Chapter 75

When Gelvira turned her attention on Tristan, her body wreathed in shadow, my magic rallied, anticipating the moment she reached down inside herself and yanked up her power.

I gripped the keystone, power flooding through me when she flung her spear of darkness toward the downed wyvern.

Her shadows struck a wall of solid ice, an impenetrable barrier between her rage and Tristan, who had smoke spilling from his nostrils.

"I won't let you touch him. Or any of them."

I didn't allow myself to look at Tavion. Didn't allow myself to even wonder if the blood had worked and he was alive. Because if I took my eyes off my sister for even a moment, we were all dead.

"You're weak," she mocked. "You spilled all your magic like a teenager's first time in a female. You can't hope to face me and survive."

"First of all, that's a crude analogy, even for you. Second, I will totally kick your arse." Because there was no delaying this fight.

I finished this here and now.

Or she'd hunt us to the ends of the world.

Go.Protect them. My darklings untangled themselves from my ankles and spread across the floor like a pool of still water, reflecting the shifting stars above, along with Gelvira's hateful face.

"I see some things never change, including your disgusting little pets."

Gelvira's beauty twisted into something hideous, her callous laugh wending through the cave, stripping the last of my reservations away.

Only one of us would walk away from this.

And it sure as fuck wouldn't be her.

"Fine, then. It's been a long time since we have faced off like this, sister." Her smile gleamed with an eternity of jealousy and rage, and then she transformed, growing taller, like a blackened oak tree rising from the ground, twisted, thorned branches stretching to block out the sun.

I backed away, horror sluicing through my veins.

She had no face, no eyes or nose or expression, nothing but consuming malevolence seeping out of her, same as her brother. Writhing vines covered her body, glossy with blight, the reek of rot returning tenfold.

Holy gods, Gelvira was as corrupted as Corvus, stopping only when her head scraped the ceiling, thirty, forty-feet high, arms long enough to touch both walls.

"Well," I forced myself to say, wetting my dry lips. "I have to say, the glamour suited you better."

The top of her form moved. A shrug, maybe. "It was time to stop pretending."

"Yes, I agree," I told her quietly, and dove into the depths of my power.

Cold, primal rage rippled through me, leaving my mind clear and focused enough to launch a blast of light toward Gelvira. Her shadows sundered beneath the assault, igniting the drifting stars into spectacular explosions as my magic expanded, devouring everything it came in contact with.

She sent out a return blow and my magic stopped, shuddered, then collapsed beneath her crushing counterattack. Her magic—and her fury—hit me a second later, buckling my knees, sending me crashing to the floor.

"You will find, sister, you are not as strong as you imagine." The taunt echoed hollowly as she gathered her power once more, sending darkness flying. "Oh, you are clever and deceitful to a fault, but true power is honed and hoarded over eons, not months."

I crawled behind the pile of rocks as her shadows swelled above me, hastily casting domes of protective light over the three forms stirring on the floor, and the one that still wasn't moving at all.

My heart cracked open, then the world exploded.

Rock plummeted down, shattering around me, the mountain groaning as that dark wave struck all three walls like a battering ram then raced out through the opening, ringing across the valley below with a deafening crack as I climbed to my feet, brushing off dust and chunks of rock.

Protect them. Don't let her touch a hair on their heads. My darklings slithered over my frosty domes, weaving themselves together until each shield resembled an enormous droplet of water.

I could see my males inside, even Tavion, until Gelvira sundered the air apart with her next attack, the walls shaking beneath the impact, the ceiling groaning.

More and more of her magic flooded the cave, wave after swollen wave burying me beneath its crushing weight.

I shut down my fear and shoved back with the force of a dying star.

Fueled by months of pent-up wrath, by the need to protect my fallen warriors, I sent cold power hurtling toward her, oblivion cloaked in ice and snow, an avalanche meant to crush a god.

It was a direct hit.

The monstrosity that was Gelvira reeled back a step, the floor cracking beneath her while I lunged up, magic flowing out of me in a river of ice, a flood that wrapped around her ankles before that frosty power solidified into a frozen pool. She yanked and snarled, fighting to rip herself free.

She was contained.

But too close to Tavion.

Almost right on top of Zor. So close she could touch him.

The knife…The shattered blade was scattered in pieces across the floor. The hilt lay in the center of the room, not far from where I'd thrown them. Right on top of the thin lines of gold, still pulsing softly with golden power.

