Chapter 45

The clash of power blew through the clearing in terrifying, crushing waves.

Madrigal's wand arced through the night, and a trail of fire followed, lurching toward Lord Death in deadly rings. They devoured all the air around us, leaving me gasping. He returned her volley with ease, turning the ground beneath her to ash. Madrigal leapt away as the rocky ground devoured itself, churning like a sand pit.

"Is that the best you can do?" she jeered, her face slick with sweat.

"No," he said.

The Children tore forward through the trees, and Madrigal, unimpressed, turned her fire on them. Arrows of flames sprayed from a sigil on the ground, shredding the two nearest creatures.

Madrigal whipped her wand furiously through the air, charring a sigil there. The boulders at Lord Death's feet rumbled, knocking him to his knees as they ripped free from the ground. One tumbled toward him, but the others assembled themselves—into a hulking golem of a creature that swung its stone fist at the king's head.

Lord Death narrowly avoided a skull-crushing blow. With a shout of growing anger, the spirits flowing from the stone around his neck pulled away from the path to the growing gap in the sky, fluttering around him in a protective layer. As he thrust an arm out, they burst forth, tearing through the clattering joints between the stones, blowing Madrigal's creation apart.

The trees shook with the force of the rocks tumbling back to the earth. Cabell raced forward, barking and howling, giving Madrigal the space to sidle up beside me and press her wand's knife end to my neck.

Her breath came in bursts, her whole body shaking with the force of it. There was a frantic intensity to her dirt-splattered face. The image I'd had of her in my mind unraveled, replaced by this feral creature.

"Enough," Lord Death growled. "You've played your last hand."

"I've only just begun," Madrigal said, taunting. "The choice is yours. Hand me the crown, or lose her again."

His expression hardened. "I should have known the only way to kill a snake was to cut off its head."

It happened so quickly, I barely registered the feeling of the wand falling away, or the sudden sour stench that flooded the air. One moment the sorceress was there, just beside the tree, and the next, one of the Children was upon her, its jaw unhinging, closing over her head, ripping her away.

I screwed my eyes shut, twisting my face away as muscle and bone crunched and hot blood sprayed against my skin. She hadn't even had time to scream.

Revulsion and horror crawled through me, and I heaved, straining against the roots to escape as another one of the Children joined the first in its frenzied feeding. Only Lord Death's laughter drowned out the wet rending of flesh.

"There now, my love," Lord Death consoled me. "How sensitive you are—"

My eyes flashed open as the sound of a new cry tore through the night.

A spear flashed in the darkness, splintering into a spray of arrows upon the two feeding Children. They screeched as their flesh ripped, as their limbs were pinned to the trees behind them .

A streak of silver broke through the trees and mist with the speed and focus of an arrow—a long blade flashed as it swung down toward Lord Death's neck.

He stepped aside with ease, never losing his hold on the stone. A cold smirk spread over his face as his opponent raised her sword again, her feet sliding back into an attack stance.

"I've been expecting you," Lord Death said.

"Ready your blade," Caitriona ordered, her grip tightening on the hilt of Excalibur. Her short silver hair was painted with moonlight.

"Cait—!" A root squeezed around my neck, cutting my warning short.

A warm hand pressed against my arm, forcing my gaze down to my right. My eyes widened as Olwen's worried face appeared there in the darkness. Joy cracked open inside me.

"You're … all right …," I managed to get out.

Olwen hushed me, studying the roots for a moment before bringing a dagger to them and sawing. They mended themselves almost as quickly as she could hack them away.

Lord Death's gaze flicked to her, then to Cabell, who circled through the trees, waiting for a command. I didn't understand the expression of disappointment on Lord Death's face, or the way Cabell whimpered in response as he bounded back over the boulders and sinewy roots, heading straight for us.

I heard them then—within the depths of the woods, more Children crashed through the trees, hurtling toward us.

"Olwen!" I gasped out. Her jaw set in determination as she rose. "Don't—"

"I'll be right back," she swore, disappearing from my sight.

I craned my head around at the sound of her spell, its song bright and unwavering. Lances of fire and light soared between the trees and tore into the Children as they threw themselves at her.

Lord Death turned his full attention back to Caitriona, to the sword in her hands. His face registered no shock. No fear .

"I know I taught you better than to denigrate such an illustrious weapon with poor footwork," he said, running a hand over his pendant's glimmering stone. "Or to face a superior opponent alone. Not even Excalibur is powerful enough to account for your inexperience."

Caitriona's face tensed as she bared her teeth. "I've plenty of experience slaying monsters."

"Hmm." Lord Death lifted his hand from the stone. The cruel pleasure of his expression was suddenly lit by the souls that slipped through the gem's cold surface. They whorled around him, forming a glowing ring that shifted its position, slanting, straightening, slanting with every heartbeat.

"You do have practice in killing Avalon's own, I'll grant you that," Lord Death said, clearly enjoying the rage that flooded Caitriona's expression. "But tell me, are you willing to do the same with the souls of your beloved sisters?"

