70. Tori

My chest heaved as my breath left me in violent spurts. Kaleos, Raula, Noki, and I cut through dozens of men on our way through the dungeons while Jun protected Pallas and Avlyn. We were drenched, and I could feel the bloodlust trying to take over my mind. I gripped the pommel of each half of my sword hard, trying to stay grounded. It was all so similar to last time, and I could not fail again.

Thehalls were deathly quiet, and I stood before those great doors, but this time, I was not alone. I clicked my sword back together and sheathed it. I called a ball of viridian fire into my hand and pulled it back, ready to strike.

"Don't even think about it," Pallas scolded, stepping between me and the door. "Unless you want to kill us all."

Shewalked up to the door and slowly placed her hand on the wood, and it flared to life with glyphs etched in a deep, violent purple. Her brow furrowed, and I saw a shimmer of light blue magic ghost over the runes. They quickly returned to purple, and she frowned.

"Got some new trick there, huh, hellcat?" Avlyn gave her a proud smile. I saw the faintest blush on Pallas' cheeks.

"Not enough tricks, it seems. Even with Tori, Jun, and I together, this could take hours." We didn't have that kind of time. She held her hand out to me without looking back. "Might as well try out our gift."

Islipped my hand into the pack at my waist and was greeted by a horrible, caustic sensation as the gem touched my fingers. I pulled it out, carefully placed it in Pallas' hand, and saw her flinch. She set the gem against the wood of the door, and the glyphs there sputtered and disappeared.

Pallas' eyes widened. "Could it really be that easy?"

"Don't look a gift Nykur in the mouth." Avlyn placed their hand on her shoulder, and Jun nodded.

"Now, do I get to burn it down?"

Icould tell Pallas wanted to object, but she nodded. She had to hold the gem in place, so I couldn't just blast the wood as much fun as that would have been. Instead, I focused my mind as she had taught me and called a single tendril of fire, honing it into an edge like a knife. I sliced a Kaleos-sized hole out of the center of the two doors. I kicked, and the interior pieces fell flat against the stone floor with a loud thud.

Imoved to pass through the hole when the violet enchantment flared again, and Pallas hissed.

Underneathher fingers, sparks engulfed the gem, and I could hear cracking. The power laced through Pallas' hand, but she held it there, unwavering. I saw her blue magic flare, and the enchantment on the door faded again.

"Hurry!" I didn't need to be told twice. I ducked through with everyone else following me.

Wespilled into the room, and I turned in time to see Pallas sliding past the opening, her hand still pressing the sparking gem into the wood. No sooner had she stepped through when a huge spark flashed, and the gem shattered. Pallas stumbled back, and the enchantment flared to life, trapping us inside. Avlyn rushed to help her up as she cradled her burned hand. They fussed, but Pallas just gave it a gentle shake and moved towards the center of the room.

Thespace wasn't much larger than any other in the palace, but the floor sloped downward from all the walls like a great weight pressed the stone down. I shielded my eyes from the dark crimson ball of fire that hovered above its center.

Everyonestood beside me, equally entranced. Pallas was the only one to move, carefully walking down the sloped floor. She lifted her hand towards the glowing heart, and the orbiting glyphs sparked and flew around her but did not cause pain. Jun grabbed my hand and walked with me down the slope. "Guess it's our turn."

I don't know how much time passed as Jun and I sat forehead to forehead, that bright white light glowing between us as we slowly worked at untangling the enchantment around the heart. I just knew that my back, ass, and legs ached from sitting, and it was breaking my concentration. I lost focus and pulled the wrong strand, and the whole enchantment tightened again.

"Fuck. Pallas, this is taking too long."

Ablue tendril of magic slid in along ours. "All we can do is keep working." She was right. I rolled my shoulders and went back to focusing, probing at a new side of the lock. Pallas was a natural, to my mild annoyance, and soon the lock shifted apart, its outer layer opening.

"Good, now we just need to—" Pallas' voice cut off as the enchantment started shifting on its own. Layer after layer lurched, just like the tumblers in a lock. More of the enchantment fell away, but as one particularly large portion dropped away, a jet of deep red flames sprayed out. I threw myself over Jun as the flames licked across my back. I yelped as the pain cut through me, even as I felt my skin already regrowing itself.

Malech'sheart was fighting back. The flames were cutting through the enchantment, but it didn't care what else was destroyed in the process.

We are not your enemy. I tried to talk to it as I would Abraxas, but now red flames burst across the room, and I could feel the temperature rising. Sweat beaded at my brow, and I summoned flames to combat the heart, but you can't fight fire with fire.

"Tori." Jun's voice was so soft. "Don't fight it. Can't you feel his pain?" My brother was right. Malech had been trapped by Hadeon, just like Jun and Pallas. A cornered beast couldn't be reasoned with, and a fight would only end in death. I held Jun's hand tighter and focused on sending mana through him. White light shimmered around us both.

