Chapter 106

The Nymphs shrieked as they burned in my flames, and the last of them fell beneath me, Shadow's heavy paw landing on one of their chests as I drew him to a halt.

Orion turned to me from ahead, his Phoenix fire sword wet with the blood of his kills. The shadows were twisting ahead of us like a curtain of black, rising ever higher and stretching out in either direction, blocking our view of the Jade Castle beyond.

I couldn't hear Lavinia in there, her shrieks of death fallen quiet, but she had to be close.

The roars of our army were climbing higher than the roars of the enemy's, and I sensed a real change in the air. Lionel's army was being forced onto the back foot, my people slicing through them with sword, fire, earth, air and water. It was a thing of beauty, but as much as I yearned to join them, there was one monstrous creature left on this battlefield who needed to be destroyed for all the blood she had spilled. And I couldn't turn from her now.

I patted Shadow's shoulder and flew from his back, sweeping down to land before him. "Join the battle. Tear through our enemies and give them hell."

Shadow grunted, somehow understanding those words as he nudged his nose against my cheek then turned and raced into the fray. He slammed into rows of Lionel's warriors to my right and screams carried into the sky as he cut through them with his claws.

I turned to Orion, nodding to him, knowing he wouldn't leave my side now, and as one we raced into the shadows. I raised a hand, my Phoenix fire chasing away the dark as we scrambled over piles and piles of bodies, our allies dead beneath our feet and the stench of death thick in my nose. My ire rose as I hunted for Lavinia upon this field of chaos, my fire burrowing deeper into the shadows and burning a path for us to follow.

"Lavinia!" I shouted. "Come out and face us! Are you a coward or a queen?!"

The shadows struck at me and Orion from all sides, but I burned them back with my fire, sending a dome of it out around us. The shadows hissed against my flames, receding further as Lavinia's cry of anger came from up ahead.

I looked to Orion, but he already knew what I was going to ask, sweeping me in his arms and shooting toward the place where we'd heard her voice. I sent a fiery Phoenix bird out to forge our path, the tips of its wings scoring through the dark, roiling power of the shadows.

"Such a fool to bring your precious mate with you into my domain," Lavinia's voice whipped around us, passing through tendrils of darkness.

Orion slowed, trying to follow the source of that voice, but it was everywhere, continuing to taunt us.

"I will feast on both your hearts and relish the sweetness of your love," she laughed, the cruel sound daggering through the fog of black either side of us.

Orion growled, coming to a halt as I sent my Phoenix bird deeper into the shadows, burning them away in great beats of its wings and revealing more of the land.

A sudden movement to my right made Orion turn and he sprinted towards it, trying to hunt her down.

"You make idle threats, but run from the True Queen all the same," Orion barked. "Come out and face her if you are so sure you'll win."

"Ah, little hunter, how much you must have missed me," she crooned as we failed to locate her once again. "Do you think of me often? Carving my pretty knives through your flesh?"

I shuddered at the memory, but I wasn't its slave anymore. It only spurred on the venom in my blood, my need to end her.

"Place me down," I whispered to Orion and he did so, coming to a halt at my side, raising his sword in preparation.

I let a roaring fire build between my hands, calling my Phoenix bird back to fuel it, the red and blue flames building and building until-

I released them in an explosion of light, the fire tearing away from us in every direction, eradicating her shadows in a blaze. And there she was, revealed to us fifty feet ahead, backing up in the direction of the Jade Castle that towered in the distance.

But instead of running like it seemed she might, she stood her ground, a snarl parting her lips.

"I am a queen," she growled. "I claimed this kingdom. It was owed to me. You have been in this world for barely a blink of a moment, but I have waited, I have suffered, I have fought for my crown and claimed my Acrux King. You will never take that from me, descendant of Avalon." Shadows coiled around her arms in deadly tendrils, power darkening her eyes.

I lifted my hands, fire blooming and my hair whipping back in a powerful wind conjured by my own magic. The earth rumbled and ice shards grew against my arms like a sheen of spines. I could wield every Element, I could cast fire that rivalled the heat of the sun, and I had something worth fighting for that Lavinia would never know the taste of.

"You fight for power while I fight for love," I called. "Let's see which one triumphs on the cusp of oblivion."

