CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
Evylin knew she shouldn’t flirt with Deckard. She shouldn’t give him hope that she’d changed her mind. But in that moment, with her senses heightened and the tingle of magic flooding her veins, she didn’t care.
Evylin held his gaze—so dark a green it neared black—and dared him with her words. It felt so good to be back in his presence, to fight alongside him. After the battle they’d just waged, she finally understood the truth behind Ilain’s words.
“Warriors and Mages are meant to be together.”
And while it changed nothing—when they walked out of the Keep, she would still be in great danger of losing him—for a moment, Evylin couldn’t care.
Here, within the Time Keep’s walls, as magic coursed through them, she could pretend the future wasn’t uncertain.
She could give in to the pull between them.
She could let herself believe they were meant to be together.
Descending the staircase down to the Chamber, the space held sharpness and clarity.
The ivory stone brightened. Their footsteps echoed loudly.
She could smell their sweat and taste the salt of it in the air.
She even felt the heat radiating off Deckard, pulsing with an energy unlike anything she’d ever felt.
And she knew that was how it was meant to be. A Mage and a Warrior, connected by forces beyond their ken. A united team, working as one with seamless precision. Powerful. Deadly. Balanced.
Auden glanced over his shoulder as they carefully walked down to the Chamber. “Once we’re inside,” he said, “I’ll need you with me, Jonn.”
Evylin’s grip tightened on Deckard. “Jonn and I are stronger together,” she said.
She felt Deckard’s fingers twitch between hers.
“Typically,” Auden said, “I’d agree with you. However, destroying the Guardian is what matters. That can only be done if we connect to Time itself. While you, Ilain, and Ethenn will distract the creature and head for the Relic, I’ll require Jonn’s assistance.”
Though Evylin didn’t like the idea of parting with Deckard, she accepted the plan. It was his job to be a Mage. It was her job as a Warrior to protect him.
The staircase led them down, opening into the wide Chamber, a snowy-white replica of the others.
Evylin felt as though she’d been plunged into a vat of the creamiest milk.
The glass floor reflected their figures like a mirror.
At the far end, the dais glowed like a beacon in the brightness of it all.
Auden shifted near Deckard and Evylin, a hand still on Ethenn’s shoulder. “If you three run for the Relic and get it back to us, it’ll help us connect more quickly,” he suggested.
Ilain frowned at her brother. “I’m not exactly a sprinter, Auden.”
“You’ll be fine, just—”
A gentle hiss like the sound of rushing water or the rustle of a breeze tore Evylin’s attention away from Auden’s words. Her gaze jerked up to scan the Chamber rapidly.
“I don’t like the sound of that,” Ethenn said, raising his bow.
“Me neither,” Evylin said.
Ilain stared between them. “What sound?” she asked.
The Warriors exchanged a glance.
Evylin drew the sword hanging at her hip. “We’ve got company.”
At her words, Auden grabbed Deckard’s arm and released Ethenn. “Then we’d better get started,” he said.
Deckard gave Evylin’s hand one last squeeze. “Give it hell,” he whispered.
Evylin tossed him a smirk, then dipped her chin in a mock bow. “Anything for you,” she said, releasing his hand reluctantly.
Separating from her husband’s timeline, Evylin gripped Ethenn’s upper arm, his muscles already taut, prepared to draw his bow. “Let’s go,” she ordered.
Ever at the ready, Ethenn guided Ilain and Evylin forward into the Chamber. The rushing sound grew louder and faster. As it reached a crescendo, the Guardian appeared.
A giant, albino creature with glistening scales slithered into their view. Ivory horns protruded from its diamond-shaped head. Crystal-white slitted eyes slashed across the room. Its tubular body was one massive muscle, weaving into the center of the hall in coils.
Without warning, the creature attacked. Pearly fangs protruded from its giant maw as it struck out toward them on the Chamber floor.
Evylin yanked Ethenn and Ilain back, narrowly dodging the Guardian’s bite.
Regaining his footing in a flash, Ethenn let out a flurry of arrows.
Three hit their mark, embedding firmly in the beast’s neck, sand trickling out of the cracks.
Evylin stared in awe. Never before had they injured a Guardian so easily.
“The Relics can hurt it,” she announced in awe.
“Well, in that case,” Ilain said, slipping the Fire Relic from her neck, “take this.”
With the ruby sword of Fire in her hand, Evylin released Ethenn and bounded toward the Guardian.