"You're going to be alright." I heard the words, but they were more, and I felt them deep in my very soul. The heart stopped fighting.

"You're going to be alright." The light between us grew. I chanted it with Jun. "You're going to be alright." I could hear everyone shouting our names, but I didn't dare stop. I felt Jun's fingers cinch mine, and all I saw was white light.

I awoke with my face pressed into soft grass and the smell of home. A gentle breeze stirred the blades, so they tickled my nose, and I opened my eyes to see Jun lying next to me. We blinked at each other and pushed up to find ourselves on the cliffs outside Xyr. The sound of the ocean waves crashed far below us, and I dared to lean over the sheer drop. Black sand stretched out below, just as it had before our departure, but the sky beyond was broken. Great cracks cut through the noonday blue, a deep darkness lacing through it like mud baked in the sun. I looked at Jun and he shook his head, when a great rumbling behind us caused us both to spin around.

Curledup like an enormous, sleeping kitten was a dragon. His maroon scales glimmered in the sun, and the rumbling was his great breath, his nose tucked under his tail. His wings rose and fell gently as I stood, the grass compressing beneath my feet as I approached him.

Iknelt down beside his long face, placing a hand on his snout, just as I had done with Abraxas. "Malech?"

Agreat ochre eye snapped open, and I stumbled back as he unfurled himself, nearly knocking me off the cliff. I put myself in between him and Jun as he stretched his wings skyward before locking me in his gaze again.

Itseems two little pests have found their way into my prison. How very interesting.

Hisscaled lips pulled back as he revealed every one of his glimmering fangs, the shortest longer than my hand. It's been so long since I have had any entertainment.

Hemoved towards us, his mouth widening as he approached until I could see straight down his throat. I pushed Jun behind me and wove ribbons of dragonfire around my arms. Malech froze in place.

What blasphemy is this? How is it you control dragonfire?Even in my mind, it was a hiss, his eyes burning an even more heated red as he bore down on me.

Isaw his eyes widen, but he still moved closer until his nose nearly pressed against my chest. He inhaled with such force it nearly toppled me.

"They are a gift from my mate."

Lies!All fae do is lie!He inhaled sharply, and a burst of deep red fire shot from his mouth. I threw my flames up between us and over Jun and me. His red flames danced over my shell of green until they merged into sunshine yellow.

"We are not your enemy!" I shouted, but golden claws swiped at us, and I had just enough time to push my brother and me down into the grass.

"I don't think he's listening," Jun stated.

"Then make him listen."

"STOP!"

Malechshuddered as he tried to fight the hold of Jun's magic. Jun coughed beside me. "It won't hold him long."

Iflung myself onto the dragon's snout, and immediately, he tried to whip me off, quivering, but the magic still held him.

"KingAmaros, listen!" At the use of his fae name, he stopped fighting. "Abraxas, your son, is my mate. We are here to help you."

Thedragon below me inhaled so forcefully that my clothes were suctioned to his face. He stopped trying to fight and instead tilted his head so that I slowly slid to the ground, my hands still on his scales.

Howcan this be?

"I have heard that fate has quite a wicked sense of humor." He bore into me with those huge ochre eyes. The burning orange faded to a soft brown as Malech shrunk, and his scales were replaced by pale skin. My hands now rested on the stern face of the fae man I had only seen in portraits. His long, dark hair gently blew in the wind.

"Show me again."

Isnapped my fingers, and a spark of viridian flame hovered over them. KingAmaros snatched it out of my control and into his palm, staring intensely into the fire as if it would reveal some great truth.

"My son…" He gazed a moment longer before snuffing the flame out. "All fae do is lie."

"It is no lie." Jun stepped up beside me. "We aren't just fae."

Amaros' gaze drifted between us. Jun opened his mouth, and a sound like I had never heard emerged. It wasn't a song, and it wasn't speech, but the cry of a creature from beyond our world. We began to glow from our toes to the top of our heads, where our hair floated on a phantom wind.

Amaros' eyes went wide. "No, it seems you are not just fae."

AtJun's cry, the sky above us split. The cracks widened to reveal more darkness, but not true darkness. A moonless night with the great celestial river Maiak flowing overhead as the stars moved across the sky.

Amarosgazed upward as the stars swirled overhead, but his eyes fell back to me.

"You have accepted the bond with my son?"

Ipulled aside the collar of my armor so he could see the bite mark that Abraxas left on me. The scar was still a fresh pink.

Atthat, he gave me a wicked smirk that I knew all too well. "Then you have given me the greatest gift I could have ever hoped for in this frozen place." At that, he moved faster than I could see, and he had his arms wrapped around me. For a moment, I struggled, trying to get out of his arms. The arms of a father, arms that could only inflict pain.

Iwas small again, and I envisioned a hand striking me so hard I thought my teeth would shatter. The pain never came. Instead, the arms were warm and gentle, rubbing soft circles on my back. That gentle touch broke me in a way that nothing before ever had. I was still that little girl, craving a father's love and gentleness, and I broke down. I sank into the embrace, and tears rolled down my cheeks.

