Chapter 56
Zane
Rigil had been right—Iyana came for them anyway, even though Zane was sure she had known it was a trap. At least he’d gotten to hug Talon one last time before they all died.
Silver magic sparked at Iyana’s fingertips as she stared down the Alpha Centauri.
Hadar and Altair glowered at each other like there was a lifetime of wrongs and competition that were about to be thrown into this fight.
Rigil simply stood there quietly, his hands in his pockets, the perfect picture of calm.
He didn’t even look at the volatile magic dying to break free from the Aztia, as if it was of no concern to him.
For all Zane knew, it wasn’t. The emperor inched backwards slowly while shoving Talon behind him, trying to keep out of the way of any errant strikes.
If he had a sword, he’d absolutely join the fight.
“Alpha Centauri,” Iyana said, with a small nod of her head. It was more respect than Zane expected her to give to the star.
“The elusive Aztia, at last,” Rigil drawled. “You really have given me quite a lot of trouble with my general here, but I think I understand now after seeing you two together.” He glanced at Altair. “She’s your astalle, isn’t she?”
Altair clenched his jaw and didn’t respond, which evidently was all the confirmation Rigil needed. A broad smile spread across his face, and Hadar broke down in a fit of hysterical laughter.
“Mated to a human,” the Beta said between fits of laughter. “Oh, how the mighty general has fallen.”
“She’s not my mate,” Altair ground out.
“And she’s rejected you as well?” Hadar’s eyes lit up with unbridled glee. “This is just too good.” Rigil slashed a hand towards his unruly second, and Hadar finally shut up, wiping a tear from his eye and still grinning.
“You have something you wish to ask me,” Rigil said to Iyana, who had watched this entire exchange warily.
“I want to offer myself in exchange for the release of my friends.”
Shock rang through Zane at her words. Iyana was the type of person to throw herself into danger for her friends, but he didn’t think she would do something like this.
Giving herself up to Rigil was handing their best weapon right to the enemy.
Unless she had some plan he wasn’t aware of, Zane absolutely could not let this happen.
“Iyana, you can’t—” Talon started, but Zane elbowed him in the stomach to get him to shut up. It was still better if the attention stayed off of them.
Altair was staring at her like this was very much not part of the original plan, and he wanted to spirit her away as swiftly as possible. “Astalle, don’t,” he murmured to her. The fact that she let his nickname for her slide was extremely telling.
Rigil chuckled. “I don’t negotiate with humans.”
Iyana narrowed her eyes at him. “But you have me, like you wanted. You don’t need to use them as bait anymore.”
“Exactly.” The Alpha’s gaze sharpened. “I don’t need them anymore, and they will die like everyone else that is close to you.
” He leaned forward and lowered his voice.
“I will hunt down anyone who has ever meant anything to you. If you’ve so much as uttered a nice word to them in passing on the street, they are marked for death.
You’ll watch every single one of your friends die until I’ve broken you. ”
With a scream of outrage, Iyana flung her hand forward and hurled her silver magic at Rigil.
He raised his own hand, shadows streaming forth and breaking apart her attack.
But Iyana had rushed at him behind her magic and was almost upon him, a ball of fire in her palm.
The Alpha’s eyes widened slightly, and he disappeared, only to reappear mere feet to his left. Far enough for Iyana to miss him.
Iyana’s blast had freed Altair and Hadar from their standoff, and they were now battling each other.
Altair had his sword made of fire, and Hadar was wielding two short swords that he hadn’t been wearing before.
Zane had no idea where they had come from.
The two traded blows, and it was soon apparent they were evenly matched.
Altair may have had a slight advantage with his height and reach, but they’d had centuries to train with weaponry, and it showed.
Zane wished that he could help his friend, and he knew Talon felt the same. But they were both weak from their time without consistent food and water, and they didn’t have any weapons. Realistically, what could they do against two stars?
Magic was flying across the small space, enough so that Zane and Tal had to take cover behind one of the cell’s walls.
Rigil had crafted a sword out of his shadows and was swinging it at Iyana.
The Aztia was only barely able to avoid the blows, and it was clear all the training she’d been doing had been helpful.
A few moons before, she never would have been capable of this amount of physical work.
It was clear she was tiring, though. The sheer amount of magic she was using, plus having to run around an enclosed area to avoid Rigil’s strikes, was taking its toll.
Her silver magic was dimmer and there was less force behind her blows.
When she used fire instead, it didn’t appear as bright or as hot.
As Iyana flagged, Altair gained the upper hand on Hadar. He was pushing the smaller star back and had him on the defensive. Zane was observing both fights, trying to find an opening where he could lend some aid.
Altair knocked Hadar to the ground and was going for a killing blow when he glanced over towards Iyana, just briefly.
But in that moment, the Aztia faltered. She tripped over one of the stones in the floor, a telling sign of how exhausted she was becoming, and Rigil noticed.
The Alpha saw his opportunity and arced his shadow sword down towards Iyana, and although she raised an arm sheathed in fire, Zane knew it wouldn’t be enough to save her.
Iyana was knocked to the ground, but not by Rigil. Altair had abandoned his fight with Hadar to sprint to his astalle’s side, shoving her out of the way. He’d extinguished his fire sword in the process, and was powerless to defend himself against Rigil as the shadow sword sliced through his chest.
The star crumpled to the ground as Iyana was staggering to her feet. She looked down at Altair’s gaping wound, his chest heaving with labored breaths. Hadar was laughing and sheathing his swords while Rigil stood there, leering at her with a crooked grin.
“No,” she whispered. Her gaze flicked to the dungeon behind Rigil.
Zane looked too and saw Okab, Emmeric, and Kaz had all arrived, boxing in the Alpha and Beta.
Kaz, in her leopard form, leapt for Hadar, and he was forced backwards to defend himself.
Emmeric nodded at Iyana, giving her a much-needed boost of magic.
She shouted in anger again, and rushed towards Rigil, who wisely recognized that the tides had turned.
With her Kanaliza there, Iyana was capable of great feats of magic and could possibly rival even the Alpha.
Factor in the addition of Okab and a powerful shifter, and they were outnumbered.
Rigil and Hadar both glanced at each other, then winked out of existence.
Iyana and Okab both ran towards Altair, the former dropping to her knees beside him. Tearing open his tunic, she ran her hands over the wound on his chest.
“You’re fine,” she whispered to him. “Remember when the wolves tore up your chest and you healed? You’re going to be fine.”
“Iyana…” Emmeric inched towards the woman he loved, who was currently worrying over her former lover. Altair appeared to be losing blood quickly, his skin turning from his normal golden hue to a pallid gray.
“Okab,” Iyana turned to the other star, a desperation in her voice. “Get us out of here. Please.”
He nodded to her and motioned to the rest of the group to gather around. Kaz shifted back as they huddled in close.
“You need to grab onto me,” Okab said. They all did as he instructed while he laid a hand on his brother, and Iyana gripped Altair’s hand. There was another tugging sensation behind Zane’s navel, and then they were out of the castle.
They hadn’t gone far, though; only to the outskirts of the city.
It looked like they had landed barely inside the edge of the forest to the south of Athusia.
Zane would have felt better if Okab had taken him farther, but why he didn’t was soon apparent.
The other star was breathing heavily, a thin sheen of sweat upon his brow.
Carrying so many people probably limited how far he was actually able to go.
Altair hadn’t moved from his position, and was now lying on his back in the snow. His eyes were open—which surprised Zane, given the extent of his injury. He was staring at Iyana like he was committing her face to memory, as if this was the last time he would see her.