Chapter 35
Soren was lifted from the ground by her arm, and she swore as she swung Quill violently, attempting to make any contact. She and Rook had cut Adriel dozens of times using their agility to their advantage, but he healed faster than they could injure.
She screamed in frustration as Adriel scowled at her, throwing her to the ground. She wanted to take her blades and dig them into the red scar on his face in an attempt to make the rest of his body match.
She coughed against the pain in her ribs, the stabbing feeling inside the cage of bones letting her know that at least two of them had been broken by the impact. Her shoulders ached, and sweat rested thick on her brow, but she stayed on the offensive.
As she was thrown to the ground, Rook took her place, ducking quickly before arcing his blades back up, the right one catching the underside of Adriel’s chin.
He roared angrily and focused all of his attention on his son.
“You are no son of mine.” Adriel thought the words would hurt Rook, distract him even. The boy had always craved the attention of his father, and he wanted his words to cut as deep as a blade.
“Corvus was more of a father to me than you ever were,” Rook retorted, darting back in with another barrage of his blades. Adriel blocked them all with ease as the slice on the underside of his chin stitched itself back together.
Soren had gotten back on her feet and threw Quill, hoping her blade would find purchase in one of Adriel’s more vital organs. Her aim was true, but as the dagger flew end over end toward the exposed space between his front and back armor plates, he turned and caught it.
Without a second thought, he whipped it back at her, and it lodged deep into the top of her thigh. Soren’s scream could have shattered eardrums as she landed hard on the ashen ground.
“You’ll pay for that!” Rook shouted, his nostrils flaring. He attacked his father with everything he had, this time focusing on a new target—the straps of Adriel’s armor.
The rapiers sliced through the taut leather, and the breast and back plates fell to the ground, leaving his father’s torso exposed. He seemed unconcerned.
“I do not need armor to break you, son,” he goaded, his smile a bright white, only fueling Rook’s hatred for him.
His father raised his sword, fighting back with all his skill for the first time, and Rook struggled to block the blows. The height and weight advantage took its toll, and Rook’s muscles strained against the pressure his father’s sword placed on his blades.
They spun and parried, and blocked and sliced, until Rook was covered in a layer of sweat and struggling to breathe. He fell to a knee, heaving, but looked to where Soren was tying a strip of fabric around her leg and forced himself to stand. He needed to win this fight for her. For them. For the future of Entheas. For this world she had taught him to love. He could do this. He would do this.
“Come on, Father,” Rook spat the word out, as though it were poison on his tongue. “You can do better than that.”
Rook knew his father’s ego was incalculable and continued to spit insults as he took his time defending each swipe of Adriel’s blade. He then saw Baz and Enara helping Soren in his peripheral.
Baz took out a few of the straggling warriors from Xian-Dao as Enara helped Soren to her feet. The blade of the dagger was embedded to the hilt, and they dared not remove it for fear of her bleeding out.
Baz stood at the ready, waiting for a moment to jump in to assist Rook, when he heard the final insult that sent Adriel spiraling.
“She never loved you!” Rook bellowed.
“Ah!” Adriel roared. Those words were the final crack in the god’s armor, and his composure fell. His face became a grotesque mask of twisted hatred, his eyes blackening into those of an unhinged beast.
It was too late when Rook realized his mistake.
As he watched his father’s face change, he had let his guard fall and was unprepared to defend himself from Adriel’s next blow.
His father’s sword pierced through his armor, straight into his chest. Rook’s eyes bulged, and he choked on his own blood as he fell to the ground.
As he lay gurgling in a crimson pool, his eyes found Soren’s. He could see her fighting against Enara’s grasp to get to him.
A chill settled over him, and as his eyelids fell, he could hear Soren’s voice drift across the battlegrounds.
“I love you,” it whispered.
The words were like a cocoon, enveloping him in warmth as his soul left his body and drifted toward the after.
* * *
Soren scratchedand tore at Enara’s arms, trying to get to Rook. She watched on in horror as Adriel lifted his body and tore the armor from his back, revealing the large stab wound.
