Chapter 79
How could this happen?
How could he fail her so horrendously?
Sune had searched for centuries for a being to become his chosen and when Sana's soul called to him he was elated because at long last, he'd found a flame to guide and bless with his presence.
But at the first chance, the first trial to protect her fiery soul, he failed her.
Floating in the endless black abyss, Sune waited for the light of Taraknor to guide him to the other side while shame and guilt ravaged his mind.
He was an ancient being. He'd lived long enough to see and know every danger to his kind, but he never imagined Aneera would be in the possession of that poison. That toxic dust hadn't been seen for centuries. How could she possess something so deadly to a Tsidian moth?
Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he wrapped his arms around his legs, curling his head against his chest. He never wanted to leave his little flame. He didn't deserve to be granted eternal rest when he barely got the chance to protect and guide Sana as he was meant to.
You aren't meant to be here, Sune.
A voice called out from the darkness.
Raising his head, Sune's heart thumped as Taraknor's tall ethereal form glowed in a golden light with his brilliant white wings gently flapping like a beacon in the well of darkness.
Your work isn't done, my child.
Taraknor held out his arms as the thick black abyss faded and they were floating above Sana in the burning storage room.
The wraiths were breaking through the walls as Sana bled out on the floor with burning debris and crumbled stone strewn around her.
and Sune's heart churned and ached to protect her.
She needs you.
Sune gasped, clenching a hand over his chest, his heart churning and aching to protect his little flame as her blood engulfed his crumpled body lying near her.
Do not fail her, Sune. For her light, her power, her very being is what holds this realm together.
"I won't fail her, Taraknor," Sune said, closing his eyes as the powerful essence within her blood swept over his limbs and wrapped him in a tight cocoon of rejuvenating life. "I won't let the wraiths take her from this realm."
Sune sucked in a gasp of air as he rose from the dusty floor as the wraiths screeched and the blazing heat from the fire roared around him.
He stood to his full height as his white wings sprouted from his black opaque body.
"You will not take her," he said, growling as he formed a golden staff in his hand, knocking the wraith hovering above Sana away from her.
"And what will you do, moth?" A wraith cackled, snarling as it swiped its razor sharp nails across his chest. "She already bleeds enough to feed us all."
Sune grit his teeth, standing over Sana as he formed a dome of protection.
"Her blood is not for your lips or the heinous creatures from your realm," he said as the wraiths hissed, beating and clawing against the impenetrable weave.
"You will have to get through me and the dragon coming to claim his phoenix before you ever get this close to her again. "
A deafening roar shook the foundation of the storage room as beams crashed to the floor from the burning ceiling. The wraiths shrieked and wailed as they scattered away from the falling debris.
Sune knelt down to Sana grasping the trowel protruding from her stomach with a shaking hand. "I'm so sorry, little flame," he said, pulling it from her stomach and pressing his hands over her wound. "Rhyel is coming," he whispered, pouring his healing essence into her wound.
His power alone wouldn't be enough to heal her.
All he could do was keep her heart beating and keep her soul from wandering into the netherworld.
She'd be a delightful meal for the otherworldly creatures who resided in that gloomy haven of sinister shadows.
In her state, they would devour her and use her succulent power to rise from their heinous realm to infect Tsidia with their darkness.
He couldn't let that happen.
He wouldn't.
Pressing his head against hers as the wraiths clawed and gnawed the dome, eager to devour her blood and her essence. "Hold on, little flame," Sune whispered. "He's coming."
For only the might of his dragon could save her now. Only his powerful essence and love could heal her and bring her back from the brink of death.
Slashing through wave after wave of wraiths flooding the halls of the estate, Rhyel let out a guttural roar, spewing fire over the wispy black cloaked beings.
He tore through the Lightbourne home without a care for his surroundings or the nobles and servants dropping to the floor from the wraiths sucking their souls from their bodies.
Nothing mattered but finding Sana.
Her essence and the ambrosial scent of her blood permeated the air as he ripped through the screeching beings some nefarious idiot conjured from the netherworld. A snarl curled over his lips as panic flooded his veins from the feel of her pain, her fear and her fading heartbeat.
Rhyel, I know you can feel her fading.
Sune's deep voice filled his mind.
She needs you. My strength can only keep her tethered to this plane for so long. You must hurry.
Although he didn't have much time to save her, a small sliver of relief washed over him that Sune was still with her and keeping her alive.
But losing Sana to the wraiths wasn't an option.
He couldn't lose the one person he loved more than life itself.
He already failed her in another life.
He refused to repeat the same mistake he made in that future.
We won't let her die, brother.
Rhys growled.
We love her too much to let her perish at the hands of the wraiths.
