Chapter 51 Declan #2
Through órla’s eyes, I watched as Irina ducked in time to save her wretched life, but the jeweled crown was hooked on a sharp claw and rose as the Phoenix ascended once more.
The glint of sunlight against gold widened Irina’s eyes. She clawed her head with both hands and roared at the sky as understanding flooded through her.
A tidal wave of uncontrolled power and emotion blasted outward as she drew every drop of magic the river below would offer.
The tower strained and groaned, but she pulled more.
Soldiers and Mages, once transfixed by the spectacle, fell to the ground or turned away as the tower became a beacon of writhing heat and light.
The ancient, mystical circle maintained by a thousand years of Mages cracked, and the last restraining hold on the river’s rage gave way. A blinding pillar of flame burst from the tower’s peak and hurtled through the sky, slamming directly into órla’s golden breast.
The firmament exploded in dazzling waves that could be seen a hundred leagues away.
“ORLA!” I screamed as lancing pain seared my soul where órla lived within.
No longer bound by crown or circle, Irina’s spirit fled Isabel’s body. The ancient queen’s ethereal form hesitated a moment, a mocking smile across her face, before soaring into the sky toward the mountains.
Her Vessel, now at the mercy of magic’s ire, melted as a candle’s wax beneath a flame.
I heard the scream a split second before the explosion.
The top half of the tower shattered and flew.
Men screamed and panicked and ran.
The tower’s base melted at the magical river’s touch, and silvery lava clawed hungrily at the ground around it.
I squinted toward the sky.
The Phoenix no longer soared above.
I couldn't sense órla.
Her magic was a whisper.
Her presence a feather’s caress.
“órla, are you there? órla, answer me. Please . . . say something!” I screamed to the sky, “óRLA!”
She did not reply.
Spirits, please, save her. Please.
Stones continued to fall.
My magic waned.
Desolate and spent, I somehow found a last reserve and shielded myself from a falling stone. It bounded from my shield and crushed a soldier some paces away. I stood on stubborn legs and hobbled away.
When my legs could carry me no further, I fell to the ground at the bank of the river that ran from the Silver Mountains through the city’s center.
I splashed my face, hoping the icy water would grant me some measure of clarity and strength, then lost myself for a moment watching the trickling, even as the world fell around me.
Memories flooded my mind.
My mother’s smile.
Swirling life under the crystalline floor of the Well’s chamber.
My mother’s hand on my shoulder as we stared across the island from her cavern home.
Her cavern home?
Then it all returned.
My skin pimpled as I remembered the swell of the ocean waves and salty tang of the island air.
The path up the mountain.
The ancient Keeper with his insidious trials.
I remembered my mother and her stern gaze when I didn’t give my best.
órla had given me back my memories.
So many memories . . . years of memories I hadn’t known were gone.
I remembered the little owl as a juvenile, all fuzz and fluff. Tears stung my eyes as I watched her bound onto my chest that first time in the forest.
My heart rose as she cocked her head.
It fell again as my waking mind knew she was lost.
I couldn’t accept it.
I couldn’t lose her.
I stretched my senses and found the pulse of her Light.
“órla! Where are you? I still feel you,” I whispered.
When she spoke in my mind, her voice was distant, weak.
“I was struck with pure magic from the vein. I cannot heal this wound outside of the Well. I killed as many Kingdom troops in the city as I could, but they sent thousands after the fleeing people of Saltstone. I have only moments before the Well calls me home,
but I will try to save your people before I go.”
“I’m coming. Wait for me. Take me with you,” I begged.
“Declan, where I go, you cannot follow.”
“órla, don’t leave me. Oh, Spirits, please . . .”
“I knew this day would come, when greater needs would call me from your side. This is the way of the Phoenix, to Bond in life and be freed in death.” Her voice was lyrical now, light and breathless, what I imagined her Spirit might sound like. “Know that I love you and go only because I must.”
“órla! No!”
“While you still live, we may be together again.”
Horror tore at my soul, and I screamed aloud, “órla, what are you talking about? I need you! I’ve lost everything. You can’t leave me now!”
“If I remain, your people will die.” She paused. “I leave you one last gift, Bond-Mate. Cherish your memories but guard them well. My trust is well placed in your hands . . . as is my heart.”
“órla!” I screamed as I scanned the sky for any sign of her.
“órla, wait!”
Silence.
“óRLA!”
Still nothing.
I gathered my strength and staggered across the bridge toward the eastern side of town. On weary legs, I shuffled more than ran until I reached the eastern gate.
No guards stood watch.
No soldiers barred entry or exit.
I leaned against the open gate and stared into the distance. A blue flame streaked across the sky leagues away.
I slumped against the wood of the gate and watched, transfixed, as the flame soared ever eastward.
Tears filled my eyes.
My head fell into my hands.
And then it happened.
I looked up to see órla circle high in the distance, then dive toward the ground. She was too far away for me to see when she struck.
A great thunderous pulse of magic, the explosion of a sun, exploded out from where the blue streak fell.
A mighty plume of iridescent flame filled land and sky.
Shock waves of air and magic roared across the land.
The world shuddered, the wall shook, barricades fell, and wounded buildings collapsed.
I watched as the distant glow across the horizon began to fade.
“órla?”
Deep within, my soul shuddered with the opening of a void.
“órla! Spirits, say something. Please.”
Emptiness threatened to overwhelm me.
I fell to my knees.
Desperate, I dove within myself and gripped my Light as if clutching a rope while tumbling from a cliff. It was as bright and strong as ever, yet something was absent.
It felt incomplete.
My chest seized.
My Light slipped from my grasp.
Realization assaulted my mind.
I gripped my Light once more, pouring my will and heart into its chasm.
The emptiness refused to fill.
The broken link failed to mend.
The Kingdom forces had been obliterated.
I could not explain my certainty, but I knew it to be true.
Still, my heart could not cheer. I dared not revel in victory or in the vanquishing of our foes. I had no strength to praise the hard-won salvation of our people.
For in that moment, órla was gone.