Maybe…maybe I could still use the knife somehow…

Zor's hand burst out through my darkling shield as his head popped up, eyes locking with mine before I stepped closer to the ruined weapon, Gelvira pivoting with me.

Something yanked free, that hidden place below my heart unfurling—expanding—in time with the power spreading through the room, ice crystals erupting from the floor everywhere my magic touched. Trapping her inside a spiked arena of my making. She wailed, lashing against the clear crystals, sending chunks of ice flying.

I'd trapped her, but killing her…Could that even be done?

Our magics were so equally matched any fight would be a draw.

I wasn't confident I could outlast her if it came down to that.

I scanned the floor again, the golden light a beacon around the outer edges. This place had been Corvus's prison. But I didn't know any containment spells, didn't really understand how magic worked.

And after what happened with Corvus…

Sealing evil away to rise another day—no, I wouldn't do that, even if it was an easier choice for today. Gelvira would rot this mountain from the inside out, like her brother had.

And if she ever escaped, she would raze this world to the ground.

"It all ends here," I told her, shifting closer to the knife, gauging the distance between us, her wildly flailing arms cutting chunks of granite from the walls and sending boulders of ice flying.

If she touched me, she'd slice me in half.

"Everything ends here."

I took stock of my surroundings, all in all, as horrible a place as I'd ever been.

"We were created here when this world was young, your brother told me. And in that moment, I realized the truth. This was a place of beginnings…and endings. If we were made here, we could be unmade."

She was so focused on me she didn't see Zor climbing free of his nest of darklings, giving them a horrified look as he staggered away unnoticed. Tristan was awake, his wyvern curled into a tight ball beneath my shield, red-gold eyes darting between me and Gelvira.

Keep her distracted, Anaria.

I had to restrain myself from looking to my left, toward Raz. Tavion's still down, but three of us are up and moving. Let us help.

Stand down. I've got this.

Told you she'd say that, Raz. I heard the peevish aggravation in Zor's voice. We need to stop asking permission and start asking forgiveness.

At least stay back, I hissed into their minds, knowing better than to waste my time telling them to run.

None of us were going anywhere now.

Her feet still mired in the frozen pool, she swiped those long, spiked arms and cleaved the crystals in half, sending them clattering across the floor, burying the knife beneath a mountain of crushed ice.

Raz's arms wrapped around me and healing magic surged through me, leaving a trail of strength behind. "This is me staying back, princess. We do this together. Now rip her to shreds."

I hit her with another blast of light and got a face full of darkness in return. Black writhing awfulness engulfed me before my magic flared, light driving the shadows away, leaving stars spinning lazily in their place.

"You're getting weaker, sister, while I grow stronger. How much longer do you think you protect them?" Her tone turned positively ravenous. "They will not flee. They never do."

"Again, princess. One more time." Raz's arms tightened around me. Right now, they were the only thing holding me up.

I threw everything into this wave of power, feeding more and more magic into that consuming blow, meant to be her last. Gelvira sent blackness howling back, and when the two powers collided, the world exploded. The mountain rocked around us, stones slamming down, Tristan bursting from his shielded dome to avoid being crushed.

"We're going to die down here, Raz." I gasped for air, sagging in his arms. "Another blow like that and we'll be buried."

Keep her occupied a few more minutes, Anaria. And someone please fetch me the hilt of that knife.

I blinked at the new—and completely unexpected—voice in my head.

Melodic and serene, Sylvi recited, No weapon forged by mortal hands will cleanse these blighted, ruined lands…To end the dark, the world to cure, a broken heart, intentions pure.

The last time I'd heard those words, she'd been masquerading as Bexley. But beyond Gelvira's frantically thrashing form, a tiny figure waited inside the opening in the wall, a nest of wild white hair framing her lined face.

Don't stand there gaping at me, girl. Keep her busy. I will reforge the knife. I only need the hilt. Zorander Vayle, get moving; you're closest, she ordered sharply. Start digging, Commander.

Zor crept toward the pile of tumbled ice, crouching down, his gaze pinned on Gelvira. She sensed the movement, twisting in his direction.

"It must chafe knowing you couldn't save your brother from a bunch of worthless mortals."

Stupid thing to say, but she swung back towards me, focusing all that ice-cold rage with single-minded purpose.

