Chapter 57
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
Pain explodes through my abdomen. It’s so violent that my vision blacks out. For a few seconds, my mind cannot comprehend what just happened. Then I stare down into Jessina’s pale gray eyes.
Tears of despair still roll down her cheeks, but agony now fills her entire face as well. She coughs blood into my face. Then her body jerks underneath mine. Once. Twice.
Revenge and relief crash over me like a flood as her body goes still.
I memorize every second as her eyes at last glass over.
And so dies Empress Jessina Iceheart.
In pain and despair.
And with my blade, stained by fish guts, buried in her heart.
I scream in victory.
But only broken wheezing and blood escape my mouth.
Shifting my gaze down, I at last take in the source of the agony that is pulsing through my body like wildfire.
When we hit the ground, I drove my dagger into Jessina’s heart. But because I was on top of her, the hilt slammed right into my own abdomen due to the force of the impact. I pry my fingers from the hilt, but the top part of it is still stuck in my abdomen.
With a cry of desperation, I manage to yank my body back. But my legs don’t move when I try to crawl off her. Everything inside me hurts so much that I can barely feel anything at all. The impact must have shattered half of the bones in my body and damaged most of my organs.
With a wheeze, I simply roll over. I hit the grass on my back and gasp in a strained breath right at the same time as Draven smacks into the ground.
Black smoke washes over the landscape, obscuring the sky for a moment.
“SELENA!” Draven screams.
It’s a scream torn from his very soul, and raw enough to break the heavens.
Winds wash over me, clearing the smoke. And then Draven becomes visible. His face is white with terror as he rushes over to me. Grabbing Jessina by the dress, he tosses her corpse away and drops down next to me.
In the sky above, the silver dragons have jerked to a shocked halt. Around them, white and red dragons are casting panicked looks between us and the rest of our army. And somewhere to the right, a large orange dragon is speeding through the air.
Then the view is blocked out entirely as Draven bends down over me.
“Selena,” he presses out, fear pulsing in his eyes.
Agony courses through my entire body, and all I manage is a strained groan of pain.
Tilting his head up, Draven bellows, “Rin! Hurry!”
Black dragons slam down around us as Galen, Lyra, and Isera’s temporary partner reach us as well. Alistair, Isera, and Orion leap down from their backs before Galen and Lyra shift into humans as well.
Draven gently cups my cheeks while tears stream down his face. “Hold on, little rebel. Please. You need to hold on.”
“I’m… sorry,” I gasp out. Every word makes my chest burn with agony. But I drag in a strained breath. Raising my hand, I attempt to wipe his tears away, but I just end up smearing my blood across his cheek. “I wish… we could’ve had… our future.”
“We will have our future. Please, just hold on.” He snaps his head up again and bellows, “Rin!”
A huge orange dragon slams into the ground. More smoke washes over us before Draven blows it all aside. I vaguely register that I couldn’t feel the wind this time. In fact, I’m having trouble feeling anything at all.
“Heal her!” Draven screams.
Rin’s glittering magic surges towards me, but dread quickly washes over her features.
“It’s too late,” she gasps out. “Her body is too damaged. She will die before I can heal wounds this severe.” Her black eyes are full of regret as she shakes her head. “If I still had a union bond, maybe. But my fae partner died in the sneak attack.”
“Then bond me!” Isera snaps.
I drag in a shuddering breath.
Then the world suddenly goes dark.
Fear and regret pulse through me as I desperately try to claw my way back to consciousness.
I don’t want to die. I want to see every inch of this world with Draven.
I want to find out what’s on the other side of the Western Sea.
I want to build a home. I want to have an entire room full of children running around.
I want to create a family with Draven. The happy, loving family that I’ve always wished I had.
Oh Goddess, I don’t want to die.
“Selena!” Draven’s voice is screaming at me from what sounds like very far away.
With a heave of desperation, I drag myself towards it.
Draven’s beautiful golden eyes suddenly become visible above me.
I smile, tears slipping down my cheeks and blood trickling from my mouth. “At least now… you’re free.”
“Freedom means nothing without you,” he whispers in a broken voice.
Next to us, a dragon roars.
Then magic surges through me.
I gasp as a prickling sensation starts in my chest and then spreads through my entire body.
Tilting my head back, I find a huge orange dragon standing there with a streak of blood between her nostrils.
