90. ON THE CUSP
Lyceius had all but forgotten about his talisman. In his rage and desperation to find me, he had lost sight of the small details that would make all the difference.
Once the band was on my head, everything that existed faded away, and the purest white light surrounded me, bathing me in warmth and peace. It was so peaceful, in fact, that for a moment, I thought I might be dead.
My mind was quiet. Lyceius’s presence had vacated it the instant I slipped the talisman on, cast out by my fortified power.
The frigid burn that had been flowing along my veins had ceased as well, allowing me to focus on the strange woman that now stood before me. She wore a long, white, silken gown, and her golden hair blew gently in a breeze I could not feel. She was ethereal. A glowing aura shimmered around her.
She spoke with a voice like a gentle, babbling brook. “Auren, Bringer of Light, Daughter of Karios, I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time.”
“Who are you?”
“I am Delyth. I have overseen your fate since before you were born.” She smiled, bright and graceful. “It brings me great joy to see how far you’ve come.”
I blinked, not sure what was happening. “Am I dead . . . or dying?”
“You are neither. You are at a turning point—about to undergo a transition. Your timeline is special, you see. The prophecy exists for the greater good of this realm, and you are on the cusp.”
“On the cusp of . . . what?” I breathed.
“Of your ascension.”
Ascension. The word tumbled through my head like ink in water, flooding me with worry.
She stepped forward, and I stumbled back slightly, not expecting her to approach me.
“The prophecy is being fulfilled as we speak. At this moment, you are rallying a wealth of power within you that has not been seen since the dawn of time. No bloodline but that of the gods can bear this sort of power. The talisman is enabling your body to harness the full span of it. With it, you will be able to hone and control all that courses through you in exactly the way you will it. But there must always be a balance in power.”
I stared at her, waiting. I knew what she would say next. Morah had once spoken of it in Benmoor, back at the start of all this. Ever since then, it had been a thought that loomed in the back of my mind, waiting to come to fruition.
“Once he is destroyed, so too is the god of light as he once was. With that, we are left with a void amongst the gods, and that cannot be.” She lifted her chin, her voice deepening as if she were speaking a royal decree.
“Upon his defeat, you will complete your ascension and fulfill your fate. You will become the talisman’s keeper—the new goddess of light. ”
The confirmation sank into the depths of my mind with a weight that I expected but wasn’t quite ready for.
To a normal human, the thrill of becoming a god might have been met with excitement and eager acceptance, but instead, a pang of sadness rang through me.
I would have endless years ahead of me, but Niall would not.
Everyone that I knew, everyone that I cared for, would eventually die. And I would watch.
But more would die if I didn’t do this.
“Has it already begun?” I asked.
“It began the moment you put on the talisman.”
The lump of anxiety began climbing higher in my throat. I felt like bursting into tears. I felt—
“Steady.” Delyth placed a gentle hand against my cheek. “You must focus on your task. There is no more time. You must not fail.”
I had so many questions, so many things I wanted to ask of her. Maybe she could find a way for Niall to live longer, like me. Maybe she could alter fate.
As if she knew all of my worried thoughts, she gave me a pitying smile. “You may dream up any destiny you’d like, but a mortal’s desire is not always what will come to be.”
“But, what will happen to—”
“I cannot reveal your future to you, dear one. Nor can I divulge anyone else’s.
” She clasped her hands in front of her, regarding me with what looked like empathy.
“But I think you will find peace in knowing that mates are fated for each other for a reason. Your powers, together . . .” She paused on the word.
“Are a reckoning unlike any other.” The corner of her lips tugged into a faint grin. “But the two of you already knew this.”
“Two great powers . . .” I said.
She nodded. “Take what he gives you. It will help.”
“How am I supposed to wield it?”
“Use the talisman. Cast Lyceius out.”
I shook my head, not understanding how that was possible. A dozen other questions piled up on my tongue, but the brightness around me quickly began to fade as my physical body tugged me back to it. Delyth offered me a gentle smile as she, too, began to dissolve into the fringes of my mind.
She gave my hand a squeeze, and then, like waking from a dream, I was back in my body, cradled in Niall’s arms.
The icy-cold light was streaming through my veins once more, but it was bearable.
