Chapter 35

TRESSYA

It was a mental battle I was determined to win. I sensed its hesitation to enter the ruined castle, interpreting it as fear, yet that was precisely where I needed to go. This creature's mind was like a fortress. Unlike the pathfinder, I found no way to penetrate it. Even its basic instincts seemed locked away, as if in an iron cage.

Circling above, I surveyed the ruins of the castle, observing the desolate hall and passageways that spread like a labyrinth below. There was no visible movement, but I was certain Tamas was there, just as I was certain I would find the Etherweave buried deep within.

I had to get inside.

The creature's tough, leathery skin seemed impervious to the burning sensation of the tiny falling starlight, which appeared to have intensified, once again lighting the night. It was as if I were peering through a veil.

Sweet mercy. The realization set my heart pounding to be free of my chest. I had to enter the castle. I had to find Tamas. Yet, despite my persistent urging, the creature refused to yield and obey my commands. There was only one thing for me to do.

Don't abandon me, I pleaded with my beast. This was madness. It had to work. I refused to look down and gauge the distance I would fall as I released my grip on the winged creature. My transformation wasn't immediate. My mind slowly retracted, as if hesitant to let go, but soon I lost my wings and felt the wind rushing up my the legs of my pants as I free-fell toward the castle.

Help me . I plummeted toward the ground.

Damn. This would not end well. The fall was brief; I had little time to think of Tamas or regret all the things I hadn't done when I felt the excruciating pain of transformation and my beast burst forth in time for me to pass through into the interior of the castle. I gritted my teeth in anticipation of the impact, positioning myself to land on my feet and bracing for whatever pain would arise. When I hit on all four legs, I bit my bottom lip as the jar reverberated up my spine.

She came through for me in the end. Eventually, I would learn to summon her at will, but for now, at least she didn't seem intent on letting me perish.

I gazed up at the stars, observing the leisurely patrol of the creatures above the castle, before turning my attention to my surroundings. I found myself in a vast hall, half of its walls missing, as if some colossal hand had reached in and scooped out a portion of the interior.

Magic permeated the air, causing the fur along my back to bristle with a tingling sensation. It infused the atmosphere with a sweetness reminiscent of syrup, followed by a sharp aftertaste that singed the inside of my sensitive nose. The air was suffused with its flavor and a resonating tune that pulsed in harmony with my heartbeat. All I had to do was follow its call.

As I made my way down the hall, my transformation from beast back to human became complete. In my human form, I became acutely aware of the cold. The crisp night air, made even chillier by the gusting wind that seeped inside through the numerous rooms that had lost their outer walls, crept under my clothes. The castle walls offered scant protection against the fierce winds lashing the mountaintop.

The howling wind and my footsteps were the only sounds to accompany me as I ventured deeper into the castle, along with the constant presence of the glittering raindrops. By now, I had grown accustomed to the burning sensation they left on my skin in their wake.

Following an unseen path, guided through my kinship with the Razohan and my ancient link to the last king to sit on the Bone Throne, I ended up standing on the edge of a great cavity in the heart of the castle. I peered down into its depths, inhaling the thickening syrup of magic.

"Tamas," I called down into the cavity.

A burning ember landed on the back of my neck. I swiped at it to find nothing and turned to look up at the night sky while shielding my eyes from the glittering raindrops.

"Will you gut me if I touch you?" came Tamas' voice from behind me.

I slowly turned, allowing the deep resonance of his voice to guide me. For the longest breath, we stared at each other as if the two of us understood the fragility of this moment.

Although his absence was brief, it felt as though an eternity had passed since we last touched. Seeing him now, I couldn't contain my desire, my needs, or the raw power of my instincts. I leaped into his embrace, wrapping my arms around his waist and pressing my cheek to his chest, relishing the sound of his strong, forceful, and vital heartbeat, so reflective of his essence. In that moment, with the solidity of his body against mine, I felt as though we'd already triumphed. I knew I shouldn't disregard the consequences of my poor decisions over the last few months, but right now, it was all about us, about Tamas. I realized I didn't want to let him go, and that we were never rivals; we were always meant to be life mates.

"I take that as a no," he murmured against my lips.