Phoenix fire flooded from me in a torrent, followed by a swirling blast of ice shards. Lavinia cloaked herself in shadows to try and shield from the blast, but my fire bit deep and the ice bit deeper. She screamed as she was cut by a thousand jagged pieces of ice, and shadows tore away from her in a spear of power that came right for us, her skin knitting over as quickly as it had been sliced open.

Orion darted forward, slashing through the shadow spear with his sword of flames, moving so fast the strike was burned to nothing before it even got close to me.

Lavinia snarled, shadows shrouding her and carrying her fast across the battlefield, launching herself at me in a swirl of darkness. She collided with my air shield, the fog of black doming over me and trying to crack through my defences.

I let the earth swallow me, speeding underground then launching myself back above the dirt behind her and stabbing my sword, driving it into her back.

She screamed in agony, a blast of shadows crashing into me before I could shield and throwing me fifty feet into the air, a noose of darkness forming around my throat.

Fire blazed against my skin, tearing away from me and eating through her power fast. Then I was falling, my wings snapping out as I took in the sight below. Lavinia's body had already healed from my strike and she held a sword of shadow in her grip, fighting with Orion, their weapons clashing in furious movements.

I rained down hell from above, pellets of fire pummelling Lavinia and making her shriek in utter pain. I landed beside her, swinging my sword in a bid to take her head from her shoulders, but she lurched backwards to narrowly avoid the strike.

Her shadows assaulted us from behind and I was forced to turn, trying to burn them away as fast as they came. But then Lavinia caught my hair in her fist, yanking me towards her as a spear of shadows went flying past me.

"Watch," she growled as the spear slammed into Orion's back, piercing his armour and running him through. He had been so desperately fighting off the shadows that he hadn't seen it coming and a scream rubbed my throat raw. Before he hit the ground, the shadows wrapped him in tight binds and yanked him away into a rolling sea of black mist.

"Dead, dead, dead," Lavinia sang, driving her shadows against my back and working to crush me within them.

I yelled in fury, Phoenix fire bursting from me in every direction, my hair setting alight and making Lavinia wail in pain as she lurched away from me.

I ran towards the veil of shadow ahead, needing to find Orion and heal him before he was lost, but Lavinia closed that wall around me, tighter and tighter and I was forced to focus on burning them back. The pressure of them mounted as they closed in from all sides, the light of the sky extinguished, and only my flames lighting the world around me.

Lavinia didn't relent, every whip of shadow I burned replaced by another and another. I tried to force my fire out in another flood, but her shadows thickened and thickened, all of her strength lent to this cast. I couldn't see her among them anymore, and all I could do was focus on blasting them back before they swallowed me whole.

Flashes of Orion's torture raced through my mind along with all the horrors Lavinia had delivered to this world. I thought of my sister and how she'd been captured by the shadows, forced to be Lionel's pawn, and all the suffering she'd faced in recovering from that. I thought of Clara and her desperate soul begging to be released from the clutches of Lavinia's wrath, and of all those who had been lost to her brutality. This creature was a plague. A plague who would spread rot across the land if I didn't finish her this day. It couldn't go on. She had to pay. She had to suffer the price of her cruelty.

With a scream that was filled with my rage at all the terror Lavinia had caused, my Phoenix fire blasted from me in an inferno that scorched the earth and engulfed everything it touched. The shadows were consumed, burned to nothing, and among all the fiery ruin, Lavinia was screaming too.

I felt my power connect to hers, almost as if we were power sharing, but it was wholly opposite to that. My fire was feeding on her shadows, dragging and dragging them from her body, and she was revealed ahead of me, trying to claw her way across the ground to escape. But my fire was connected to the darkest pieces of her power, ripping them clean from her body in ribbons of shade.

"No!" she screeched and her skin began sizzling away, making her cry out in purest agony, that thin veil of flesh constructed as a lie to hide what she really was. And beneath it lay the horrid truth.

This writhing, monstrous creature was nothing but a shadow clinging to a fragmented soul. Within that slithering, limbless thing were roaring, angry wraiths, hideous faces pushing against the inside of her shadowy body, clawing at it with nails and gnashing their teeth. I sneered at the sight, recalling what Arcturus had told me about Lavinia's origin, how those dark and malevolent spirits had been long-ago summoned from the dead, and they had bound themselves to her.

