Chapter 50
My fears were brought to life as the inky swirls swarmed the hall. Darkness erupted in bursts around them. Intentionally, strategically… as if they were controlling it, passing the void back and forth between them.
The darkness seeped from the shadows, black tendrils reaching out to meld with other shades of nothingness, enveloping the entire room in a cloak of night.
The lessons had taught us that the Wraiths and the darkness were one in the same. But if my eyes were to be believed, the Wraiths were their own entity. The darkness was just a symptom of their presence… it was following them.
I looked to Laryk in a panic. His eyes were tracking the room at an impossible speed. He pulled out the dagger he kept against his hip and dropped to his knees, yanking my skirts towards him and ripping through the fabric with his blade in quick slices. The dress fell just below my knees.
I could run.
I could fight .
“Fia, can you sense them?” He spoke in a rushed tone, tearing off his jacket.
I tried to quiet the overwhelming fear in my mind enough to draw out the tendrils of my focus. When they didn’t immediately begin their ascent, I yanked them up by sheer will, casting them around us.
Hundreds of glowing orbs shot through the darkness. In the chaos it was hard to differentiate between Wraith and Aossí.
The minds all looked the same.
Behind us, officers ordered civilians towards the barracks. Their shouts were cut short as the Wraiths got close enough to rob them of their breath, leaving their words trailing into the void.
I looked around frantically, searching for Osta.
But I couldn’t find her.
We stood our ground as Aossí rushed past us, desperate for safety within the fortress walls.
A sliver of bronzed hair caught the moonlight, and I saw a figure in an emerald dress following the civilians to safety.
The deepest part of me relaxed, knowing Osta was safe, but every other nerve ending was on fire.
“There’s too much going on in here right now.
I can’t tell anyone apart,” I whispered.
My head was pounding trying to keep the nerves at bay.
The wind picked up around us as hisses erupted from above.
The sound of daggers whipping through the air echoed, followed by the metallic clang of swords being unsheathed.
“Wraiths will be targeting the arcanite on the northern lawn. We need to get there.” Laryk was gone, replaced by General Ashford. Something flickered in his eyes, something I had never seen before. Fear.
I ripped one of the vials from my dress and pressed it into his hand. “If you get surrounded, drink this.”
“What—?” His forehead wrinkled.
“Ma created it, but there’s no time to explain. Just trust me,” I pleaded, my hand closing around his for a beat longer. I didn’t want to let go.
He took one last glance in my direction before sprinting toward the door.
I took off after him. Laryk threw the giant doors open, and we ran into the cold winter night as silence slammed into us. It was brighter now, with the moon and stars illuminating the sky. Stillness drenched the courtyard, a stark contrast to the chaos and death just steps away.
“This way!” he shouted before turning left and bolting across the cobbled path. We ran in unison as darkness descended before us. Muscles clenched as I braced myself, channeling forth the tendrils once again, readying them for battle.
As soon as we breached the shadows, I shot the web forth, searching for a mind to latch onto. Orbs glowed all around us, darting from one side to the other with maddening speed. I followed one with all of my concentration, losing it every time it changed direction.
If I couldn’t center my focus on the mind, I couldn’t command it. I couldn’t destroy it. The familiar feeling of uselessness crept back into my body, but I shook it off. I didn’t have time for such feelings.
“Fia!” I heard Laryk shout, and I searched for his mind in the choas, finding it immediately.
I sprinted in his direction just as his hand shot out, firing his dagger toward an inky shape.
A guttural hiss erupted through the darkness, and Laryk reached for me.
“Fia, where are you?” I was right in front of him. I could see him. Could he not see me?
“Laryk–” I began to scream, but the air was knocked out of me.
In an instant, I was thrown back, sailing violently before slamming down into the wet earth below.
I landed on my shoulder and heard it crack. A cry escaped me and pain shot through my entire body, but I shoved it from my mind.
I had to find Laryk.
The wind picked up, and my feet lifted off the ground against my will. Suddenly, a form was spinning around me violently, creating the vortex I knew would soon rid the space of air.
I reached down, quickly grabbing the vial from my waistband, and popped off the top, downing it as fast as I could.
Calm your breathing.
