Chapter 38
TORGRIN
‘Fuck, no!’ I refused to let Caris join Cillian in the underworld. He was going to have to wait, because I needed her to stay in this wretched world with me.
It took everything I had to dig her body out of the rubble. My fingernails tore, and my knuckles were bleeding when I found her. I dragged her through the door, narrowly escaping the collapsing stone blocks.
I threw myself over her lifeless body and waited for the ceiling in this room to follow. Falling rocks pelted my back, and I groaned at every strike. Mercifully, most of the ceiling held, and none of the stones that fell were big enough to kill us – just big enough to crack a few ribs.
I choked and coughed as stone dust filled the air, and I blinked away the grit in my eyes, searching for signs of life from Caris, who lay motionless beneath me.
Blood covered her eyes and nose, but her chest rose with a shallow breath, and her eyelids fluttered ever so slightly. She had more power inside her than I had imagined, but even a goddess had limits.
Through the small opening in the door we had escaped through, there was only an impenetrable wall of fallen stone. ‘Goodbye, my friend,’ I whispered.
I had promised Caris I would save Cillian and bring him to her. I had promised Cillian that I wouldn’t let Caris risk her life for him. An oppressive heaviness settled in my chest.
I’d failed them both.
Miraculously, I made my way out of the dungeon and then out of the crumbling castle with Caris unnoticed.
Just like the castle’s hallways, the streets of Capita appeared deserted. I could smell smoke and blood in the air, and the clashing of steel grew louder the closer I got to the gate. Hope flooded me when I saw the familiar form of my best friend fighting in the chaos.
But why was Atlas in Capita?
The morning light was weak, and the smoke made it hard to see who else was fighting besides Atlas, but when the figures of my father and sister appeared through the smoke, I thought I might be hallucinating. Tomas was the one to see me first.
‘You’re alive!’ Tomas cried out. ‘Cillian?’
I had trouble swallowing the lump in my throat when his eyes searched behind me for the blacksmith. I shook my head, not trusting myself to speak.
Atlas’s face was marked with soot and sweat, and the knight he was fighting had lost part of his chest plate – it looked as if it had been blasted off.
Atlas’s sword sunk into the knight’s exposed side.
When the defeated man fell to his knees, Atlas used his booted foot to slide the dead knight off his sword.
He turned and saw me, a relieved grin breaking across his face, but then his eyes fell on Caris thrown over my shoulder, and his smile disappeared.
‘Is she … ?’ he asked.
‘Alive,’ was all I could manage to croak out.
Atlas swung back around as more soldiers came at us.
Fuck. There were too many of them. Atlas and Tomas would take one down, and three more would appear.
My father and Braya were fighting just as hard, but I could see the weariness in their movements.
I didn’t know how Caris had convinced my father to give us aid, but Capita still outnumbered us.
‘We can’t get through,’ Tomas said in a strained voice, even as he kept fighting to break the solid wall of fighting men.
I had gotten Caris out of the dungeon only to die at the city gate. My father and his soldiers joined us, keeping Caris and me in the middle. I dropped my sword and carefully lowered her from my shoulder to take her in my arms. I wanted to see her face one last time.
‘Thank you for coming back for us,’ I whispered, holding her tight. She had gotten my father and Atlas to take on King Hared in his own city. Caris’s bravery and fortitude was extraordinary. It had captivated me, even as a boy.
Her lashes fluttered, and I smiled as her eyes opened. I wished we had more time.
‘Are we out of the city?’ Her midnight eyes widened.
‘No, the king’s men have us cornered,’ I said, heavy with defeat.
‘Help me stand.’
‘There’s nothing you can do. They outnumber us.’ I helped her stand but held her waist as she swayed slightly.
Caris looked around, seeing the truth of my words. ‘I can stop this.’
‘You might die trying.’
‘What does it matter if we’re going to die, anyway?’ Her tone was flat, but I could feel her power building. The air pulsated with it, making the hairs on my nape tingle.
‘King Hared won’t kill you if you surrender to his men.’ I had seen the way he watched her when she wasn’t looking. His lust for her would keep her alive.
‘Am I to watch as he kills everyone else but keeps me as a plaything?’
‘The power you have is too strong. Using it almost killed you in the dungeon.’ I would rather die right here with my men than watch her sacrifice herself for me again.
‘So, when you are all dead, and I’ve given myself to them, should I let the king and his Order of Men take my eyes too?’ Her anger was tangible, surrounding us as her eyes swirled with black shadows.
‘Never, Caris.’
She pulled away from me and moved through the fighting men to face the wall of Capita soldiers and knights. I tried to follow, but she had pinned my feet to the ground with her damned shadows.
A gust of wind lifted her hair in a tender caress while those closest to her stumbled away, pushed back by the power they felt.
Caris raised her palms to the blue sky as though in prayer.
She threw back her head, and her voice filled the air, speaking in a language no living thing could remember, not even the trees.
This was no longer Caris.
This was the goddess of the night who existed inside her. She wasn’t calling to the sun – she was calling for the moon and stars. She brought her hands together in a single thunderous clap, and like blowing out a candle, she turned morning to midnight.
Chaos erupted around us as battle-hardened men screamed in terror.
I felt a tug, and the bonds around my legs were gone. I didn’t know the words, but I knew she was calling me to her.
It was like sleepwalking. The closer I got to her, the more it felt like a dream.
The goddess of the night took my hand in hers, and the face that belonged to Caris came close to mine in the darkness. I stared into her eyes, feeling the power that lay within her. Could I trust her not to destroy the vessel of the woman who held my heart and soul?
‘I need you.’ That was all she said before I felt a jolt like a lightning strike shoot through the hand she held. I gritted my teeth as she drew energy from where I kept it hidden.
Our people had the common sense to stay behind us as the king’s men regained their wits and tried to get back into formation. A haphazard line of men formed, and someone shouted a command. They charged at us in the darkness with swords raised.
Heat scorched my face as hundreds of soldiers ignited simultaneously. They burned so intensely that they turned as dark as coal in seconds. Then they were gone. The air transformed into a desolate abyss of swirling black ash.
Her grip weakened, and I felt her hand slip from mine. She had drained me to do whatever she had done to those men, and all I could do was break her fall as I dropped to the ground with her. I held her limp body tight in my worn-out arms as boots and ash surrounded us. She had saved everyone.
Atlas reached down with powerful arms to relieve me of her weight. I snarled at him. ‘Just get her horse,’ I bit out. He nodded and disappeared.
I could sense something shift as Tomas, my father and Braya came to where I sat on the ash-covered ground, clutching Caris in my weary arms. I looked up long enough to meet the eyes of some of my soldiers. They looked back with narrowed eyes and pallid faces.
‘Get her out of here before they turn on us,’ my father said in a low voice to Atlas, who was already back with Nightmare.
My legs trembled and buckled under me when I tried to stand with Caris in my arms. Atlas took her from me as if she were the most precious thing he had ever held and helped me get her on the massive beast she loved so much.
The restless mare whinnied, and I loosened my grip on her reins, allowing her to turn towards Atlas and see that Caris was safe.
He held Caris in his arms until he was sure I could stay upright in the saddle.
I gathered her to me, resting her head against my shoulder.
I took the reins in my free hand and let Nightmare have her head.
That damned wild horse of hers had us past the city gate before anyone could think about stopping us.