Chapter 55
Gerard went rigid at the sight of Tislora, his arms slackening at his sides. “Lora?” he asked, his voice full of disbelief.
“Don’t play games with me,” she snapped, striding toward him with lethal grace. “I know what you’ve done to my stores of hellebore.”
I slowly backed away from the two of them, then gestured wildly for Enzira and Ramia to leave. “Run!” I whispered. “Remember the plan!”
They both nodded and retreated toward the opposite end of the castle. Enzira shot me one last look of regret before she vanished from view.
I knew they wanted to stay with me. But they were not fighters, and Gerard could easily use them as leverage against me.
Besides, they had explicit instructions to access the armory so they could distribute weapons to everyone in the castle. The Earthen soldiers would likely breach the entrance soon, and I wanted to ensure the staff had a means of defending themselves.
“Azure, are you close?” I breathed, squeezing my amber stone.
“Just say the word, and I’ll grab you,” she replied.
I retrieved the shadowstone from my other pocket, then held it alongside the bloodstone. The air hummed, and the shrill ringing sound returned. I gritted my teeth, and Gerard whipped toward me.
“No!” he roared, reaching for me. “ Stop !”
Tislora’s wings flared, and she flew toward him, claws extended. I took several steps back, then slammed the two stones together.
An explosion of white light burst from the stones, powerful enough to send me flying into the stone wall behind me.
I screamed, pain bursting behind my skull as the force of it nearly knocked me out.
I heard Gerard’s grunt and Tislora’s screech and knew she was trying to keep him away from me. I didn’t have much time.
My teeth rattled from the quivering stones in my hands. Heat burned into my palms, singeing my skin. I hissed at the scorching pain.
Then, voices echoed around me, ethereal and ghost-like. I made out the words from Jessinda’s curse: “ By the stone of shadow and blood, I make this vow: Until one of my kind gives up her life for yours, this curse will live on, even as my line lives on. ”
The blinding light seared against my eyes, and even with my eyelids shut, it burned me until I thought my eyeballs might melt from it.
Slowly, the voices vanished and the lights faded.
I opened my eyes, gasping, my body hunched over and trembling from pain.
As my sight adjusted to the darkness of night, I made out two struggling figures before me.
Gerard had his sword out, and it gleamed with Tislora’s black blood.
Her hands were wrapped around his throat, her talons drawing his own blood as they hissed and spat at each other.
I glanced down at the stones in my hand, only to find they had merged into one stone. It was a gleaming white gem, shaped just like a rose. It warmed my palm as I held it.
“You will doom us all!” Gerard bellowed, his eyes wild with fury at the sight of me with the stone. He stormed toward me, but Tislora tackled him, pressing his face into the grass.
“ Go , Sybelle!” Tislora shouted. “Now!”
I staggered to my feet and took off down the gravel path, circling around the palace. “Azure!” I cried as I ran. “I need you!”
The giant beating of wings drew nearer, and I yelped as something huge wrapped around me, lifting me in the air.
Azure gripped me between her talons, her icy claws wrapped around each of my arms. She didn’t even pause to land.
I cried out, my legs dangling below me. My stomach dropped with each movement she made, and I couldn’t shake the terrifying feeling of weightlessness, like at any moment I would free-fall and plummet to my death.
My palms were covered in sweat, and I feared the stone would slip out of my grasp.
“Do you know where the shadow storm is?” I asked.
“Of course I do. It isn’t far from here. Don’t lose your nerve.”
I rolled my eyes, knowing her teasing was keeping my fear at bay. It was likely why she kept it up.
My legs swung wildly as she arced left. I glanced to the right and made out the human soldiers, their swords clashing with the unseelie fae.
My heart seized in my chest. Not only were the humans wearing armor that was much stronger, but there were more than twice as many humans as fae.
The Earthen soldiers had pushed them all the way up to the portcullis.
Several humans were climbing over the gate to reach the castle.
“Stones,” I whispered. “They’re losing. Badly.”
“It will be over soon, Sybelle.”
A knot formed in my throat, and I nodded. This would not be for nothing. I would make sure of it.
