Chapter 41 #2
Carobon’s head tilts to the side, his brows tightening, and he smells the air. "You." He studies Silas. "Willing to risk your own life for Briar Blackbyrne, for Kalix. Typical."
Silas closes his eyes and inhales deeply, drawing his magic forward. "I will stop at nothing to protect her. To protect my friends and family. You have no idea what I’m willing to do for her."
Black shadows begin to rise from the wall. A mountain of shadows creeps higher and higher, creating a wall between us and Rohhit. The impenetrable wall of darkness drowns out all light, providing us only a moment of safety.
"You have to go now," Silas cups my face. "I can hold him off, but only for a little while. You all need to run."
My legs almost give out. A huff leaves my mouth. "I’m not leaving you. I’m fighting with you, beside you, from now on. Do you understand? We will do this as one."
He stares at me, his lips slightly trembling.
"If we all turn our backs, he will strike, potentially hitting us all.
I must stay here to keep the wall up for as long as possible.
My entire being pushes me to protect you.
I can hold him off for you to get to the ship, for you to be safe.
" His teeth grind against one another. The power quickly becomes overwhelming for him to handle. "If you don’t leave now, he will kill us all, and this will all be for nothing. I’ll make it back to you. I promise."
Tears form in my eyes as I know we only have seconds more.
Maines grabs my arm, pulling me backward away from Silas.
"Briar, listen to him." The words sting as they leave her mouth. "We can’t do what needs to be done if we don’t leave now."
Silas’s strong shadows pulsate as lightning from over the wall crashes against them. Light explodes into blinding bolts desperate to break through.
"Dammit, Briar!" Maines screams. "Please!"
I don’t blink, and my stare remains intense and unwavering on Silas’s calm face. "Don’t break your promise to me, Nastronde. You make it back to me."
Tears stream down my face as I turn. We begin to sprint down the wooden pier, creating distance between me and Silas with each pounding step. My heart shatters into pieces the further we bound down the dock, closer to our escape.
"Shift. Now! Aim for the ship," Oak screams through the thunderous claps of magic, growing louder by the second.
I close my eyes and allow the shadows to envelop me, guiding me through the air, weightless despite the heaviness in my chest. Time seems to slow as the transition drains most of my magic, from the distance between us and the boat.
Push after push, we glide through the shadows, and even though I’m just mist, tears continue to fall like rain.
I’ll never forgive myself for leaving him.
The ship rocks against the waves, and the impact of us landing together. Tall masts surround us on the deck, and the storm on the shore whips the sails around like a white hurricane. Crew members shuffle around, noticing our arrival, in a panic to get the ship moving quickly.
I immediately land, ignoring the pain in my muscles, and sprint to the boat edge as close as I can get back to Silas. The shadow wall remains intact but fades against the light shooting from Carobon. "He’s not going to hold much longer. I’ve never seen that much power," I sob.
"I have, Briar. From you," Oak responds.
An older man approaches Oak, his perfectly tailored clothing hinting that he is the ship's captain and most likely traveled here with Silas.
"Where is Mr. Nastronde?" the captain’s stern voice booms in Oak’s direction.
Oak doesn’t respond; he only points toward the shore, where the wall of shadows remains tall and strong.
“Very well,” the captain says blandly, “I’ll prepare for departure immediately.”
I remain quiet, stunned at the sight before me.
A black tidal wave of shadows before us fights against a Great Wiitch of our time—Silas Nastronde holds with all his might, stronger than anything I’ve ever seen.
"He’s not going to have any magic left to shift this far," I mumble, knowing his fate is growing grim.
Maines begins to cry, grabbing my hand. "No. He won’t."
The ship begins to move, the sails expanding with the wind as the distance grows between us and Silas, who is left on the shore like my abandoned kingdom.
The shadow wall becomes dimmer as the sun peaks over the horizon, gracing us with small bouts of light during the darkest night of our lives.
I turn, unable to watch anymore. My breathing becomes a chore, and I feel the ground spin under my feet.
"I can’t leave him." I turn, facing the shore once more.
What the hell am I doing?
I shout toward Maines and Oak, resting on the steps leading to the flybridge, "This isn’t Silas’s fight! It’s mine. I won’t leave him." The shadow walls vanish before us.
