Chapter 43 Nyte
Nyte
I was born in the darkness. Crafted by it. So when it came for me, I didn’t submit; I embraced the dark.
She took my Starlight, and my rage shattered the ice Fedora trapped me in. On one knee I took breaths to organize my fury, not tame it. The storm that was coming for my father was going to end him if it was the last thing I achieved on this fucking land.
Shadows leaked around me. I lifted one hand from the snow, testing if they were real. The familiar sense of animated darkness wove between my fingers like a greeting from an old friend.
Did I have the ability to use them again?
A loud roar dragged my sight up, and I found Eltanin circling like a spiral of smoke; it clicked in me then. Something I should have realized sooner.
Eltanin’s breath had always felt familiar, even looked familiar.
“Shit, I didn’t know if that would work,” Drystan said.
I jolted at his sudden company. He wasn’t alone, and I blinked my blurry vision before shooting up with lashing wrath to discover the redhead with him.
“When were you going to tell me you could use your dragon’s power?” Nadia folded her arms in accusation at Drystan.
My mind was already spinning to a violent storm with Fedora taking Astraea, now faced with the wrath and confusion of seeing Drystan and Nadia together, I was close to passing out.
“One of you better explain before I lose it on both of you,” I said in a deadly, controlled calm.
“A thank you for saving your ass would be appreciated,” Drystan grumbled.
His posture stiffened when my expression didn’t change slightly. I likely resembled a feral beast right now. Drystan shifted nervously before coming closer.
“Honestly, I’m kind of flattered you and Astraea believed I managed to tackle all those temples myself. In truth, our father has been just as busy as us, and Nadia was with him the entire time, ready to swap out any true key pieces if possible.”
Drystan’s scheming was going to be the damned death of me.
“You couldn’t have told us that?”
He shrugged. “The fewer people who knew, the better.”
Nadia explained, “Your father wanted me to kill Drystan from the start. It was him who told me about the blood bond that was created between Drystan and the vampires he transitioned; that was all true. I’ll admit I truly wanted to kill him for a while.”
“So what changed?” I asked bitterly.
“I simply switched my allegiance. You lot might be marginally better company.”
Drystan added, “So when she told me back when we were in Alisus, after freeing Athebyne, we decided to keep up the ruse and Nadia spied for us instead.”
“You couldn’t have warned us sooner about his plan to send a cunning nymph with a powerful trident after us?” I growled.
That shot his brow up in surprise.
Nadia said, “Are you sure it was your father’s order?”
“Fedora gloated about it,” I snapped.
Nadia and Drystan exchanged a look, communicating silently, which irked me.
I raised a hand swirling with shadows. “Tell me why I have this.”
Drystan answered, “I didn’t want to mention it in case it didn’t happen for you; not all riders can harness their dragon’s power.
I figured you would have by now if it were possible, but it seems your sulking after losing Nightsdeath might have suppressed it.
All it took to unlock was the acute rage of Nightsdeath. ”
I looked up at the circling black dragon; occasionally Athebyne dipped through the clouds too. It dawned on me …
“You can use fire?”
“You might have broken that ice yourself eventually, but I gave you a good helping hand,” he said smugly.
“How long have you been able to do that?” I groused.
“Hey, you should be happy for me!”
I had to close my eyes for a moment of sanity.
My brother could use fire magick when Athebyne was around. It was incredible and my sharp irritation was only because of the secrecy.
“Why wouldn’t you tell me?” I amended.
“I was waiting to see if you reached Eltanin’s magick.”
When his reason sank in, I felt like shit. He hadn’t wanted to show off his new power for the sake of my feelings. As if I would resent him for it if I couldn’t achieve the same with Eltanin.
My anger cooled at that.
“How did you know I was here?”
“Eltanin found us, and we thought to make sure you weren’t dead, given how he was wounded,” Drystan explained.
“I appreciate it,” I mumbled. I would tell him about Rastaban and his fight with Eltanin later.
The shadowy starlight circled and primed around me just as it used to, yet instead of anger and resentment, which usually caused the darkness to answer me, all I felt was peace and wonder.
“Do you know where father is?” Drystan asked.
My jaw and fists clenched.
“I’m willing to bet he’s right back where it all started. On the stolen throne that was always his objective.”
And he’s not getting the villain he created this time. To protect Astraea, I’m much fucking worse.