnessed in any realm.

What was this magic?

Whatever it was, it continued to pour from her for several minutes. The cool breeze soon made several laps around me, lifting my hair, pulling at my clothing. Drawing me toward her.

I followed that pull.

The world no longer felt as if it was tilting sideways.

She watched me approach through green eyes that were familiar, yet altogether something new. Something brighter.

But as I made my way up onto the rocky plateau, the last of the silvery light left her, and all the color seemed to drain from her body in the next instant.

I froze.

She blinked. Bowed her head.

Then she rose with a mighty flap of her wings, disappearing into the bright sky, leaving behind nothing except a pile of ash and feathers.