“Look what we have here,” Adriel cooed. In his hands, he the held the reason for all the bloodshed—the Oculus. Rook had tucked it into a metal cavity between his armor and back plate, not wanting it to be out of arm’s reach.
Adriel lifted up the object, the metal eye seeming to mock them from across the field.
“I’ll kill you!” Soren screamed and sobbed into Enara’s arms, her body weak from the dagger protruding from her thigh.
Adriel laughed as though she had told a joke, which only infuriated her more. This man, this beast, had taken everything from her. He’d hurt her mother, he was the reason her father was dead, and now he had killed his own son on his hunt for revenge. Revenge he wanted for losing the love of her mother.
When she looked at him now, she was no longer scared, for she saw him for what he truly was—pathetic.
“You’re a monster,” she continued, and he laughed again.
“Stupid girl. Monsters are beasts that stem from nightmares. I am a god.”
“You may be a god,” Jai’s voice boomed, causing Adriel to spin, “but I am a king.”
Jai swung his sword down like an axe, severing Adriel’s arm from his shoulder. The appendage and the Oculus fell to the ground.
The sound that came from Adriel’s mouth could have crumbled mountains into sand as he spun on the tracker. His arm stump had already healed over to an angry pink socket, the skin still so thin that Soren could make out the veins below. Veins that ran black.
Adriel swung wildly, and Baz took the opportunity to run in and assist him. His arm would take a few minutes to grow back, so this would be their last chance to take him out.
Enara looked to Soren, and they didn’t need to exchange words for Soren to let Enara assist her to Rook’s side.
“I’m sorry, brother,” Enara said over Rook’s body before she ran toward where Adriel, Jai, and Baz were battling it out. She circled the three fighters, clearing the space around them, and waited for an opening to strike.
Soren watched on, helpless. Tears fell silently down her cheeks, the clear liquid adding to the crimson pool beneath her.
“I’m so sorry,” she whimpered quietly. “You deserved so much more than this.” She used all of her upper body strength to pull him across her lap, crying out as the dagger shifted.
He was so cold. He had never felt this cold before. She took his hand in hers, and it felt like she was back in the city watch’s office with the body of her father.
“I wish we had more time. I would have … We could have …” Her words were stuffed back down her throat by the knot of grief that tightened around her neck.
She traced the line of Rook’s jaw, trying to remember how it felt while he was still alive, and turned her gaze to the sky. She let loose a banshee-like scream as her system was flooded with emotions.
It was as though every terrible memory and feeling she had experienced in her twenty-four years had decided to resurface all at once. Fear, anger, grief, hate, heartbreak, and loss attacked her psyche, willing her to break, but she couldn’t. Wouldn’t.
If this was to be her last moments in this world, she would not waste them in an anxiety-induced coma. She would hold Rook tight and watch on as her friends fought to save their world, staying strong for him, for them.
Groups of fights rained across the field, and more and more bodies fell.
Soren’s eyes refocused on Adriel, and she found Baz and Enara shortly after. Where is Jai? she thought, taking another look. There. He was on the ground, doubled over, an angry red line showing through a large gash in his armor. Her hope dwindled.
Enara and Baz were fighting with everything they had, but Adriel’s arm was back in play. He kicked Jai in the chest, grabbing up the trackers weapon, along with his own. He dual-wielded the long swords, and Soren knew then it was over.
Coraxis went flying, and Enara was knocked to the ground. Baz tried to get to her, but Adriel’s blades were relentless. Baz dodged Jai’s sword, but Adriel cracked the pommel of his into his back, causing him to drop his weapon and fall to the ground at Enara’s feet. They tried to reach for each other, but Adriel pulled him up by his auburn hair, holding him to the side as if he couldn’t stand to be in his presence.
Enara struggled to her feet, but Adriel kicked her to the ground again, looking between them. His face grew into a saccharine grin, and he licked his lips.
“You love him, don’t you?” he sneered.
“Please,” Enara replied, her heart breaking. “Take me, kill me, but spare him.”
Baz was struggling in Adriel’s arms, trying to grasp at anything, but even his strength could not compare to a god’s. Both of his hands grasped at the one Adriel had around his throat, and he strained to look at Enara.
