Chapter 60
CHAPTER SIXTY
Krunas Aeterna, extender of life. Immortality and power will make the worlds cower.
—Lock Scroll, the Arx.
Ifound my feet as the ash settled. Olienna’s shield held tightly in place around us.
A blanket of confidence fell over me as she stepped to my side.
Her violet eyes slid to mine, and I gave her a nod, despite feeling utterly spent.
Her lips tilted into a smile as she narrowed her gaze on Daimos, who had fallen to his knees.
Done. He was done.
Olienna took another step toward the dark king, whose eyes were shut tight. His shoulders shook as his jaw went rigid.
What was he doing?
Something small and distant tugged on me.
Realization dawned as I glanced again toward Olienna. Her eyes were wild, so much like Daimos in his crazed attacks. Her smile had widened into a grin, her too-white teeth gleaming in the dim light hiding behind the clouds. A wolf on the hunt, attacking his mind.
A scream finally wrenched from Daimos’s throat.
“They…” he gritted out through his teeth. “They will annihilate you…” A manic laugh escaped his lips. “You especially. You will pay… He is coming for you. He’s…”
Olienna’s upper lip curled into a snarl as she stepped closer. Whatever damage she inflicted caused Daimos to fall forward and wail, his hands flying to his face.
He looked up, yellow eyes bleeding as they landed on me. “Do you know what she did?” the dark king cackled. “They called her the Betrayer—”
Betrayer…
A weight dropped in my gut as she lifted both hands, readying her final blow.
Dread pitted in my stomach… I’d been here before…
Before a dying king who held vital information.
Hatred and curiosity warred within me in the split second it took for Olienna to take one deep breath and let out a war cry.
“WAIT!” I screamed as she threw her hands forward with an animalistic snarl. Nothing left. I had nothing left to stop this. I reached as deep as I could go to find any last bit of power. Empty. Empty.
I threw my hand toward Olienna and Dark King Daimos as someone slid theirs into my other. A spark. Astraeus’s power sizzled through my veins, where it summoned the Transcindiel and Obscura.
A wall of darkness sliced through whatever invisible line of magic Olienna used on Daimos.
The two of them snapped their heads toward us, eyes wide as they landed on Lord Astraeus. Twisted rage fell on Olienna’s face, and Daimos spewed droplets of blood on freshly fallen snow as he choked out a laugh.
“You’ve found them!” Daimos cackled, eyes wild with greed. “And you’ve brought him here?” The dark king howled with crazed laughter.
What?
My mind whirred, powers wavering as Astraeus continued to keep them from falling back into that chasm. His bloodied hand had a steel grip on mine. I resisted the urge to look at him, and instead found myself staring at Olienna, whose gaze had turned murderous.
“Drop his hand, Lyvia,” she commanded, her voice lethally quiet.
“Don’t,” Astraeus breathed, tightening his grip, a shield of his own forming around us.
Listen to me, Lyvia, her voice urged in my mind. This man is not to be trusted. Drop his hand. Drop your shield.
I want to hear what Daimos has to say, I responded.
Daimos is full of lies, she purred. He is the reason your father is dead. He is responsible for the ashen. Your friends are dying because of him. He will kill you next.
A wave of trust, of confidence, of love washed over me, and I blinked at Olienna. A soft smile formed on her lips as she inched closer. Her fingers drifted to the shield Astraeus threw up between us. My grip slackened in Astraeus’s hand.
“Lyvia,” he growled, squeezing, holding onto the connection his power needed to reach me.
My eyes remained locked on Olienna’s. On those beautiful, violet irises. What would it be like, I wondered… To have a mother who looked at me like this? Who loved me like this?
Olienna’s eyes softened, and her head nodded softly.
“Block her out,” Astraeus breathed, straining to keep his shield up and his power pulsing through me. “BLOCK HER!”
Olienna’s face snapped to him, and her lips curled into an ugly snarl as she threw her hand toward Astraeus.
His cry punched through the valley as she tore through his shield, both mental and physical.
He slapped something hard into my hand before he crashed to the ground, and I staggered as my own shield fell.
Olienna snapped her attention back to Dark King Daimos, his arms wide as he threw the Ramadiel power at Bayne and Nerissa, tearing screams from their lips.
“STOP!” I cried.
Daimos cocked his head and narrowed his eyes at Olienna through his shield.
“Will she save your Bellators, Daughter of Darkness?” Daimos asked quietly, a soft smile stretching across his bloody lips. His eyes slid from Olienna’s to my own.
“She’s a Bellator,” I said, remembering that warm connection, that confidence and love.
Olienna’s eyes slid to Bayne and Nerissa, whose bodies writhed and bled beneath the twisted Ramadiel power.
“Ah, yes. She has the power of the gods,” Daimos murmured as his smile grew. “And what secrets does she hold? She’s taken the life stretcher. Or did you give it to her?” he choked out before Olienna took another step toward him.
I blinked. Life stretcher. I snapped my head to Olienna, eyes traveling along the length of her braid, which seemed darker somehow. Were there fewer grays? Her eyes were brighter…younger.
She’d taken the Aeterna Bone from Aedrialis.
“And there’s a Conduit with us now,” Daimos continued, his bloodshot eyes slicing to Astraeus.
“Has he been with you all this time?” A chuckle escaped the dark king’s lips, more specks of red dotting the accumulating snow at his feet.
“And you didn’t know? History seems to be repeating itself, Olienna. ”
I glanced at Olienna, who stood with a dazed look on her face. She licked her lips as her eyes darted to Astraeus, and back to Bayne and Nerissa in animalistic greed.