Kal seethed, filling Rhyel's veins with a rush of fire as he spewed flames over a cluster of wraiths clawing their way through the floorboards in a frenzy as if they were desperate and starving for Sana's blood.
He ripped through the splintered wood, dropping through the floor into a room engulfed in fire while wraiths hissed, scratched and clawed in a gnarled knot in a desperate fervor to devour the blood of his Erius.
Baring his fangs, he leaned up on his hind legs, spreading his wings wide as he called the fire engulfing the room to him.
Rhyel gathered the flames into a swirling ball of molten fire and released it on the feverish beings in one blazing blast of heat.
The wraiths shrieked a harrowing scream as their bodies burst and disintegrated in a puff of black dust and smoke.
The world fell silent as Rhyel sucked in a few deep breaths, releasing his full dragon form. The shouts and screams from the battle raging outside were muffled as fear and guilt ate away at his heart.
Sana lying on the ground, her dress ripped to shreds, skin bruised, bloodied and bleeding out brought back the awful memories of the future he lived through.
The future where he lost her.
"No," he breathed, racing across the scorched room to her side and breaking through the glowing dome of protection around her.
"She's still alive, Rhyel," Sune said, leaning away from her as his big black eyes looked up at him with remorse and guilt swirling in his depths. "But my healing essence isn't strong enough to sustain her. She needs you more than me."
Nodding as he carefully lifted her from the floor, cradling her in his arms. "I'm here, Sana.
" Tears pricked the corners of his eyes as he wiped a trail of blood from her mouth.
"Stay with me," he said, brushing her matted curls from her face as he placed his clawed hand over her forehead.
He closed his eyes, sucking in a shaking breath as he focused a concentrated well of healing on her.
In his mind, he found their entwined thread tethering their hearts together.
His, a bright vibrant pulsing line of midnight and fiery red, while hers was a graying line of red and purple.
I won't let you die like this, Sana.
He whispered across their shared bond. Knowing she couldn't hear him and their bond wouldn't allow him to speak to her mind, but he'd do anything to let her know he was there and wasn't going to leave her.
His pulsing thread hummed and vibrated as his healing essence flowed into her graying thread, igniting the red and purple in an effervescent light and her fading heartbeat, slowly pumped and beat a little faster.
Rhyel breathed a sigh of relief as he opened his eyes, slipping his hand from her forehead and gazing at the three golden dragon scales affixed to her skin, pulsing in sync with his heartbeat, sustaining her own.
"R...Rhyel..." Sana groaned, her eyes opening in a sluggish squint.
"I'm here," he said, cradling her head against his chest. "I've got you. You're safe."
Her body tensed as she shook in his arms. "P-poison..." she mumbled, her breath coming out in short gasps. The scales on her forehead pulsed in a feverish panic as sweat beaded across her clammy skin. "V-ver...verdigris," she whispered as her body fell limp in his arms.
Rhyel's eyes grew wide as panic raced down his spine. Verdigris stone was a deadly poison to the phoenix race. It was another relic he thought was destroyed after the Great War after the basdringas used the poisonous gem to capture their most treasured prey.
"Sune, find the stone and destroy it." Rhyel stood, cradling Sana against him as he backed away from the circle of blackened wraith dust and debris. "I need to get her away from this place before someone conjures another round of wraiths to find her."
Sune nodded, standing and pressing his fist against his chest. "Keep her safe."
"Always." Rhyel said, spreading his wings and shooting through the gaping hole in the ceiling and flying above the smoking house and the carnage that befell the Lightbourne estate.
To Barshaa, Kaladin. That is where she'll be safe.
The white dragon called to him as he flew beside him, his big violet eyes gazing at Sana in his arms.
We have done all we can to suppress the wraiths and your impeccable General destroyed the basilisk amulets they were conjured from.
The dragon said, turning his gaze to the remnants of the wedding ceremony below. The guests picked up the fallen and cried over those who were lost in the heinous attack.
Your wolves follow below. They are a formidable bunch. You should be proud.
"I am," Rhyel said, watching the vaguely familiar dragon beside him. He knew those eyes and those scales, but he was having a hard time placing him from his memories. "But who are you and where have you come from?"
The dragon chuffed as the moon's rays engulfed his body in a glittering display of white light as the dragon released his full form and a burly man with deep brown skin, violet eyes and vibrant crimson red hair with faint streaks of moonlight flowing through his long locks.
White ridged horns curled out of his head, matching his webbed wings and his starlight robes.
"It has been a very long time since we have seen each other and you have lived many lives in that time.
" A small smile tugged at his lips. "My name is Vassan.
I'm a dragon of the Qadim clan and a phoenix of the Zarathos coven," he said, gazing at Sana with a warm affection swirling in his eyes. "Sana and I are kin."