When their eyes met, his showed no fear. The gold flecks sparkled brighter than ever, and he looked at once like the boy from school who had lent her his jacket on a cold autumn day. Her heart constricted as his eyes softened, as if to say, “It’s okay.”
Before she had a chance to respond, Adriel said, “Let me cure you of that weakness,” and then he snapped Baz’s neck.
Enara heard screaming that she thought was her own then realized the cry came from Soren. She looked back to see her brother propped in Soren’s lap, and then her eyes returned to where Adriel held Baz’s body. He was so still that he looked like a doll she used to play with as a child.
She did not move, or cry, or scream, or even speak. Because to do any of those things would be to admit the truth of what had just happened. That Baz was dead.
Her heart cavity felt like a black hole, sucking her into the void, and her stomach twisted painfully.
Adriel dropped Baz’s body then held his blade toward her. She refused to look at him and instead reached a hand toward Baz’s, wanting to touch him one last time. At the sight of his lifeless body, she turned to the side and retched, earning her a tsk of disappointment from Adriel.
“Humans,” he scoffed. “Even your stomachs are weak.” He then raised both swords, crossing them in front of Enara’s neck, poised to decapitate, when boomssounded from the gate and he smiled.
“You know what?” he said, lowering his weapons. “I don’t want your blood sullying my blade. I think I’ll let my beasts have you.” He backed away a few steps, and Enara got to her feet, standing between whatever was coming and Baz’s body.
Black creatures filtered in through the portal, and she readied herself. The booms kept coming, and then a horrific screech filled the sky as one of the creatures fell to the ground in front of the gate and fire flew from the archway, finishing it off.
Enara smiled. Then, before Adriel could grab her, she was running to one of the nearby bodies to take up her sword. She knew in her heart that whoever was coming through the gate was an ally. And she was right.
The Anistera rebellion was here. Luscinia and Abraxos, as well as their brothers and sisters, pushed into Irefeld and filtered over the field, snuffing out all enemies in their path.
Adriel forgot about Enara and began cutting down his brethren as he commanded his beasts to surround him.
Baz’s body was left alone in the dust, though Enara mentally promised him that she would be back as she charged toward a nearby beast with fury in her eyes and love in her heart.
* * *
Soren was still staringinto Rook’s pale face, her mouth open in a silent scream, when she felt a hand rest on her shoulder.
“Let me help.”
She wiped her eyes, recognizing the voice. “They are all dead,” Soren whispered. Her heart was cut into pieces so small she wasn’t sure they could be put back together.
She looked up, and her brows furrowed when she took in the sight of Luscinia. The ethereal woman was battered and bruised, and her silver hair was plastered with black and red blood.
“Luscinia,” she breathed, “what happened to you?”
“Nothing that cannot be undone with time. Come; allow me to help.” She gestured then kneeled to lift Rook’s body from Soren’s legs. Her thigh was on fire, but the rest of her felt cold, as if a mountain stream were trickling over her skin.
Luscinia took in the sight of her and reached forward, but Soren held up her hand.
“Him first,” was all she could manage as the adrenaline began to wear off and the pain filtered in.
“As you wish,” Luscinia replied, letting her hands drift over Rook’s body.
Soren was scared to ask, but she needed to know. “Is he alive?”
Luscinia nodded, her hands glowing lightly. “He is, but only just. It will take most of my energy to heal him.”
Soren’s heart slammed forward so hard it nearly knocked her over. Rook was alive. However, her happiness was short-lived when Luscinia’s words finally registered.
“You could die saving him,” she whispered.
“Yes, I might,” Luscinia replied matter-of-factly.
The selfish part of Soren wanted to sit back and let that happen. She wanted Rook alive, and breathing, and in her arms. She wanted to tell him all her secrets and protect all of his. She wanted to go on more walks and enjoy silent moments in the library by the fire. But most of all, she wanted to tell him what he meant to her.
War raged around them as Luscinia worked. From a distance, Soren could see Enara return to her position, hovering over Baztien like a mirror image of her and Rook moments ago.
