Chapter 48
Ael
The Jotnar were massive beings, and the quantity of magic needed to take them down was quickly burning him out. Ael had promised he wouldn’t overexert himself again and switched to using his sword, driving it into the Dragors and Rozzers with ease.
Kalon fought alongside him, taking down the Jotnar one by one with nightmare-inducing pain, then rushing up to them and slicing their throats to save his magic, his moth tattoo on his neck glowing a fiery red.
Suza, Jason, Mordred, and Sara, unable to fight, were guiding the frantic citizens toward the openings in the nearby walls.
Suza occasionally used her ability to transport people more quickly, but her magic was weak, and she could only use it every few minutes.
She and Sara ran back to them after transporting a mother and her child to the nearest exit, away from the destruction.
“Look!” Suza yelled, pointing to the sky.
Ael drove his sword into a Dragor carrying a bloodstone blade and kicked the body away from him before glancing up.
The sun began to rise rapidly, shifting the sky from the moon’s amber glow to pinks, reds, and burning-ember hues.
It came to rest just behind the moon, and the land below smoldered beneath a solar shadow edged in flame.
The storm clouds parted, as if making way to the magical retribution of the heavens.
“The Darkened,” Jason said in awe as he looked up. His mouth hung open, and his eyes were wide as he pointed to the sky.
A swarm of Corvids flew, rising as one, creating a living vortex of shadow and feathers. They transformed into a dragon form, Elco at the forefront, matching the Rising members’ tattooed design.
High above the Palatium’s silhouette, Seda unfurled her wings, and her beats sent glittering motes of starlight into the air, pulsating from her very being. She flew above like divinity itself, the storm clouds bowing to her command of justice.
A jagged arc of lightning struck Tievel, combining his dark magic with a blazing voltage that illuminated the sky in a sudden flash of blinding violet.
Thunder violently shook the earth as the fire-breathing dragon swooped down from the sky, focusing on the Palatium tower and engulfing the moss-covered stones in incandescent flames.
The once proud banner bearing the years of the ‘victory’ smoked as it fell to the ground, exposing the lie it always symbolized.
Ael felt a stabbing pain tear through his side and spun around, diverting his gaze from the heavenly retribution above to see a Rozzer pulling a bloodstone blade from between his ribs.
He looked at it in shock, adrenaline pumping through him and numbing the pain.
His anger surged, and he wrapped the bits of magic left within him around the man’s throat, coiling and squeezing so tight the Rozzer’s head fell to the ground.
The tendrils of weakness clouded his vision. He was nearly out of magic and couldn’t go on, so he fell to his knees, wrapping his palm over the hilt, and pulled the knife out. Blood quickly soaked into his shirt.
Kalon held out a hand to him. “Will you be okay?”
Ael looked from his own hand to Kalon’s, recognizing the gesture of help from the man he had sworn was his enemy.
His hesitant hand reached out to Kalon, dizziness clouding his vision, as Kalon helped him stand on shaky legs.
“Look!” Sara yelled from behind, pointing to the Palatium.
Tievel was high above, laughing manically as the dragon descended once more. He held the Dark Stone in the air, pointing it at Seda, and suddenly, all the guards and Jotnar shifted their focus from the fight below toward Seda in the sky.
A small group of Corvids began to circle the firelit tower, swarming like swallows, but they quickly disappeared.
“That’s probably Feich and those who chose to follow him,” Kalon said as he held firmly onto Ael.
Tievel, with wild hair and clothes burned across his body, pointed the stone at Seda once more, and Ael saw her falter, saw her body jerk. Dark, incoherent words from Tievel pulsed through the city, vibrating the ground beneath their feet and causing black oil to rise from cracks in the earth.
A ragged yell tore from Ael’s lips as he saw Seda begin to fall from the sky, her bright radiance burning in a crimson glow.
He could see her battle the dark magic, her silhouette flickering between reds and violets.
Kalon vanished, and Ael collapsed to the ground, desperately looking up as Seda fell from the heavens.
There was nothing he could do.
Kalon reappeared on the landing at the top of the Palatium, catching Seda’s vibrant red body within his arms.