The taunt was like boiling tar poured over my skin. Caitriona's eyes widened, her face going bloodless with horror. For a moment, the souls shifted from sparks of life to the forms they'd had in their last life. My heart dropped into my stomach at the sight of the priestesses of Avalon.

Caitriona released a bellow of fury and anguish.

"Even if—and here we shall use our great imaginations," Lord Death continued, "you were to land a blow upon me, you would have to cut through them first. Are you willing to risk Excalibur's magic destroying them?"

No, I thought. That wasn't right. That wasn't Excalibur's magic—if the text we'd seen was correct, it only destroyed the souls of the wicked.

I pulled at my restraints again. "He's lying, Cait! Don't listen to him!"

Olwen shouted something behind me I couldn't make out. I wondered if Caitriona could even hear us over the blood that had to be pounding in her head.

Her hands tightened around Excalibur's hilt, the shadows on her face lengthening with despair. As powerful as her first strike had been, as fierce as the storm of her rage, it all abandoned her now.

She didn't lower the sword—she was too well trained for that. But her hesitation spoke where she wouldn't. For the first time, she wore the torment of the last few weeks openly, and the raw agony of it stole my breath away.

My gaze slid to my right, to where the hound— Cabell— stood guard beside me. His hackles rose, and as his long body tensed, awaiting command, the ridge of his spine seemed chiseled from stone.

"Do something," I begged him. I knew he'd heard my rasping words, even if he didn't acknowledge them. His ears twitched, and the low growl in his throat deepened.

"I know you can hear me," I squeezed out. "I know who you are."

It might only have been my desperate mind playing tricks on me, but the rumbling in his throat seemed to soften. Every memory of the life we'd shared seemed to rise at once. The swell of grief was as unbearable as it was true.

"You can still come back," I began, my tears too hot on my frozen cheeks. "All of those innocent beings died, and you did nothing to stop it. Do something now. Do anything. Please, Cab."

My hope was snuffed out as he surged toward me with an angry bark, his teeth snapping together in warning. He might as well have torn my throat out.

But when he looked at me, his eyes weren't glowing like fire. They were dark—so dark, they were nearly black.

"Have you made your decision yet?" Lord Death taunted. He allowed Caitriona to circle around him, as if the sword in her hand were merely a wooden practice tool and they were back in the tower's sparring ring, eager student and devoted mentor.

"Cait, don't!" Olwen cried. "Don't listen to him! Focus!"

"Shall I make it simple for you?" he said. "Perhaps you can begin with … strong, noble Betrys, who was first to fall at the gates of the tower? Or maybe young Flea—? "

Caitriona screamed, bringing Excalibur slashing down over her head. Cabell's dark coat shone with moonlight as he raced forward, his teeth bared.

If I had looked away again, if I'd dared to so much as blink, I would have missed it—the sudden shift in the hound's path.

Excalibur's arc through the air cut short as Caitriona feinted and kicked at Lord Death's center.

The hound's jaws locked around the soft flesh and muscle of his master's calf. Lord Death screamed in rage and pain, using the full might of his power to fling Cabell off him. Strings of bloodied flesh still hung from the hound's teeth as he hit the trunk of a tree and fell to the ground, limp.

"Cab!" I gasped out.

Lord Death looked over at the sound of my weak voice, and it was all the opportunity Caitriona needed. Her boot slammed into her former mentor's breastplate, knocking him to the forest floor hard enough to rattle his armor—and, it seemed, his focus.

The spiraling shield of priestesses' souls escaped his grip, exploding out into the forest. Silken mist glowed wherever they hovered; all silent witnesses to whatever came next.

The momentary distraction had cost Lord Death his concentration, and the roots around me suddenly released with a hissing snap. I gasped for breath as I surged forward without a moment's hesitation, fighting for balance over the rolling mounds of boulders as I ran for my brother.

My body was stiff with terror as I dropped to my knees beside him and placed a hand on his side. Every one of his ribs protruded, but he was breathing. Shallowly, but still breathing.

The metallic smell of blood overpowered even that of the damp earth; his muzzle was stained with it.

"Cab?" I whispered.

He'd—he had tried to help, hadn't he ?

The hound's eyes remained closed. His coat was matted with blood and flakes of bark.

The remaining Children descended on us, clawing up through the tangled branches of the trees. They tore at each other's sagging gray skin and limbs to get to Cabell first, shrieking until my eardrums rang and threatened to burst.

It was a gamble, and a stupid one, but I threw my body over his. My hands fisted in his fur as the Children circled around us, snapping their teeth.

Fire blew over my back as Olwen sang out another spell, scorching the Children. With breathtaking control, she threaded the fire through the trees once more, sparing them certain destruction.

"Fight, you coward!" Caitriona bellowed. "Fight!"

I looked back just as Caitriona sliced Excalibur down through the night, the steel singing as it neared Lord Death's neck. Still on the ground, he rolled away and unsheathed his blade in a single, smooth motion.

Two blades, one pure silver, the other stained by dark magic, swung toward each other.

A clap of thunderous magic exploded around us as the swords met—and Excalibur's blade shattered like glass.