Her voice still carried from that ugly thing, but it was rougher, less Fae, more monster.

"I cannot die," she rasped.

"Die? All things can die if I wish it," a dark voice made the ground rumble, and I looked up to find a cloaked figure standing there with a weathered paddle in hand and his black hood drawn low to conceal his features. His sinister presence made the hairs stand up along my arms and the breath in my lungs turn icily cold, and I knew with a certainty that rattled my bones, that this was The Ferryman.

"But you will not pass beyond The Veil," he hissed venomously, disgusted by her, it seemed.

Lavinia's essence thrashed upon the charred bones of the battlefield, those things inside her screaming louder as my fire fought to destroy them.

"She must die," I snarled, stepping forward, having no intention of letting him defy me now.

The Ferryman regarded me from within his dark hood. "Her soul is a blackened thing, tarred by her defiance of nature, rotten to the core. It has no place in death. Nor do the wretched things inside her."

"You must take them," I growled, my hand raising towards him in a threat.

He fell quiet, and I felt his eyes carving over my skin, taking in the queen who dared try to command him.

"I will not," he answered in a snarl. "She and her wraiths will be nothing. Shattered. Less than remnants. They will face no after. They will vanish from existence for all eternity."

"No!" Lavinia cried, terror lacing that word, her shadowy essence trying to move away from him.

I let my flames simmer down, still burning her as she twitched and cried, but giving The Ferryman room to move closer.

That was a fate she deserved. A fate which saw her removed from existence. One she could never return from or even continue beyond, one that invoked a fear in her that filled me with a wicked kind of rapture.

"Yes," I agreed, and Lavinia screamed louder, the desolate souls inside her screaming too, knowing their time was up. In this world and the next. They would have no afterlife, no moments of freedom, no joy ever again.

"Lavinia Umbra," I hissed, willing my fire to grow hotter, the earth glowing with heat beneath her so she was in a world of agony as The Ferryman stepped closer. "You are nothing from now until forevermore."

The Ferryman drove the end of his paddle thrice against the ground and she thrashed and cried, trying to escape, the flesh of her rotten core starting to peel away. All of her miserable form turned to a thick and foul stain that spread across the bones of the battlefield, then began to foam and spit like acid. Her screams never stopped, joined by the souls bound to her, and their pain coloured the air as my fire swept over them, ensuring their lasting moments in life were painted in raw agony.

Then she was gone, all of them dissolved, no sign of her taint left upon the ground. She was nothing and no one. And sweet tears of relief rolled down my cheeks at the knowledge that this demon was vanquished. It was over.

The Ferryman looked to me. "Your mate's soul calls to me. Will I be claiming his life so soon?"

I turned in fear, my eyes falling on Orion where he lay on the ground, his chest plate torn off and his hand pressed to his ribs as he worked to heal himself. He was awake, eyes on the place Lavinia had fallen, then shifting to me with complete joy despite the pain furrowing his brow.

I ran to him, falling to my knees at his side and laying my hands over his, lending him my power to heal the shadow wound that had torn through his chest. And together, we managed to stitch it over.

"You did it, Blue," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "You're a damn warrior of the stars."

"She's gone," I breathed, hardly able to believe it.

Orion nodded, pushing up onto his elbows, then his eyes widened at something over my shoulder. I turned, finding The Ferryman still there and a sea of warriors beyond him. My mother and father stood at the forefront with Tory and Gabriel either side of them, all of them blood-spattered and feral.

Everything was achingly quiet for a moment, then cheers were lifting the air, our army crying out a victory that had me tearing up with disbelief. It was over. We'd won.

My parents came rushing to me, my mother drawing me upright while Hail hauled Orion to his feet.

"You have my blessing, good choice," my father muttered to Orion, and I shook my head in disbelief, finding no words as purest shock took hold of me.

Then I was in my mother's arms, a real, true embrace from her enveloping me, and I buried my face in her neck, squeezing her tight.

"Oh my love," she crooned, her hand stroking my hair, doing one of the things I had dreamed about my whole life. I felt her love in the way she held me, her kisses touching my cheeks as tears raced down them.

