Chapter 62
—Connak—
The barrier dissipated. Connak and Ruva rushed forward the minute it dropped. As soon as they were near enough, Kienna clutched Connak’s shirt, eyes wild. “Please, you can heal him! I’m begging you.”
Connak knelt next to Danek, placing a steady hand on his chest. He waited for as long as he could to feel a breath or a beat.
Anything to tether Danek back to this world.
Time stretched endlessly. Connak’s hands shook against Danek’s body.
There was nothing left. Moisture collected behind his eyes, burning.
He shook his head and gently closed Danek’s lids. “He’s gone.”
Kienna reeled back and then slammed her fist into Connak’s shoulder. “What do you mean? You brought that stag back in the Malintale. I saw you do it. You can bring him back, too.”
Connak fought back the emotion overcoming him. His throat bobbed with heaviness. “Only when there’s something left to save. Danek is gone.”
Silence fell over them while Kienna processed.
Broan stood behind her, hands shaking as quickly as Kienna’s.
Her mind cracked as she fell to her knees beside Danek, her hands still pressing desperately against his wounds as if sheer force could bring him back.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, breaking. “I’m so sorry.
Please… I should have told you… I should have—”
She wailed as Danek’s body stilled. Her breath came in short, ragged gasps, rocking against him, her forehead resting on his chest.
Connak bowed his head. There was only silence as the forest grieved.
—Broan—
Broan knew death, but not like this. There was never a day when he worried he’d never see his brother again.
If the thought had ever crossed his mind, he would have never taken their time together for granted.
Most days, he spent reeling out insults and jests to keep the mood light.
Now, he wished he had told Danek how much he cared. Like Kienna, he’d left too much unsaid.
His jaw remained tight, his lips sealed as his chin quivered at the scene before him.
Danek was the best of them all, always fighting for the good of the realm.
All he could do was stand there and watch as his best friend’s life escaped him.
He wanted to punch the ground. He wanted to fight, but his body wouldn’t move.
Tightness consumed him. Scalding heat pooled behind his eyes as he fought against the emotions brewing inside.
Crying was a weakness Danek would have disapproved of.
Broan couldn’t bear to do it as he listened to Kienna’s sobs, her own body heaving over Danek’s.
The sound of her wails nearly broke Broan.
His eyes fell to his boots, water dripping on the leather.
“Get up,” he said, but his words were drowned out by the tears all around him.
Before they got here, Broan had made a collective decision to ask Danek back to the mountains with him.
He wanted to share his new life with his brother.
He wanted to take him to the tallest peaks to see if Lief could show him a thing or two about climbing—or perhaps it was Danek who would show Lief.
That would have been a sight to see—who could climb the ice the fastest. Except, it was not a sight he would ever get.
The blood pooling in the cobblestone said as much. Broan gripped his fingers into his palms. He swiped at his face, trying to understand what led them here. Broan’s attention shifted back to Baila, a scowl pulling on his face.
—Baila—
Baila would have done a million things differently. She would have dropped the blade. She would have never chosen King Vaerin. She would have refused her father every day if it meant she didn’t have to be the one to live with this for the rest of her life.
She stared at Danek. Sweet Danek, who would never hurt a leechbug in River Storm. The man who spent this whole time fighting to convince her not to be this way. She should have listened. Seeing him dead… She’d never forgive herself. Grief held her hostage, tears flowing down her freckled cheeks.
When Kienna flung her into the wall of the ruins, she let the pain in her back distract her from the pain in her heart.
Baila stood and watched Kienna, feeling emotions she never thought possible toward her.
A choked sob ripped from Kienna’s throat, raw and unrestrained.
Baila did that, and the guilt controlled her now.
Connak and Broan were frozen across from Baila as Kienna’s wolf howled near Danek’s side. It nipped at his hands.
Stupid wolf. Baila wiped her cheek. He’s not coming back.
—Connak—
The ground shook around them. Connak unfolded his hands and watched the rubble bounce against the stone.
He searched for the source, wondering if maybe Broan was having an emotional reaction.
When he looked at the Viking, Broan stared off into the distance.
Anywhere but Danek. His jaw was clenched, but he didn’t seem to be the one controlling the earth. Which only left Kienna.
Danek’s body glowed with dark hues of blue, the shimmering of magic swirling around them until the colors remained only in Kienna.
Wind danced around her as she cried, magic coursing through every vein.
She barely noticed the transfer, but Connak did.
Did the Eternal Mother do that? Or was that also Kienna?
Connak didn’t have much more time to ponder.
Kienna glowed red.
There was no stopping what was coming. Connak pushed Broan backward, reaching for Ruva in the process. He couldn’t get to her in Kienna’s head. She wouldn’t let them in. “We have to go,” Connak said.
The air grew heavy. The ground trembled. Magic surged violently through Kienna, searing the air with undeniable heat. Her cries shattered the world around them, sending shockwaves outward. Stone walls crumbled. Trees splintered. The earth quaked beneath her as if the world was mourning, too.
“She’s going to destroy everything,” Broan said, voice cracked.
“She’ll destroy us if we try to stop her.” Connak’s gaze remained steady on Kienna, watching as the energy poured from her, consuming everything in its wake.
Ruva’s ears flattened, a breathy whine escaping from her.
“Let her grieve here. Better this ghost city than a populated one. She can burn it down. When she’s done, we’ll find her.”
Magic shot into the sky, Kienna screaming in the ruins of a lost world.