"Neither of us are to blame," I added, before sinking into the familiarity of his kiss. After enduring the trials of the past few hours, this truly felt like coming home, even though the greatest threat still loomed ahead. I squeezed my eyes shut, pushing that thought away. Just for this moment, I allowed myself one more fantasy where the two of us were safe and nothing could come between us.

He pulled back, staring deeply into my eyes, drinking in my gaze, then my face, before returning to my eyes once more. He looked like a man who had finally discovered the wonder of life, humbled by its awe. "You found your beast." His words sounded laced with pride.

"She healed me." My body was pain free.

"Shit. You were hurt?" There was no mistaking the sudden alarm in his voice.

"It's nothing. And she wasn't the only thing I found."

He quirked an eyebrow.

"A lot has happened in your absence, even though the night has yet to pass."

As we stayed wrapped in each other's embrace, the castle and Etherweave receded from my thoughts. Not even the burning sparks of the glittering tiny stars falling around us like rain could distract me. Even though only a few hours had elapsed since Tamas took flight into the night, being together made time seem irrelevant. It felt as if we had always been by each other's side. The force of our destinies conspired to keep us apart, yet here we were, in each other's arms. Perhaps this was our true fate.

The Sistern meticulously orchestrated my existence through the manipulation of countless generations, all to set the stage for the Mother's ultimate plan to seize the Bone Throne. Her most significant accomplishment, unbeknownst to her and the generations of women who led the Sistern before her, was in uniting Tamas and me by ensuring my birth and arranging my marriage into the Tannard line.

The Mother underestimated the Razohan. She likely assumed King Henricus and the Salmun would kill him and could never have foreseen the bond that would form between us. Under her tutelage, she likely believed my heart to be as cold as hers and never imagined I would fall in love with my enemy.

"How are the others?" Tamas said.

"Orphus is dead."

He looked momentarily stunned. "You've been busy."

"I left Bryra and Osmud with the apostles and made my way here. I feel certain they will find this place."

"Sometimes it takes years for young Razohan to learn the ways of their beast."

"I didn't arrive on foot."

His brow furrowed.

"I had to learn fast. And it seems I'm a natural. I'll give thanks to the Mother for all her harsh discipline."

"What're you saying?"

"I took the soul of an Ashenlands beast. A winged one at that. Two, in fact. The pathfinder and I had problems getting here, so I had to take the soul of another to finish the journey."

Tamas set me back, holding my arms firm as he stared at me in open wonder.

"That you made it here is beyond words. To master the soul of another can take months. The fact you tamed the mind of a creature from the Ashenlands in…hours or less is beyond words. You truly are remarkable."

"Osmud mentioned all of that as well. Yet here I am."

He chuckled. "I'm genuinely in awe of you, Tressya. I vowed never to underestimate you again, yet here I am, once more humbled by the myriad of ways you've demonstrated your prowess. This is undeniably your destiny, far more than it is mine. From childhood, I was prepared for this fate, while you were kept ignorant, only to later battle fiercely to reach this point. There is no one more deserving of the Bone Throne than you."

"That's not true. I've made so many wrong decisions?—"

Tamas silenced me with a gentle touch, pressing a finger to my lips, his eyes conveying a firm refusal.

I pulled his hand away, my voice earnest. "Don't idealize me. I'll only end up disappointing you."

"That's impossible," he countered softly.

"I'm just as flawed as anyone else. I've made countless mistakes."

He cupped my face tenderly in his hands, his gaze holding mine. "We all have. But what truly defines you is how you rise from those mistakes."

"I knew there were consequences to disturbing the dead, yet I didn't stop. Even once I understood the depth of those consequences, I still couldn't find the courage to send Andriet away."

"He was a very special friend, and something tells me you've had so few of those in your life." He traced a gentle line along my cheeks with his thumbs, his gaze as tender and compassionate as his words.

"Stop being so understanding."

"Why are you so intent on making me hate you?"

I lowered my head, pressing my face against his chest, reluctant to utter the inevitable. "I'm not. I want to feel like this forever."

He stroked my back gently. "Feel like what?"

"Like you'll always have faith in me."

He tilted my chin up with his finger, compelling me to look into his eyes. "I wish I could make you understand that I always will."

