Chapter 86 Isla #2
“It never made sense,” she said, as they dueled through Isla’s bedroom, the first time they became one.
“This love . . . it went against both our interests . . .” She slashed at his chest before ducking to swipe his legs, but he dodged her.
“Yet . . . in the end . . . we chose each other. Over everything else. Every time.”
Her room was replaced by scorched dirt. In the distance sat a village. Grim of the past was just yards away, battling a sea of dreks. His shadows were faltering. He wouldn’t make it much longer.
Grim stopped in his tracks, almost forgetting his opponent next to him. He watched as Isla appeared there, next to the scar. As past Grim realized there was only one way she could have gotten there without her starstick.
Love. She had access to his abilities. Past Grim seemed at peace then, ready to accept his own death. He was about to portal Isla away, to save her.
But then—claws pierced right through his chest.
Past Isla bellowed in pain. And without a moment’s hesitation, she plunged Cronan’s sword into the ground and gave herself over completely, her power spilling out of her like a tidal wave. Uncontrollable and infinite, just like their love.
She collapsed to the ground. Past Grim rushed to catch her.
Current Grim watched, stoic and unmoving, as she died in his arms. As his past self made that same sacrifice for her.
As the scene faded into the next one, Grim did not move. He just stood, his hands trembling at his sides, like he wasn’t sure if he wanted to strike Isla again or drop his blade.
Isla stepped toward him. His back was tense as the memories shifted from nights in his room, to finding Wraith, to him proposing to her in the glimmering violet field of nightbane.
To their wedding.
Her fingers reached for his. She reached for him. The same way she had reached for him countless times before. The same way she always would.
But inches from his skin, he turned in a flash, and she barely blocked a blow as their blades clashed once more.
She gritted her teeth, pushing against him, but he didn’t budge.
In the sparks that their swords were producing, she could see his face clearly, through the darkness.
His expression was twisted in strain, but something told her it wasn’t just from holding back her sword.
He was fighting this. He was fighting himself.
“You loved me,” she said, groaning as she put all her strength behind her blade. They were equally matched. Unmoving. Both unyielding. “Look. Look.”
But he refused. He didn’t take his eyes off his opponent as he bared his teeth and the forest flashed in memory after memory.
The scenes were forming quicker now, flickering through all the moments since their marriage, all the times their love was tested and proven.
Grim roared as he spun to the side, Isla’s sword shooting forward into the space where he had been.
She whirled to block his next advance before his blade could strike her neck.
And as their swords met once more, as they continued to duel in the center of their love story, Isla noticed that their blades, with every crackling clash, were slowly starting to bleed into each other.
The shadows of his weapon melted into hers, and her stars merged with his darkness, forming constellations.
The space between them was blurring, uniting. Melding.
It was working. No matter what he said. No matter how fiercely he fought her right now.
The memories swirled around them even faster, feeding off Isla’s desperation as she used everything Cronan had taught her, turning the pain into the power to show Grim everything he had forgotten.
She gave him every single moment, just as she remembered it—until their past shattered, a thousand leaves spinning around them, blocking the rest of the forest from view.
The world fell away. The entire universe vanished.
It was just them. The way they had always dreamed.
“We gave our lives for each other,” she said, yelling over the roaring of the wind, her hair whipping wildly around her. “I love you. In the past, and in the present, and in the future, I love you. In this world, and the last, and every one in between, I love you.”
Instead of advancing once more, instead of wielding her blade against him—
She let it flicker out into nothing. Until she was defenseless.
This could be the last mistake she ever made.
Grim still held his sword tightly. But he did not strike. His eyes met hers, and they were blazing with intensity. He was breathing hard.
He could cut her down where she stood, but still, she walked toward him. One step. Another. Until she reached for the hand that still clutched his blade.
“I love you,” she said again, the words so soft, they got lost in the wind, but she knew he heard her.
Her fingers gently brushed along his wrist, and he shut his eyes, tightly, as if her touch both burned and healed him.
She shifted even closer. “I love you, even if you don’t remember.
Even if you never will. Even if you strike me down right now, I love you.
This is not the end. There is no end. Our love is infinite, just like you said. ”
Infinite. The word was like a key. His eyes snapped open.
And the shadow sword fell away.
Slowly, the hand that just moments ago wielded a weapon against her now reached toward her face.
Isla didn’t dare hope. Didn’t dare breathe. But as his fingers gently slid against her cheek, she finally let herself cry.
“Grim,” she said, her voice breaking.
His thumb brushed away her tears. She wanted to fall to her knees in relief at the tenderness of that touch. “You remember,” she said. “You . . . see.”
“I do,” he said, and she thought her heart might burst from happiness. He tilted his head, taking her in, and then there was no doubt. He was gazing at her like he had a thousand times before, like he couldn’t get enough, like he never wanted to look at anything else again. She smiled.
But then—his entire face changed. His grip on her face tightened. “I just don’t care.”
The raging leaves around them fell to the ground, turned to dust.
And Isla’s entire body went cold as she felt that force behind her—that of picked-apart galaxies and upturned worlds and endless death.
His approaching footsteps rang through the woods he had already partially destroyed.
He carved a path of ruin, and every remaining tree and flower and leaf withered until they were standing in ashes.
Cronan’s laugh echoed through the emptiness.
“You were right, Grimshaw. She took us right to the forest.”
No.
She stumbled out of Grim’s hold, calling to her powers, energy and fire encircling her—but then Cronan said, “Try anything, and he dies.”
That’s when Isla saw the shadow-dagger floating in the air, its blade pressed right against Grim’s heart.
Her husband’s abilities were extraordinary. But he did not wear a crown of broken worlds. If Cronan wanted to plunge that blade into Grim’s heart, both he and Isla would be powerless to stop it.
She stopped fighting. The fire and energy around her died.
“Who knew it was so easy to get you to do my bidding?” Cronan drawled.
“Who knew you would be so foolish as to still harbor feelings over a husband who doesn’t want you at all?
” He shook his head, stepping over what was left of their memories.
“To be broken so easily . . . that love must have never been very strong to begin with.”
Isla’s eyes burned as she watched her husband back away from her—to Cronan’s side. The dagger moved with him, its tip trained at his chest.
With a simple flick of Cronan’s hand, Isla’s body lurched forward, toes of her boots dragging through the dirt, until he held her throat in his fist. Her entire body was under his control as he forced her to raise her arm . . . and reach toward that dagger. Her fingers curled around its hilt.
She swallowed. No. No. This was not how their story ended. Her hand shook, fighting against Cronan’s hold. But even with her powers, she couldn’t stop him from forcing her wrist forward—
And blood began to puddle.
Her blood roared in her ears. Grim wasn’t moving out of the way—was it because he couldn’t? Was Cronan controlling his body too? Or had Grim meant what he said when he told her he couldn’t remember a life worth living?
But before the blade could go any deeper, Cronan made her pause. One move . . . one second . . . and the prophecy would be fulfilled.
Isla trembled with rage as Cronan said, “Now. Take me to the Pool of Possibilities, or you kill your husband.”