Chapter 72

Holy fucking gods.

Maybe if I said that enough times he'd disappear into the ether, because…holy fucking gods.

Against the enormity of Corvus, everything became insignificant, including us.

Especially us.

He was the biggest living thing I'd ever seen, so big, I was having trouble wrapping my head around how, exactly, we were supposed to get close enough to kill him.

This would be like leveling a mountain with a pickaxe.

The strangely shrine-like pile of stones and bones hid me well enough, but he was so focused on belching his rot out into the world, I highly doubted he noticed me any more than I'd notice an ant beneath my boot.

I slid down and pressed my back against the rocks, gathering my thoughts into something coherent. From the moment I'd opened my eyes this morning, I'd fallen effortlessly into the role that had once defined me but now I hated with all my heart, because I knew where today would end.

One last command.

One last campaign against an unbeatable enemy.

One final duty for my queen. My love. My life.

Then we'd arrived and I'd grasped—too fucking late—the enormity of the task we faced.

But fear would get us killed. Worse, fear would get Anaria killed.

We had a plan. Nothing adequate for the situation, not one that took all the variables—including the fact Corvus was nearly as big as the entire fucking Keep—into account, but a shite plan and a little luck were better than no plan at all.

Stuttering fear turned to clear, calm focus as I barked out orders I knew would be followed to a tee, Anaria's rage building to a boiling crescendo in the background.

But everyone had to be in position.

Everyone had to give everything they had to make this work.

And then, once she understood the hard reality—we were her warriors to shield our queen—we told Anaria the only thing that mattered.

That if we fell, if all the dreams and plans we'd made turned to ash, then we'd find her again. No matter how far we had to go or how long we had to wait.

Then I closed off my connection to her and sent one final message to Zor and Tristan.

If this goes south and I fall, one of you fly her out. No matter how hard she fights, she is the only one of us who really matters.

Corvus slithered closer to the opening, dragging a train of dripping vines and shadows behind him like he'd crawled out of the bowels of the earth.

I ducked behind the yellowed bones jutting up from the stone pile, the floor beneath my feet polished to an almost mirror finish, the mica-flecked stone glittering, along with the hair-thin bands of gold that echoed the circumference of the room.

I knew there were symbols inlaid here as well; I'd seen them in the room Anaria had re-created this morning. All of our markings, hidden beneath a sticky coating of rot.

Somewhere, in the center, was one made out of pure Cassiopian silver.

And all we had to do was make sure Anaria was standing on that symbol once we had Corvus pinned down between us.

Bex had walked us through the plan last night while Anaria slept.

Those symbols would—in theory—boost our power. Along with the keystones, we stood a chance at containing him, then Anaria could kill him.

I couldn't help but feel that every failure, every sacrifice, everything I'd ever done had led me straight here, to this moment. To serve, perhaps to die for, my queen.

I measured the cave one final time. I'd done this very same pincer move with entire armies out on the battlefield and they'd never seen us coming.

But this…I swallowed and sent out my first order.

It's time.

I waiteduntil Tavion prowled out of the dark slash in the rock and padded silently across the glassy floor, Zorander appearing out of midair, kneeling to hide his wings behind the rockpile.

Tristan waited in the shadows, hand gripping Anaria's shoulder, their gazes fixed on Corvus.

Now, I thought, heart thundering, sucking in a lungful of stagnant air and the overwhelming stench of this place, stepping into the trail of sludge he'd tracked across the floor. My boots slipped as I stumbled toward the opening, Tavion racing beside me, his hair a streak of white against the blackness.

Feathers rustled as Zor flew in the opposite direction, faster than the wind, setting down in the thick, black slime behind Corvus.

The air rumbled overhead from Corvus's slow, grinding halt as he finally realized he wasn't alone, but he reacted slowly, giving Tavion and I time to move into position, careful to avoid the fountain of rot streaming through the opening.

"Stay close to the wall," I growled to the wolf, skirting the edge of that raging river, knowing if Corvus changed direction even slightly, I could, at least, ghost myself out of the way.

Tavion would be crushed.

But the Old God was too large to maneuver quickly in this space, too bound up by twisted vines and thorns, the stream of rot stuttering to a halt as he clumsily pivoted, scraping against the floor like some ancient leviathan crawling out of the deepest ocean trench.

Stones.Three distinct points ignited in the darkness, one dark, one white, one blue, stars flickering in an ocean of night. Two blocking the opening, one at the rear of the cave.

The air shifted in a rush as a golden wyvern soared out of the dark opening, hovered midair in front of Corvus, and opened his mouth, chest and throat glowing like the sun.

Fire spilled out of Tristan's mouth like lava, blanketing Corvus in consuming heat. Like lamp oil, his slick shell ignited, vines twisting and flailing like headless snakes, thorns growing into spikes then crumbling off.

Corvus was burning, but I focused on the floor around him, every inch except the very edges covered in that thick, cloying layer of black sludge.

Clear the floor so we can find those symbols and harness the power here.

Another breath and Tristan scorched the slime away, the floor becoming a gleaming sheet of mirrored black, golden symbols glowing red from the heat.

Find your symbol. Get into position. Tristan soared back to the crevice, caught the pants Anaria tossed him, pulled them on, then snagged his stone from midair, racing toward the center, his feet barely touching the floor.

Corvus thrashed, burning flames crawling over him as he sent vicious lashes of shadow spearing for us. Tavion hit the floor, one of them cleaving the air over his head like a scythe.

I vanished when another got too close.

Zorander hovered midair, measuring the Old God's every move, ready to move at a second's notice.

Then bright gold flames turned darker, becoming a midnight aura around a much-diminished but still-enormous Corvus, the putrid stench growing stronger. He was still a slimy pile of shite, if you asked me, but more like Anaria had described him.

I stopped, planting my boots firmly on my symbol. Tavion had found his, Zorander setting down, waiting for my signal.

Tristan slid into position last, his bare feet skidding over the smooth surface.

This had to work.

When Anaria described this cave, the marks on the floor, I thought this place might have been some kind of shrine, especially given the bones. But then I'd seen her re-creation today and realized—that's not what this place was at all.

Not even close.

This cave was a prison.

I didn't know who'd constructed his cell. The witches. The Fae. The Old Gods themselves. It hardly mattered, because all this time he'd been kept locked up and powerless. Bex's theory? The Oracle couldn't kill him because their magics were too intertwined, so he just…existed here.

Trapped by these markings in the floor.

I firmed my grip on my stone, the smooth surface heating against my palm, and I wasn't prepared for the cataclysm of our magic tangling together.

Our stones didn't ignite.

They exploded.

A web of pure light illuminated the inside of the cave and surrounded Corvus. Even with the four of us, he paused, that dark aura flaring within our glowing dome. A crack rent the air, then a lash of black shadow speared straight toward Zor, a fatal blow contained within a spear of pure power that would tear my best friend in half. But when darkness met light…

Corvus's shadows were severed.

And right in front of him, like a beacon on the floor, glowed a tree of pure silver.

I didn't question how an ancient witch symbol made its way into a cave of the Old Gods, didn't question how fate worked, not when it seemed, for once, to be working in our favor.

Anaria. You're up, princess. I blew out a shaking breath because all I really wanted to do was grab her and leave. Fly her to the other side of the world where she could never be found.

Kick his arse, Tavion added, his grin brilliant from halfway across the cave.

We'll be waiting over here in case you need us.