Chapter 71
Iyana
Blinking her eyes open was one of the hardest things Iyana had ever done. Night was falling, the stars shining above her.
Thank you. It was a whisper through her mind—there and then gone. But she could have sworn it sounded like Okab.
They had done it. They had won.
Her body was so sore that she could feel each muscle individually.
A deep ache ran through her brain. There was a brief memory of claws clutching her mind, and then it was gone.
Rigil’s body lay next to her, his golden irises dimmed and unseeing, but trained upon the sky, where his people were again trapped.
Iyana sat up, clutching her head. She remembered killing the Alpha, but it was like watching it through someone else’s eyes. Once the Aztia’s magic had taken over, she was no longer in control of her body. She frowned. There was something important she was forgetting.
“Iyana,” a voice gasped near her.
Everything rushed back to her. Emmeric turning to get to her, Hadar shoving the sword through his stomach, his blood bright on the ground.
Oh, gods, no.
“Emmeric,” she whispered, twisting until she saw him.
He was mere inches away, his arm outstretched towards her.
A trail of blood extended behind him from where he had crawled across the field, all to reach Iyana.
To bring her back from whatever magical state she had descended into.
It had been his blue eyes that pierced through the haze and called her home.
A sob ripped out of her throat as Iyana scrambled on her hands and knees to reach him.
Her shaking hands hovered over him. Blood still trickled out of his stomach, a little more with each beat of his heart, but it was slowing. Iyana peeled his shirt away from his skin, making him hiss. He was still breathing. She could fix this as long as he continued to breathe.
“Oh, Em,” she said, horrified. The blade had pierced through his back, severing his spinal cord and leaving his lower limbs paralyzed. The opening in his abdomen was jagged, and Iyana gagged at the sight of his intestines barely being contained within his body.
Iyana placed her hands on his wound and called forth her magic.
Not only her healing magic, but that of the Aztia as well, hoping the combination would be more effective.
It was sluggish, but she forced it down her arms and into Emmeric’s body.
The bleeding began to slow, and his skin started to knit back together, but then her magic stuttered out and his bleeding began anew.
“No no no,” she muttered.
“Mouse,” Emmeric said, forcing the words out of his throat. It created a coughing fit, blood spraying from his mouth. Iyana shushed him, still trying to connect to her magic.
“I’m so sorry,” he continued. Em lifted a hand to touch her cheek. Iyana felt the stickiness of his blood covering his own fingers, and her eyes fluttered closed at the contact.
“No,” she snarled. “You do not get to say goodbye.”
“I love you.”
Her magic flickered in and out. She couldn’t concentrate.
“Shut up, Em. You can tell me you love me when you’re better.”
Footsteps pounded towards them, and she saw Zane, Talon, and Kaz in her leopard form quickly closing the distance. All of them were covered in multiple small injuries. Talon was running with a limp. Red and black sludge coated the two men.
“Oh, fuck,” Zane whispered.
Talon dropped to his knees beside his best friend and clasped his hand.
“Tal,” rasped Emmeric.
“It’s okay, old man,” Talon said, his voice wavering with unshed tears. “Iyana will get you patched up and you’ll be just fine.”
Em shook his head, the movement slow and choppy. “Dying.”
No. No, she couldn’t let that happen.
“Somebody get my medical bag!” Iyana shouted. Kaz sprinted away. She would be faster than any of them in her big cat form.
Frustration and panic rattled Iyana, as she was still unable to rally her magic.
It was similar to when she was first learning, and it would run through her fingers like water.
Only now, she knew what she was capable of; she’d simply used too much magic on the battlefield, and it wasn’t replenishing fast enough without her Kanaliza.
The small amount of magic she was able to harness kept Emmeric from slipping away, but he was clinging to life by his fingernails. If Iyana stopped, or let up for even a second, he would be gone.
Kaz skidded to a stop, spraying muddy grass over them, and dropped Iyana’s medical bag into her lap. She shifted back to her human form, a frantic look in her eyes.
Zane knelt next to Iyana and placed a gentle hand on her arm. “What do you need me to do, Iyana?”
He was so calm and sure; it helped to quiet the buzzing in her mind. Iyana took a deep breath.
“He’s losing too much blood. We need to make a potion that will stimulate his body to produce more, faster.”
“Walk me through it,” said Zane.
