Chapter 38 Second Sun
thirty-eight
Second Sun
Zydar
The portal tore through reality like a wound in the world's flesh. Golden light spilled from the breach, carrying the scent of scorched earth and dying flowers. I stepped through first, my boots hitting the crystalline ground of the Sun Court's outer gardens with a sound like breaking glass.
The others followed behind me. Gryven gripped his blade so tightly his knuckles had gone white.
Everything here was wrong. The light fell at impossible angles, casting shadows that moved independently of their sources.
Flowers bloomed in shades that hurt to look at directly, their petals edged with fire that never consumed them.
Even the air tasted of honey and ash, sweet poison that coated the tongue.
"Where is she?" Narietta's voice carried the weight of a thousand nightmares. Her red eyes scanned the distant palace, searching for any sign of Miralyte.
I opened my mouth to answer, but the sound that ripped through the air stole the words from my throat. It was barely human. A scream of such raw anguish that it seemed to tear holes in the very fabric of the world.
Miralyte.
My wings snapped open without conscious thought. The sound had come from the palace itself, from the golden spires that scraped the belly of the sun. I launched myself skyward, leaving the others to follow as they could.
The wind carried more than just sound as I flew. It carried the taste of blood and burning stone, the electric charge that preceded lightning, the metallic tang of power being unleashed without restraint. Something had gone terribly wrong in that palace of glass and light.
The palace grew larger as I approached, its impossible architecture becoming clearer with each wingbeat.
Towers twisted toward the sky like frozen flames, their surfaces reflecting light in patterns that made my eyes water.
Bridges of solid starlight connected the various wings, arcing gracefully through air that shimmered with residual magic.
Then I saw the breach in the throne room's wall. Glass and stone scattered across the courtyard below like deadly rain. Through the gaping hole, light poured out in waves so intense they turned the air itself visible.
I landed hard on the courtyard's marble surface, my boots skidding on debris. The heat hit me immediately, a wall of roasted air that should have been impossible for anything to survive. But through the shimmering distortion, I could see two figures suspended in midair.
Miralyte floated at the center of a miniature sun, her body wreathed in flames that put the actual star to shame.
Light poured from her skin like liquid gold, forming patterns in the air that spoke of power older than kingdoms. Her hair had become strands of living fire, whipping around her face as raw energy crackled between her fingers.
She had ascended.
Across from her, matching her height above the ruined courtyard, Ylvena hung in the air like a second sun.
The High Sovereign of the Sun Court had shed all pretense of mortality, her form blazing with stolen starlight.
Wings of pure radiance spread behind her, each feather a concentrated fragment of solar fire.
Both of them were drawing power directly from the sun itself. The actual star above us flickered and dimmed as its energy was channeled downward, creating an artificial twilight that painted everything in shades of amber and blood.
"Magnificent," Ylvena's voice carried clearly despite the distance, each word edged with centuries of accumulated pride.
"This is what you were always meant to become, sister.
A goddess of destruction, finally embracing her true nature.
Do you feel it, little sister? The rage?
The need to destroy everything that has ever hurt you? "
"I am not your sister." Miralyte's response cracked like thunder, power rippling outward in visible waves.
Pelbie. I could see her body now, crumpled near the base of the ruined throne. Even from this distance, even through the heat distortion, the pool of blood around her was unmistakable.
Miralyte's scream of rage nearly shattered what remained of the palace windows.
Light exploded from her in all directions, forcing us to shield our eyes or be permanently blinded.
When the initial burst faded, she had grown brighter still, her form barely distinguishable from the raw power that surrounded her.
"You killed her to hurt me," Miralyte snarled, each word accompanied by another pulse of deadly radiance. "Just like you killed Emystra. Just like you killed everyone who ever dared to love someone more than they feared you."
"Love is weakness!" Ylvena's own power flared in response, creating a second sun that turned the twilight into something resembling dawn. "I have ruled for centuries without it. I have built an empire from strength alone."
"You have built nothing. You are nothing. A hollow thing wearing a crown that was never meant for you. I will burn your court to the ground!"
The two forces clashed in midair, light meeting light with a sound like the world ending. The courtyard cracked beneath our feet. Ancient statues toppled. Fountains evaporated instantly, leaving only scorched stone behind.
The realization hit me like a physical blow. This was not victory. This was exactly what Ylvena had orchestrated from the beginning.
The others had caught up, spreading out behind me in a defensive formation—the vessels who had trained relentlessly with their weapons of choice, Karys with her twin blades gleaming, Gryven's massive sword already drawn, Narietta's bow nocked and ready.
The entire Thunder Court had mobilized, but none of us could approach the two ascending figures.
The heat would have reduced us to ash before we took three steps.
I had never felt so utterly useless.
The energy was no longer contained to the courtyard. It was spreading outward in waves, consuming everything it touched. Trees withered to ash. Stone crumbled to dust. The very fabric of reality began to fray at the edges.
"Mira." I pushed myself upright, fighting against the hurricane of power that threatened to tear me apart. "Mira, stop."
She did not hear me. Could not hear me. The rage had consumed her entirely, and with it came power beyond anything the world had ever known. Power that would level mountains, drain seas, turn cities to memory.
"This is not you," I shouted over the growing maelstrom. "Mira, look at me. This is not who you are."
Ylvena's laughter rose above the chaos, triumphant even as her own form began to dissolve in the face of such overwhelming force. "She cannot stop now. The rage has her. It will consume everything, just as I knew it would. My greatest victory."
I stumbled forward, wings spread for balance against the winds that could have shattered stone. Every step was agony. Every breath burned my lungs. But I had to reach her.
"Mira," I called again, closer now. Close enough to see the tears streaming down her face even as power poured from her like liquid starlight. "Please. "
The power continued to build. Continued to spread. If she did not find control soon, there would be nothing left to save.