"I've disturbed the balance between the living and the dead with everything I've done." Tamas knew what I'd done, but he had yet to understand the consequences. I'd been hesitant to reveal the true scope of my deeds, yet was determined to remove any obstacles between us, any hidden truths that might lead him to judge me, diminish his opinion of me, or erode his trust in me. If that was to be the consequence, I needed to face it now.

"From the way you said that, I assume it's not good news."

I relaxed my grip on him, creating a slight space between us. "I suppose you don't see the glittering rain."

He furrowed his brow in confusion.

"It's everywhere around us, and that you don't see it tells me it's all my fault. It's the consequence of everything I've done—raising the dead, freeing Andriet. The veil is thinning." I extended my hand, letting the shimmering specks of light gather in my palm until they flickered out, leaving behind a sensation akin to tiny burns from floating embers.

"The thinning veil is the least of our problems."

I shook my head. "If the veil diminishes all together, it will release things that are never meant to be released." I stepped away from him.

"The Eone?"

"No. Not them. On possessing you, I believe they've trapped themselves inside of you. Perhaps they didn't realize that at the start, or they were impatient to push you to the Etherweave or…" I shrugged. "I can't imagine what they were thinking."

He forked his hands through his hair. "Let's slow this down for a moment. First, how do you know this?"

"The Eone has kept many secrets from you and made mistakes. I guess they must understand that by now and that's why they made you flee to the Etherweave."

"You haven't told me how you know this?"

"It's convoluted and connected to my skills as a spiritweaver, possibly influenced by the Mother's possession and her own deep connection with soul voice. I was able to…" I pressed my fingertips to my temple, searching for the right words. "I saw you here in this place. I saw your hand resting on the rock."

"You were in my head?"

"No, not yours. I was on the other side of the veil." I squeezed my eyes shut, giving my head a slight shake, as if to organize my thoughts. "That's how fragile the veil has become."

I glanced around us. The Aeternals were likely watching us at this moment, but the falling starlight was a now curtain I couldn't penetrate.

Tamas turned from me and paced away from the gaping hole in the floor and continued to pace, deep in thought. "That's why they're in such a hurry."

"The Eone?"

"Yes. They know the veil is falling, and they want to take the Etherweave before it does." Suddenly, he was upon me, seizing my arms in a fierce grip. "It takes the two of us to release the Etherweave."

"That's why you didn't release it."

He backed away and confused me by laughing. "It couldn't be anymore ironic."

"How?"

"The Eone possessed me after you raised the dead and freed Andriet from the Ashenlands, having anticipated the ensuing destruction of the veil." He rubbed his brow. "I've been fighting against their control for what seems an eternity now. They've only just relented. It's been punishing." He dropped his arm to his side. "They must have possessed me, hoping to use me to release the Etherweave prematurely, before…" He glanced at me. "Before whoever has chosen you as their own is released from the other side." His eyes widened as if he'd finally solved a puzzle.

"You're not making sense."

"It's something the Eone said. ‘They have already claimed her as theirs in this war.' They were Carthius' exact words." He narrowed his eyes, staring directly into mine. "You're not possessed by anyone other than the Mother by chance?"

I straightened. "No." Then blinked. "It was the other way around…like I possessed her for a brief time when I looked through her eyes."

"Who's eyes?"

"Morwen's. I thought at first she was one of the Eone. But she's one of the Aeternals; the Eone's greatest enemy. They were the ones who claimed you were now the Eone's prison. I heard their conversation while in Morwen's mind. And I'm guessing Carthius is one of the Eone."

"Yes," he replied, chewing on a nail. "The Eone already let it slip I'm their cage, a fact I think they hated revealing to me. But this means there are two powerful entities we have to worry about?"

"The Aeternals will return once the veil falls. As rivals to the Eone, they must be extremely powerful, which means we don't want their return."

"The Etherweave is our only hope," Tamas said.

I grabbed his arm. "Wait. As powerful and ancient as they are, surely the Eone wouldn't be foolish enough to trap themselves within you. Perhaps they believe once they possess the Etherweave, they'll have a means to free themselves from you. The Mother said you were lost to them, and I thought she meant the Eone had overpowered your free will. What if she actually meant they would destroy you once they freed themselves from their mental link with you?"

"We've no choice."

"There must be another way."

