Chapter 34
Rynlee’s POV
While slashing through Blood Assassins and demons, my gaze darted to Alaric.
He was knee-deep in the fray, his manipulation magic sparking blades into existence as fast as he could swing them, swords appearing and vanishing in bursts of steel and light.
His chest heaved, armor smeared with blood, but somehow, he still wore that cheeky smile.
“Fifteen down,” he panted, slicing through another demon with a clean arc.
A shaky laugh escaped me despite the carnage. “Fifteen? Try eighteen.”
His grin widened, eyes bright. “You’re lying.”
“Whatever, you’re just jealous,” I shot back, nudging his arm before darting past him. He mirrored my smile, tired but genuine. For a fleeting second, it felt like we weren’t standing in hell, like we were just brothers-in-arms sparring in the yard. Then a thunderous roar shattered the moment.
A massive demon lurched toward us, its blistered green skin stretched taut over a grotesque frame, each step shaking the ground. The stench of rot and burning flesh slammed into me like a fist.
Alaric gave me a sidelong glance, nodding once. “Let’s send this thing back to the pit it crawled out of.” We charged together, him weaving, me striking, our movements falling into rhythm as if we’d trained for this exact moment.
The demon swung, claws slicing through the air, but I ducked low.
Alaric grabbed my arm mid-spin, using my momentum to sling me forward.
My boot cracked against the beast’s jaw with a satisfying crunch.
It staggered, bellowing in rage. Alaric was already there, conjured blade flashing as he split its belly wide.
I followed with fire, flames searing into the wound until the monster shrieked and collapsed.
We stood over the smoking corpse, breath ragged, chests heaving, alive by sheer stubborn will.
“Ready for round two?” I asked, grinning through the exhaustion.
“Always,” Alaric laughed, and for a second, the world felt lighter. We charged again. I slashed one assassin along the neck, blocked another’s blade, and buried my dagger into their shoulder.
“Alaric, Ruin! Fall back!” Aiden’s voice cut through the chaos, sharp and urgent. I glanced over my shoulder and saw him sprinting toward us, shadows tearing across the snow at his heels.
“Come on, Al, we should probably—” The words died in my throat. A flash of silver. Alaric gasped. The world tilted. Erebus stood behind him, a wicked smile carved into his face, arm fully extended. The blade was buried straight through Alaric’s chest, blood already soaking the metal.
My heart dropped. My breath vanished. “No,” I whispered. Alaric’s eyes found mine, wide, stunned, full of pain and confusion. And then, just like that, the moment shattered.
Erebus stepped back, yanking the dagger free as if it meant nothing.
As if my world hadn’t just split open. He turned and melted into the shadows.
I couldn’t move. My feet were rooted to the earth, my lungs refusing to work.
Time stretched thin as Alaric collapsed to his knees, his hands clamping over the wound.
Blood poured through his fingers, staining the snow beneath him.
Move, Ryn. I ran. The battlefield disappeared.
The screams, the clash of steel, the falling snow—none of it mattered.
I fell to my knees just in time to catch him as he slumped forward.
“No. No, no, no, Al…” My voice cracked as I pulled him into my lap.
“I’m sorry… Rynlee…” he rasped. Blood bubbled at the corner of his mouth. His voice was so faint. So wrong.
“Shh, don’t talk,” I whispered frantically. “I’ve got you. I can fix this. Just, just hold on.” I laid him back gently, my hands shaking as I pressed over the wound.
Golden light flared from my palms, hot and desperate, pouring every ounce of healing I had into him.
It wasn’t working. Darkness crept beneath my palms, black veins spidering across his skin, Erebus’s corruption swallowing the light whole.
That’s when Aiden hit the ground beside us, skidding to his knees.
“Al, hey, look at me,” Aiden said, gripping his hand tightly. “Ryn’s going to heal you, okay? She’s got you.” But even he could feel it. The truth. The bond screamed it.
“Come on, please,” I sobbed. “Hemera, if you can hear me, please. Please help me save him.” Alaric coughed, sharp and wet. His hand lifted weakly, trembling as it brushed my cheek.
“Ryn… it’s okay,” he whispered.
“No, it’s not,” I snapped, pressing harder, my hands blazing brighter. “You’re going to be fine. You can’t leave me. You can’t.” His thumb wiped away a tear, his lips pulling into the faintest smile.
“You have to accept the bond… with Aiden,” he said, every word tearing its way out of him. “You’re stronger together… you both need each other.” My heart shattered.
