Chapter 70 #2
The ruined hall fell away beneath her. Her power roared against her skin, ripping at her hair, her lungs, her souls. She soared through the air, each heartbeat an eternity as every detail became etched with excruciating clarity.
Azarian’s cruel grin.
Draevyn’s horrified stare as he realized what was happening.
And the terrible inevitability of the spear as she hurled herself into fate’s jaws.
Finally, Esmyra collided into him with all the ferocity of a wave crashing into the shore.
Draevyn’s arms closed around her, his grip desperate and unyielding.
For the briefest moment, she felt the crushing safety of him—felt it in the way he pulled her against him like he could shield her from all the gods and monsters in the world.
But in that heartbeat of salvation, agony lanced through her.
The velsinyte-tipped spear drove clean through her spine, the impact like fire and ice at once, tearing through muscle and bone.
The jagged edge protruded from the center of her chest as hot blood spilled down her front in streams. Her breath caught in a strangled gasp, the sound breaking against Draevyn’s shoulder.
The world muted.
Draevyn froze as if he’d turned to stone. His wide, disbelieving eyes locked on the spear jutting from her as if his mind couldn’t reconcile what he was seeing. And then, as his stare lifted back to hers, his face shattered.
“No—” His voice broke, raw and ragged as it tore from him. “No, no, no, no. NO! Why did you do that?!”
His arms clutched her tighter, trembling violently as if he thought he could physically hold her soul inside her body. His frantic gaze darted between her face and the spear, jaw clenching so hard the veins in his neck stood out.
A guttural sound tore from Draevyn as his rage and grief visibly tangled. And yet, even as fury threatened to consume him, his hand cupped her cheek with heartbreaking gentleness. His thumb trembled as it swept over her blood-stained skin, his eyes wide with horror but brimming with devastation.
Everything was turning into a dark haze.
“Wildfire, I need you to open your eyes.”
She hadn’t even realized they’d closed.
“Stay with me, baby,” he begged, his voice cracking. “Esmyra, stay with me!”
He sounded like he could barely form the words. Just her name, whispered like a prayer, over and over.
There was only the sensation of his arms closing around her, trembling as the heat of him pressed desperately against her failing strength.
And out of the corner of her dimming vision, she saw Azarian’s cruel satisfaction flicker across his face before he turned and ran. Draevyn lifted a hand toward him, sending a blaze spiraling through the air after the male, but everything blurred away from her.
And then the bond ignited, forcing her to let out a gasp as it felt like every vein in her body was set aflame.
Draevyn’s grip was like iron. His arms locked around her as if sheer force could keep her tethered to him. His breath came ragged, chest heaving as he pressed his forehead to hers, refusing to let go.
The bond’s magic wasn’t gentle. It was a violent, wrenching force, tearing her from his grasp with a pull so absolute, it felt as though it could rip flesh from bone. He roared in protest, his fire surging uncontrollably as he fought it, every muscle straining.
And then finally, she was ripped from him, his warmth vanishing as the universe itself pried her away.
“NO!” His voice broke in a way it never had before. He lunged, grasping at empty air, but the Blood Moon’s power was merciless.
Esmyra’s body lifted, similar to when she rose alongside Maerinys, only now she was limp in the grip of that magic. She levitated in the air, her limbs slack, her eyes barely open as she was drawn beside her sister. The energy turned cruel, radiating as it shimmered around them.
Naerysa’s smile was sharp and triumphant as the siphoning began. She drank deep from her weakened twin, her own body glowing brighter as Esmyra’s strength was ripped from her veins.
The crew screamed her name from below in chaotic, desperate cries that filled the chamber.
Jak’s devastating bellow, Jenli’s shriek, and even Atlas’s voice was ragged with horror.
And they all blurred together in a cacophony of grief.
But the enemy soldiers scattered like rats, fleeing the collapsing ruin, unwilling to be caught in the wrath of gods.
“I’m sorry, Esmyra.” Kaelypso had never sounded so far from her before. “Remember what I told you, my little siren.”
A piercing, luminous light tore free from Esmyra’s chest, bursting from the hole the velsinyte shard had made. A glowing teal orb pulsing with the essence of all she was—of all Kaelypso was—hovered for a heartbeat before drifting toward Naerysa.
No. No. No. Esmyra could faintly feel her tears as they rushed down her cheeks.
Her eyes fluttered, her vision dimming. The last thing she saw was the orb sinking into her sister’s chest, vanishing inside her with a flare of teal light.
Naerysa disappeared with a flash. She was there one moment and gone the next.
The bond’s hold released Esmyra as clouds moved in, covering the moon and casting their world into a bloody darkness. Her body convulsed violently in the air before abruptly going slack.
And then she fell.
Weightless for a breath, her form plummeted, her midnight hair streaming in the descent. The roar of the battle, the bellowing of her crew, even Draevyn’s screams all dissolved into silence in her mind.
And then all Esmyra knew was darkness.
To Be Continued…
End of Book Two.