Chapter 33 #3
I feel the heat pulsing through my veins, the ancient power thrumming beneath my skin, rising like a tide that refuses to be contained. For a moment, everything stills. The world narrows to the crackling fire, to the strength rising in my chest, to the unbreakable core of who I am. I breathe it in.
“I am Amara Tyne. Jewel of the Tenders. Sister of the Vine. Fury of the Forest.” I watch the flames dance, reflecting in my gaze. “I am Awakened and scorned, and I am the earth itself and the Fae will not decide my fate.”
I thrust my palm forward, unleashing a surge of green fire toward her.
She raises her arms, summoning a shimmering barrier that flickers but holds, repelling the inferno.
When I see not a single ember pierce her defense, I clench my fist, drawing the flames back, but in that breath, she collapses her shield, gasping as if it drained the very breath from her lungs.
I inhale deep and summon another bolt of fire, harder, hotter, pouring every ounce of myself into it.
Again, she raises her barrier, gritting her teeth as she holds the flames at bay, but the strain is clear.
Her legs tremble beneath her, and she drops to one knee, wobbles, and finally collapses, powerless against the blaze.
“How are you doing this?” she screams, eyes wild. “You are nothing!”
“I am Awakened. Just like your sister. But I will not be erased from this world so easily.”
I step forward, pressing the attack harder, sweat beading on Nyraxes’s brow, streaming down her face. Centuries of Fae strength crumble beneath me. But I don’t allow myself the luxury of satisfaction. If I have the advantage, I must end this swiftly.
Then, a chorus of high-pitched screeches tears through the night air.
I whirl toward the balcony. The sky is a roiling canvas of pitch black, veined with star-white flashes of lightning.
Wings fill the night, but they are not Mordorin.
Beasts from the void surge forward, rain splattering off their leathery wings with a sickening flap as their bodies crash and jostle in flight.
They slam onto the balcony, tumbling and rolling, but rise again without hesitation. Their beady eyes lock on me as they charge.
My flames flicker and fade, granting Nyraxes the reprieve she desperately needed. Her shimmering barrier collapses in sync with her body, slumping onto the floor.
It’s only as I race toward my old chambers that she comprehends the demon storm about to flood in behind us. She scrambles to her feet, dragging her bloody, battered form as fast as she can, but she is too slow.
I burst into the room, spin on my heels, and brace to slam the door shut in her face.
“Wait!” she calls out, hand raised in desperate plea. “You can’t leave me to die like this! Let us talk!”
My words drip like ice water. “I do not negotiate with Fae.”
The door crashes shut just as her hands pound against the wood, screams clawing from her throat. A mighty weight crashes into the door, shaking it on its hinges. I step back, eyes locked on the narrow gap beneath the door, watching shadows twist and writhe.
Silence falls, but it is brief. The gnawing and chewing begins, and then a dark pool of blood seeps towards my feet.
“Excellent,” Solena’s voice calls out. “Not so stupid after all.”
She stands by the secret door hidden in the wall panel, halfway inside, holding it ajar for me.
“Hurry!”
I don’t hesitate. I rush toward her, the endless tunnels of Baev’kalath sprawling before us.
But the weight of the void beasts is too great. The door shudders, splinters, and bursts open under a brutal push, flooding the room with shadows and gnashing teeth.
I sprint for the panel, but a long, clawed hand shoots out and snatches my ankle, dragging me down.
I grit my teeth, eyes locking with Solena’s.
“Close it! Get her away from here!”
The longer Solena hesitates, the hotter my fury burns.
“Do what you’re told, maid,” I hiss.
Her brow tightens, but she nods, turning away just as the demons overwhelm the room like a ravenous tide. But she’s too slow, too slow to shut the panel.
A leathery, clawed hand lashes out and holds the secret door open, its forked tongue flicking over slick, bloodied lips as it fixes its hunger-filled gaze on my daughter like she’s a prize to be devoured.
I clench my fists, green flames licking along my arms, coiling beneath my skin just as sharp teeth sink into my leg.
Pain rips through me, but it only steels me harder. I scream, and the agony feeds my flame.
A burst of emerald light explodes from me, setting the demons closest ablaze. Flesh chars, smoke curls upward, and the one biting my leg howls in furious pain.
For a moment, I falter, my leg mangled and useless beneath me, but the muscle knits, skin smooths, and I’m back on my feet quicker than I thought possible.
I lunge for the panel, hand reaching toward the demon still blocking Solena’s escape, but more beasts fall on me, claws raking my back, teeth sinking into my shoulder.
I scream again as they drag me back, each inch feeling like a mile, drawing me farther from my daughter, farther from hope.
My flames falter, flickering like dying embers, as if the very fuel that feeds them, my strength, my will, is draining away. I’ve never pushed myself this far before, never tested the limits of my power and now, when my daughter’s life hangs by a thread, I learn it’s not endless.
Then, salvation, a fierce grip tears the demon from my back, wrenching it free. Red haze clouds my vision, but I focus through the pain and see Ronin, cutting, slashing, tearing through the swarm with savage precision. Claws, wings, limbs fly through the air like leaves caught in a storm.
But all I want is my daughter.
Trembling, I crawl toward Solena, still locked in a deadly fight with the demon blocking the panel.
Finally, I grab hold of its leg, skin soft and sickly, as if my fingers could slip right through it.
It looks down at me, at the bloody, broken mess still fighting to survive.
Green light courses through my veins. My body heals again, but then another demon strikes, its fangs sinking into my throat, tearing through the rune etched there.
I gasp, eyes wide as blood wells and spills in thick, relentless waves.
A sword arcs downward, cleaving the demon’s head from its body. Ronin lifts me onto his hip and drags me toward the panel. With one last desperate surge of strength, I launch myself at the demon threatening my daughter, pinning it hard to the ground.
It hisses and shrieks, but I find the power within me, gripping its head between my hands and filling them with fire. Its flesh melts away from the bone, dripping onto the floor in steaming, bloody puddles until all that remains is a twisted skull with patches of sizzling meat.
Solena stumbles into the tunnel, and Ronin follows, bracing the panel open as he reaches for me.
“Come on, Jewel. More are coming. We have to get inside.”
I lift myself up, the stench and steam from the burning demon stinging my eyes.
But I barely make it to one knee before my body betrays me, staggering forward.
Hot, thick blood still pours from my neck.
It isn’t healing. None of my wounds are.
With every passing second, I leave more and more blood staining the floor.
“Jewel!” Ronin shouts. I look over my shoulder at him, his face smeared with blood, his voice urgent. “Come here now!”
I nod and stumble toward him, bracing myself against the panel as Ronin steps back, ready for the next wave of demons crashing into the room. I glance down at my fingers. There is still fire there. I feel it coursing, molten green lava pulsing through my veins.
As the life drains from me, I look at Solena. I look at my daughter.
“Tell her good things,” I whisper.
The sudden understanding in Solena’s eyes is the last thing I see before I slam the panel shut. I press against it with every ounce of my strength. I won’t hold it for long, not long enough to save myself, but I don’t need to. Only a breath. Only a whisper. Only a blink in time.
The demons of the void scream as they surge toward me. The fire rises, bursting through my skin, lifting my hair, swirling around me like a hurricane of emerald flame. When I see my reflection in their glowing eyes, I know I am the terror they fear. I am glorious.
Then the room ignites.