The air began to thin around me, and my eyes closed, reaching out with the web. I could see the mind racing around me like an insect. I just had to concentrate.
I had to latch on.
Fia, make the damn connection.
The air was gone now. It was only a matter of time before the potion wore off.
Hurry. I unsheathed my dagger, focusing on every single fiber of the web, feeling them like they were an extension of my own body. I waited for the right moment.
Come on.
Seconds flew by, turning into minutes as I watched the orb circle me. My ears were ringing from how hard I fought to track the Wraith. I was going to implode.
Suddenly, an explosion erupted behind us, and the Wraith slowed, just for a split second.
It was all I needed.
I threw the dagger.
And I hit something solid.
A gurgled hiss broke the silence around me, and I fell to the ground.
I climbed up, my feet racing forward through the pain. The valley at the base of the hill came into view.
Hundreds of Base Guards surrounded the giant spire of arcanite, creating a shield of bodies.
Walls of fire erupted around the guards and a shimmering dome, what seemed to be a shield, encapsulated the point of the arcanite from above.
I watched in terror as Wraiths flew toward the giant stone, only to dive back into the shadows.
Something tugged at my heart. I had to get down there. I had to help.
Find Laryk.
I extended my web once again and began sprinting down the hill. The orbs lit up around me from the shadows. I veered left, digging my dagger into the mind of a Wraith as it flew back from the flames. I may not have had the full capability of my focus, but at least I could do something.
I dodged the minds that flew in my direction, escaping their attempted vortexes and attacking when I could.
As a Wraith lunged, I dove to the ground, rolling backwards into a crouch. It flew too close to the dome above, becoming disoriented for a split second.
Running as fast as I could, I jumped into the air and slammed my dagger down hard into the shadowy mass, hearing another hiss escape the Wraith as it flew back into the outskirts of the lawn.
As I landed, I caught a glimpse of copper hair to my left.
Laryk.
He was fighting for his life, rolling, dodging, and striking with expertise and precision, but the Wraiths were closing in.
I raced toward him, joining him in battle. We fought side by side as the air around us thinned.
I wasn’t going down.
Not tonight.
My dagger connected with another shadow, sending it shooting off into the darkness.
Everything paused.
The inky forms blasted into the sky in unison, forming a net of blackness above the dome. The officer began sending off fireballs toward the mass, blowing holes right through it. And suddenly, the Wraiths flew into the distance, off behind the fortress and into the night .
Everyone looked around in shock, wondering if it was over. If we had really won. I fell to the ground, catching my breath.
I felt Laryk beside me.
“When did you get there?” he gasped.
“Right before they started the vortex. You couldn’t see me?” I wheezed, coughing from the smoke that surrounded the lawn.
“I couldn’t see anything.” He narrowed his eyes and looked at me. “You could see me?” he asked, confusion lacing his voice.
“Not well, but yes, a little,” I responded.
“You mean, you could see my mind?” he questioned, reaching out for me.
“Well, I wasn’t looking for it. I could see you. Just as you are right now. I mean, it was dark with all of the shadows, but I saw you fighting. It's why I ran over here,” I said as he pulled me up. His brow furrowed before softening.
“Is it over?” I asked, looking at the devastation that had erupted through the valley.
Without answering, he grabbed my waist, pulling me toward him. In an instant, his mouth was on me, desperate, longing. Despite the pain still radiating from my shoulder, my hands flew into his hair as I savored the feeling of his body against mine once again.
I never wanted to let go.
His teeth caressed the swell of my lip—a silent request to invade.
Our tongues clashed, my head tilting back with the force of it.
He was devouring me, taking over all of my senses until once again, it was only us that existed.
Need coursed through us, connecting our wills, and I thought this moment might last forever. I was begging it to last forever.
A scream broke through our walls, and the fantasy crumbled around us.
We tore apart, eyes scanning the lawn once again. Everyone was on alert, trying to figure out where the sound had come from.
Another scream tore through the night, and all of our heads shot left, to the fortress just as huge, double doors flew open and civilians began spilling out onto the lawn, running for their lives.
A smog of shadows followed in their wake, enveloping the area in darkness.
I caught a sliver of emerald in the mass of bodies and my heart stopped. Osta.
