52. The Gateway
The Gateway
Cahira
The sight of Aradia’s blood on Ukoron’s black robes fueled her fire.
She screamed, launching a stream of fire at his head
Fire against fury. Desperation against dauntlessness.
Ukoron gripped her neck in a hold that could crush her windpipe. Her feet lifted and the air slammed from her lungs as he threw her down hard enough to see stars. Her neck was slick with Aradia’s blood which still stained his hands.
Fintan released a bolt of lightning from behind.
Cahira’s heart dropped as his aim struck true, felling Ukoron for the first time.
Ukoron’s laughter was a slow agonizing gurgle behind thinly pressed lips. His chest heaved as he pushed himself off the ground. “You will regret that.”
The air around them plummeted as if his very breath controlled the temperature.
Frost cracked underneath his shadows and spread with a speed only conjured by dark magic.
Shards of icicles as sharp as daggers shot from the cave walls and ceiling, aiming for them all.
They pierced her skin, ripping through muscle and shattering bone.
Cahira screamed as one shot through the floor and into her thigh.
Ice traveled into her veins like a snake, iridescent for all to see.
“Cahira!” Fintan screamed. His own body was caged in a block of ice so thick he was nothing but a blurred image.
Cahira’s ring sputtered out. Her fire froze and her fight diminished. She swayed on her feet, the movement ripping another cry from her lips as jagged ice held her in place.
“You’re an idiot if you think the gods will welcome you with open arms. They’re the ones responsible for caging you in the first place,” she seethed.
“Oh. I don’t intend on bringing all the gods back to Peraynia. Just a few loyal siblings who have kept their end of the deal.” Ukoron smiled and the action rooted fear in Cahira’s soul.
The bastard meant to start a civil war between the gods. A war no one would survive.
Ukoron whipped around to the closest wall and laid a bloody hand against the soil, drawing a large rectangle. “Z mé v?le otev?ete By my will, you shall open.”
“No don’t —”
A blast of air shot from Ukoron, snapping the ice holding her thigh in place and knocking her to the ground. Ukoron’s magic warped into an outline of a gate leading to another realm. The Gates of Qualan.
“You cannot stop chaos.” He chanted in dark magic as the gates grew wider. “Soon, my brothers and sisters will walk this earth.”
Cahira dug her fingers into the ground, lest she fly back down the tunnel as an unnatural wind picked up.
“We can’t let him bring the gods here,” she shouted to anyone who could hear her.
Fintan lay ten feet away, sprawled underneath a layer of ice and rock. He shielded his face from the brutal power emanating from Ukoron in waves. Kaiden covered Aradia’s body from the blast. She had never seen him so broken — so empty.
Cahira rolled to her side. If Ukoron walked through the gates there was no telling who he would bring back from the other side.
As if sensing her gaze, Ukoron turned his head in her direction. “A valiant effort, daughter.” His voice warped, and the king’s low timbre replaced the ancient resonance. “I’ve always favored you most.”
Cahira sucked in a breath at the familiar sight of blue eyes. Her vision blurred with tears and a loss she had not thought would even affect her.
“Father?” She whispered the word she hardly ever used. “Please.”
The king twitched his head, and in a blink blue was replaced with black and the scowl of disgust had returned. Ukoron brushed rubble from his shoulder and without looking back turned and walked through the gates.
“No.” Panic was a weight on her chest and she gulped in air through shuttering gasps of pain.
She searched for Kaiden in the split seconds demanding her decision. His gaze was already on her. Tears streaked through caked mud and slid down his face at the realization of what she was about to do.
“Protect them with our lives,” she repeated his earlier words to him.
He shook his head. “Not you.” His ragged voice barely made it across the bloody space between them. His arms shook as he cried, holding a lifeless Aradia.
“Whatever you’re thinking — don’t.” Fintan’s fists slammed repeatedly through the thick cage. His blood smeared across the sharp planes of ice. He would crawl to Cahira if need be.
She sent an orb of fire into the ice, melting a hole for Fintan to climb through.
“You know my plans are always the best.” She grimaced at him as she heated the ice shard in her leg.
Blood oozed down her leg and pooled at her ankles. Who knew how much time they had? If Ukoron walked back into their realm, it was over. She gripped Fintan’s collar and pulled him into a deep kiss.
Fintan pulled back, frowning. “No. No goodbyes.”
Cahira huffed a laugh to stop the ball of sorrow choking her. “Don’t you know by now, you’ll never be rid of me Fintan Aariv.” The ruby ring on Cahira’s finger pulsed weakly as she whispered a spell that froze opponents. “Staeletor.”
Fintan stiffened at the touch of magic, freezing him in place. “No.” Cahira watched his confusion morph into panic. “Don’t do this!” He threw his weight on the spell but remained as if wrapped in a box.
“I love you Fintan, I should have told you years ago when I knew it to be true in my heart. I love you. All of you. Every broken, scarred part. I’m only sorry it took me this long to tell you,” Cahira whispered.
“Please,” he begged. Tears streamed down his face. “Cahira, don’t do this, please. We’ll find another way.” Fintan fought against her spell, arms flailing, frantic to reach her, to stop her.
“Our time couldn’t remain frozen.”
“This isn’t your sacrifice to make!” Fintan bellowed.
“I love you,” Cahira breathed.
“Don’t you fucking dare, Cahira!” Fintan’s frantic screams turned into angry curses at his helplessness. “Don’t you dare leave me.”
Cahira turned to Kaiden.
“You won’t have much time, run and don’t look back, brother.” she yelled.
Kaiden only nodded, already gathering Aradia into his arms.
Thousands of unsaid words traveled between them. There wasn’t enough time. They had not had enough time.
“I love you,” she said to her brother.
“I love you, Cahira Valencia.” Kaiden’s voice shook.
She smiled at the two men who meant more to her than life itself, tears sizzled against her cheeks. She ran toward the portal, placing her hand where Ukoron had. Her blood mixed with Aradia’s drying magic. The key to opening and shutting the gates.
“Live, live for me,” she said. With the last bit of strength, burst into flames and lunged through the portal after Ukoron, closing it behind her.