IfAmaros was surprised by my reaction, he didn't show it. He only held me tighter, letting me linger in a feeling that I had never had before.

Oncemy tears had stopped, he gently held me and whispered in my ear, "Thank you. Please tell my son… Ah, I have lingered here for centuries, and now I have no time. There is too much to say. Tell him I am sorry. I am sorry for everything, and I love him." He held me back, and darkness fell over us. "Tell him his mother gave him the dragon name, Astaroth, in the hopes he would find love in a world of violence."

"I will," I promised, nodding. He gave me one more soft look. "She would have been honored to know you."

Malechstepped away, and Jun took his place at my side. The dragon grew again, his scales nearly black in the depths of night. A deep red glow appeared over his heart, and he let out one last sky-shattering roar as he dissolved into embers and floated to the sky.

Moretears flowed down my cheeks as I followed those drops of light upward. I wish you could have seen him, my love.

Junwiped away my tears and pressed our foreheads together as the stars above us dimmed. As the darkness grew, our hearts glowed white until it all burned away.

The room was dark.No red glow remained.

"You did it," Pallas murmured softly with disbelief.

"Try not to sound so surprised," Jun chuckled.

"It just dissolved and floated away into the air." Avlyn's voice was barely above a whisper. "Does that mean we are done?"

Myknees cracked as I lifted myself to standing, extending my hand to pull Jun up. Then the entire room shook so violently that he tumbled into me, causing us to slam back to the floor.

Pallascrashed into Avlyn in much the same way while Kaleos and Raula drew their swords against the unknown foe.

Theroom had glowed a deep, menacing red before, but now light dead and void of color emerged from glyphs along every wall. It wasn't pure white light, but something that leeched our faces into horrible, desaturated shadows of themselves, even as I was blinded by the brightness.

"Mother, what have you done?" Pallas stumbled over to the wall, running her hands over the glyphs. I saw the sparks of her blue magic again, but they were swallowed into that horrible, grey magic.

"Pallas, what is happening?"

"It's a failsafe of some kind. My mother must have built it into the enchantment. Something to prevent anyone from leaving should something happen to the heart."

Junlurched to her while everyone else stood back-to-back in the center of the room. A thick black line traced over Kaleos' cheek, and it slowly grew as dark liquid flowed out of it. Blood.

Moreslashes appeared on Kaleos, and then on Avlyn and Noki. Raula grunted as even her orc skin was cut open by the spell. The only one who seemed unaffected was Spinner, but he was panicked, running between all of us.

Iheard Jun screaming in pain and trying to use his magic to stop the spell, but he fell to the floor, coughing. The enchantment did not waver. Pallas threw herself on top of him, and her blood ran down his torn clothes as her arms were ripped open.

Itried to scramble to them as a sharp and inescapable burning cut across my shoulder and leg. I fell to the floor and tried to crawl to them, leaving a gruesome trail behind me. Spinner ran to me and lashed his web around my waist, dragging me towards them, unaffected by the spell.

"Pallas, how do I stop it!" I reached out to the enchantment in my mind, but it wasn't a lock like the others. It was writhing and terrible, unbelievably sharp, so any attempt I made to undo it only opened new wounds along my skin. Whereas the enchantment around the heart had been a study in perfection and complexity, this one was nothing but rage and destruction.

"There is nothing you can do. It's tied to the castle's foundation. There is too much mana left to destroy it."

Tearswelled in her eyes, and she clung to Jun, holding him close as they were both torn apart.

Ireached down into that pool of mana that was greater than any I had ever seen. I saw it flow into the castle, into the enchantment that was trying to destroy us. Laced along every stone that held the castle together were roots, roots I had grown from the power of the ambrosia fields around the city. It was power that had been stolen from the earth, and I was going to give it all back.

Ibroke the dam I had built with my brother"s and my power, and all the mana rushed back to the source, where it so longed to be. It didn't matter what earth, stone, or foundation was in its way.

"What are you doing?!" Pallas screamed.

"Obliterating everything in my path."

Thebuilding gave way around us, the floor crumbling beneath our feet. The ceiling broke apart as the walls snapped. The enchantment was broken at its very foundation, and I felt it wink out of existence.

Junand Pallas tried to stand, but more of the floor gave way, and they stumbled, barely avoiding a huge chunk of the ceiling that fell beside them.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire, huh, Princess?" Avlyn and the others had stumbled over to me. They helped me scramble up, and we all pushed towards Jun and Pallas.

"Any good ideas on how to get out of here before the whole place comes down on us?" I asked everyone and no one.

Thefloor cracked completely open, and the great river underneath Koron broke through and started flooding what was left of the chamber we were still in. Avlyn's eyes lit up. They grabbed onto my shoulder.

"No. ButI do have a stupid one. Hold on tight, everyone."