Chapter 29

Chapter 29

If looks could kill, I would have murdered that man right then and there. The hoofbeats of his horse were hot on our heels as Altyr carried me toward the wall. He was nearly on us when I felt the rush of air. Altyr had jumped over. The wind whipped our hair about as we flew over the stone. We landed with a heavy thud and I heard Altyr let out a groan. The hollow would be crawling over the wall in only mere moments.

A glowing light pulled my attention away. The Night Flower was still woven into my hair, it was blooming fully. Light was streaming down from my head like an illuminated crown upon my head. Altyr tried to take a few more steps forward but stumbled.

“I’m using a lot of my strength, I can’t carry you anymore. You need to run as well.”

I swallowed hard and nodded. Taking his hand, I pulled him forward. He was losing strength as he slowed down to run more like a human and not the supernatural being he was. We weren’t going to make it too far with him like this. Another explosion happened behind us. We ducked as stones flew past our heads. Somehow Bazak was able to use the light to cause such fire. There was so much we couldn’t explain. Like how he was using the light to control the hollow.

I stopped suddenly, and Altyr tripped in confusion. “What are you doing? We have to go!”

“The light…”

“Yeah, your head is glowing,” he tugged on my hand, “we have to keep moving!”

I threw his hand off me and whirled back around toward the army of hollow that were crawling through the opened hole in the wall. There were hundreds crawling and skittering through the rubble toward us. Putting my hands out in front of me, I tried to focus on the moon, focus on my will.

“Sylvia, we have…” his voice trailed away as the light magic swirled toward my hands, pulling in from the moon rays around us.

Stop. It was the only word I repeated in my head. I was going to make them all stop just as I had Orrin, just as I had Lenora. They were going to stop. The beat of their feet on the ground got closer, and nearer. I closed my eyes, focused on the magic, focused on my will.

Thunderous footsteps echoed through the broken buildings and overgrown trees. An army of darkened creatures coming for our essence. All they needed to do was stop. I pushed out my will one more time, one more wish.

Silence.

I popped open my eyes and not five feet from us stood a hollow frozen in place. Hundreds of hollow were frozen in place. I gasped and fell to the ground, Altyr’s hands wrapped around me as he pulled my exhausted body back up. We both took a moment to marvel at all the claws outstretched toward us fully immobile.

I was weak; he was weak. Using so much magic was draining us of our life force. Pulling me up, he said, “it can’t last long, we have to go.”

Both of us turned to flee. We didn’t get too far before we heard a war cry beside us. Bazak and his men had gotten through the gate. The hoof beats of his armored horse were heading right for us. I pulled Altyr to a stop and embraced him

“Feed on me,” I said with a shaky voice.

He shook his head wildly, “it’ll kill you. You have no energy left.”

“I can’t fight, I never could. You can fight.”

“You might die,” he pleaded.

Tapping the Night Flower that was dripping magic down my head, I said, “You tried that once before and this saved me. It will save us again.”

I didn’t wait for him to say anything before pulling the flower out of my hair and pressing it into my chest. Immediately the warmth radiated through me and into my soul. It filled me again with the warmth, the magic of life. I let it take over my body, swim through my veins.

Leaning my head over and exposing my neck, I commanded him. “Feed on me.”

I watched him squint his eyes in a last attempt to fight my order before he sunk his teeth into my throat. The warm sticky blood flooded his mouth, pumping out of me. He drank deeply as the magic flowed from me to him. The beating hooves got closer and closer as he drank deeply.

Ripping his head away from me, I saw the glowing of his eyes as he wiped his face. He held the magic inside him now. Grabbing my throat, I attempted to put pressure on the wound, sucking the last of the flower’s magic dry to at least close the holes. I felt the skin piece itself together under my fingers. If only it would have done it for Lenora.

Altyr stood up, straightening his back. He cracked his knuckles, twisting his head to pop his neck. “This is going to be fun.”

His eyes were glowing like a white fire, the magic escaping into the night like smoke from them. He dashed forward, unarmed, toward the stampeding Lightbringers. I watched as he leapt over a horse and pulled a soldier off with ease. Snapping their neck, he quickly went to do the same move to two more before they caught on to his attack.

Picking up one of their own weapons, he didn’t reel away in pain as he armed himself with a light-infused sword. He struck down three more with ease as I watched him use a strength and speed I never knew anyone was capable of. Several more came upon him in the night, their shields and armor were glowing brightly in the dark like beacons in the abyss.

The dark shadow of the forest was moving in toward him. I watched as it blew past me, pulling toward Altyr. Someone like him shouldn’t be in control of that much light magic. Darkness was his master and it was coming back for him. The fog of night darkened the forest, blocking out the moonlight above.

I lost sight of them as swords clashed. The faintly glowing Night Flower in my hand was the only thing shining in the dark. I couldn’t leave him to die at Bazak’s hands. I rushed toward them, unsure what I was even going to do.

A voice cut through the darkness, a scream of pain. It was Altyr’s. I sprinted toward it, determined to save him. Pushing my way through the darkness, I tried my best to call it away. With every push of my will, the darkness embedded itself right back onto my hands, misting back up my arms.

It was working though; I was pulling it away, I could see. I found Altyr curled into a ball, no Lightbringer to be seen. His body went rigid, his arms flailing on the ground. The battling magical forces were destroying his soul.

I pushed my hand into his chest, pushed the darkness back into him. He was too full of light, his soul couldn’t handle it. Not after so long of living in the dark. It was eating him alive from the inside out. His body slackened, and he stopped thrashing about. I pulled him in close to me.

I heard Bazak’s voice cut through the darkness. “You will be mine, Sylvia. I’ll personally remove your head for this.”

Whipping around, I frantically looked for the source but couldn’t see anything in the darkness. Which meant neither could he.

“You think you could just come into my city and raise an army of vampires?”

I pulled Altyr up and wormed my arm under his, letting his weight rest on me. He was incredibly heavy, but I had to get us out of there. Taking the few steps I could, I walked him away from the dead Lightbringers around me.

“I will kill you, Sylvia. I will kill you and your vampire lover. I will rip you from his arms and I will delight in hurting you again. You will be begging me for death.”

His voice sent shivers down my spine as I drug said vampire out of there. They were stuck in the darkness; the hollow frozen for only who knows how long. It was all I could do, and I was doing it. I would save Altyr as he had once saved me.

Hoofbeats nearby caused me to squeal in horror as they reached us. My tension fell away as Orrin’s figure pierced through the darkness. He quickly jumped down and helped me haul Altyr’s limp body on top of a horse. There were only two, Lenora’s corpse was strapped on one and Altyr’s near-dead self on another.

“He’s obviously not dead,” Orrin said quietly, “He’s not turned to ash.”

“Yeah, but he’s not doing well. We have to go. Now.”

Nearly throwing me on top of the horse, Orrin handed me the reins and quickly jumped on his own. Looking back toward where I had heard Bazak. I saw a sword illuminate through the fog. A horrid figure stood there covered in blood over his shining metal. His eyes glowed in the night as the look of utter loathing cut into me. Bazak had nearly caught us.

I didn’t hesitate to kick the horse, and we bolted away. I didn’t know where we were going; I didn’t know how far we’d get, I just knew we would survive. We had to. Tears streamed down my face, flying away into the night behind us as the ruins of castle Wymer burned in the night air.