CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE ISI
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
ISI
As we rushed out the side entrance, the cloaked woman’s mocking laughter echoed in my ears. Behind us, the sound of Skathe claws scrambling through the halls grew louder. She’d called for reinforcements.
We burst out into gray daylight. The wasteland stretched ahead of us, the air shimmering with putrid decay and a rancid smell that made my stomach turn.
Racing back to where we’d left the sacks of weapons, we quickly armed ourselves.
“Which direction?” Trew asked, a sword in his hand and another strapped to his side. He’d also secured multiple blades into sheaths on his leathers.
With a long blade in her hand and a grim expression on her face, Kira pointed southwest. “The breach is half a clek that way. You’ll know it when you see it.”
Addie swayed beside me, her body flickering translucent for three heartbeats before solidifying. I caught her elbow, steadying her.
“I’m fine,” she whispered, though we both knew it was a lie.
Our companions shifted into their large forms, and I was grateful to have them with us.
Kira’s death adder slithered out of the top of her tunic. It flung itself toward the ground and shifted before it landed, bursting into a python that writhed its head above us. It hissed and its head snapped toward me—
Pherin leaped but before she could reach me, the python snatched up a Skathe that had exited the fortress behind me. She flung it up and toward the building carved into the cliff, and it hit with a wet smack. It tumbled down but before it hit the ground it exploded into a cloud of ashes.
I was still breathing fast, and not only from running.
Pherin nudged my side. Not bad after all.
You’re right.
The python shifted into its death adder form again and slithered to Kira, who scooped the creature up and coiled her around her throat. “Aren’t you amazing?”
Trew stared at Kira long enough she twitched, before turning away. “Let’s go. Stay close.”
We ran across the wasteland with Kira in the lead. Derren tucked an arm around Lexie's waist. She was limping but the blood had stopped trickling from her wound.
The ground cracked beneath our feet, oozing black viscous liquid that hissed when touched.
Addie matched my pace, her breathing labored. After a few minutes, she leaned close enough that only I could hear.
“Do you know how to seal the breach?” she asked. “I’ve only traveled through it. That…was forced. Not sure I could do it alone.”
I shook my head. “Velacross’s journal was vague. ‘Blood calls to blood across the boundary.’ ‘What was torn asunder shall be made whole.’ He never explained the actual process.”
“Willing sacrifice.” Addie’s fingers wrapped around the crescent moon pendant at her throat.
We both knew what that meant, though neither of us would say it aloud.
“The veil responds to its own origin,” I said, telling her what I remembered. “To mend a wound, one must offer the thread that matches.”
“We’re the thread.” Addie’s voice held no question, only grim certainty. “Velacross’s bloodline. Mother’s daughters. We can manipulate the weave,” she sucked in a deep breath, “because it’s a part of us.”
I grabbed her hand, squeezing hard. “Whatever it costs, we’ll pay it together.”
She squeezed back, tears shining in her eyes. “Mother died. She tried…to protect us.”
“We’ll finish what she started.” I pulled her closer as we ran, supporting her with an arm around her back. “We’re not dying, Addie. We’re sealing the breach and walking away. Both of us.”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
The word tasted bitter on my tongue, but I said it anyway because hope was all I had left to cling to.
A Skathe patrol emerged from behind a ridge, rushing in our direction.
“Kill them all,” Derren shouted, racing forward with his sword lifted, Dare and Lexie right with him.
Our companions surged forward. Pherin and Gavelle worked together, one driving the Skathes toward the other’s flames.
Our dragon companions dove from above, their talons raking across Skathe skulls, following it up with a blast of fire.
Kira’s python wove among the Skathes, ripping their heads off one by one.
Other companions galloped along with them.
Trew’s magic crackled as he directed it at two Skathes, the force of his power driving them backward into Kira’s waiting blade. Lexie and Derren fought side by side, swiping off heads with their weapons.
I stayed back because I had a different plan.
Using veil-sight, I studied the threads connecting the Skathes to a distant point, indicating the cloaked woman and Lord Alfred’s control. With a wrench, I severed three connections at the same time. The creatures stumbled, confusion replacing their coordination.
“Nice,” Kerralyn shouted, finishing off one of the disoriented Skathes.
We killed them all within minutes, but more would come.
As we ran again, Trew stayed beside me, his eyes dark with worry.
“The ritual is already starting,” he said. “I can feel pressure building. It’s making my teeth ache.”
