Chapter Fifty-Three Sunny
Chapter Fifty-Three
Sunny
With a groan, I rise to my feet and look around the Donggul. The darkness is gone, but death still lingers in the graveyard of bones and skulls. The stranded souls have already been freed from the Gray Void, but their remains also deserve proper respect.
I float out of the Donggul to avoid stepping on the dead, then I set the entire structure on fire with a flick of my hand. Unease threads through me, even though I contained the white fire to the Donggul.
I shake off my worry. The fire will burn off once the remains are gone.
But as I turn away from the burning hanok, I sense Ethan’s life force rise with the force of a tsunami.
“What in the . . .”
Then, with a sonic boom, a protective dome closes around an enormous perimeter, including the Suhoshin headquarters—including me.
Shit.
Something must have happened to put his protective instinct into overdrive. He’s in danger. They all are.
Ethan will die if he keeps the shield up for much longer—and the stubborn male will keep it up until I am at his side. I take off in a dead run, searching for the epicenter of his magic. Once I locate him in my mind’s eye, I command time and space to do my bidding and take me to him.
I feel a slight tug, and I am there.
Ethan, the Sentinels, and the other three monarchs have retreated further into the Kingdom of Sky, and they stand just outside the walls of the capital. I quickly appraise the situation as I hover high above them.
The hands of Amheuk, along with the rest of its monstrous, humanoid form, have broken past the boundaries of the Kingdom of Sky.
Its head is half-hidden beyond the clouds, but its vast body spans the horizon.
The surface of its shadowy form churns and whips, coiled with serpentine strands of darkness.
Our friends surround Ethan in a semicircle, pouring their life forces into him. His protective dome—powered by the gi of all four life sources—is the only thing standing between the Amheuk and what remains of the Kingdom of Sky.
“I’m here, Ethan.” Love infuses the whispered words, carried to him by the winds. “You can rest now.”
He doesn’t look up—he can’t—but his shoulders sag with relief. He heard me. He knows I am safe.
“Taper off your life forces,” I say to the rest of my friends. And with a thought, I stand before them. “I’ll take it from here.”
Our friends withdraw their gi, one by one, but my stubborn husband maintains his shield.
“Sunny,” Ethan rasps past his clenched jaw.
“I know.” I glance over my shoulder. “I’ll be careful.”
“Liar.” He gives me a strained smile. “Besides, I was about to say, ‘Go kick ass.’”
“That’s a given.” I give him a saucy wink, then turn back to face the Amheuk. “Now, withdraw your shield like a good husband. I’ll buy you guys time to retreat behind the wall.”
I throw a glimmering white shield over Ethan and our friends, drawing the Amheuk’s attention to me. But I flinch when it leans down and pushes its face through the clouds.
Its glowing red eyes exude pure malice—an evil so elemental that a scream lodges in my throat. Get it together, Sunny. That thing killed Minju and Jaeseok. I swallow my fear and meet its violent gaze with one of my own.
It will never take another life. I will not allow it.
Ethan finally withdraws his protective dome and staggers back, his knees buckling. Jihun and Cheyun each catch hold of his arms to support him, but they aren’t much better off. The exhausted group stumbles toward the gates to the capital, leaning on one another.
Once they are inside, I give the Amheuk my full, undivided attention.
“I am the goddess of Light.” I push forward the shield of light until the Amheuk squints against the glare. “Otherwise known as your demise.”
I call to my Yeoiju, and the Cheon’gwang swells within it. The white light grows fast—too fast—making my entire body vibrate with unleashed energy. Before it can overwhelm me, I launch balls of light at the Amheuk, punching gaping holes across its body.
Its furious roar is the sound of nightmares—the sound of unimaginable pain and boundless fear. It resonates inside me, and I scream, gripping my head. I sink my teeth into my lip to stem my cry.
The Amheuk’s soul-rending howl morphs into an insidious laugh. I watch in horror as the holes mend themselves.
A strand of darkness unrolls from its stomach and whips down on me with incomprehensible speed. I feel the burn of ice across my chest, and my pained shout gurgles in my throat.
Gagging on my own blood, I glance down at the flayed gash on my chest, deep enough to show the whites of my upper rib cage. Shock shudders down my spine and my limbs, and I lock my knees to stop them from buckling.
“Mother . . . fucker.” I grit my teeth until the gaping wound begins to heal—flesh, muscle, and skin knitting back together.
“Goddess of Light.” The Amheuk sketches a mocking bow. “Have you learned that a mere god is no match for the ancient force of darkness? Or do you need another lesson?”
“Oh goody. You can talk.” I spit a mouthful of blood on the ground. “That will make kicking your ass much less boring.”
The evil incarnate narrows its scary eyes into even more terrifying slits.
“Now, use your words and tell me.” I launch a volley of white cannonballs, making certain I get the fucker’s chest. Payback is a bitch. “On a scale of one to ten, how much does that hurt?”
