Chapter 25 Morgen #2
Above them, dragon fire lit up the sky, and someone shouted.
Sol’s riders had met Sora, Vane, and Vulcan.
Morgen didn’t dare take his eyes off Nya, though, not as the void closed its eyes and murmured, “It’s been so long since someone like her has walked between the worlds.
You have no idea how long I have been waiting alone. ”
The air quivered, and for a flash, he swore he saw each individual strange of ether pull taut. A fissure cracked the stone beneath his feet, and Carus swore.
Prepare yourself, Morgen. The dragon sounded almost resigned, as if she knew as well as he did how little chance they had.
Nya opened her eyes, fixed on him. The raspy, feminine drawl of the void whispered a slew of words that sounded almost like the Old Language. One of the phrases—a name—was just close enough to familiar that he understood it.
Eater of Worlds.
“Get behind me, Carus,” Morgen shouted, shoving him back when he began to protest.
The clouds above swirled in a circular vortex, and the wind picked up.
The fissure at their feet widened, revealing red-hot lava beneath, and a deafening crack split through the air.
Thunder boomed, and the ground shook violently enough that he almost lost his footing.
Carus was trembling when he gripped his arm, still trying to pull him away.
Nya, I need you to fight.
The dragons were beginning to lose control in the high winds, several of them landing to avoid crashing into each other.
But as a moon-pale Vemon dragon dove for the safety of the ground, a streak of strange black lightning exploded, causing her to swerve.
The rider flew from her back, falling too far and too hard against the side of a cliffside.
“Sora.” Carus rasped, his voice barely audible.
Thessilnn and Heles shrieked, and, even over the wind, Morgen heard Vane bellow her name as Heles raced to the spot where she had fallen.
The void slowly turned its head, eyes glittering with empty stars as it cocked its head.
A strong wind slammed abruptly against Heles, knocking Vane to the ground too. Morgen did not see him get up.
Carus, who had fought and trained soldiers triple his age, who hadn’t done more than grimace when he’d been nearly disemboweled at sixteen, who was more likely to make a joke than admit he was afraid… He was shaking so hard, Morgen was surprised he still stood as he gripped his arm.
“You were right,” the void crooned, looking at Carus. “Sister or not, you probably should have killed her. A shame for your world that you had to be so human.”
“Nya!” Morgen shouted over the wind, this time aloud. “I know you’re there.”
The void shook its head. “She is gone, and soon, you will be too. Close your eyes, god of life. It will be easier that way.”
He did as it said, letting it assume his defeat.
But just as a wall of nytfire erupted that could destroy him and Carus, he forced up the same shield he had used against it days ago, yanking on each and every ember he had been painstakingly awakening over the last few minutes.
The void cackled, and his weak barrier faltered, almost to failure, until pure light flared behind him, bolstering the defensive wall.
Sol, he realized, after a moment’s confusion.
Next to him, Nyx, Thanatos, and Anabeth stood, all with hands on Sol’s back.
Morgen didn’t trust any of them, but right now, he had no choice but to accept their help.
With the added force, the wall of nytfire began to ebb and then faded completely.
Even the storm calmed slightly. Out of the corner of his eye, Morgen saw Vane limping towards Nya, Sora at his side.
“Nya could stab me in the heart and twist the knife, I’d still be trying to make sure she was okay,” Vane had said to Carus.
He hadn’t been lying.
Morgen took a casual step towards Nya, not trusting the moment of victory. She was oddly still, but her eyes remained flooded with midnight. He motioned subtly to Carus, and his most trusted general gave him the smallest of nods, understanding his silent order: Retreat.
“Step aside, all of you,” Sol said. His hand was still outstretched, blood running down his forehead. “It’s time to finish this.”
Nyx shook her head, reaching for him. “Sol, you promised you wouldn’t—”
“I said I would help you end this, Nya,” he snarled. “I am.”
The Goddess of Night dipped her chin, and shadows swirled at her feet. “You do this, and I am never trusting you again.”
“If I don’t destroy the girl now, it won’t matter! Nothing will!” he bellowed, a burst of pure light flaring at the crown of his head, so bright, it singed the air.
“Nya, he’s right,” Juno urged.
Nyx shook her head. “Not you too, Jun.” A silver tear tracked down her cheek, and she whispered, “They named her for me.”