I could too. “How long do you think we have?”
“Minutes. Maybe an hour if we’re lucky. If Fenmark’s the primary source of the power they need, they’ll kill him at the ritual’s peak.”
“You realize they’ll try to take us to gather more power.”
“Not happening.”
Kira joined us, her face pale but determined. “Strategy? We can’t just rush in, or they’ll capture and use us. The breach site will be heavily defended.”
Pausing, we gathered close to speak in hushed tones. Addie swayed but remained upright, leaning against my side.
“Addie and I will work on the veil while the rest of you defend us,” I said.
“You’ll be exposed,” Trew said. “Vulnerable.”
“We won’t, because you’ll be watching over us.” I met his gaze steadily. “There’s no other way. The ritual has to be interrupted, and the veil has to be sealed.”
“Do you know how you’ll do it?” Derren asked.
“I need to study the veil first. If the weave was torn, it can be mended. That's what veil-sight is for.”
Lexie spoke up, her voice rough. The set of her jaw told me what the wound was costing her. “Derren and I will carve a path for you to the edge of the weave and hold it.”
“Kira and I will flank you,” Kerralyn said. “We’ll keep the Skathes from circling around.”
“Trew?” I met his worried gaze. “Can you distract them?”
He gave me a curt nod.
“Our companions will do what they do best,” I said, glancing at Pherin and Gavelle. “Rip through everything coming for us.”
Fight, Pherin said in my mind.
Addie’s hand found mine, and she squeezed.
“Velacross’s blood runs in our veins,” I said. “I bet the veil will recognize us. We’ll force it if we have to.”
“Alright,” Trew said, and while I could tell he didn’t like it, we had no other choice.
We ran, the wasteland growing worse with every step. The ground didn’t just crack, it gaped open, revealing nothing but darkness beneath. We had to leap over gaps that continued to widen. Thick corruption shimmered in the air. I could taste metal and rot on my tongue.
Spindly, leafless trees gave way to formations of twisted stone that looked like reaching hands frozen mid-grasp. Silence pressed down on us, broken only by the sound of our footsteps and labored breathing.
Pherin growled low in her throat, her head swiveling constantly. Something was wrong, a thing beyond even the obvious wrongness of this cursed place.
Another Skathe patrol appeared, at least ten of them this time. When they saw us, they spread in a wide formation.
We didn’t slow. Trew’s magic erupted in a wave of force that scattered the front line.
Our companions tore into them with fangs and claws and flames.
I severed control threads while Addie used her flickering connection to the veil itself to disorient the creatures, making them stumble as reality wavered around them.
Blood and ash. Screams and roars. We killed them all and kept running.
Pools of something that wasn’t quite water or solid bubbled and hissed around us. Luminescent light flickered in the distance.
Then I saw the breach.
It dominated the horizon like a wound torn in the fabric of existence itself, a ragged tear that throbbed with sickly light. I caught glimpses of a nightmare realm beyond. Shapes moved in that other place. Skathes, thousands of them, pressing against the barrier between the two worlds.
“Fates,” Lexie breathed.
The breach was easily the length of a dragon across, its edges writhing and stretching even as we watched. The tear was growing, fed by whatever ritual the controllers had begun.
When we crested the final ridge, and lay on the ground to study the area ahead, the full scope of what we faced became clear.
A massive ritual circle carved into the corrupted ground and filled with something that glowed like blood lit from within surrounded the breach.
Lord Alfred stood at the circle’s western edge, wearing ceremonial robes of deep crimson.
Magic crackled around his raised hands, feeding into the circle’s pattern.
Someone lay bound at the center, on a slab of dark gray stone.
His companion lay bound on a similar stone, also surrounded by a cage that would keep it from escaping even if it shifted.
Addie made a sound like a wounded animal. Nim bristled beside her, eager to shift back into his dragon form and charge.
Even from this distance, I could see how badly they’d hurt him. Blood matted his hair and cuts covered his body, looking ritualistic rather than random. But his chest rose and fell. He was still alive.
“Hold Nim back,” Trew said quietly, his hand on my sister’s shoulder. “We need to see everything first.”
The second controller stood opposite Alfred, her arms raised to match his position. A cloak hid her form, but power radiated from her in waves that made my veil-sight scream warnings.
Hundreds of Skathes swayed around them.
“This is impossible,” Derren said flatly.
“No.” Using veil-sight, I examined the ritual’s structure, finding so many weak points it made my heart stutter. “It’s just going to be really, really difficult.”
