Chapter Fifty-Two
Skylar Cathal
“Shit, shit, shit!” I cursed under my breath. “Get a grip, Skylar. Focus!”
Screams, roars, and the clash of steel and claws assaulted my senses, but none of that mattered. Nothing mattered except this one thing I was tasked to do by my mate: summon the eternal flame and burn the false bitch queen from existence.
My power surged inside me, flickering like a candle in a storm with an unpredictable flare of its own.
I know you can, Spitfire, he’d said, believing in me with every fiber of his being.
I swallowed hard, trying to channel every ounce of training with Adohan, every scrap of magic I had into this task.
The flame flared to life in my chest, tiny at first, like a spark against a gale-force wind.
It glistered, then roared, hot and wild, along my arms and formed a bright sphere between my palms, threatening to consume me from the inside out.
I clenched my fists, gritting my teeth so tight I thought they cracked, trying to contain the raging flames.
If I faltered now, we were done.
But I was too fucking stubborn to fail now.
I stole a glance toward Daxton in the thick of Minaeve’s shadows, with Valencia’s steel flashing in the sparks of my flames.
Magnus was tearing through the wispy shadows like a living whirlwind, with Rhea, Shaw, and Zola joining the onslaught.
Castor and Gunnar charged forward with blades swinging in brilliant arcs of destruction.
Even Idris and Adohan came swooping in from above, trying to battle her shadows.
And then rising from the fray was Neera, firing a bow, with Seamus somehow still alive, fighting to stay conscious and remain on this side of the crossing.
Each of them bought me precious seconds I needed to master my flames.
And still, Minaeve’s magic towered over them all.
The stolen power of the Labyrinth crackled around her.
Her laughter cut like jagged pieces of glass along my senses.
And then, her eyes, the coldest, most terrifying I’d ever known, flicked toward me.
My stomach bottomed out as bile rose in my throat.
It was like staring death in the face, a challenge to see who would be crowned the victor of this final standoff.
Instead of fading against the force of her stare, I rose to meet her challenge.
The flames inside me flared brighter, sensing the darkness looming across the way.
“Focus,” I muttered to myself. “You can do this. You must do this.”
The heat of the eternal flame surged along my arms as I stretched them into an arch, white flames flickering with blue sparks woven between the flares.
I could sense the shadows recoiling, but Minaeve’s power did not falter. And her sight was not set solely on me.
“Hold on, Spitfire.” Daxton’s voice echoed in my mind, a lifeline in the madness.
I drew in a deep breath, releasing control of the wild flames burning in my veins, trusting in my power. Releasing all my doubts, my fears. Trusting my magic to take shape.
A brilliant white light flashed before the arching flames burned brighter, transitioning to a brilliant blue hue.
But then, Minaeve raised her hands, and the shadows around her surged.
The ground beneath my feet buckled as if she were trying to collapse the world in on itself.
My flames trembled, struggling against the pull of her power.
Sweat and tears mingled on my face as I fought against the force of her circling shadows.
No. I refuse to fail!
I focused every facet of my power on the flames, connecting to the ancient power of Valdor beneath my feet. My heart thrummed in tune with the beat of the magic emerging from my soul.
The moment stretched on like an endless, terrifying loop.
But ever so slightly, I felt the balance between us begin to shift.
The shadows were starting to take root, feeding from the fear, through the pain and exhaustion of my people.
The powers of the Labyrinth attacked the minds of those around us.
The battlefield blurred as I forced the flames back under my control. Screams, roars, and the clash of monsters were nothing compared to the pulsing heat at my fingertips. And yet, a grip tightened around my chest, and I couldn’t breathe as the shadows surged, and Minaeve drew closer.
A cry rang out from the skies as a flash of golden wings broke through the shadows, drawing the queen’s gaze.
“You!” she sneered, eyes glowing with a maddening rage.
Gilen dove toward Minaeve, wings splayed wide as his talons opened, preparing to tear her limb from limb.
“No! Gilen.” I reached out through the pack bond, binding me to him. “Don’t. She’s too strong!”
But before Gilen could answer me, an arrow made of shadow flew from Minaeve’s hands and pierced him straight through the chest.
“Gilen!” I screamed, my heart breaking.
“Go, Daxton!” Gilen rasped as the mighty roc crashed into the earth below in a mesh of feathers, dust, and blood.
Daxton?
I spun away from Gilen, my heart leaping into my throat as Daxton held Minaeve’s back pinned against his chest, his head bent forward with his lips pressed against hers… feeding her his power.
His magic exploded around them, ice flaring along their feet, holding them in place. Daxton was giving me an opening. This was the strike I couldn’t hesitate to take.
But… But gods above, I couldn’t.
The eternal flame wasn’t only deadly to Minaeve. If I released it now, it would sear through her, yes, but Daxton… Daxton was entwined in her power. Every pulse of his magic, his very life force, was flowing into her.
He would be destroyed along with her.
My arms shook as the eternal flame burned in a bright arc, the fire writhing and snapping against the tension in my hands.
My chest tightened. The pulse of my magic hammered against my bones, demanding release.
I swallowed hard, shaking my head. The flames hissed at my hesitation, eager to burn, anxious to finish what it was crafted to do.
But I couldn’t.
I could not kill my mate.
Daxton’s voice echoed in my mind through our bond, fierce and commanding. “You must keep your promise, Spitfire. Do not hesitate.”
I exhaled, my voice trembling in the chaos. “I can’t, Daxton. Not like this.”
“You MUST!”
The battlefield seemed to freeze, and time came to a standstill.
The shadows around Minaeve writhed as if they sensed my weakness, hungering for it as her power only grew from Daxton’s sacrifice.
Every moment I faltered stole time he didn’t have to give, time countless others sacrificed to grant me this one chance to end this war.
Daxton tensed, the vibrant color fading from his face as Minaeve absorbed his life force. Fighting to hold the darkness at bay and pouring everything he had into these final seconds.
The ache pulsing through our bond ripped at my center with painful clarity: each willing heartbeat, each tremble of strength, each quiet goodbye he was trying not to let me feel slipped through.
I was standing on the edge of saving the world, and yet somehow, I was destroying my own.
“I will always find you, Spitfire.” His voice cracked open a wound too deep to name. My chest felt hollow, like the eternal flame had already burned through me instead.
“Do it!” he shouted into everyone's mind.
Slowly, I raised my hands. The eternal flame gathered between them, shaping itself into a bow and arrow, glowing with the promise I never wanted to keep. And all I could think was that when I let it fly, the world would be saved, yes… but mine would end.
“We will always find each other, Daxton.”
The arrow trembled as I pulled it back, a searing light poised to secure destruction for Minaeve and the Heart of Valdor.
“Do it! Please, Skylar.” Daxton’s pleading voice reached a piece of my heart that only belonged to him. “I love you.”
My hands shook. The flames pulsed, and the world held its breath as I released the string.
“I love you, Daxton,” I said, trusting that my aim was true.