Chapter 79 Nox
Nox
My feet hit hard ground. It was as if no time had passed, yet we were suddenly in a different place, the chaos and heat from before now replaced with cold, dank darkness.
My mind didn’t have time to catch up with the change before I saw Vera and Scarven standing across from me in the same position they were just in—him baring his teeth in her face, her with her sword stretched to his neck.
Vera’s battle cry still rang in my ears as her sword sliced through the air.
And cut Scarven’s head clean off.
“No!” I roared, eyes bulging.
Devora.
My knees slammed to the floor.
She’s dead.
The world went gray, my vision going in and out as I saw her lifeless blue-green eyes staring up at me from Scarven’s severed head. I saw his blood as the rushing red waves of her hair, saw her body crumple in the reflection of Vera’s sword.
My entire heart was torn from my chest, the pain so visceral I couldn’t draw breath.
“What”— I gasped out, hands digging into the stone—“have you done?”
My sister dropped her sword. She stared down at her hands, eyes wide and full of horror. “Nox, I—I’m so sorry—”
“I have to get to her.” My voice was distant, echoing around my head. “I have to find her.”
I summoned my dragon, only to be met with a wall of silence. Then I realized my magic had been completely snuffed out, leaving a hollow pit deep in my chest. Confusion swarmed me. Why was my magic not working? Where was I?
Where is she?
More footsteps clattered around me, and I whirled to find Arowyn standing several feet above. I slowly began to recognize our surroundings—the trapdoor in the ground, the stone steps leading to the surface, the hay bunched at her feet.
We were at the entrance to the Hollow. The stables where Devora and I had rescued those prisoners almost three weeks ago.
Devora. My misery pooled and formed itself into resolve, like liquid silver solidified in fire.
Arowyn stared down the steps. “This was the only thing I could do, Nox.”
“Where did you take us?” I growled.
“You’re in the Hollow. There’s this spell Mortep cast,” she said. “Magic can’t exist down there. It’s siphoned out the second you cross the boundary.”
I flexed my hands at my sides, wishing I could feel the imprint of my claws. “I don’t care, Arowyn,” I gritted out as I stepped onto the stones leading aboveground. “I need to find her.”
The instant my feet reached the surface, magic flooded back into me like a dam had broken. I looked down in shock. My dragon was back, as if it had never left.
Arowyn stopped me with a hand to my chest. “Magic can’t exist down there,” she repeated. “The bond can’t exist.”
I blinked again. My lips formed her words, saying them back to her slowly. “The bond can’t…”
“She’s alive, Nox. Devora is alive.”
A buzzing sounded low in my ears. “I—I don’t understand.”
“It’s some sort of siphoning spell. Mortep casted it when we scouted out where to set the explosive charm,” Arowyn explained, the words tumbling out of her faster than my muddled mind could keep up.
“It takes away our magic. I’ve been bringing the mutants down here, and it cures them of his magic.
I thought it might work on the bond too. It was a crazy hunch, but—”
“Take me to her,” I demanded, barely registering her story. All I could hear was “she’s alive.”
I had to see for myself. I had to get the image of her head cleaved from her body out of my mind. My control was hanging by a thread.
Arowyn abruptly shut her mouth and nodded. When she grabbed my arm, the ground disappeared for a heartbeat before we landed back in the field.
At first, there was nothing. My dragon thrashed with hopelessness beneath my skin. But then—
A body slammed into me, the scent of pomegranates and sunshine enveloping us. My hand immediately gripped the nape of Devora’s neck and slid into her hair. Was she really here? Was this real?
“Nox,” she murmured, and the sound broke me.
My other hand crushed into her back, pulling her as tightly into me as possible. I closed my eyes and breathed her in. I didn’t realize how badly I was shaking until her small hands on my back steadied me.
She was alive. She was here, whole and soft and safe.
And mine.
“What happened?” she asked, her voice still weak. “Where did you go? Where’s Scarven?”
“Arowyn.” That was the only word I could get through the tightness of my throat, my relief so all-consuming, it clogged every cell.
Devora pulled back, studying me with that little crease in her forehead, and I couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward and kiss it.
Swallowing hard, I finally said, “Arowyn strode us to—to the Hollow. Something about a spell, and our magic…” I shook my head, thoughts still fuzzy.
But comprehension lit Devora’s face. “Is Scarven…is he—”
Next to us, Arowyn made a squelching noise and slid her thumb across her throat.
Devora reached for her own neck with a look of alarm. Her normally bright skin was ghostly pale with a hint of green still lingering in her veins. “The spell took the bond away?”
“And not a second too soon.” Arowyn whistled. “You better be glad I’m quick on my feet. I just saved your life, Shadow Wielder.”
“Arowyn, I—” My voice cracked with gratitude, and I cleared it. “I don’t know how to—”
“Don’t mention it, Boss,” she said, offering me a small smile.
The air wavered again, and a moment later, my sister strode into view, clutching Scarven’s severed head the same way I clung to Devora. Her eyes darted frantically until she found me.
She dropped his head and staggered forward. “She’s okay?”
My Vera was back, the voice of the sister I remembered from so long ago. Regret flitted across her face, erasing the coldness of the phoenix who hungered for Scarven’s death.
I didn’t blame her. How could I? Everything Scarven said was the truth.
She was the one to suffer at his hands for her entire life, never getting an ounce of freedom, never finding herself or truly living.
He knew all the ways to goad her, all the right nerves to press. He’d always been a master manipulator.
But…she had almost killed Devora.
Both things could be true. Both things were solidly ingrained in my mind, as firm as any foundation. And as I stared at Vera inching toward us, I couldn’t help but turn protectively in front of Devora.
I nodded. “She’s okay. There was a way around the bond Scarven had with her. It’s over, Vera.”
Those three words made tears swim to the surface of her golden eyes. Her shoulders slumped as her chin fell to her chest, and I could practically feel the weight of her twenty-one years of life settling over her.
When she looked back up, I held my arms out on instinct. There was a brief moment of hesitation before she barreled into me and clung to my sweaty, blood-soaked leathers, whispering apology after apology.
Something snapped into place in my chest. I clutched her tighter, hardly remembering what it was like to hold her. My family. My little sister, finally—finally—free from her cage. How could I fault her for what she’d been through? For the decisions she made? Fates knew I had done worse.
“I don’t blame you, Vera. It’s okay,” I said. “I love you. He’s gone for good.”
No matter what future obstacles we’d have to overcome, what nightmares would linger in the backs of our minds…that would never change.
It was over.
Arowyn cleared her throat behind me. “There’s another problem with your plan, Nox.”