56
Keltania
Aphelian looks from me to Valen, her expression joyful. Victorious.
“You did it!” she exclaims. “You brought him to the Dream.”
“I didn’t, actually. Valen found his way here all on his own.”
“That’s—”
“Impossible?” he finishes for her. “There’s nothing I won’t—can’t—do for Tania.”
Aphelian’s features twist, the unadulterated rage pouring off her in waves. “You truly believe you can trap me here? This is my refuge!”
“You’re wrong. You told me yourself. This place belongs to all druids.” I drop to the ground and brace my hands against the earth. Valen does the same beside me. “At least it did. Now it’s going to be your tomb.”
Rocks and dirt swirl, cascading around her lower half. Aphelian stumbles, and something small falls from her hand. The vial she tried to get me to purge the druid magic into. It rolls to a stop at Valen’s feet as the rock and dirt form a crust around my old mentor. Aphelian fights it and starts to break free—until I let loose the fire. The flames harden the rock, solidifying them to trap her in place.
“Do you really think this will hold me? You’re only putting off the inevitable,” she yells. “Once I break free—and I will—I will fell you all!”
I approach her but stop several feet away. “It didn’t have to be like this, Levina.”
“It was always going to be like this. Once I’m free—”
“You’ll get free of this rock,” I say. “But you’ll never leave the Dream.” My throat is thick, and I swallow. There’s a lump that makes it hard to breathe. This is it. The end of the line.
As much as I hate what she’s done, all the things she stands for, Aphelian is the one person in this life with whom I could truly belong. Not just because of blood, but because of heritage, because of the magic… We’ve shared something no others have shared. Valen loves me, but the Fae will never accept who—and what—I am. For that reason, once I do this, if we do manage to escape the Dream, I will be truly alone.
But I have no choice.
“You—” Her eyes widen as she understands. “You wouldn’t dare. Do you have any idea what destroying the Dream will do to the magic?”
It’s a surreal feeling, but I’m resigned to it. “You made your choice. Now I must make mine.” I close my eyes, willing the ground to rise up, the plants to surge. There’s a rumble, and Aphelian is encased in stone and foliage.
This was how it has to be. The Dream was the only place powerful enough to hold her—aside from the tear.
“All that’s left is to destroy the Dream,” I tell Valen. “I’m going to try to reopen the link, to let you in. Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
I focus on the magic and drop to the ground, placing my hand flat against the earth. The magic inside me stirs, but something is wrong. Everything begins to shake.
It’s too late…
There’s a crack like thunder, and everything is shaking. Valen stumbles but catches himself, then grabs my arm and helps me to my feet. I’m almost upright when the landscape shifts in a dizzying blur of colors and shapes.
Valen regains his footing before toppling sideways. “What’s happening?”
“Valen…”
The haze clears, and I look down. My leathers are gone, replaced by a gown of green leaves and lilac.
Valen whistles. “Wow. You look…”
I snicker. “Leave it to you to notice what I’m wearing as the world ends.”
His brow quirks, and he tilts his head to the sky. “The world is ending?”
“This one is. Yours will be fine, though. The wine is safe.”
He seems confused, spinning in a slow circle to survey the horizon. “Is this the Dream? This isn’t where we were before—is it?”
The sky is stormy, and the ground is…wrong. It’s split in half. My left foot rests on a snow-covered patch while my right stands atop a flaming rock. Above us, lightning blazes through the sky, crackling to the ground just beyond my line of sight. Something falls from the sky. It’s an odd mix of snowflakes and tiny, smoking embers.
I shrug. “My guess is that it’s reacting to everything happening. This is a place for druid magic—not Fae. We’ve subjected it to not one court but two.”
The magic is at war within me. The branches are fighting for supremacy, and I fear that when they’re done, there will be nothing left of me. But I can’t tell him that. Not while there’s still work to do.
I scan the area. The mound of rock and dirt holding Aphelian prisoner is gone. Valen notices, too. “Is Aphelian still here?” he asks.
“She’s contained for now.” Her presence is like a whisper at the edge of my consciousness. I might not be able to see her, but she’s here, struggling to break free. “We have to act fast, though. If she gets out, it’s all over.”
“We can take her down. Together. She’s one druid. One single human.” He takes my hand. “We’re an army, you and me. A force to be reckoned with. We have something worth fighting for.”
“That’s what we’re doing now,” I tell him softly. “I know this isn’t how you wanted it to go, but it’s what needs to happen. And it needs to happen now.”
“You’re so fucking stubborn. We decided—”
I pull free and grab his shoulders, giving him one good shake. “Valen, listen to me. I’ve been here too long. Like me, the Dream was never meant to hold so much magic. What I took in from the tear, combined with what Servis left Aphelian and the Fae power—it’s thrown off the balance of this place, tethered me. The Dream will not allow me to leave—but I can still save you. I can save them .” I place a kiss to his forehead before pushing him away and crouching down. “For once, do what’s right for them—not for you.”
“If you die, there’s no guarantee I’ll survive,” he says. The anguish in his voice tears at my soul, but I cannot afford to waver. “You’re not human, remember? So what’s the—”
“The rules are different here. The magic that linked us is being negated by the Dream—I believe you’ll be fine.” It’s time. I have to let him go. “Goodbye, Valen.”