"This veil. How close is it to collapsing?"

"I don't know." I looked skyward. "It's getting worse." I held out my hands. "It's all around us. It's like we're standing under a waterfall of tiny stars. I can only imagine it's the very fabric of the veil disintegrating."

"Whatever we decide, we'll have to face powerful magic." Tamas' eyes blazed with a ruthless determination I had never witnessed before. He took a step toward me. "We seize the Etherweave and we fight. I've sworn too many times in recent months that I would never fall victim to another again. Time and again, that vow has been broken because the wrong people wield too much power. I refuse to let us and those we love suffer for the greed of others. With the Etherweave, we make it a fair fight."

"We might take on more than we can handle."

"We're left with no choice, Tressya. We either let fate consume us completely or we take control of it ourselves."

Tamas held out his hand. "Are you ready for this?"

I took his hand, staring up into his eyes. "For better or worse, this will change us forever."

"Our lives were irrevocably transformed from the moment we met. Countless forces have attempted to pit us against each other, but they never succeeded. They failed because they never grasped the truth about us."

"And what is that truth?"

"That our ultimate destiny has always been to be together."

"This will bind us," I said.

He gave me a slow smile, turning my hand over to expose my wrist. "I'm already bound."

I gazed at his lips, yearning to close my eyes and kiss him, allow the feeling of his lips pressed against mine to steal me away from the impending moment we hurtled toward.

"In the lake...before we…" Fought.

"Yes. It's exactly what I was going to do. I'd decided to offer my blood to you before I arrived back in Tolum. It was unfair that I had the advantage. You needed the same. But it's something you have to decide for yourself. There's nothing deeper, Tressya. It's something you need to be absolutely?—"

"Just shut up and offer it. "

"There's no escaping once you're?—"

I pressed my palm over his mouth to silence him. "Didn't you just say our destinies were to always be together? Isn't that what this is?" I glanced at the mark he left on my wrist. "If you truly believed what you said?—"

"It's not that, Tressya," he interrupted. "The partner bond is formed with full awareness of its implications, the depth of commitment it entails. I never wanted it for us merely to escape our current predicament."

"Yet you willingly tied yourself to me."

"The way it is, it's one-sided. It's too significant a commitment. I would never have forced you to reciprocate." He stepped into me. "I want this, Tressya, like nothing else I want this. But it must come from a place in your heart, a place of love and not fear."

"I know I've done some terrible things, made a lot of mistakes, but never doubt my commitment to us."

Tamas gently cradled my cheeks between his palms, tilting my head back to lock gazes with me. He opened his mouth, on the cusp of saying something, when a violent tremor rent the ground beneath our feet. He seized my hand to steady me as the tremoring grew more intense.

"What's happening?" he shouted over the deafening roar of the castle's stone walls collapsing around us.

I looked up, instinctively shielding my eyes from the blinding light that pierced through the night sky, its intensity akin to staring directly at the sun.

"I can't see," I mumbled half to myself. Tamas likely never heard.

Tamas pulled me close, using his body as a shield in case any falling stone debris threatened us. "It's not safe to enter the chamber now. We need to get out of the castle before these walls fall on our heads."

He pulled me away from the gaping hole in the floor, the Etherweave's resting place. We stumbled across the trembling ground, as if we were walking on the back of a colossal beast awakening from its slumber. Above us, panicked screeches tore through the sky as the creatures circling overhead succumbed to the collapsing veil.

"No," I yelled, resisting his lead. "The veil." Then I almost lost my footing as the ground heaved like a giant sigh.

"It's not safe inside the castle, Tressya," Tamas shouted.

"It's so bright. I can't see."

"What did you say?" He turned, gripping me by the elbow, crushing me to him. "What did you say?"

"The veil's falling. It's lighting the night brighter than any day."

"Night lit as day," I heard him say amidst the dreadful din of the castle's gradual collapse and the cacophony from the multitude of Ashenlands creatures that had been circling overhead.

Tamas suddenly pulled me to the left, and in my periphery I caught the blur of something large plummet past us, down into the gaping abyss and the chamber below.

"Just as prophesied," he said. "The Etherweave is rising."

"We must reach it before it breaks from of its tomb."

"The castle's collapsing. It's too risky going down there. We could be buried alive."