Azure carried me over the treetops of the Noxen Forest. Once we passed the woods, a fierce wind rippled over us, and she had to beat her wings harder to continue forward. The howl of the storm filled the air, and my stomach fluttered with anxiety .
In front of us was a raging tornado, twisting and roaring like an enraged monster. Dark gray thunderclouds surrounded it, but at the heart of the storm was a pitch black void.
The very same void I would have to drop into.
Trees were uprooted, tossed about like rag dolls as the storm consumed them. The massive funnel cloud drew closer, the wind and dirt particles stinging my eyes.
My blood seemed to freeze over with icy fear. Am I really going to do this?
The foul stench of the Necro Shadows surrounded us. It wouldn’t take long for the toxins to infect my body. My mouth went bone dry, and I had the sudden urge to retch. I was going to be sick.
“Are you still down there?” Azure asked. “That wind is so intense I thought it might blow away your feeble human body.”
I had no response. My tongue was glued to the roof of my mouth. If I tried to speak, I would likely vomit.
“You can just drop it in ,” Azure reminded me. “Just drop the stone into the storm, and I can carry you away.”
“No,” I said, finding my voice at last. “No, it’s not that simple. I—I have to fall in myself.”
Her talons tightened around me. “ What are you talking about?” Her voice was full of panic.
This was why I hadn’t told her. She never would have agreed to this if she’d known.
Leaves and dust swirled around us as we drew closer.
The wind burned, making my skin throb. I had to shout over the roaring wind to ensure Azure could hear me.
“The spell mentions blood and shadow, which references the stones. But it also says someone from Jessinda’s kind must offer up their life.
I come from the Earthen Court, descended from the witches who once lived here.
I am one of Jessinda’s kind. And my sacrifice will end this curse. ”
Azure was silent for a long moment, but she kept flapping her wings, maneuvering through the fierce winds. She did not stop.
“Tislora,” she said at last. “Tislora could have broken the curse. And she had no idea.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “But I would never condemn anyone else to this fate. It is my responsibility. It is what I was always meant to do. All those generations of human brides were given to do this exact thing . And now, finally, hundreds of years later, it will be finished. The curse will end with me.”
“Sybelle.” Azure’s voice was strained. “Please.”
“There is no other way. Gerard must die. The stones must be destroyed. And I must give up my life. You know this. Otherwise you would have turned us around by now.”
“Then I will die alongside you.”
Tears streamed from my eyes, but the wind dashed them away before they reached my cheeks. “You can’t! I need you to protect the Shadow Court. If the Earthen soldiers keep fighting even after Gerard is dead, you have to keep my people safe. Promise me, Az. Promise me you’ll do that.”
Azure said nothing. Would she refuse me this last wish? Was she so angry with my decision that she would deny my request?
At long last, she whispered, “I swear it. I will protect your people.”
My people. Yes, the unseelie fae were my people. Not the humans. Even though I was part human, even though I had been raised in the Earthen Court… it was no longer my home.
I wasn’t sure when this had changed for me. When had I no longer considered the humans my people ? When had I decided that the lives of the shadow fae were more precious to me?
The wind was so intense that Azure was having trouble flying straight. The wind screamed and howled. The black void was upon us, the darkness so thick I couldn’t even see my legs swinging below me.
“We are at the epicenter now,” Azure said, her wingbeats slowing. She teetered, bobbing up and down. “I cannot fight the wind anymore.”
“Then drop me,” I said, the storm raging around us. I could see nothing but the dark shadows. The toxins filled my nose and throat, making me choke.
Even if Azure retreated now, there was every likelihood I would still be poisoned.
No turning back now, I thought.
“Azure, drop me!” I cried. The longer she stayed here, the worse the wind would get. She might be immune to the Necro Shadows, but she wasn’t immune to the storm.
“I love you, Sybelle.”
Azure’s talons loosened, and she released me.
I fell, the weightlessness rushing around me.
My stomach flipped as my body careened with the wind.
Tree branches and debris slammed into me, barreling me left and right.
My body was battered as I slammed into something hard and unyielding.
A choked scream built in my throat, but I couldn’t find my voice.
Darkness pressed in on me. Poison seeped into my veins, coursing through my body like fire. My bones melted. My blood burned.
And then my body shattered into nothingness.