“What are you talking about?” I asked, dread seeping through my system.
“Olienna. Queen of Nivis. Prophet. Bellator. And the ultimate Betrayer,” Daimos spat as he sent another blast of Ramadiel power into Bayne and Nerissa, whose screams turned to whimpering moans.
“STOP!” I wailed, tears streaming down my face. Astraeus’s body lay unmoving in the wet snow.
Tiberius! Help us! I called in my mind.
“History does seem to repeat itself. The queen of the Starlings under your nose, all those years ago. And one of her sentries, now found his way to your little death digger.”
I blinked, glancing down at Astraeus’s bloody body and noting the rise and fall of his chest.
“Olienna has claimed two powers. And now, there are four others, here in this valley,” the dark king continued. “Ripe for the taking. The Conduit laying at your feet.”
Olienna’s hands shook as her eyes swept over Bayne, Nerissa, and at last, landed on Astraeus. Daimos’s bloody eyes were fixed on Olienna. He was baiting her. I slid my eyes to the Tauruk, who circled behind Daimos, the dark spaces in his giant, horned mask pinned on Olienna.
Movement to the left caught my eye, to where the pile of bodies lay strewn on the side of the hill, where Aeriden crouched next to Vulcan. I whipped my gaze back to the king and queen in front of me, hope sparking in my chest at the sight of my brothers.
Here. Hurry, I called into that well of threads before I lunged, grabbing Olienna’s hand and sliding the rubelline cuff Astraeus gave me into place on her wrist. Her face went blank for a moment before igniting with rage.
Her scream echoed through the valley as I barreled forward.
I unsheathed Honor as I hurtled toward the dark king, whose eyes were wide on the blazing red cuff locked on Olienna’s arm.
The massive form of the Tauruk rose to my left, his arms wide with a hatchet in one, his other outstretched toward me as Aquila’s massive form dove from the clouds.
The Tauruk’s swing was cut short as the flare of a sword caught the metal of the hatchet.
Aeriden’s face was a portrait of pure vengeance.
He whipped his blade free, swinging to the right, but the Tauruk was fast, dodging his blade with a bellow of fury.
Aeriden ducked, palming his dagger, and he shoved the tip beneath the mask into the soft part above the Tauruk’s throat.
The creature roared, his massive, gloved hands reaching for the hilt when Aquila’s blade-like claws wrapped around his arms and ripped him from the ground.
The hawk’s battle cry reverberated through the valley as he lifted the Tauruk into the air and sliced through his arms, the monster’s massive body crashing to the wet, slushy ground.
Daimos’s shield dropped as he whipped his head around, spearing twin blasts of Ramadiel power toward Aeriden and Aquila. Aeriden collapsed, a scream forming on his lips as a shriek of pain ripped through Aquila’s giant beak before he fell from the sky.
Selvina sprinted across the field, unsheathing a thin blade and heading toward the dark king as the familiar thunder of hooves drummed from behind.
Tiberius’s dark form broke through the clearing fog behind Daimos, and my heart stuttered in relief at the sight of him. The dark king spun, cutting off the Ramadiel power from his targets, and raised his hand toward Tiberius.
“NO!” I screamed, but my legs dragged as I raced toward them, searching for any last bit of power I had left to stop what was about to happen.
The dark king raised soaked arms at Tiberius, a line of deep blue glowing bright at the tips of his fingers, as my caeluma reared onto hind legs. Daimos screamed as Tiberius’s massive hooves crashed into his chest, bone crunching beneath his sternum.
He slammed his palm onto Tiberius’s leg as the horse attacked.
A sickening, whinny-like scream escaped Ti’s mouth as the dark king shoved the Ramadiel power into him.
The horse crashed to the ground and kicked the air, writhing in pain.
Daimos struggled, choking through his broken sternum, but holding tight to the bone and healing himself.
I was almost there.
I sprinted for them, ready to rip the godsdamned Ramadiel Bone from his hand when Selvina stepped beside him.
“Finish her!” he choked at Selvina, who stood with her thin blade out, aimed straight at me.
I surged forward, ready to bury my dagger in her throat when she called, “Lyviánala!”
My hunt wavered for a moment, shock sparking through my system at the name and the sudden connection.
Lyviánala.
Queen of Darkness.
She nodded as she caught my eye, blinked once, and with preternatural accuracy, spun and sliced the tip of her blade over the top of the dark king’s hand, freeing the Ramadiel Bone from his palm.
Dark King Daimos bellowed in rage, fumbling for the bone. He threw his head back as it sailed through the air, his bloody hand reaching for it, and I narrowed my focus on his exposed neck.
A murderous calm settled over me as my legs pumped. Enya’s blade pressed into my back, urging me toward the dark king, but I kept it sheathed. I wanted to feel this.
I leaped over Ti’s bleeding body and shoved Honor’s sharp tip into the dark king’s pale neck.
His cold skin was clammy against the rage that burned beneath mine.
The warmth of his blood pooled over my hand as I held it there.
His yellow eyes were wide in shock as they shot to mine.
We fell to the ground, where his stumped hand thudded against my back, and I shoved again, twisting as I drove the life force from his body.
A spray of blood escaped his lips as he attempted one last breath, the air catching in his lungs and coming out in a choking gurgle. His chest convulsed once more before the yellow light in his eyes died completely.
My arms shook as I ripped Honor free and turned to find Selvina standing before me, the Ramadiel Bone resting on her palm.