I tried to shake myself loose from his grasp, half-closing my eyes to shield them against the intense brightness. "The Aeternals will be freed any moment now. We can't risk them seizing the Etherweave."

"Maybe they can't."

We were both yelling at each other over the chaos, and I didn't have time to convince him, so I tried to wrench myself free. If I jumped into the cavity, he'd have no choice but to follow.

"Tressya," Tamas growled, refusing to release me. "The Nazeen spelled the Etherweave?—"

"Are you really prepared to take that risk?" I shouted into his face, but my vision was destroyed by the brilliant light, obscuring his expression.

"Look around us. We have no choice but to escape." His grip on my arms was like a steel clamp, fingers digging into my flesh, leaving me with no alternative.

Help me now . She had to listen to me. Tamas attempted to pull me away from the entrance to the chamber below. It was challenging to resist his strength while trying to summon my inner beast. If not her, then I would harness the creature that brought me here.

I delved deep within myself, seeking the ferocious spirit of the Ashenlands beast. In a flash like lightning, its primal instincts answered my mental call, but just as quickly, I felt a sting across my nails and gums, accompanied by the metallic taste of blood as fangs erupted from my mouth.

My beast awakened. The euphoria of feeling as she engulfed my human form provided relief from the agony of transformation, as my bones shattered and reformed. Before she completely overtook me, I wrapped Tamas in a tight embrace, pressing him against my beastly chest, and lifted him off his feet. With a final lumbering stride, I leaped into the cavity.

As we fell, Tamas transformed, compelling me to loosen my tight embrace. By the time he reached the bottom, he had assumed his beast, but he quickly reverted to his human form. My transformation back took longer, and I endured the excruciating pain of my bones reshaping themselves until I was human again.

"Tressya," Tamas growled once I was myself again, seizing my arms and giving me a light shake. "We can't be down here."

"Look." I gave his anger scant attention.

He glanced over his shoulder toward the rock, consumed within a brilliant glowing orb of blue.

"We still have time." I grabbed his hand as I hurried over to the rock.

Tamas yanked me back, then pulled me against him, swiftly swinging me away as another large winged creature plummeted through the gaping cavity, landing dangerously close to where I'd been standing.

"This is too dangerous," he grumbled into my hair.

"Not once we?—"

"The Eone," he breathed, his hot breath caressing my scalp. "They're waiting, eager. This is what they desire. By releasing it before the Aeternals arrive, we're playing right into their hands."

I turned within his embrace, tilting my head back to gaze into his eyes, marred by a pattern of torment. They'd brutalized him in countless ways.

"Then we take the advantage. Bend down," I demanded as I reached on tip-toes to entwine my arms as best I could around his neck.

His brows furrowed in confusion.

"I want my mark to be more visible." I traced a finger along the side of his neck.

I saw understanding dawn on his face, sweeping away his confusion.

"We force the Eone to fight the both of us," I said.

Despite our limited time, he kissed me—a brief, intense, and fervent kiss that carried a lifetime's promise, a silent vow that overwhelmed my senses and stole my breath.

Then he suddenly tore himself away from me, stumbling backward, his expression morphing from horror to fury. The Eone. They would do anything in their power to keep us apart.

I hurled myself toward him, summoning the strength of my beast. Pain shot through my fingertips as my claws emerged. With one swift motion, I hooked his jacket, then, channeling the power of my beast into my legs, I sprang forward, wrapping my legs around his waist.

Tamas fought to dislodge me, his claws slicing across my back. The sharp pain pierced me like an arrow.

"I understand, Tamas," I shouted, knowing the self-loathing he would feel for inflicting this pain upon me, but the Eone weren't in full control of him, for if they were, Tamas would surely have torn me apart by now. Instead, his movements grew more clumsy, like those of a baby just learning to move.

The veins in his neck popped with the strain he was under, fighting against the Eone's bind as he tried to turn his head sideways, offering me his neck. My fangs descended, seeing the pulse of his blood through his artery. Not wanting him to suffer any longer, I struck like a snake, stabbing my fangs in deep.

I sensed the sacredness of the moment. It was meant to be taken slow, savored, shared. But if I did, the Eone may finally win and turn Tamas against me. Plus, I couldn't forget the castle's collapse, the Aeternals' arrival and the Etherweave's imminent ascension.