Flames heated her back, Ilain’s magic whirling around her toward the snake at a slightly slower speed than it normally would.
With the delay, the Guardian was able to recoil from the Fire and arrows, hissing angrily.
Its white, forked tongue darted between its lips.
Taking Ethenn and Ilain’s distraction as her opportunity, Evylin listened to the whisper of her Warrior instincts.
She pushed off the glass floor, leaping to climb onto the snake’s back.
The width and height of the rounded body were almost twice her size.
It should have been an impossible leap. But Evylin felt the charge of magic in her muscles, and when she jumped, her body flew through the air.
Evylin landed squarely on the creature’s back. Raising her fiery sword, she slashed at the thick scales. They crackled, fissures popping and spreading, but to her frustration, the heat of the flames only turned the sand to glass, effectively resealing the wounds.
She cursed as the serpent’s body shifted under her feet, writhing in protest as she attacked. Her footing dislodged, she sprang off its back, tucking and rolling to break her fall. Darting for Ethenn and Ilain, Evylin grabbed the Warrior’s arm and proffered the ruby sword.
“I need the Wind Relic,” she said.
In one swift move, Ethenn tossed his bow, and she flicked her sword into the air.
They caught them simultaneously. In his hands, the Fire Relic transformed into a cherry wood bow with a gold grip and veins of flickering rubies running along its limb.
The Wind Relic became a silver, dual-ended sword.
“Go!” Ethenn shoved Evylin away as the Guardian’s gaping maw descended. It slammed the glassy floor where they’d just stood.
While Ethenn and Ilain darted toward the dais and the Time Relic, Evylin sprinted straight for the Guardian. She spun the Wind sword in her hand. Its narrow handle was too short for her liking, so she tested the boundaries of her control, imagining the shaft growing longer. The Relic listened.
In her hand, the Wind sword’s center hilt lengthened, becoming something between a staff and a sword. Reaching the snake’s side, Evylin slashed with the sword, a deep cut splitting its glassy skin. White sand poured from the wound as the Guardian hissed in rage.
Evylin smiled. “All right,” she whispered, striking again with both ends of the sword. “Let’s dance, shall we?”
A flaming arrow pierced the side of the serpent’s head, distracting it. Evylin leaped onto its back once more. Using the staff-like sword, she spun her wrists left and right, over and over, as she paced down the Guardian’s back. Stripes gaped along its scales, sand leaking from the wounds.
The snake noticed her nonchalant parade, twisting to strike at her.
Evylin dropped to her stomach, the breath puffing from her lungs as the creature’s head sailed over her body.
It coiled over itself, and she pushed back to her feet.
Holding her balance proved precarious as the Guardian slithered, readjusting to attack again.
Another of Ethenn’s arrows struck its jaw.
With Auden and Deckard’s power combined, Evylin had hoped they’d have killed the creature by now.
She glanced their way, realizing suddenly the reason for their delay.
The men were on a separate timeline. Out of the five of them, she and Ethenn seemed to move at the fastest speed.
Their ability had something to do with being Warriors, she supposed.
Deckard and the Calders were much slower to gain ground.
She looked ahead. Ethenn and Ilain were close to the dais. Retrieving that Relic was essential if Deckard and Auden were going to defeat the Guardian.
The serpent’s body rolled under Evylin’s feet.
She didn’t have the luxury to watch Ethenn and Ilain’s progress.
With a fierce jab, Evylin punctured the Guardian’s hide with one end of the Wind sword.
Ensuring it was firmly embedded, she ran, dragging the blade with her.
Her muscles flexed, fighting the drag of the weapon.
It tore a long gash, sending a waterfall of sand over its side.
The Guardian let out a garbled cry in pain.
Evylin slid across its back, dodging its strikes.
Her feet shifted with its movements, her abdomen flexing to maintain her balance.
She spun the sword and sliced another stripe, letting the sand puddle on the ground below them.
With every move and swipe, her body listened readily.
Her senses were perfectly attuned to the world around her, regulating the brightness, the sounds, and the exertion.
The Guardian drew back to strike again. A line of silver and gold arrows stuck out of its body, neck, and head. Each reflected off the glassy scales. She planted her feet, ready for the Guardian’s attack.
When the serpent snapped, Evylin pushed off its back and tucked her knees.
Flipping head over heels, she sailed through the air.
The Guardian rammed into a nearby column.
Evylin landed on the diamond-shaped head, her feet planted right between its long, branching horns.
She spun the Wind sword, chopping one of the horns in half.