Chapter 40 #2
When I emerged on the other side, my breath caught in my throat.
A barren landscape of dark, ashy soil and the skeletons of dead trees stretched out in front of me.
On the other side, off in the distance, I spied another portal, this one made of light.
A glass dome high above my head encompassed the entire space.
At least it looked like glass—clear, smooth, and all one piece.
It was like standing in a large, clear ball surrounded by the glimmering, swirling darkness of the In Between.
Another island, I realized, like the one that housed the Pool of Memory.
The others emerged behind me, Bea’s eyes widening as mine had as she took in the landscape.
Wanting an area with plenty of room for the battle, I walked forward, my feet slipping and sinking into the soil like it was sand. After passing through several rows of dead trees, I reached a large open space with a stone altar at the center.
We stopped at what used to be the tree line and was now a collection of large pockmarks of disturbed dirt, but before I could remove the Orb from the bag, Fen grabbed my arm.
There was so much in his eyes and in our bond. Even when the bridge broke and we’d sought solace in each other, there’d been a slight strain between us. There was nothing like that in his expression now as he gripped both my arms. “Tell me the plan.”
“Figure out Death’s fighting style, conserve power while I look for an opening to strike her, and knock her out so I can lay hands on and shred her.
” It was the strategy Titus had helped me come up with before the second trial, before I knew what drawing on the full extent of Fen’s power would mean.
“You can draw as much power as you need to.” His jaw worked, and I could feel his trepidation about what would be revealed if I did.
“I will, but I’m going to try not to.” Fighting while his memories ran through my head wasn’t something I was sure I could do.
“If there’s a choice between your life and drawing more—”
“I’ll take it.” If it came down to it, I wouldn’t sacrifice the realms for our personal comfort.
He looked unsatisfied with my answer, but he didn’t argue.
My breath caught in my throat as I realized I might not see him again. Leaving without acknowledging that felt wrong. “Fen—”
“Don’t. This is not goodbye. You’re going to be fine.”
“You don’t know that.” I laid my hands on his chest.
“I do. You have to. Win so you come back to me. Do you hear me? Don’t fucking leave me.” The words were rough and full of command, as if he could will them into being. They made me want to laugh and sob at the same time.
“I’ll do my best.”
“Not good enough.” His grip on me tightened.
“Well, it has to be.” I wouldn’t leave him with false hope. I wouldn’t lie.
His lips curled into a snarl and for a moment I thought he’d yell at me, but then his expression fell. He leaned forward, touching his forehead against mine. “I love you.”
His admission set off a fluttering in my chest, and a tear slipped down my cheek. “I love you, too.” The admission was easy. Faced with success or annihilation, the idea of never saying those words to him was unacceptable.
His mouth crashed down on mine, and we lost ourselves in each other for a long moment.
I savored the taste of him, the feel of his lips and tongue against mine, the way he held me in a grip both possessive and gentle.
Those four perfectly harmonized notes hummed to life, our Death Chord alive between us.
Our kisses slowed but we stayed close, letting our breaths mingle. I counted to three before pulling away, knowing if I didn’t I never would.
Hauling the strap over my head, I removed the Orb and handed the bag to Fen. I gave him one last look, then turned and walked to the altar.
The Guardian said I needed to use the Orb to create a new pomegranate tree, as if it were a seed. Choosing a place twenty feet away, I drew on my light to create a large hole to plant it in.
As I bent down, the Orb lit up in my hands, and I felt an urgent nudge at my consciousness. The touch was familiar yet foreign. Frowning at the sphere in my hand, I straightened. Was it coming from there?
Another nudge, this one with an affirmative tinge, made my eyes widen. Could it understand me?
I felt a flicker of amusement.
“You don’t want to be planted?” I thought directly at the Orb.
A definitive negative was pushed in my direction, followed by an image that made my eyebrows rise.
“I’m supposed to create a new tree. How—”
The image in my mind shifted, showing me more. I stared at the glowing sphere in my hands. After months in the In Between, I didn’t know why a sentient object surprised me.
It wasn’t in my nature to blindly trust anything, but this felt different.
The Orb’s instructions felt like they had emerged from deep inside me, from a place I wasn’t consciously aware of.
Like it was something I already knew. It was somehow both unsettling and comforting at the same time, a knowing impossible to deny, yet I hesitated.
Fear of getting it wrong, and a voice whispering that I couldn’t trust myself, assaulted me. That, at least, was familiar. Except I was tired of it. For once, the answer was clear. All I had to do was act on it.
I took a calming breath, nudging the voice and feelings aside. The Orb lit up, as if in support. Then, I summoned my power.
A glittering ribbon spilled from my hands, lifting the glowing sphere until it hovered in front of me. The contact sent a wave of warmth through me. It felt like coming home to myself, its pulse as familiar as my own. I let myself linger, soaking in the connection.
Then, I sent a sharp bolt into the heart of the Orb, shattering it.
Thousands of pieces hung in the air for a moment, before swirling into a vortex that stretched and grew until it was easily twice my height.
With a flick of my fingers, it flew several feet, coming to rest on the spent soil.
A crack echoed through the space as it made contact.
The top of the vortex flew apart, dispersing into a wide cloud until it formed the shape of a tree canopy.
One more deep breath, another pulse of light, and it solidified into a fully grown tree.
Green leaves and full, red fruit sprouted, the colors vibrant and startling amidst the endless gray.
Golden light flared, spreading out from the tree into a sparkling dome around me, stretching all the way up to the barrier between the grove and the void and out to just before the former tree line, defining the battle arena.
Pride flowed through the bond from Fen, making the chord in my chest sing.
A shift of the dirt behind me made me turn.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” Death asked.