Chapter 45 #2
The shadows exploded outward from his body in every direction. They swallowed my fire like it was nothing more than candlelight, devouring the darkness and leaving only empty air behind.
“Impressive,” his voice carried on the wind, smooth as silk and twice as deadly. “But predictable.”
The shadows reformed, wrapping around us like serpents. Kaelen twisted desperately, trying to break free, but there were too many of them. They wrapped around his wings, his throat, dragging us down.
I glanced sideways, just for a heartbeat, and saw Varyth locked in brutal combat with Merrick above us. Brynelle was there too, her dragon breathing streams of fire while Thessarian wove through the air in deadly patterns. Mist and lightning clashed in bursts of silver.
Below, purple energy flashed through the trees. Elowyn had pursued Shaelith and Cindrissian to the ground.
We were scattered. Divided. Exactly what they’d wanted.
Kaelen managed to dodge one shadow-spear, his powerful wings carrying us up and away from the grasping darkness. But I could feel his exhaustion bleeding through our bond, the strain of fighting both gravity and magic taking its toll.
“Wildfire,” he gasped, “I can’t keep this up much longer.”
Kaelen swerved to avoid a wild bolt of lightning that cracked toward us. And in that same moment Ashterion launched another spear of shadow.
It pierced straight through Kaelen’s chest.
The world stopped.
Time crystallised around that single, devastating moment—the wet sound of shadow tearing through scales and flesh, the way Kaelen’s body went rigid beneath me, the choked gasp that escaped his throat.
“KAELEN!” The name came out as a scream that tore my throat raw.
My vision fractured around the edges as we spiralled toward the earth, my hands clutching desperately at his scales, feeling his massive body going slack beneath me. The world tilted and spun—trees, sky, shadow, blood—everything blurring together in a nauseating kaleidoscope.
“Land!” I sobbed, pressing my face against his neck, feeling the warmth already starting to fade. “Kaelen, land now! We can find someone, we can—”
“Wildfire.” A sound like a whimper left him. “It’s alright.”
The ground rushed up to meet us. Trees, rocks, the cruel indifference of earth that didn’t care about the bond being severed in the sky above it.
We hit hard.
The impact threw me from his back, sent me rolling across moss and stone until I slammed into the base of an ancient oak. Pain exploded through my ribs and shoulder. But I was already moving, already scrambling on hands and knees toward where Kaelen lay crumpled among the ferns.
The wound in his chest was massive, a gaping hole where shadow had torn through emerald scales like they were paper. Blood poured from it in dark rivers, staining the forest floor black.
“No no no no no.” I pressed my hands against the wound like I could somehow hold his life inside him through sheer force of will. “Kaelen, please—”
“Run, wildfire.” His breath came weak. “You need to run.”
“I’m not leaving you.” Tears were streaming hot down my face. “I’m not fucking leaving you, Kaelen.”
His massive head turned toward me, and when he nuzzled against my shoulder—gentle, so achingly gentle—it shattered something essential in me.
“I’m glad I got to meet you,” His voice was barely a whisper now, so faint I had to focus to hear it. “I’m glad I got to call you wildfire. Got to feel what it was like to belong to someone who burned as bright as you do.”
Someone hit the ground behind me with a bone-jarring thud, but I didn’t care who it was. Didn’t care about anything except Kaelen.
“Don’t you dare,” I sobbed, pressing my forehead against his snout. “Don’t you dare say goodbye to me. We’re supposed to keep each other alive, remember? Mutual motivation?”
His breathing was becoming shallower now, each exhale a struggle that rattled through his massive chest. The amber eyes that had always burned so bright were dimming.
“The first time I saw you hurling yourself off that dragon like you could fly on fury alone,” he whispered. “I knew you were going to change everything.”
“Kaelen, please—”
“Wildfire.” The word carried all the affection he’d ever shown me, all the warmth and pride and bone-deep fondness that had grown between us. “You burn brighter than any star I’ve ever seen. Brighter than all the stars combined.”
His massive head pressed against me one last time, scales warm against my tear-soaked cheek. A gentle rumble vibrated through his chest. Something that felt like contentment. Like peace.
“I’m glad I got to call you mine,” he breathed. “I’m glad I got to belong to someone who burns like you do.”
And then the light in his eyes flickered once, twice—
And went out.
For a moment silence was absolute.
Then fire cleaved through my chest.
It was as if someone had reached inside me and ripped out something fundamental—not just my heart, but my soul.
The agony was blinding, endless. It consumed everything. My vision, my thoughts, my will to keep breathing. For a wild moment I wanted to follow him into whatever darkness waited beyond. Wanted to let the pain drag me under until I stopped feeling anything at all.
Because how was I supposed to survive this? How was anyone supposed to survive having their soul carved away?
Someone was sobbing—raw, desperate sounds that tore at the air. It took me a moment to realise the noises were coming from me.
Boots crunched through the underbrush toward me, but I couldn’t look up. Couldn’t tear my gaze away from Kaelen’s still form, from the way the light had simply... stopped.
But as the pain ebbed, what rushed in to fill the space was worse.
Emptiness. Cold, yawning emptiness where Kaelen’s presence had lived. Where his voice had whispered jokes and observations and fierce, protective affection. Where his warmth had wrapped around my consciousness like armour made of sunlight.
The magnificent, impossible dragon who’d caught me when I fell, who’d called me wildfire and meant it like a prayer—he was gone, and the bond that had connected us was severed so completely I couldn’t even feel the echo of where it had been.
The world narrowed to the terrible absence where Kaelen had been, the emptiness that stretched on and on until I was drowning in it.