Sixty-Seven Dianna

A switch flipped in me as he disappeared beneath the ground. I felt it in my bones. A gaping, aching pit opened up inside me and threatened to consume everything. The world went silent. My form shifted, two legs turning to four. Thick, dark hair sprouted over my body. My jaws lengthened, filled with sharp teeth, and ended in a sensitive nose. My ears flattened against my head as a howl of rage ripped from my throat. I didn’t hesitate to launch myself into the tunnel after him. My large paws beat against the ground, my claws digging into the dirt, propelling me faster.

I was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid, and beyond that, I was a godsdamned liar. I could pretend I knew what was best for us, pretend that leaving was better, but I was a liar to him and, above all, myself. The physical pain I’d felt when Samkiel disappeared into the ground in front of me was nearly as bad as when death ripped my soul in two. It threw me right back to that moment, to the anguish of holding him in my arms as he died.

I knew I’d burn oceans to mist, skies to dust, and worlds to rubble to keep him near. Love was too dull of a word for what I felt for him and one I hated to say. It meant nothing. I understood now why they had stories of losing an amata and why Logan was feral when he felt Neverra in Yejedin. I understood now and knew the true loss of another’s soulmate was one of the worst pains known in any realm.

It was not sharp or piercing but an agony that melted your bones, seared your flesh, and carved a hole so deep into you that you’d pray for a quick death to be with them. So no, it was not love. It was more necessary, like air in my lungs, blood in my veins. It wasn’t just a nebulous emotion that came and went on a whim. This bond was a near-physical thing, tangible and constant.

I sprinted through the labyrinth of tunnels, ripping and tearing into every insect creature crawling or flying after me. Gore marred my jaws and teeth, but it only fueled my rage. I’d tear apart anything that got in my way without a second thought. I couldn’t explain the feeling that burned in my chest and crawled through my being. There were no limits I would not breach for him. I had ripped him from death. These things would not take him from me.

Their exoskeletons crunched between my teeth, the sounds of their death cries filling my ears. I reveled in it. I’d make anything that touched him dead, and I’d enjoy it.

A scream echoed through the hive. It wasn’t one of flying insects, but my tether to this world, thick, masculine, and in pain. I listened, focusing all my energy on locating him in this labyrinth. I heard the grunts of battle and the clang of steel ringing through the air. Glancing at a hole above me, I crouched, settling the power into my bones. I jumped, my hind legs propelling me through the hole and down another tunnel. The sounds of battle grew louder. I burst into a small cavern, the flutter of orange wings darting past me. I launched myself at the closest one, my jagged teeth sinking deep. My jowls dripped with blood as I ripped and shredded. These must have been headed toward Samkiel because they scattered quickly, not staying to engage me.

I spun, my ears lifting to points at the top of my head as I listened once more. The sounds of fighting came from my left, and then I heard him from my right. There was an echo that came from beneath me. Fuck, these holes acted as an amplifier. I inhaled deeply, information flooding me. I snarled and darted back through the tunnel. My feet skidded as I came to a stop at the edge of a massive hole in the middle of the tunnel, dust kicking up under my claws. One glance down, and I jumped.

I landed silently in a dark, empty cavern. Holes lined the ceiling and walls. Some opened into tunnels, and others were covered by crystallized webs. I squinted and moved closer to one of the covered holes, my hackles rising as I caught the smell of rotting flesh. It held a cocooned corpse. Fuck. There were hundreds of them here. I was in the center of the fucking hive.

Eerie chittering came from all around me. I turned in a slow circle, fangs bared, expecting to see something behind me, but it was just more empty darkness.

“Your eyes shine red, yet you slaughter my horde?” a voice echoed, the scratchiness of it making me shiver. “We are on the same side, you and I.”

“Doubtful,” I growled, my lips pulling back in a snarl. I hoped my words were clear enough. Then I paused. “How can I understand you?”

“You are Ro’Vikiin reborn.”

I paced the cavern, hoping to track that voice. So it could hear me and understand me as I could it. It wasn’t like the creatures I was used to dealing with. One thing I knew about bugs in a colony or hive like this was that they usually had a queen. I would be willing to bet she watched me now from her shadowy den.

“Why does everyone keep calling me that?” I snapped at the air, feeling something powerful and ancient circling me.

“Your blood screams it, and you protect a Lightbringer, just as he did. Why do you protect the Lightbringer so? They are a plague to our kind,” it said, the chittering, scratchiness of its voice making my lips pull back in a silent snarl.

Lightbringer? My heart thudded in my chest, claws digging deeper into the dirt. Samkiel. “Where is he?” I snapped, my teeth echoing the sound.

Something scurried above me, and dust rained down on me. I jerked my head up, my ears pinned against my head.

“You are a disgrace. Filth. Betrayer. Like the one before you.”

“I don’t have time for riddles,” I snarled.

I heard more movement above, and it grew a fraction darker. It was distracting me, covering the exits, taking away any fraction of light here to blind me further.

“No riddles. The cosmos were shrouded in darkness for eons before that damned light came into this world. It ripped us apart, separating us into different worlds. Light, how we hate it, yet you’re covered in it. That smell. Such a disgrace.”

My eyes closed as I focused, my ears twitching. I heard the legs on my right, but I stood still and listened. Far below me, I heard Samkiel grunt. I felt the pull of him like a tether, a string connecting us. It pulled tight as soon as I located him. My eyes snapped open, and I realized the cavern had gone still and deathly quiet.

“The light will end us all, and you will burn with it, just as Ro’Vikiin did,” the voice called from above my head. If I could have smiled in this canine form, I would have.

“Oh yeah? You keep talking about burning. I’d probably choose my words wisely.”

I tipped my head back just as those massive pinchers opened above me. Eight massive eyes glared at me, and eight eyes widened, reflecting the orange glow of my flames. Fire built at the base of my throat and tunneled its way out. She shrieked and flew to the other side of her nest. I sucked in another breath and released a torrent of flame that ripped through every web she had built. The cavern shook with her anger, and I continued to burn the place, looking for a tunnel that led down. A section of the web melted, and there it was. Perfect.

I ran, my claws digging in, feeling her leg scrape against my tail. I heard her thundering behind me and leaped, her body crashing against the floor, too big to follow. Her screeches made my ears ache, but I barely noticed as the dust settled from my landing and I had fallen into hell itself.