96. PRECIPICE
I wanted to cry because, suddenly, all of this felt wrong. It felt tainted, marred by someone else’s failed agenda.
We had defeated Lyceius. We wiped evil from this world. But some sinking feeling that I couldn’t ignore seemed to murmur in the back of my mind, But at what cost?
No.
I was letting too many things tear apart this victory. This moment was supposed to be a celebration. We’d prevailed. I had dodged the reality where Niall and I would one day lose each other. I was now a goddess, and he was a god at my side. We had eternity to spend together.
So, why did I feel like, somehow, we didn’t?
A few steps away, Karios had summoned the amulet again and stared at it, as if recalling a memory.
“I want you both to know that I used this as a means to provide the fae and the humans with something that might help them defend themselves against evil. It was meant to be a reprieve, a force that might stand against Lyceius and his corruption.” He looked up at Niall.
“Your ancestor could not handle the ability and the force that existed behind it, but then it surfaced again in your blood. You were able to wield it as I’d originally hoped.
I knew you would use it to protect the realms, until one of my own emerged with a kernel of my power—someone descended from Lyceius, but made anew at my command. ”
He then turned to me. “Your path, and his, were similar, as were your purposes in this world. It was only natural that you would be fated to each other, and that you would intercept one another when the time was right. It is my wish that every living being and creature know the joy of love, however long or brief it may be. And though his ascension was not planned . . . it comforts me to know that you will have each other.”
I turned and found Niall already looking at me.
If he hadn’t followed that strange tugging and attended Lumeri in Elandrew, if he hadn’t stayed behind and offered to train me, I would have stumbled into this realm and been held captive by Killian.
I would have probably been compelled against my will, and exploited, never knowing or seeing the true goodness and kindness that the fae possessed.
Never finding friendship or family in the beings I was taught to fear and hate.
My bond with Niall was fated, our love destined, predetermined by the hand of Karios and the fates, for the betterment of the world. Without it, without Niall, there would have been no bridge between the realms, nothing to incite me to fight on behalf of the humans and the fae.
“I only planned to shroud one today,” Karios said. “But seeing as things have taken a turn . . . Both of you, remove your armor, and kneel.”
Niall unclasped and unbound his leathers and armor, letting it all fall to the ground behind him like he was shedding his former self. He removed everything from his upper body, baring his heart and soul as much as his shoulders and chest. Then he turned to me.
“May I?” he asked.
I nodded, still piecing together what was about to happen.
He worked at the clasps and buckles, undoing the armor on my upper body. Then he gently tore the neckline of my shirt, just enough to slide the fabric down my shoulders, exposing them and my upper chest, but still leaving my breasts covered.
We sank to our knees before the god-king.
Karios approached us, and a flicker of golden light twinkled to life before him. It spread through the air, taking the form of a delicate cloth, glowing like the sun. The golden shroud, as foretold in the prophecy.
He lifted his free hand and the garment drifted on his silent command, coming to a halt above our heads. His voice rose, and as he spoke, it echoed across the valley, loud enough for all those watching to hear.
“I shroud you, Niall, god of darkness, and you, Auren, goddess of light, for you have brought peace to the realms. Never before has a golden shroud been given. So, today, let all who bear witness be of testament to this monumental achievement, and may you both receive every blessing.”
The shroud’s warmth kissed our skin as it draped over both our bare shoulders like a delicate shawl, pulsing brightly before dissolving away.
It left my skin peppered with golden, star-like markings, strewn along my collarbone and shoulders like a mirror of the night sky.
On Niall, it became an outline to his previous shroud, filling in the gaps and spaces in between the black markings he already bore—a reminder of his deeds in the past, and an honoring of the sacrifice he’d made today.
Karios lifted his hand, signaling for us to rise. Once we were standing, he placed a chaste kiss on my forehead, the way a father would upon his child. “Be blessed, daughter,” he said.
He moved to Niall, laying a hand on his shoulder.
“Be blessed,” he repeated, inclining his head to him.
When he looked between us, taking in what we had become, there was something like pride in his face.
Pride, regardless of all the unknowns. Pride, despite the hint of uncertainty that loomed like an unfamiliar shadow in the corner, watching.
Niall took my hand and pulled me to him, his other hand slipping into my hair and tucking my head against his chest.
The prophecy was fulfilled. Lyceius was gone. The realms would no longer be at war. There would finally be peace.
I sank deeper into his embrace and sighed, waiting to feel some semblance of ease.
“As for the matter of your talisman . . .” Karios said, opening his hand again and revealing the dark stone.
I peeled away from Niall and watched as his churning, golden eyes flared with strange delight at the sight of the amulet. He dipped his head forward, and Karios draped the chain around his neck.
The moment the amulet settled into place against Niall’s skin, a pulse of energy radiated from him.
He let out a relieved exhale, like he’d just been given sustenance after being starved.
Like the amulet was some sort of . . . life source.
The energy zinged along the bond, and something about it felt wrong. It felt . . . dangerous.
A deep rumble began in the atmosphere. It started from afar, then it crept closer, closer . . . until a clap of thunder shook the air around us. I stumbled sideways and was caught by Karios’s protective grip.
Niall, on the other hand, tossed his head back in some sort of surrender as dark wisps of what looked like shadowfire spun out from every inch of his body.
The darkness was strange and erratic. It bled into the atmosphere, then writhed on itself, as if testing the air and finding it repulsive.
It was shadowfire . . . but not. And it was sucked right back into him, as if he were a living vortex.
Karios held me close. Neither of us were sure what was happening.
Niall’s eyes flared and found mine as he leveled his head again amidst the whirl of his power. The darkness finally settled around his body like a cloak.
And then . . . he smiled.
I wanted to smile back, until I picked up on the faintest crack in his facade.
His smile . . . something about it wasn’t right. It was too proud. Too—
Suddenly, a rush of wind tore down from the sky, and a flash of white light illuminated the space we stood in, like the air itself had ignited. The atmosphere became charged with static, and Karios hauled me behind him as a being manifested in our midst.
The white luminescence abated, revealing Delyth, in the flesh, golden robes flowing on a phantom wind. Her eyes pinned Niall where he stood, then, she slowly turned to Karios and me. Shock and fear and disbelief contorted her delicate features. A pit opened up in my stomach at the sight of it.
The fates never manifested like this. Only in one’s mind would they ever dare venture, and even then, they were fleeting in their presence.
The space around Delyth distorted, pulsing like she was such a formidable force that the air itself was struggling to contain her.
I could feel her emotion as if it were my own.
It washed over me like a tide, causing my very essence to shrink back.
What radiated from her was no longer pleasant like before.
It was fury and dread—complete and utter shock.
Her voice trembled as she spoke only four words, directly to me . . .
“What have you done?”