31. Alana

THIRTY-ONE

Alana

M y eyes are fixed on the horizon. The wind whips around me, tugging at my hair and clothes, but I barely notice. My attention is entirely focused on the approaching storm. It is gathering just beyond the city, except the city no longer looks like a city. It is almost completely flooded. Spires and rooftops are just visible, some trees, and the remains of the bridge beyond the Shadowkind Quarter.

I sigh with relief as I look at it.

Barely a soul can have survived.

Finn is approaching, but there is nothing here for him to take or twist.

The only thing waiting for him is me. And my wrath.

I study the storm.

At first, it looks like just another bank of dark clouds. But then I realise it is moving.

Next to me, completely silent, Eldrion unfurls his fading wings and studies it too.

It draws nearer, and I start to make out shapes within the roiling mass. Wings. Bodies. An army.

"This is it. He's here." I look at Eldrion. "The Sunborne?"

"Safe in the grand hall."

"The remaining Shadowkind?"

"Locked in the dungeons with the elves." He tilts his head. "I thought you wanted to end them all. Now."

"I do. But I thought about what you said. About not giving into anger."

He frowns at me.

"I am waiting to see if my anger subsides." I wait a beat, then laugh loudly. "They are my backup plan. If Finn knows they are there, he will want to free them."

"A trap?" Eldrion smiles at me. "A trap," he repeats.

I look back up at the sky and my breath catches in my throat as I spot him at the forefront. Finn. Even from this distance, I can see how he's changed. His wings are massive, pitch black and seeming to absorb the light around them. Shadows swirl around his form, occasionally coalescing into ethereal shapes before dissipating again.

Behind him, a sea of transformed Shadowkind fills the sky. Their wings beat in unison, creating a sound like distant thunder. Some bear the same shadow markings as Finn, while others seem to shimmer with a dark, shadow-like sheen.

I see one of them look down at the ground and follow their gaze to the eastern edge of the city. Gathered at the archway, picking their way through the debris in the places where the flood has receded a little, are the creatures I hoped I would never see again.

Gloomweavers

As they draw closer, I can make out more details. The Shadowkind's eyes glow with an unnatural red light. The Gloomweavers leer and gnash their teeth, clearly eager for the coming battle even though there is barely anyone left to fight, and by the time they reach the castle, it will all be over.

"You should join the other Sunborne," I tell Eldrion.

"Hide? You want me to hide?"

"It is for the best." I put a hand on his forearm. "You have no power, Eldrion."

"I am not leaving you." He straightens his shoulders. "And besides, we are going to take back my power. Remember?" He fixes his gaze on mine as though he can tell I am considering my options.

"I remember." I squeeze tightly. "But then stay behind me and let me deal with this."

I watch them approaching, and try to latch on to the sensations rolling through my body. Power and adrenaline. Not fear.

Fear is nowhere to be found.

Only a visceral need to end this, and to show everyone what I am capable of.

How much they underestimated me.

How foolish they were.

Finn flies slightly ahead of the others, very clearly their new leader. The shadows around him seem to pulse with every beat of his wings. His eyes, when I can finally see them clearly, are fixed directly on me.

I almost smile as he draws closer. I feel as though I have been waiting for this moment for all my life: the chance to unleash what has been buried for so many years.

I take a deep breath, steeling myself for what's to come.

Because it is going to be so very good.

"Alana!" he calls down to me. He is carrying something. A large, dark bundle in his arms.

He stops above me, treading the air. His army stops too, glaring down at us.

The bundle falls. He lets it tumble. It hits the ground in front of me with a thud that sends a jolt of nausea through me. I see dark hair, and pale skin, and the wings of a Shadowkind.

I move forward and crouch down.

"Alana, don't." Eldrion warns me to stop, but I ignore him. As I push her hair aside, my breath catches in my chest and my vision blurs.

I'm standing in the streets of Luminael, but they're unrecognisable. Water rushes through them like raging rivers, swallowing everything in its path. Water I conjured. Destruction I invited.

Buildings crumble, debris floats by, and the screams of the desperate and dying fill the air.

Through the chaos, I spot a familiar figure... Briony. She's clinging to a piece of floating wreckage, her wings waterlogged and useless. Her face is a mask of terror as she fights against the current.

"Help!" she screams, her voice barely audible over the roar of the flood. "Please, someone help!"

I try to move towards her, to reach out, but I'm frozen in place, forced to watch helplessly.

Around her, small Shadowkind fae, young ones, so young, cling to the bridge and call out for Briony. She tells them to stay strong.

But then a massive wave crashes over her, submerging her completely. And when the water recedes, she's gone. My heart clenches as I search frantically for any sign of her.

Then I see her, carried swiftly away by the merciless current. Her body tumbles through the water, limp and lifeless. Her eyes are open, staring blankly at nothing.

She is gone.

I killed her.

I cry out in pain and scramble backwards, my heart racing, my breath shaking in my chest.

Eldrion is at my side, towering above me, but he can do nothing to protect me, and Finn's army is coming for me.