I nodded without realizing I was doing it. “Okay,” I choked. “I’ll try. I promise.” I leaned down, pressing my forehead to his, trying to will my strength into him. To keep him tethered. Just a little longer.
“I love you, Ryn…”
“No,” I whispered desperately. “Don’t say that. Don’t say goodbye. Please, please stay.” For a heartbeat, his gaze shifted to Aiden.
“Don’t—” Aiden whispered, voice breaking.
“Don’t you dare, Al.” Alaric lifted his hand with shaking fingers and made a small, swirling motion in the air.
I didn’t understand it. But Aiden did. His breath hitched, tears flooding his eyes as he lifted his own fingers and returned the motion.
A soft smile touched Alaric’s lips. Then his hand fell.
“No, no, no,” Aiden whispered. “Al, Alaric—”
“Please,” I begged again. But the light was no longer in his gaze.
The world stopped. A scream tore from my chest, raw, broken, unrecognizable.
“No, no, no, please!” I rocked him in my lap, tears spilling onto his face.
“Wake up, Alaric. Please. This can’t be it.
You can’t leave me.” I pressed a kiss to his cooling forehead, his name breaking from my lips again and again.
Like a prayer. Like a curse. But he was already gone.
Aiden gently closed Alaric’s eyes, his fingers trembling despite his control.
“Rest now, little brother,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to Alaric’s forehead.
Then his hand cupped my cheek, soft and grounding.
“Come on, Ruin. We need to go.” His shadows stirred, careful and reverent as they lifted Alaric’s body from my arms. I stared down at him one last time, my fingers shaking as I brushed his dark hair back from his forehead.
My chest felt hollow, scraped raw. I nodded.
But something inside me splintered. The grief cracked open, and what poured through it wasn’t sorrow.
It was rage. White-hot and blinding, it surged through my veins like wildfire.
Heat bloomed beneath my skin, fierce and consuming, until my palms burned and glowed like living coals.
The tears still clinging to my cheeks evaporated into steam as fury swallowed everything else.
Three shadow-knights stepped forward. Tall.
Humanoid. Their forms were folded in smoke and stitched with darker seams, void-blades dripping shadow at their sides.
They advanced slowly, confidently. They should have run.
I lunged. Aiden’s voice disappeared, drowned out by the roar in my blood.
The battlefield blurred. The world narrowed to targets and fire and the singular, overwhelming need to destroy.
All I wanted was to kill. My hand closed around the throat of the nearest thing, and I poured the flame straight into it. There was no flesh. No bone. The shadow screamed like a tempest ripping through hollow trees, a sound without a mouth, without lungs.
The darkness at its core burned outward, unraveling in on itself until it tore apart and scattered on the wind like ash.
The other two hesitated. Just a breath. Then they came.
I didn’t give them another. I hurled a ribbon of fire that caught the first across the shoulder.
It hissed, shredded, its form tearing itself loose into curling smoke that vanished before it could hit the ground.
The second charged, dagger raised. I slammed my shield up, golden light flaring in a blinding arc, and drove a blade straight through its center.
The shadow collapsed with a thin, pained sigh, dissolving into black mist that seeped into the snow and disappeared.
The last one turned to flee. I tackled it.
We hit the ground hard. I straddled its chest as it thrashed underneath me, smoke and limbs tangling, clawing for purchase. Its blade slid into my side, a sharp, jarring shock that barely registered beneath the roaring heat in my ears. I leaned down.
No mercy. No hesitation.
I breathed. Fire poured straight into its mouth.
The thing convulsed violently as its hollow center ignited from within, light tearing through shadow until it gave up, snuffing out into smoke that bled across the snow and faded until nothing remained.
Silence crashed all at once. The world narrowed to the cold bite at my ribs and the weight of the hilt in my palm.
I stared down at the dagger buried in my side as if seeing it for the first time, my fingers slowly curling around the leather.
Everything else blurred. Alaric…gone. The battlefield, distant.
The smoke…empty. And beneath it all, a terrible, raw hollow opened in my chest. I felt Aiden drop to his knees beside me.
“Ruin,” he whispered, soft and wrecked. I couldn’t look at him.
The rage was still burning too hot, too bright, clawing up my spine.
I wrapped my fingers around the dagger embedded in my side and yanked it free without hesitation.
Pain exploded through me, sharp, white, blinding, but it barely registered.