Rin Tanaka. Beside her is Isera. A wound cuts across Isera’s palm, and blood drips down on the grass, but her eyes are solely fixed on me.
Draven lets out a shuddering breath. Tipping my head back down, I stare at the hole in my abdomen that the hilt of my dagger caused.
It’s closing with rapid speed. And every breath I draw is getting easier and easier as Rin’s now boosted healing powers sweep through my body, repairing all the damaged organs and shattered bones.
I let my head fall back down on the grass and heave a deep sigh.
With his hands still cupping my cheeks, Draven bends down and presses his forehead against mine. “You troublesome, infuriating, insubordinate little rebel.”
A laugh escapes my lips. It’s an exhausted and broken sound, but also full of hope and joy.
“Don’t ever do that to me again,” he whispers.
“I promise,” I breathe back.
“You’ve already fallen off my back and almost died once. This makes it twice. Never again.”
“Technically, I jumped this time.”
“I know. Hence, troublesome, infuriating, insubordinate little rebel. Try that again, and I’ll handcuff you to me for the rest of your life.”
“You know what? I might actually be okay with that.”
He laughs. It’s as breathless and exhausted and wonderful as mine.
Pressing his lips against my mouth, he kisses me deeply.
I lift my arms and feel a burst of surprise when they move perfectly and without causing pain.
Sliding my hands through Draven’s messy black hair, I kiss him back possessively.
And I meant what I said. From now on, we never split up again. We will face this world the way we always should have. The way it always should be. Together.
“Alright,” Orion drawls from somewhere close by. “If you are quite finished making out, an army just landed on the grass.”
Draven reluctantly breaks the kiss and raises his head.
We turn towards Orion to find him pointing at the horde of silver dragons that are suddenly landing on the grass and shifting back into humans.
Above us, white and red dragons are speeding across the sky, fleeing the battlefield in all directions. None of our allies chase them.
With Jessina dead, our enemies apparently have no reason to keep fighting.
Gremar Fireclaw is dead as well, so the Red Clan has no leader.
And the White Clan apparently only obeyed the Icehearts out of fear.
But with both Bane and Jessina dead, as well as Gremar, they appear to have lost their courage and motivation to fight.
A short distance from us, Rin shifts back into a human again. She sways and then collapses down on the ground. Diana quickly hurries over to her, but Rin seems to only be exhausted from using so much magic so quickly.
Sitting up, I glance down my body to find it completely healed. I draw in a deep breath, feeling my lungs expand fully and no pain pulse through my nerves. It’s such a remarkable feeling. Twisting around, I meet Rin’s tired gaze.
“Thank you,” I say.
She smiles and gives me a nod. “Thank you for ending the rebellion I tried to start a century ago.”
Draven clears his throat awkwardly, no doubt remembering that he was the one who crushed that particular rebellion. After pushing to his feet, he reaches down and holds out his hand to me. I take it and let him help me to my feet.
Then I turn towards Isera. She meets my gaze for a second before glancing away and discreetly wiping her bloody palm on her thigh.
Alarm flits across her face when I start towards her.
Taking her wrist, I hold up her hand and then look down at the cut across her skin. Then I meet her gaze with serious eyes.
“You didn’t want to bond anyone,” I say.
Her gaze darts to Rin for a second before she admits, “No.”
“But you did it anyway.”
“Yes, well…” Trailing off, she looks uncharacteristically uncertain as she glances around at us all.
Orion, Alistair, Draven, Lyra, Galen. They all meet her gaze with eyes full of everything from relief and gratitude to surprise and warmth and love.
She looks back at me again and swallows, as if she doesn’t know how to deal with all of these emotions.
It makes her look young and uncertain in a way I have never seen before.
Then she draws in a breath before finally finishing her sentence.
“It’s what you do for family.”
Her words hit something deep in my heart. Something fragile but strong at the same time. Something broken but beautiful. Like a shattered sculpture that has been repaired with gold, making the cracks a beautiful part of the design instead of a flaw.
I pull her into a hug.
She stiffens in surprise. Then she lifts her arms and hugs me back. Awkwardly at first, as if she has never hugged anyone before. Then fiercely, as if she needed this hug as much as I did.
“Family,” I whisper.
“Family,” she echoes, and I can hear the smile in her voice.
A steady certainty fills my soul, and I give her one more squeeze before we step back.
Because she’s right.