"Let her go, Ylvena!" The words tore from my throat before I could stop them. Both figures turned toward me, their attention like the weight of falling mountains. "It is I whom you want, is it not? Take me. Leave her be."
"Your turn will come soon enough, Lord of Thunder. But first, I will finish what I started here."
She raised her hands, gathering power for what would surely be a killing blow. Light coalesced between her palms, taking the shape of a spear that could have pierced the heart of the world itself.
For just a moment, her golden eyes found mine across the space between us. And in that gaze I saw not the goddess of destruction she had become, but the broken girl who had lost everyone she loved.
I reached out toward her even though the energy around her could have destroyed me on contact. "Come back to us," I whispered, meeting that broken gaze. "Come back to me."
Her head tilted slightly, those terrible eyes widening. "Zydar?"
"I am here. Come back to me."
There was no air left in my lungs. The heat around her was overwhelming, turning sweat to steam the instant it escaped my skin. But I couldn't risk moving. I couldn't look away.
The energy around her began to shift, to pull inward instead of spreading outward. She was fighting it, wrestling with power that wanted nothing more than to destroy. Fighting to regain control over the fury that Ylvena had carefully cultivated.
"That is it," I breathed, close enough now that the heat from her ascended form made my skin burn. "Come back to me, little dove."
The blast that followed shattered more than stone and glass. It shattered something fundamental in the world's fabric. Light crashed against light with a sound like reality tearing apart. The courtyard cracked beneath our feet. Ancient pillars toppled. The air itself caught fire.
I threw myself sideways, dragging Narietta with me as the shockwave rolled over us like a physical thing. Even pressed against the ruined wall, even shielded by fallen masonry, the heat was enough to sear the breath from my lungs.
When the light finally faded, when the echoing thunder of power released died away, silence settled over the Sun Court like snow.
I pushed myself upright, ears ringing, vision still spotty with afterimages. Where Ylvena had floated, nothing remained but empty air and a single object falling to the scorched marble below. Her crown. The golden circlet that had symbolized her authority for longer than most kingdoms had existed.
It struck the ground with a sound like breaking bells.
Miralyte descended slowly, her radiance dimming with each foot she fell. By the time her boots touched the courtyard, she looked mortal again. Human again. But the power still clung to her skin like morning light, and her eyes held depths that had not been there before.
A sound broke from her throat, raw and animal, a keening wail that made my chest ache. She fell to her knees beside her friend, hands hovering over the still form as if touch might somehow bring back what had been lost.
I was moving before conscious thought caught up with need. My boots crunched over broken glass and scattered stones. My wings folded tight against my back as I dropped beside her, pulling her into my arms without hesitation.
She fought me at first, thrashing like a trapped bird, grief and power and fury all tangled together in her trembling limbs. But I held on, anchoring her against my chest, one hand in her hair, the other wrapped around her waist.
"Shh," I murmured against her temple, pressing my lips to the soft skin there. "Shh, little dove. It is over. You made it. She is gone."
Miralyte collapsed against me then, all the fight going out of her at once. Her hands fisted in my shirt as sobs wracked her frame. I felt every tremor, every broken breath, every tear that fell onto my skin.
"Pelbie," she whispered between gasps. "I was too late. I was not strong enough."
"You saved everyone else," I said, holding her tighter. "You saved us all."
She pulled back to look at me, tears streaming down her cheeks, grief and exhaustion written in every line of her face. Then her eyes widened. Her fingers traced along my throat where my shirt had torn during the blast.
The black veins were gone. Every trace of corruption that had been eating me alive from the inside out had vanished.
My skin was unmarked, clean, whole. The curse that had been killing me inch by inch, the poison that had spread through my system like liquid night, had disappeared entirely. As if it had never existed.
"The Rot," she breathed, staring at me in wonder.
"How?" I asked.
"When I ascended," she said, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "When the power peaked. I felt it break. Every curse, every binding Ylvena had woven. They all snapped at once."
I cupped her face in my hands, thumbs brushing away the tears on her cheeks. "It is over, Mira. Truly over."
But she was still shaking, still broken by what she had lost. The victory felt hollow with Pelbie's blood staining the marble beside us. I pulled her close again, let her cry against my chest until the worst of it passed.
When her breathing had steadied, when the tremors had faded to occasional shudders, I reached for the crown that had fallen from Ylvena's dying light. The gold was still warm, still humming with residual power. It was heavier than it looked, weighted with centuries of rule.
"Mira," I said softly.
She looked up at me, eyes red but clear.
I lifted the crown, held it between us like an offering. "The people need someone who will lead them toward something better than fear."
Understanding dawned in her expression. She started to shake her head, but I pressed on.
"You are the rightful heir. Ylvena's time is done. This belongs to you now."
"I do not want it," she whispered. "I never wanted any of this."
"I know. That is exactly why you should take it."
I placed the crown on her brow with careful hands, watching as the gold settled against her hair like it had been made for her. The metal flared briefly with new light, recognizing its rightful bearer.
Around us, the surviving members of the Sun Court emerged from the ruins.
Servants, guards, nobles who had hidden when the battle began.
They saw Miralyte kneeling there crowned in gold and power, saw the empty space where their tyrant sovereign had once floated, and understanding rippled through them like wind through wheat.
One by one, they knelt. First the servants, then the guards, then the nobles who had cowered in Ylvena's shadow for centuries. Soon the entire courtyard was bowed before the woman who wept for a friend while wearing a crown she had never sought.
Finally, I knelt as well, the motion alien and difficult. But it was my destiny to bend before this queen, this ancient dream made manifest. To serve her and protect her, to shield her from future nightmares.
I could think of nothing better.