"Mortals you brought together, no less. I wonder if he secretly cursed you while I was turning him into an ashy husk?"

She said distract her, Anaria, not piss her off, Raziel muttered into my head.

Well, she's distracted, I thought back. Behind her looming form, Zor pawed through the pile of crushed ice, searching for the broken weapon, though gods knew how that would help us now.

"I am going to strip your flesh from your bones," Gelvira said matter-of-factly. "Then I'll kill every last one of your…"

She pivoted to take in the room, only to find two of her victims gone. The air sucked from the cave as she gathered her power.

A wall of ice exploded out of me and plowed into Gelvira, ripping her free from the frozen pool, leaving a trail of black, torn…parts behind, writhing frantically. I slammed her against the back wall of the cave and pinned her there, the cave—the entire mountain—shaking around us, rock crumbling as the entrance collapsed completely, cutting off the light.

Will a roar, Tristan filled the cave with glowing sparks.

Sylvi stepped free of the dark crevice, Zorander tossing her the broken sword on her way past.

"Hold her still." Churning darkness whipped around us, my ears hollowing out as I fed more and more magic into keeping my sister pinned. She screeched furiously, thrashing against the wall, rock splintering and cracking.

Before that dark, raging form, Sylvi lifted the broken blade into the air, her lips moving as a phantom breeze circled her, filled with a constellation of stars and glowing embers. The broken pieces of mithirium flew through the air, and as we watched, the blade was reforged, cracks melting together, the ground rocking beneath our feet.

This whole damn cave might just collapse after all.

Get Tavion out, I thought, then Zorander was hauling him toward the crack. Tristan guarded their retreat, sending short bursts of flame to counter Gelvira's consuming shadows that escaped my icy attack. My darklings streaked across the floor and wound themselves around my legs.

Not helping.

"Don't stop, Anaria." Raz wrapped his arms around me tighter as I fed more magic into making sure my sister didn't escape. Ready to drag me away, I realized, but where would we go when the only way out was that narrow crevice?

Sylvi hoisted the reforged weapon higher, and the air in the cave went quiet, the hair on the back of my neck rising. "I made an oath to free this world." Her voice rang against the silence.

"I swore I would not stop until this world was safe." Inside that hollow place in the blade, a rageful star ignited. "Others joined the fight. Many have fallen, but we have never given up."

Out of pure instinct, I flung out my hand and sent a ribbon of power straight into the blade. Cold as the heart of our dead world, light erupted, blazing like a beacon.

I squinted against that dazzling light, focused on Sylvi's tiny figure outlined by Gelvira's hulking blackness. My body shook beneath the effort of keeping her pinned, as she strained to crush the wizened witch in front of her.

"This is for them." Sylvi's words rang through the cavernous dark before she moved—faster than I thought possible—and plunged the sword deep into the center of that writhing darkness, starlight rippling like lightning through that depthless black.

Gelvira's panicked scream ripped through me—a wail that transcended worlds and time—a shriek of pure hatred that had some primal instinct telling me to run.

"Look," Raz breathed. "Oh gods."

Sylvi was frozen in place.

Not frozen, turning to stone. Like in my vision, her body was hardening, that ferocious expression carved into her face, as overhead, Gelvira flaked apart, little curling bits of ash raining down, glowing faintly around the edges.

Thank you. For getting me this far.

The reek of rot turned to smoke and fire, bits of burning…stuff floating in the air as Gelvira writhed and howled, hunks of liquidy flesh sloughing off onto the floor. Lightning licked and crackled over her dark form, veins of white illuminating the black, writhing mass pinned against the wall.

Godsdamn it, you were supposed to teach me magic,I scolded. And not that flame bullshite. Real magic.

You would have been a terrible student.

And you were an awful teacher. But…you promised.

Her raspy chuckle echoed through me…and then was gone, leaving echoing silence in its wake.

One last shriek and Gelvira went still, that white light consuming her from the inside out, the pool of black growing at her feet—blood, or something like it.

The stars floating around us flickered out, shadows swirling before they, too, vanished. Overhead, the rock groaned like the world was screaming, and in the darkness overhead, something crashed.

Rock shattered on the floor beside us.

Then a wyvern's roar preceded the plume of red-tinted fire licking up through the center of the chamber, illuminating everything in horrible relief.

"Get the fuck out of there," Zorander shouted from the crevice opening. "This entire mountain is about to come down."