Then my dad was pulling me into his arms instead and I felt the strength of him in how he held me, a firm kiss pressing to my head as a sob racked through my chest.

"Don't leave," I begged, knowing they had to. Knowing they couldn't stay.

"My little darling," Hail sighed. "I wish I could spend all your coming days right here with you. But I promise we'll be watching. We'll be here, even when you cannot see us."

"It's not fair," I croaked, and he hugged me again, his chest heaving with another sigh.

Tory and Gabriel came closer to be with us and my mom gripped both of their hands, drawing them into our small circle of family. "We are so proud of you all. You have overcome the dark that dared to try and have you. But not my children. You are all far too strong, able to face anything life throws at you." She smiled, tears falling from her eyes as she hugged and kissed us, and Hail tugged us all into his arms, the five of us reunited for the first time since we were children, too young to even remember what this had felt like.

One glance to my left showed me Orion in his father's arms, the two of them speaking in low voices. Then Clara was there and Orion grabbed her, lifting her up and spinning her around, making her smile like a kid before he placed her down and they embraced. Beyond them was a man who I recognised from old footage and photographs as Radcliff Acrux, the brother Lionel had killed. He was embracing Xavier, clapping him on the back, and Darius's younger brother stared up at the muscular man with light in his eyes, seeming almost relieved that there was someone else in his family who wasn't brutal or cold. A beautiful woman came running out of the ranks, Catalina wrapping Xavier in her arms and he released a neigh of purest joy.

The solid thump of The Ferryman's paddle striking the dirt made my heart clench and I held onto my mother's and father's arms, certain they were about to leave all over again.

"It's time," Hail said heavily.

"Don't go," Tory breathed, pain in her voice.

"We will see you again one day," my mother promised. "But not until you have lived life to its fullest. Not until you have worn your hearts out with love and have known the depths of all this world has to offer."

"And we will be there to watch it all, so close you can hardly imagine," Hail said, his skin beginning to crack as the clay body he wore started to shatter.

Our embrace only tightened, all of us holding on tight, refusing to let go until their clay bodies crumbled to the ground between us and the golden glow of their souls swirled around us in a final brush of farewell, and I fell into the arms of Tory and Gabriel, my siblings holding me. Even though it hurt to say goodbye, I found solace in their company, my brother and sister, my family.

I turned to Orion, watching as Azriel and Clara crumbled away within his arms and he was left standing alone. But he would never be alone again. I'd make sure of it.

I smiled at him through my tears, beckoning him over and he joined us in our embrace.

"The war might be won but I won't rest until I see Lionel's dead body, assuring me he's gone," Tory growled, the clash of fighting carrying to me from the direction of the Jade Castle.

Roars of victory still carried up from our army and I searched for my friends among the field of shattered clay, but there were too many of our army among it all, and I didn't know who else had made it.

"Geraldine! Max!" I amplified my voice to bellow across the land. "Seth – Caleb!"

Silence followed and fear clutched my heart. I couldn't face losing them. I couldn't bear the weight of that grief.

I listed all the names of those I loved, calling out for them to join us and suddenly they were there, being lifted into the arms of their legions, and tossed our way upon a sea of our allies.

Geraldine hit the ground running, but Caleb was the first to reach us with Seth on his back. Seth had a look of heaviness about him as he let out a low howl and pulled me into his arms. Then Geraldine came barrelling into the pile with Max, and Sofia and Tyler came cantering across the ground with neighs of greeting and Xavier ran to meet them.

They'd made it. My friends were here, alive.

Four tiny sayer dragons swept over to us, their innocent faces speaking nothing of the destruction they'd wrought in battle. But they, just like us, were far more formidable than they appeared and I welcomed them with a warm smile as they came to land on our shoulders.

"Where's Darius?" I asked uncertainly, my gut dropping, and Orion looked around anxiously.

"He had plans to get to the castle," Xavier said.

"His heart's still beating," Tory confirmed.

"Noxy?" Orion asked and my brother's eyes glazed as he sought out Darius.

He nodded, his gaze turning to the Jade Castle. "He's in there. And Lionel still lives."

My gaze turned that way too and my heart thundered as I readied to fight once more. I didn't know how many warriors awaited us in that hulking green castle, but if they still hid Lionel among them, there wasn't enough of them to keep us from hunting him down.