“Muddle together the powdered pyrite and gooseberry, then stir in the kelp water. Pour until I tell you to stop.” She eyed the emperor. He did as she asked with a steady hand. “Stop. Now add the ground almonds.”
“That’s it?” Talon asked.
It did seem deceptively simple for such an important medication.
“I have to activate it.” Iyana took the flask from Zane, and with the last vestiges of her magic, she was able to combine the ingredients in a way only a healer was capable of. She was breathing hard when she finished, an emptiness inside her she hadn’t felt since Altair had drained her.
Iyana propped Emmeric’s head on her lap. His eyelids fluttered open when she pressed the flask to his lips.
“Drink, Em,” she said softly.
“Iyana, I–”
“Drink it,” Iyana said more sternly, pouring the concoction into his mouth. Emmeric’s throat bobbed as he swallowed, and Iyana watched with bated breath. This had to work.
“Mouse, listen to me.” Emmeric clutched her wrist in his hand with a strength she didn’t think him capable of.
Her hope soared that the magic was working.
“I’m so proud of you,” he continued. “I wish we’d had more time, but I’ll be waiting for you in the Everlands.
Promise me you’ll find happiness, Mouse. ”
Iyana shook her head as hot tears fell down her face. “Emmeric Sullane, don’t you dare leave me.”
Ignoring her, he turned to Talon, who was still holding his hand. “Tal…”
“It’s okay, brother,” Talon said. “We’ll look after her.”
Emmeric mouthed the words thank you, his strength waning. An ominous rattle began in his chest, and his breathing slowed. His bright blue eyes found hers once more, and though their bond was practically non-existent, she still heard him say, I love you.
Then his lashes fluttered closed, and his breathing stopped. The last strands of their bond broke apart.
A keening wail pierced the silent battleground, and it took Iyana several moments to realize it was her. Zane and Kaz were both trying to hug her, to take her away from Emmeric. But didn’t they realize she couldn’t exist without him?
Iyana broke free of their grip, crawling over his body, not caring that she was covering herself in his blood. The gods had done this. Those wretched gods had given her this man for such a short time, then snatched him away. They didn’t have the right to do that to them.
“What else are you going to take from me?” Iyana shouted. “You’ve already taken my parents. My grandmother. You stole my freedom and my fate from me! I will not allow you to take him!”
Plucking a blade from a sheath on Emmeric’s unmoving body, Iyana slashed a line across her palm. Before, mingling their blood together was always more potent and helped them heal.
She pushed her bleeding hand over his wound and dug within herself to find some trace of magic.
Iyana cried out to the skies when she couldn’t find anything within her. No remnants, not even a spark.
Making sure to keep her bleeding hand on him, Iyana leaned over his body and began compressing his chest. If her magic wouldn’t restart his heart, then she’d have to do it with her hands.
“You. Don’t. Get. To. Leave. Me.” She grunted the words around her movements.
A familiar heat rushed through her veins, making Iyana gasp. She never slowed her compressions, but she closed her eyes one more time and looked deep within herself.
There, within the void where her magic usually resided, was a flame.
She called to it, coaxing it to her the way Altair had taught her what seemed like a lifetime ago.
It grew and grew, coming closer, and Iyana almost wept when the flame took the shape of a woman.
Iyana thought she had been lost forever when Altair stole her magic.
Iyana reached a hand out to her, pleading for aid.
Please. Please help me, she thought.
A wizened, matronly voice echoed through her mind. So different from the monster who had just been in her head. This one was warm and familiar.
I heard your call across the realms, Iyana Astalle. I will help.
The fire receded from the woman’s figure, and for the first time, Iyana was able to see her face. One she recognized.
“Elena,” she breathed in awe.
Although Elena and Imera were identical, something within Iyana knew she was correct. The lost Goddess of Knowledge was the woman of fire who had helped her harness her magic.
You have given enough, Aztia.
Elena reached out until their fingers brushed together, and a cleansing fire raced through Iyana’s entire being, restoring her magic back to full strength. A gift from a goddess who was slowly retreating away.
Wait! Iyana called after her. Where are you? Will I see you again?
Her only answer was a gentle caress against her soul, and then Elena was gone.
Opening her eyes, Iyana saw she had never stopped pumping Emmeric’s chest, but his heart still wasn’t beating on its own and air was not entering his lungs.
With all her magic again at her disposal, Iyana funneled every last drop into the man she loved.