Sprinting to the ledge of the boat, I leap, diving into the black water, waves ripping my body around, and for a moment, I’m not sure which way is up.
"Gods! She’s going after him." I hear Maines scream from the deck.
I power forward, not allowing myself to think of the creatures that lurk below. The only relief I feel is knowing that it will be worse for them if they challenge me right now. My arms slap the waves before me. I gasp for a breath but don’t stop moving.
I burrow deep, whispering for the darkness to propel me forward, promising anything if she allows me to find him.
I continue to say silent prayers that are going unanswered and begin to make promises to Kalix herself.
Panic rises in my chest as the crashing waves blind me to what’s ahead.
I freeze when a black figure slowly bobs into the water before me.
I tread forward, all my senses screaming to keep moving when I see him.
Silas floats in the water unconscious, his head barely above the water.
"Your prayer is answered, my child," a cold, evil voice floats through my mind.
My fate is sealed.
"I found him. Gods, Maines!" I scream back toward the boat, their full attention already on me.
He shifted. He made it as far as he could before crashing into the water, his body visibly broken.
That water begins to turn red around him the closer I swim.
"Don’t you dare be dead," I command, closing the distance between us.
I grab onto his lifeless body, the coppery smell of blood hitting my nose.
As I look above the roaring waves back to the shoreline in the distance, the boat approaches. Three figures stand on the dock, intensely focused on the boat. We must hurry.
Maines leans over the ship's edge, a long ladder falling into the freezing water. She screams below, "If you can get me his hand, I can shift us to the middle of the deck." Her voice was barely a whisper over the crashing waves against the ship.
I drag Silas to the side, as Maines is already halfway down the ladder. I clutch his arm as he disappears into a mist and rises to the ship’s deck.
I grab onto the ladder, Oak behind Maines to drag me up as exhaustion weighs heavy on my body.
The sun warms the ship as we fall onto the wooden planks.
Maines's back faces me, making it impossible to see around her to see the state Silas is in. I ignore my body, screaming at me to rest, and look down at my hands. The black veins aren’t fading like normal as they continue to stay present on my fingers and palms.
Crawling around Maines, Silas lies unmoving. I gasp when I see the state his arm is in. It’s burned and black, and the smell of burnt flesh makes me gag. "Maines, help him. Now!" I begin to cry. I can feel the panic rising in my throat.
"Don’t look, Briar. I’m going to try," her voice panicked.
"I refuse to let him die," she speaks as if she’s trying to convince herself. Her eyes well with tears, and I know the trauma of Barlowe’s death is flooding her.
Maines's piercing eyes gaze at mine, the brightest blue contrasting against the red, "You aren’t going to lose someone else that you love on my watch. I’ll never cause you that pain again. "
Her hands move over his body with grace, magic flowing into his body. Even unconscious, Silas flinches against the magic and pain. Oak grabs my body, pulling me in, his muscular body engulfing mine as I bury my face in his chest.
"He’s going to make it. He’s going to hang on like he always does," Oak whispers in my ear.
Maines continues to work, her hands slamming black magic from her palms. Silas’s body stops reacting to the jolts of magic hitting him. "Come on, Nastronde. You must fight!" Maines shouts as she works.
"Don’t look, Briar. Close your eyes," Oak whispers, pulling me tighter against his chest.
I turn back to face the shore once more.
The figures are gone, but the feeling of them remains as if they are watching and waiting for us to return.
My world spins—the waves crashing against the boat don’t drown out my horrible thoughts.
Even with Oak’s strong arms around me, my legs give out.
I hear my name being called as my world goes black, and I feel myself slipping away.
My eyes snap open.
I stand in ruin and destruction, and the feeling of despair hangs heavy in the thick air.
I glance around my familiar surroundings.
The kingdom of Daramveer is destroyed, as it always is in my nightmares.
Black ash coats the ground, and a fog travels low around me.
The forest still crackles from the once roaring fire, but most trees are burned and much shorter than before.
Wake up, Briar. Wake up.
My senses immediately notice the silence. No screams fill the air. No shrieks or panic swirl around me. Just the howling sound of the wind. No figures before me. And no magic pounds against my mind.
Silas.
Just silence lives here. I’m alone.
"Hello, Briar," an angelic voice calls from behind.