The ritual circle connected to the breach through threads of corrupted magic.
I could see how it worked, and I whispered my plan to our friends.
“Fenmark’s death and the draining of his power will be used to tear the veil open permanently.
The bloodfire magic generated from the sacrifice will provide the power source, fed by whatever sacrifices Alfred and the woman have already made.
I can see weak points in the pattern. At least, I hope that’s what they are.
I’ve never worked with anything this complex before. ”
My hands quivered as I studied the corruption threading through the magical structure. “If I’m wrong about the weak points, if I’ve misread the weave…” I swallowed hard. “We’ll all die and the breach will tear reality apart.”
Addie sucked in a breath. “If we hit those points simultaneously while the others interrupt the ritual…”
“My plan is terrible,” I said. “And it’ll probably kill us, but it also might work.”
“My favorite kind of plan,” Trew said with a grim smile.
“The circle is designed like a web.” I gestured to at the patterns I could see with my veil-sight.
“Alfred and the woman are anchor points, but the pattern has three weak points.
If we break their concentration and hit all three simultaneously, the whole structure should collapse inward.
Miss one or lose even a second on timing, and the backlash kills us all. "
“Even better,” Derren said dryly. “I’m in.”
I outlined what we needed to do, leaving Addie to make her way to Fenmark and free him. Once she’d taken him outside the circle, that should break the anchor.
“Once he’s free, I believe the ritual will lose its focus,” I said. “They’ll try to compensate, which will create a fresh chance for us. That’s when Addie and I will approach the breach and seal it.”
“How?” Kira asked.
I looked at my sister. She looked back at me, and I saw the same answer in her eyes that I had: we didn’t know. But we knew what we were willing to offer.
“We’ll improvise,” I finally said.
Terror clawed through my chest. I was asking friends to trust their lives to abilities I barely understood, powers I’d discovered only a short time ago. What if I’d misread the weave? There could be something crucial I couldn’t see.
Trew pulled me into his arms.
“Come back to me,” he said roughly. “You don’t get to be a martyr without me.”
I kissed him, pouring everything I felt into the contact. Love and fear and desperate hope, all tangled together.
“I’m yours,” I whispered against his mouth. “Now and always. That’s not changing, no matter what happens today.”
“I’ll find you, no matter when.”
“And I’ll seek you.”
He pressed his forehead against mine. “Twin flames.”
“Twin flames,” I whispered back.
We parted and Trew crawled over to join our friends. Derren and Lexie would flank Trew. Kira nodded to Trew, looking at him with so much respect it made my heart ache. Kerralyn settled into a ready stance nearby, long blades in hand, ready to take down Skathes.
Addie gripped my fingers hard enough to hurt.
“We can do this,” I said.
“Of course.” Her teary smile rose. “Because we’re sisters, and there’s no bond stronger than that.”
Our companions shifted back into their beast forms. Pherin and Gavelle stood side by side, radiating heat. Kira released her death adder, while Addie’s Nim expanded into an amazing silver dragon. The other three scraped at the ground, ready to attack.
We crept closer, using the corrupted landscape for cover. The ritual circle hummed an uneven tune, and I wondered if it would harmonize if we sealed the veil. Lord Alfred’s voice rose in an ancient language I didn’t recognize, the words making my skin crawl.
The veil breach writhed and expanded, tearing wider with every passing second.
Fenmark screamed. His raw agony cut through everything else as they began draining his life force.
Addie’s entire body went rigid. “Now,” she snarled. “We go now.”
Trew met my eyes. No words were needed. His expression said everything. I love you. Remember me.
I nodded once.
He turned to the others. “Protect them. No matter what.”
Thorne's face flashed through my mind. The ashwine. The children in the reformatory. I’d failed them. I would not fail the people running beside me.
I squeezed Addie’s hand one final time.
She squeezed back, tears streaming down her face, but her jaw set with determination.
We broke from cover, running toward the breach.
Alfred’s head snapped toward us. A triumphant, cruel, and utterly mad smile split his face.
“There you are,” he called out, his voice amplified by magic.
“Princesses Amarissa and Adelaine, granddaughters with Velacross’s blood.
” His smile turned rapturous. “Your grandfather’s legacy will finally serve its true purpose.
The veil will drink your essence and tear wide enough to birth a new world, one where we rule over both realms.”
His eyes blazed. “Thank you for delivering yourselves to me.”