Chapter 76

"Ihate that we're not there," I said, looking to the horizon, sure I could just hear the roar of battle in the distance.

"Me too." Tory took my hand, her eyes a perfect mirror of mine. This girl, this woman, this fucking warrior made me so proud to be her twin, I could hardly bear it.

I squeezed her fingers, smiling at her in this profoundly sad way that spoke of what might happen today. I still had hope, fuck I had to have hope. But we had to acknowledge the other side of that coin too.

"Don't say it," Tory begged, her nails biting into my palm.

I nodded, stepping closer to her and embracing her instead, our arms locking tight around one another, squeezing until we felt like one being. Because in a way we would always be two halves of a whole. So different, yet so the same.

We let that embrace drag on for a few more seconds, knowing it might just be the last time we held each other in this world. Then the space grew between us, at least that was how it felt, until we were somehow letting go of one another and facing the magnitude of the task we'd set ourselves. The reason we were out on this rocky hill instead of flying into battle with our family.

The air was crisp, the day so clear, it was like looking through a window into the house of the stars. All of them had come to watch. Despite the sky being so icily blue, there they were. Every one of them glaringly bright, so watchful they barely twinkled at all.

"It's time," Tory breathed, the sense of it suddenly certain within me too, like some outside force had placed the knowledge there. Perhaps it was just instinct, or a nudge from those very stars above. I'd never know.

We raised our hands, wielding the earth around us and growing twelve giant stones from the ground. They pierced through the frozen soil like blooming flowers, jutting up into the sky, spilling dirt around their bases.

We set to carving a symbol on each of their surfaces, marking the signs of the zodiac until we had a perfect, colossal wheel around us. At eye height, we carved a hole in each, placing a Guild Stone into it that matched the zodiac sign carvings, just as the book from The Library of the Lost had described.

The final stone was for Gemini, and as one, we walked towards it, the moonstone weighing heavily in my palm. We shared a look, then placed it into the rock together, power immediately snapping out around us.

I turned with a gasp, finding all of the Guild Stones glowing in their places, green, pink, blue, the brightest of colours that pulsed with a potent energy.

My breaths became ragged from the immense power humming in the air, the first step of our plan complete. Though that was the easiest part about all of this. The risk we took could see us dead if this failed. But if Clydinius was left to fight in that battle, our army stood no chance of winning.

Tory and I moved to the very centre of the wide circle, preparing for the next step as we etched a beautiful sun and moon into the ground beneath us.

"Ready?" she asked when we were finished.

"I'm ready," I said.

As one, we each raised a hand towards the sky, blasting a beacon of Phoenix flames towards the heavens. The line of fire climbed skyward over a mile, blasting up and away from us, higher and higher.

Our fire flared brighter as we waited for the answer to our call, our gazes set on the stars.

But no answer came.

"You owe us!" Tory cried.

"Right the balance!" I yelled. "You swore you would give us this chance!"

My heart beat harder, the fear that I'd been deceived driving deep into my chest.

"Arcturus!" I bellowed, refusing to let him turn from us now. "You made an oath, a promise to protect my kind and restore order among the stars!"

"Get your sparkly motherfucking ass down here!" Tory demanded.

The sky flashed, a ring of starfire blooming across the sky with a pinpoint of light at its centre.

I breathed a sigh of relief, looking to Tory with my mouth twisting into a smile. "He's keeping his promise."

"We'll see," she said, her mistrust of the stars well-earned, but this time I really believed we had one on our side.

The pinpoint of light glowed ever brighter, growing closer and closer until the sky itself was cleaving apart, making way for the burning star that was falling straight from its perch. Arcturus blazed a trail of red, gold and silver in his wake, the star seeming to glide more than tumble, causing nature to take note of his sacrifice. The sky illuminated and sparks of magnificent light crackled and danced along the falling star's path.

We extinguished our flames, racing out of the stone circle and flying skyward on our wings before casting air shields when we were well away from the impact zone. We watched from up high as Arcturus came crashing through the atmosphere and the heat of his flaming surface cut through the icy winter air, thickening it with a stifling warmth.

I winced against the glaring brightness as the star drew closer, and my breath caught a second before the great, burning ball of fire slammed into the earth right at the centre of our stone circle. The blast made the hill shudder, the stones withstanding the impact and the Guild Stones pulsing ever brighter. We were blown backwards by the force of the collision, the wind throwing us further away.

I steadied myself, my wings beating to counter the blast and as the dust settled, a deep crater was revealed right at the centre of our stone circle with a fallen star inside it. Arcturus glittered beautifully, his power igniting the magic in my veins and leaving me breathless.

"Daughters of the flames,"he spoke into our minds with a reverence to his tone. "I have come."