I took a moment to feel it, evaluate it.
It was pure, raw energy—the light of a star.
And there, hidden beneath the surface, was the facet I’d uncovered, the side that Lyceius preyed on.
Now, with the talisman, I was able to control it.
My eyes fluttered open, and Niall’s face flooded with relief.
He lifted his hand and pushed the hair out of my face. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I said. My voice was now a rasp in this form—unrecognizable. I must have been hyperventilating while I was out of my body. “The talisman is helping.”
The talisman . . . how was I supposed to use it to wield Niall’s power alongside mine? I didn’t know nearly as much as I probably should about the god’s talismans or how they worked. I was going into this completely blind.
“Delyth came to me. I have to use the talisman to cast Lyceius out, but I don’t know how.”
“Will it into being,” he said, holding my gaze with all the confidence in the world. “It’s just like controlling your power. You are in command. You tell it what to do.”
Behind us, Lyceius was stirring from where he also lay on the ground. Whatever had happened when I put on the talisman must have affected him as well.
Niall helped me to my feet and cupped my face in his strong hands. His calluses had been torn wide open from gripping the hilt of his sword, and I savored every scrape as they pressed against my skin. “I’m with you, my love, until the end. My power is yours to command.”
His words were meant to steady me, but instead, they left me fighting back tears, because at the end of this, I would ascend, and he would remain as he was, living a fae lifetime, a limited lifetime.
But there was no time for reconsidering.
I pushed those feelings down, and summoned my light.
The air crackled with a new energy.
My energy.
I was glowing from within. Light pulsed in my veins, and sparks danced along the fine hairs on my arms, arcing off into sharp strands around me. Niall’s eyes ignited into a golden flame as he channeled all his fury toward our joint purpose, and together, we turned toward our enemy.
We were a thing of lore in the making.
Would others tell our story? Of how we stood, hand in hand, to face a god in the flesh? Was anyone even watching, or was the war still raging below?
Lyceius regained his composure and wiped his hair from his brow. The moment he caught sight of his golden band sitting on my forehead, he snarled. “How dare you steal from a god?”
“I didn’t,” I said. “My Dionach did. And now, you are going to pay for every life you’ve ever taken.”
He roared as he launched at us.
The talisman hummed against my skin like a string drawn on a bow, ready to release my power wherever I wished. So I did just as Niall said. I aimed it right for my enemy, and commanded it.
A beam of blinding, white light shot forth from my hand—pure, raw power. It struck Lyceius in his chest and slammed him to the ground, the impact leaving a mark several inches deep in the dirt. Before he could move to stand, I hit him again with another burst.
Beside me, Niall channeled shadowfire at his fingertips. He sent a rush of it parallel to my beam of light, striking the god twofold.
Both of us stalked forward. Our streams of shadow and light drove Lyceius into the ground, gouging out a path as we pushed him further and deeper into the earth. When we finally ceased, a near fifty-foot gash marred the hillside.
Niall was breathing hard next to me, waiting for any sign of movement from the pit.
We took a step closer, when out of the dust, Lyceius leapt.
A wall of his corrupt power slammed into us, and Niall roared, sending his shadowfire out in defense.
A beam of light followed on its heel, twining with the shadows, barreling with such force, that Lyceius couldn’t avoid the hit.
Our powers struck the silver pauldron on his right shoulder, disintegrating it to white ash and blistering the skin beneath it.
Lyceius stumbled sideways, baring his teeth in both pain and anger as he shook out his arm.
Then, between his hands, he summoned a black mass and hurled it in our direction.
I stepped in front of Niall, my light shooting out in a white-hot beam, splitting the mass down the center.
But the darkness regrouped and enveloped us in a swarm.
It swallowed up the sunlight, and the world went black.
My power fizzled as I became overwhelmed by the madness.
Hundreds of obscure figures sprung from the depths around me, pulling, scratching, doing everything in their power to keep me subdued.
Inky, clawed hands reached for the talisman, but I lashed out, one hand holding the relic to my head, the other pushing light out in every direction.
Lyceius wanted to overwhelm me, to get me distracted and unable to focus on my power.
I cried out in frustration, trying to gain control of the situation.