Chapter 18 #4
Ellaryn held her breath. “And what if he can’t be destroyed?”
“He’s not invincible, Ruin. No one is.” Xander shook his head, his voice softer now. “Every strength carries a weakness. A man who could set the world on fire could still be brought down by a single drop of rain. There is always balance. The Gods see to that.”
Ellaryn’s heart kicked up a storm just hearing him mention them. She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re a believer?” She hushed her voice low.
In a way, that explained a lot—why he spoke with such certainty about things that felt impossible. But still, talking like that was the fastest route to losing your head in Cinder’s.
“Of course,” he said lightly, nodding until he noticed the look she was giving him. “Are you not?”
Her gaze dropped to the table. She didn’t believe—not anymore. Not for a long time. There was no point. Even if the stories were true and the Gods were out there somewhere, they weren’t in Cinders. Nowhere near it.
Cinders was a godless city, ruled only by devils.
“It’s hard to believe in anything good in Cinders.”
He gave her a sympathetic look, and Ellaryn quickly averted her eyes.
“Sometimes belief is all we have.” He said simply, as if that statement alone was enough for him.
It wasn’t for her.
The ring he twirled on his finger caught her stare. It was the same one she had seen that day in Magnus’ shop. Only this wasn’t a drawing. Nor a sketch. This was the real thing. Solid. Tangible. It glistened under the low light like it wanted her to notice it.
“That ring.” She pointed to it, her breath hitching a beat. “It holds some sort of magic, doesn’t it?”
The blue in his eyes sparkled as they flicked from the jewellery to her. “Oh, it holds a lot more than that.” He breathed.
She narrowed her eyes, head tilting just slightly—a silent command for more information. Xander’s eyes instantly brightened.
“It’s not the ring itself that is extraordinary… It’s the symbols.” He whispered as though this admission possessed enough weight to shatter even silence. “I didn’t tell you before because I didn’t know if I could trust you—”
“But you do now?” she questioned, watching as each strand of his hair fell across his forehead, only to be brushed back by his fingertips.
“You’re here, aren’t you?” He inclined his head, and Ellaryn felt her breath hitch as his eyes settled on her features. She averted her gaze for only a heartbeat. It wasn’t intentional, more instinct than anything else—muscle memory—don’t let anyone in.
“So, what are they?” she asked, her fingers tapping lightly against the aged surface of the desk.
“Each symbol represents one of the seven elements.” He pointed to the intricate designs etched around the diamond face. “Fire, ice, water, air, earth, light and shadow.”
“And what do they do?”
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
“It’s what they don’t do that’s interesting.” He said, which only confused her more. Her brow unintentionally furrowed.
“When all seven symbols are brought together, when every element is joined, they create balance.”
She tilted her head, still no closer to understanding.
“The balance of everything,” he explained, his eyes catching the light as they settled on the jewel, “contained within this little ring.”
Ellaryn stared at it.
“But what does it do?”
“Nothing.”
She blinked.
“Nothing?”
His smile widened, as though her confusion amused him.
“The elements oppose one another. Fire and water. Light and shadow. Earth and air. Each counters the other, keeping it contained, like oil floating upon water. Nothing passes between them. Nothing moves. Everything remains still.”
Ellaryn’s gaze returned to the symbols.
“And ice?” she asked. “What about ice?”
“The stone is an ice gem, frozen in time and unmelting. It connects the others. Allows them to exist alongside one another without destroying the balance.”
He leaned closer, his voice dropping.
“And when all seven are bound together, they create something that shouldn’t be possible.”
Ellaryn’s fingers stopped tapping.
“And that is?”
“Nothing.” He smiled faintly. “No magic. No spellcasting. No enchantments. Nothing magical can exist within its radius once the stone is shattered.”
Ellaryn felt a chill crawl along her spine. “You’re saying it creates an anti-magic field?”
“For exactly four hundred and twenty seconds.”
“That’s—”
“Seven minutes. One for each element.”
“And then?”
“The stone turns to dust.” His thumb brushed over the stone as he spoke.
Ellaryn sat in silence for a moment, absorbing his words—and him. The reverence surrounding the gem’s ability seemed to linger in the room like static, prickling against her skin.
Stopping all magic. Surely that was impossible.
And yet, as doubt warred with disbelief, Xander’s bright, impossible eyes held hers.
There was no amusement in them now. No teasing smile, no trace of the smugness he had worn moments before. Only certainty. And somehow, that was enough to make her believe him.
“If you’re telling the truth, if that ring can really do what you say, then that doesn’t sound like nothing.”
His gaze dropped to the ring. “It is the absence of everything.”
A pin could have dropped in the small space; the silence was deafening. Not uncomfortable, exactly, but loud—loud enough to drown out every doubt and question of sense or logic.
“What about Magnus? Why did you need him? Why did he have those drawings?” She asked, questions forming before her mouth could catch up.
“One of the clasps came free on my journey. I needed it to be strong. I couldn’t risk it falling before its time.”
She nodded her head, absorbing his words even though they were hard to take in.
“Why not kill him now?” Ellaryn asked. “Use the stone and pierce his heart. Why do you even need me?”
Her eyes held his, lingering on the cobalt strikes in his stare.
“Just because all magic will be void for seven minutes doesn’t mean he’s not still a Potential.” A muscle in his jaw ticked. “If we don’t know how to kill him, magic or no magic, we’ll have signed our own death warrants.”
He paused, his gaze unwavering.
“Which is where you come in.”
He smiled at her then—somehow soft and edged all at once.
“So you really think this will work?” she asked, afraid of the hope that itched its way to the surface of her mind. “You think you can take him down?”
Her mind raced with the fragile possibility of freedom.
“I don’t think,” Xander said quietly. “I know.”
The certainty in his voice made her chest tighten—not with fear or pain, but with the weight of a possibility she had never allowed herself to believe. She wanted to gasp, but the breath caught in her throat.
For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the city seemed lighter—an ember of hope pushing back the suffocating darkness, if only for a moment.
“But it will be dangerous,” he warned gently. “Finding the source of his power won’t be easy. It will take time. And…” He drew in a sharp breath. “The process is not pleasant; I’ll need to pull on the very essence that binds you to him.” He grimaced. “It’s going to hurt.”
Pain. That, she understood.
Physical pain could be measured. Endured. Survived.
Psychological pain—being trapped in the King’s invisible cage—was something else entirely.
And yet now, the very bond that damned her might also become the key.
A faint smile touched her lips, dark with irony. The same magic that enslaved her to him would be the magic that destroyed him.
“When do we start?” she asked at last, her voice quiet but unshakable.