Juno glanced at Thanatos, who was uncharacteristically still and silent behind Nyx. An odd look passed between them.
“Enough!” Sol snapped. He turned his attention back to Morgen, Carus, Vane, and Sora where they stood around Nya. “Move.”
“He’s right. You should step aside.”
Morgen’s head snapped back at the sound of Nya’s voice.
Her face was completely expressionless and her voice was flat, but her eyes were flashing rapidly between silver and black.
Hope clawed at his chest, crawling from the wounds despair had wrought there all his life.
Maybe just once, the fates would pity him.
“Nya?”
Her eyes settled. The hope crumpled and faded to ash, and he did not know if he could take another blow. He felt like he was dying, and it had little to do with the blood in his mouth.
The void spoke again, its voice harsher now. “I told you. She is gone.”
Nyx screamed, the only warning as Light exploded from Sol so pure, it was just as blinding as the deepness of the void itself. None of them had time to move fast enough, to protect Nya or themselves from the inevitable end.
The end, something he had always thought would come at the hands of a vengeful god. As a child, he had even prayed silently for it, that one day, Kronos would push just a little too far, and finally, he would stop existing.
Morgen?
He opened his eyes, and the world seemed to be moving in slow motion.
The light hovered all around them, and in front of him, he saw a small form with unbound silver hair haloed by the glow.
Her eyes were still gone to the void, but within that never-ending midnight, stars flickered.
In her palms, she held something close to her chest—a dying star, cold and untouchable.
But she saw its beauty. Perhaps that was why he had fallen in love with her in the first place.
She had an ability to look at things everyone else presumed dead and see wonder all the same.
This is goodbye. Her voice was in his head, echoing between their shared soul down the pathway. But I need you to know I love you. I’ve loved you for years, and I’m sorry I never said it.
He tried to speak, tried to scream at her that this wasn’t over, that she couldn’t do this. He was supposed to martyr himself for the world, not her. Their lives were tied, but he did not know how he would survive her death, even in the few moments before it took him too.
Shh, don’t try to talk. She reached out but didn’t quite touch him.
This moment isn’t truly real, and I’m probably close to gone now.
I suspended things for us, just for a second.
You won’t have much time either once you open your eyes, but please, if you get the chance, tell my parents how much I love them, that this was not their fault.
They won’t believe you, but say it anyway.
And make sure Carus knows to keep trying, because they love him too.
His lips formed her name, and she smiled sadly. Her fingertips brushed his face, and though the sensation of her touch didn’t register, he could still feel the energy of her magic.
Don’t reach for me this time, okay?
He gave a slight nod, wondering if she could see through the lie or if she ever expected him to listen in the first place. If she doubted him, she didn’t say.
Nya turned away from him, and, in a sickening rush, time resumed, the Light pouring from Sol hitting her body and inverting.
A great chasm opened in her chest as the magic was sucked into the void itself.
Light and Darkness mixed, the sight blinding.
The mountains shook, and thunder roared, so deafening, his ears rang.
The maelstrom was over within seconds. Every last bit of power Sol possessed faded, absorbed into Nya’s small body as she crumpled to the ground.
Flecks of white ash fell around her, haloing her head.
Morgen fell to his knees, and tiny shards of glasslike silver and sparkling onyx sliced into his palms and knees.
He hardly registered the stinging sensation.
He just crawled to her, holding tight to the tiny, fraying strand of Life gripped by her soul—their soul.
His hands were shaking so hard, he could hardly pull her into his lap.
It only got worse when he saw her face. Her lips were pale, her eyes and mouth coated in blood.
The gash at her neck was still a jagged open wound, and her tunic was blackened and charred where the void had opened up at her chest. He didn’t know…
he didn’t know if he could fix this. But he had to. He had to fix her.
“Morgen, don’t,” she rasped weakly. He froze at the sound, the proof of life within her. Her eyes fluttered beneath her lids but would not open. He could do this. He had to. He could feel her chest rising and falling in tiny, stuttering gasps. As long as she was still breathing, there was a chance.
But then, her breath stalled. The blood wasn’t gushing from her wounds anymore, and even in his delirious state, he knew what that meant.
“No,” he said firmly, even as his failing body shook with broken sobs. “No, you are not going to die today.”