RUIN

54

Vera looked out at the last of her family in front of her, distorted by the high-speed winds that swirled around her body. Her beautiful daughter. Her fiercely righteous granddaughter in the distance.

Where had things gone so wrong?

Fire surged through her veins, around her heart, through her lungs. Nothing they were doing affected her, protected by her god against their pitiful attempts at attack.

But she was dying anyway. She could feel it, the way her skin pulsed and stretched around the flowing lava underneath it.

Soon, it would overtake her. And destroy everything else around them in the process.

"You do not deserve to be saved," she'd said. And the words were true. Anyone who stood against her deserved to perish.

But that voice had come from deep within her, and it was not hers. Nor was it hers to control. She hadn't even realized she'd spoken the words.

And the indescribable pain was back. She was outside of her own body, looking down at the way she glowed like a distant star, illuminating the waves of the sea below her .

Who are you , she asked silently, unable to move her lips now. She wasn't sure whether she was asking herself or this deity that had slowly consumed her from the inside out. Her mind reeled to that fateful day that had set hundreds of years of decisions in motion, leading to this. To now. To her downfall.

So much of her own life had been out of her control. She'd finally felt like she'd regained some of that authority, but now it spiraled away from her. Out of her grasp.

Maybe she would have been better off following her parents into the ash that day.

She hoped they rested peacefully, her parents. Wondered if they had suffered the same fate she suffered now, the same scorching, burning, unbearable heat. Or if they'd gone quickly, painlessly.

She would not be so lucky, she knew that now.

Who are you?! she cried again, this time screaming the words in her mind where they clattered around aimlessly, echoing. She remained locked in her own consciousness while a battle raged beyond at her command. Because of her.

She'd spent decades sowing further divisions among the two realms. Building an army, a good army. Full of people that believed in her and her mission. Mere moments ago, she'd erupted mountains around them to create a more difficult terrain for battle, she'd split the earth, pulling up its molten core. She was more powerful than ever before. She was…

No , she reminded herself. She hadn't done any of this. It was whatever being laid within her, slowly building and growing over these past months at her behest.

She'd walked into the Legion Academy confident, sure of her efforts. Sure of the people that waited for her outside, ready and willing to fight for her cause. To lead a Unified Wren under her rule. To be rid of the dragons, the shifters, who had caused this mess to begin with. A disgusting mess she was trying desperately to clean up.

But she wasn't cleaning up anything. She was dying.

And for what? she asked herself. For centuries of grief, dulled and satiated only by power. By purpose. Well, I'm serving a purpose now , she realized. But it was not her own.

Her thoughts raced in time with her pulse. I am dying for you! She shouted into the bottomless cavern of her mind. The least you could do is tell me the name you answer to!

She was met with silence.

Speak to me, you coward! s he demanded, beating her fists against the captivity of her thoughts.

Her forces grew sparse along the landscape amid plumes of smoke that wafted, mixing with the dark skies. Flashes of lightning filled the horizon, illuminating the ashen storm clouds. They were losing this battle. She was losing. She would die in vain. For nothing. All of her hard work, years of rage and tears and guilt and hatred .

It had gotten her nowhere. She'd lost her kingdom, her family. Her power. Her parents. And now her life. For nothing.

I will die here tonight , she thought, acceptance settling over her.

"Yes."

The voice boomed inside her mind, making her recoil against the restraint of her paralysis.

Why?

It was a defeated plea. The voice of the young girl she once was, bringing her back to her knees in the hall of her estate, the news of her parents' death heavy on her shoulders.

"You traded yourself for this, Vera Erdane. So that I may help you achieve your true wish—to rid Wren of the shifters. You are not the first of your kind to make a deal of this nature, and you will certainly not be the last. All great power comes at a cost. The ultimate sacrifice."

She had done just that, hadn't she? Offered herself—body and soul—for the ability to achieve her greatest desires. She had come so close. But now she would pay the price. She should have known the god's bargain was too good to be true.

I know you are no god of ours , Vera spat at the ethereal voice. She had to know, even if it was her last conscious thought. Was she right? That dragon seer? Is Mallium truly dying? She paused. Are we too late to save him?

Lightning cracked above her in answer.

***

"Luka!"

Luka heard Aria's voice pierce through the air like an alarm bell. He looked over just long enough to see her gesturing toward the sky behind him where streaks of light tore through the clouds.

They'd done it. They'd summoned a storm, a real thunderstorm. He could have cried at the sight, at the hope that sparked in his chest.

He'd only channeled lightning once before. Once, when he'd wanted to see how far he could push himself as a naive teenager. And he'd vowed then that he never wanted to do it again. It had wiped him out for weeks, draining his magic in an instant.

But this was their last chance at possibly stopping Vera's tirade. Even if it killed him, it would be worth it to save his people.

To save Aria.

Luka pumped his wings hard, soaring straight into the clouds. He heard his mother's roar behind him, but he kept pushing higher and higher. It would kill her to lose him, he knew as much. But if he didn't succeed, they would be dead anyway. He had to try.

Suddenly his mother was behind him, her silver-gilded scales blending into the storm clouds so well it startled him. She roared again, her fearful eyes pleading with him. He rumbled back to her softly. The closest thing he could get to I love you.

He hoped she knew what he meant.

The vibration of the electricity surrounded him, building, buzzing over his scales. It was happening, he only had moments—

And then it struck him. The feeling of pure power coursed through every nerve in his body, the pain excruciating, blurring his vision. He could barely make out the light of Vera's glow below him. His target. He had to… focus … through the pain … The tip of his tail tingled, hummed with the volts.

Beside him, his mother cried out and he realized too late that she had been struck, too.

A gargled wail tore through him, unleashing the lightning back through his tail and straight toward Vera. But beside him, a bright flash drew his gaze toward his mother. To another stream of electricity that erupted from Shara's tail, combining with his bolt to pierce through the night sky before connecting with their target.

Mother of Mallium , Luka thought. She's channeling .

His mother was channeling.

It was his last thought before he was consumed by darkness.