My fangs sank deep, and I savored the initial tang of his blood on my tongue. Suddenly, Tamas ceased his struggles, as if yielding to the sanctity of the moment—a force not even the Eone could suppress. He stood motionless, enveloping me in a tight embrace, cradling me against him as his clawless fingers pressed into my skin. I felt his groan as a deep rumble in his chest while I lapped at the wound I had inflicted, consuming as much of his blood as I could. Initially, my eagerness was driven by a desire to triumph over the Eone, but with each subsequent lick, I continued because it felt right, natural, and inevitable, an unseverable bond of utter trust I yearned to feel.

Consuming his blood didn't bring about any immediate changes in my feelings, nor did it trigger any sudden understanding or inner harmony. It seemed the change wasn't instantaneous, but instead would evolve and solidify over time, which was fine by me.

I pulled back and stared at Tamas, entwining my fingers around the back of his neck. His eyes drifted closed as he rested his forehead on mine.

"We will," I said in answer to what I knew was in his heart, instinctively sensing that this moment deserved reverence for what we had just accomplished. We were bonded, united until death, and perhaps even beyond. But the cruelty of fate meant we couldn't allow ourselves time to explore our bond and how it changed us. Instead, we had to fight.

And just to prove my thought, the earth tremored, forming cracks at our feet. Above, chaos maintained its grip, sounding as though the entire mountaintop was disintegrating.

Tamas lowered me to the ground, then seized my chin and tilted my head up for a hard, lingering kiss. Right now, it was the only intimacy we could share.

"We do this," he whispered against my lips.

"Together," I returned.

The blue hue ascended like a colossal serpent, spiraling upward from its tomb. Yet, falling rock, raining down through the cavity above, hindered our quest to reach the Etherweave. We ducked and weaved around the most significant fallen stone blocks, but it appeared the castle itself was conspiring against us, repeatedly forcing us to divert our path or huddle together for protection.

"We have to make it," I yelled, feeling a genuine sense of dread that the Etherweave would escape into the Aeternals' clutches before we reached it in time.

"Tamas," I gasped. Sheltered by his body, I watched as the blue snake like energy continued to spiral upward toward the gaping hole overhead. The Etherweave was rising, and we were about to lose it.

"Use your beast," he yelled, his body already taking on partial beast form. Instead of waiting for me to do likewise, Tamas swung me into his arms and leaped the final distance to the rock, then caught me between the rock and his body, using it as a shield from falling debris.

"Touch it," he yelled, reaching over me to place his hand atop the rock.

I turned in his embrace to face the rock, now scorching hot, almost unbearable to touch, and the pain intensified the longer I kept my hands on it. I gritted my teeth against the burn and looked up past Tamas to the sky, peering into the brightness to discern figures emerging through the white haze. There were four, two men and two women, magnificently elegant and regal.

"The Aeternals," I whispered.

The massive snake of blue light continued its ascent, almost piercing through the gaping hole and into the castle, toward the waiting Aeternals.

"It's not working," I murmured, shifting my gaze back to the rock, only to see Tamas' and my hands were now glowing blue. Even as the Etherweave spiraled into the sky, more of it snaked its way from the rock, up our arms, and further, until it reached my mouth and poured inside, both suffocating and enlivening me in its power.

"Tressya," Tamas' voice was strained. I felt his claws dig into my hip as a violent force threatened to wrench us apart. Following my instincts, I released my hand from the rock and spun within the cradle of his body, flinging myself into his embrace. I wrapped my arms and legs around him, anchoring myself close as a vicious wind whipped across my back. I arched my head back, looking up to see the long spiral of the Etherweave ascending through the floor cavity and into the waiting arms of the Aeternals above, who were still emerging from the amorphous white brilliance of the descending veil.

"They—" That was all I said before a white light so intense it seared my eyes engulfed us, accompanied by a deafening noise as if the entire mountain were collapsing.

We were thrown from the rock, hurtled through the air like debris caught in a ferocious gale. My inner beast surfaced, granting me the strength to cling tightly to Tamas' front. With equal force, he gripped a hold of me, keeping us together as the veil finally dissolved and everything around us disappeared.