The Amheuk resorts to more roaring and lashes down at me with four dark tentacles. I am ready this time and evade most of them, but one pierces through my thigh, wrenching a scream out of me.
“I . . . told you . . .” I growl, my hand already glowing with white light, “to use your words.”
I aim at the darkness and propel the light at its face. The Amheuk spins away, but not before the light burns a gash across his cheek. It groans, the grating sound rumbling through the sky.
I smirk, but ten more tentacles reach for me, wiping the smile off my face. “Shit.”
I fly headlong toward them, but at the last minute, I spin toward the left, evading all of them. Carried by their momentum, they crash into the ground where I stood mere seconds ago.
The choreography of violence stretches on without pause until I forget what it’s like not to be exhausted.
When will this end?
The Amheuk sprouts endless arms and whips them toward me again and again. And I launch my attacks of light, giving him hell right back. I want to teach the darkness to feel fear. I want it to fear pain—to fear death—before I end it.
I flit through the air, weaving between the tentacles, but my luck runs out and one finally punches through my shoulder.
“Fuck me.” I groan.
A good thing about adrenaline is that I don’t feel the pain as much as I should. So I draw the power of my divine gi from my chest and hurl it at the Amheuk before it can gloat. The ball of white light tears off its massive arm.
I land on the ground and stumble for balance. I hope I bought myself some time. It should take a while for the darkness to heal itself from that injury. I plant my hands on my thighs and drag air into my burning lungs.
Unfortunately, the Amheuk doesn’t even pause for its arm to grow back. It brings down its other fist, and I take a flying leap before I’m creamed. I roll to a stand, but I’m so turned around that my next attack barely skims the Amheuk’s pinky.
I fall, and I fall again. And every time, I get up like an obstinate teeter-totter. Like this, the relentless battle rages on until night descends on the Kingdom of Sky.
Too tired to strike first, I sway on my feet and brace for the next attack. But . . . it doesn’t come.
What is the Amheuk waiting for?
“Has hope blossomed in your heart, Goddess?” Its red mouth stretches into a condescending sneer. “Have you begun to think maybe you can defeat me?”
“I can defeat you,” I pant. My T-shirt and jeans are in tatters, but the copious amount of blood that I have spilled doesn’t show through. Black is always a good choice. “I will end you and wipe that nasty smile off your hideous mug.”
“Ah, yes,” it drawls. “You feel more than hope. You have faith. It would be satisfying to crush your pathetic hope. But crushing your faith will be transcendent.”
Fuck.
Dread spreads through me as I glance at the dark sky, and realization dawns on me. The Amheuk has been stalling this whole time because it is most powerful after nightfall.
“I changed my mind,” I snarl. “You talk way too much. Stop using your words.”
“Did you truly believe that you, the goddess of Light, can defeat me?” Rage spills past the red slash of its mouth. “I am no mere god. I am Darkness. I existed even before time itself.”
The Amheuk explodes and blankets the sky. Soon, the darkness will encompass the Kingdom of Sky—the last of the Realm of Four Kingdoms—and all will be lost. I have to stop it. My panicked eyes skip left and right, searching for an answer.
I have to become the Cheon’gwang.
I hug my arms around my stomach. This body. A sob tears through my throat. This mind. I have to stop being . . . me. I can’t become the Cheon’gwang until I cease to exist. My teeth chatter as I curl in on myself.
I’m scared, Ethan.
I can’t be me. I can’t be yours. Not anymore.
But I hear his voice as though he’s standing right next to me. You are still you. You are still mine.
I dig my nails into my palms and hiss a shaky breath. I straighten to my full height and glare at the dark sky. Everything will be okay, Ethan. I will make sure of it.
The Yeoiju spins at my heart’s center and calls to my life force. My gi, turned white from the union of the four divine gi, answers the call and flows into the Yeoiju.
The orb grows and expands, beating to the rhythm of my heart, until my chest gleams white. Then the white light spreads to every corner of my body, down to my toes and to the tips of my fingers.
I let go.
Light bursts from my chest, my mouth, my eyes. My arms crack like porcelain, and my fingers split apart. Agony rips through me, but I no longer have a throat to form a scream, a mouth to release the sound.
My human form shifts into my gumiho as I seek relief from the pain. My gumiho is strong. She can hold me together. But the light of the Yeoiju tears through her body, and we shatter.
I become the Cheon’gwang and fill the Kingdom of Sky, expanding to the farthest reaches of the night. I meet a wall of darkness, and the Amheuk trembles in fear, clinging on to its existence. Silent laughter flickers through me. It is hanging on to false hope.
I am Light.
I shine on the darkness, and the Amheuk dissipates with a terrible shriek until . . . there is only light.
I am Life.
But for there to be life, there must be death. This balance is immutable—a fundamental truth.
I am Death.