Her eyes flicked to Baztien’s body before she pressed them shut, willing the image away. Her heart could bear no more pain, so she encased it in ice. It could break later. Her head swam, and black dotted her vision as another wave of pain threatened to knock her out.
“It is done,” Luscinia said, exhaustion clear on her face. It looked as though she had aged backward twenty years in but a few moments. The fine lines tracing the edges of her eyes were gone, and her skin held a youthful glow. “Give me a few moments, and I’ll see to that leg.”
“I’ll be fine,” Soren lied. “You said your abilities were finite. I will not ask any more of you.”
“It is mine to give to whom I wish,” Luscinia replied, her eyelids fluttering as though she were falling asleep.
“Rest,” Soren said just as Rook’s hand tightened in hers. She tried to keep her movements slow, not wanting to jostle her leg.
“Rook,” she whispered, her voice breaking.
He inhaled deeply, his chest expanding, and then he opened his mouth to speak. “Hello, little bird,” he said, opening his eyes and reaching a hand up to cup her cheek.
“You came back,” she cried quietly, nuzzling against his hand.
“I will always come back for you, little bird.” He sat up and inspected his chest through the torn material of his shirt and found that his injury had fully healed.
He folded Soren into his arms, minding her leg, and she ignored the dull ache that came from her shoulders.
“Baz is dead,” she choked out, sobbing against his chest.
He scanned the field to see Enara standing over Baz’s body. He knew no words would comfort her, so he settled for holding her tighter.
“Thank you,” he said to Luscinia, who was struggling to regain her energy.
“Keep her safe,” she replied before passing out.
“We need to protect her,” Soren said, pressing away and reaching for her mother’s friend. The dagger felt like a hot poker pressed to her thigh, and she bit back a cry, but her struggle did not go unnoticed.
“Let me look at you,” Rook said, crouching in front of her.
“Don’t,” she replied, grasping his wrist that had been reaching for her leg. He was about to comment about her being stubborn, but before he could, she said, “Not before I say what I need to say.”
He let out a strained breath and sat, resting his elbows on his knees. His hands shook, and he could still feel the coolness of his father’s blade penetrating his chest. He itched for his rapiers that were no longer by his side, wanting to rejoin the battle, but he would give Soren this moment. Because, as beasts and men fought and fell around them, there was still only her.
“Okay, little bird,” he said softly, waiting.
“I love you!” she half-cried, half-yelled then slapped her hands to her mouth.
Rook let out a whisper of a laugh before he replied, “I love you, too, little bird.”
She looked at him sheepishly, wanting to elaborate. “I need you to know what I mean when I say those words,” she continued. “People say I love you all the time, for all sorts of different reasons, and I want you to know mine.”
He pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “Go on,” he coaxed.
She blew out a breath and spoke again, laying her emotions on the ground before them. “When I say those words, I mean I want to start and end the day with you. Every moment with you, no matter how small, is important to me. I want to bottle your laugh. I want your every kiss and every touch to brand my skin and forsake me to all others. I want you to know that you are mine, and I am yours, and no being in Entheas or Anistera can take that from us. And when we die, I will follow you into the after to float with you amongst the stars until we cease to exist. You are it for me.” She was breathless when she finished, and her heart was hammering against the cage of her ribs.
“I am yours?” Rook asked softly, testing the words on his lips.
“Yes,” Soren breathed.
“And you are mine?”
“Always,” she replied, and he pressed his mouth to hers.
Something happened then. As they kissed, an invisible tether took shape inside them, bonding them to each other forevermore. Their hearts were two pieces of the same flame that ignited both of their souls, their love burning hotter than a thousand stars and a thousand blazing suns. The sky seemed to rise and fall with their breaths as the bond fell into place, confirming something they had known for a long time.
They were mates, and even though fate had destined their paths to cross, it would never change the fact that their love was what truly bound them to one another.
They picked up every broken piece of each other to build something new, together. A perfectly imperfect love. A love built on broken promises and shattered dreams. On darkness and trauma. They were the light to each other’s day and the sun that broke through each other’s storms. They were more than mates; they were twin flames. Two pieces of the same soul searching the earth and heavens for its other half.
Maker help anyone who tried to keep them apart.