Chapter 25 #2
It’s worse than anything I can imagine.
This is the cold of absolute nothing. Of existing in hungry misery for eternity that never ends because there is nothing to consume in the void.
But I still can’t let Phoenix close it.
I summon more runes and wrap them around my father’s arm. Runes of breaking. Severing. Of letting go.
They glow so brightly they should burn and force his grip to loosen.
He holds on tighter still. His fingers are iron bands around my wrist. I can feel my bones grinding together.
“Let me go,” I tell him through gritted teeth.
“Never!” he screams, face twisted with rage and desperation. “You’re mine. You’ve always been mine. From the moment I created you until the end of time! You’re only proving you’re exactly who I created you to be!”
I look at Phoenix. Her face is agonized. Torn between keeping the hole open and dooming everyone else to save me or sacrificing me to save the world.
And there—on her face, I see the answer.
Why my father is both right and so, so wrong.
Because yes, I am the son my Creator-Father made me to be. But I have been paying attention since I reunited with my brothers. There is one truth my father never wanted us to know when he gave us these great and terrible gifts. We contain truly apocalyptic powers, yes.
But we also contain their inverse multitudes.
And Famine’s opposite is not just food. It is fullness and satisfaction. The deep contentment that comes from having everything you need and being surrounded by abundance.
It’s the look on Phoenix’s face. It’s knowing that I’m loved and wanted and enough exactly as I am.
So I wrap myself in that fullness and warmth and the satiation and connection I’ve found with Phoenix. The opposite of everything Famine is supposed to represent. Every moment of happiness I’ve stolen or earned or stumbled into during my existence.
Because I am not Famine. Not really. That is what my father made me. But it is not all that I am.
I am the being who craves love. Who hungers for light and warmth and everything good in this world.
I am the creature who fell in love with Phoenix the moment I saw her. Even buried and half-mad with isolation. Even when she could offer me nothing but her presence.
I am Layden Eques. And I choose what I want to be.
The runes around me begin to glow brighter. They are anchors tying me to this world and to Phoenix.
To everything worth staying for.
To everything the darkness rejects because it only knows cold and hunger and emptiness.
My father feels it. His grip on me loosens.
Just for a second as the cold realm pushes me back while still sucking him in.
Because the darkness doesn’t want me anymore.
It might want to feed on me, but I’m too bright now, like a burning star that will eviscerate its very existence if it allows me much closer.
I yank my arm free with one final rune directed at my father. It’s a simple one. Just a symbol for letting go of what no longer serves you.
The students’ spirits surge forward and drag my father the last bit through the hole. He screams and reaches for me again with desperate fingers.
But I’m already moving backward. My runes pull me away from the dark and anchor me solidly to this realm, rooting me here with Phoenix and life and warmth.
My father’s hand passes through empty air where I was standing a moment before.
Then the students drag him all the way through into the dark, his yelp cutting off abruptly.
“Close it!” I shout at Phoenix. “Now!”
For a moment, I think she might not be able to. She’s still connected to that terrible place. The darkness is pulling at her too, trying to reclaim what escaped.
But then she lets out a scream of defiance that echoes throughout the atrium, filling the entire space with fury.
“I’m staying!” she shouts into the darkness. Her voice is raw and powerful. “Do you hear me? I know light and warmth. I know love!” Each word comes out stronger. More certain. “You don’t get to have me back!”
She yanks her hand away from the dead body and the hole in the air begins to shrink immediately. But not fast enough. I can see it still trying to pull her in, lifting her up towards the closing portal in the air.
I don’t think. I just leap and grab Phoenix around the waist, wrapping her with my runes of warmth and connection. Anchoring her with my love.
“You’re staying,” I tell her. “You’re staying with me.”
The dark realm fights back.
For a terrible moment, we’re caught in a tug-of-war between worlds.
The darkness pulling one way.
My runes pulling the other.
Phoenix caught in the middle.
“I love you,” I breathe against her ear.
Then I kiss her. On the mouth. Not chastely like at our wedding.
I kiss her with every bit of passion and warmth and love inside me. Every heartbeat has belonged to her since the moment she pulled me from that tree, and I pour it into the meeting of our mouths.
She’s limp for a second, the pull of the darkness still unyielding. For one terrible moment I think I might still lose her after all. That the darkness will win.
But then I feel her reinvigorate as her lips come to life against mine. She kisses me furiously back, and then she whispers, voice barely audible over the roaring wind that’s picked up around us, “I— I love you, too.”
And just like that, the hole snaps shut.
The sudden absence drops her into my arms, making both of us stagger. Phoenix’s entire body quakes with the effort of what she just did. And I suspect, with the terror of how close she came to being dragged back.
The frost around the room has melted, but Phoenix’s skin is still so, so cold. Like all the warmth has been drained from her and the dark realm left frost in her veins.
I wrap myself around her, trying to share my warmth. The runes I summoned are still glowing and radiating heat, so I press them against her skin, willing them to thaw the ice that the dark realm left behind.
“You’re okay,” I tell her. Over and over like a prayer. Like a promise. “You’re here. You’re safe. You’re not going anywhere. I’ve got you.”
She’s crying. I don’t think she even realizes it. The tears just stream down her face while her whole body trembles. She clutches at my shirt, fingers digging into the fabric like she is afraid I will disappear if she lets go.
Around us, the students’ spirits are fading. Their work is done. They drift apart, their forms becoming less substantial with each passing second. But before they disappear entirely, they look at Phoenix.
“Thank you,” one of them whispers, voice barely audible now, fading like the rest of her.
Then they’re gone. Truly gone this time. At peace instead of trapped.
Sabra collapses and the woman who was possessed by Ammit catches her before she hits the ground. She holds her gently, checking to make sure she is still breathing. I’m still confused by what all happened there, but I’m sure Sabra or Phoenix will explain in time. There’s time for everything now.
The circle’s barrier flickers, then the golden runes of the circle fade to nothing. The invisible walls that trapped us are gone. We are free.
But I don’t move. I just hold Phoenix, trying to keep her warm and chase away any cold still lingering.
“Layden,” she finally says. Her voice is hoarse. “Did we do it? Is he gone?”
“Yes. Both Vlad and my Creator-Father. You did it,” I cling to her, tears of relief and love tracking down my eyes. “All the monsters are gone now.”