It was strategic. The Wraiths were using them as shields.
Fuck.
I stole one last glance at Laryk before taking off toward the commotion. By the look on his face, I knew that he couldn’t see me.
“Fia!” I heard him shout from behind, but there was no time.
Just as I reached the borders of the shadows, a group of Wraiths circled Osta and the Soleils.
Osta let out a blood-curdling scream.
Fury shot through my entire body as I felt myself falling into a place I hadn’t been in a long time. A place of no control. A place where sheer force erupted from me and took down anything in its path.
I couldn’t stop it.
A scream escaped from my chest and the shadows around the lawn came pummeling towards me at once, gathering at my feet and surrounding my entire being.
My arms shot out to each side, palms open as the inky swells dove into my hands like a river.
The weight of the darkness was so intense, my body dropped, and I was on my knees, shaking as it filtered into me.
It surged through every vein, every pathway.
I could see it, swirling in the corners of my view.
Soon enough, the darkness around me was gone, absorbed into my own body.
My legs trembled as I tried to hold it in, my mind screaming for a release. I didn’t know what was happening. How I was doing this. My grip on the energy inside was beginning to lessen, and I felt the structures of my mind snapping. It was like a caged beast trying to break out through my skin.
Clutching my head in my hands, I held back for as long as I could, allowing every ounce of my focus to expand, to try and overcome this foreign darkness. My mind was searing with pain, and I could feel the seams being ripped apart inside me, tearing holes in my mental sovereignty.
Silence erupted around me. And everything went black.
I was in a void.
My hair lifted off my shoulders, crackling with static.
The darkness had infected my blood and bones. In this instant between reality and the void, something wicked within me purred, as if an alignment had been made. A deal I had no part in.
I wasn’t in a void.
I was the void.
An intoxicating rush flew across my body, dying to be unleashed.
I let it out.
Shadows erupted from my fingertips, roaring through the valley, taking down everything in their wake.
My shadows.
I was the void.
My hair whipped around me as darkness overcame the land.
Wait.
An echo of something whispered in my mind.
I was doing something. I was saving someone. My thoughts reeled, trying to remember. And then my vision locked with a pair of familiar aquamarine eyes.
Osta. I was saving Osta.
She stared back at me, concern drowning her features as she kneeled with the Soleils. The wind still whipped. My arms dropped down to my side, and I gasped for air, falling to my knees.
The entire lawn was still.
Every eye was on me.
What just happened ?
My body went limp, and I stumbled forward, earth slamming into my broken shoulder as I hit the ground. A searing torrent of pain shot through me. But it couldn’t hold a candle to the confusion that gripped every fiber of every thought.
I clawed at the ground, forcing myself up enough to see the destruction around me. Laryk’s stared at me from across the lawn. His eyes were wide with something. Horror.
Laryk?
Memories came flooding back.
My heart skipped at the sight of him.
I needed him. I needed him to help me.
My hand hit the ground again, grabbing the dirt and pulling myself forward as shadows crept up in my peripheral vision. I tried to scream, but my lungs were shredded.
Laryk took a step forward, then hesitated. I wanted to scream for help. Why was he just standing there?
Dark energy surrounded me, slithering across the grass like smoke, lacing up my arms, caressing my face, and tinging my vision with an iron hue.
“Fia! No!” Osta screamed in the distance. I tried to tear my vision to her. To see her, even if for one last time. My best friend. The most important person in my life.
But I was frozen solid.
My eyes locked on my lover across the lawn. Fear ripped through me as my body lifted from the ground, the feeling of shadowy tendrils enveloping my limbs.
Someone do something!
I wanted to scream, to writhe, to fight. But my body betrayed me.
Please.
It was just a single thought, a single request that permeated my mind. One that I so rarely employed. My heart slammed into my chest, and time slowed as I waited.
And waited .
But no one came. No one moved.
A glimpse of copper hair reflecting the moonlight was the sight I clung to as everything disappeared. My body soared through the night, brushing past trees and whipping over the expanse of the West.
Crescent Tower gleamed in the distance.
My eyes blurred, either from tears or from exhaustion.
I had never felt such heaviness. Such emptiness.
Everything went black.