37. Chapter 37
Together the reveler and I looked on to the fighting, watching as branches of nimids beneath Rida dropped before the mainland men, some crushing them completely.
More Mother Blessed were emerging from within Rida, their power deep, deeper than mine might ever be, ready to stand against those that threatened their home.
The roots around me moved with revived fervor at their presence. Seeing other Mother Blessed filled me with newfound hope, and in that moment, any exhaustion I had felt left my body.
I turned to the wall of mainland men standing before me, reinvigorated and ready to see them come to an end, and watched as the other Mother Blessed used their powers in ways I had never known possible.
As they moved, tree branches fell from the sky, rocks rose from the ground, and sand turned to glass, all sprinting towards the mainland men.
They pummeled the men over and over with the tools the earth provided, leaving them no room to escape, dozens of them dropping as they met their match.
The close sound of steel on steel caught my attention, and I looked over to find Malik fighting alongside the men of Hythe, leading them in a way only he could.
The men of Hythe did not have the sword skills of Malik or the men they fought against, and they were pushed back, struck down, and kicked, yet they still rose, spitting blood from their mouths as they fought for their home.
The revelers continued their work of draining the life from the earth beneath, but now, the mainland men were using that to their advantage, avoiding the spots where the earth cracked open and touching their torches to the dead roots, grinning with malice as they caught fire quickly, the flame approaching Rida with the swiftness of the wind.
No, I thought, dropping to my knees, feeling the pain of the roots as they caught fire. I willed my power into the ground beneath me, pushing healing into them, desperate to stop the flame's destruction.
The other Mother Blessed saw what I was doing and followed suit, dropping to the ground next to me. Together, we all pressed our hands into the dirt below us, pushing more power into the ground in hopes of drowning out the death that was making its way towards Rida.
It worked…for a moment.
The flames died when they reached where our magic imbued the roots, flickering out in an instant.
The mainland men shouted in disdain at our success, scrambling to stoke the flames once more, only to be met with vines that rendered them motionless, anchoring them down and stopped them before they could continue.
I had a glimmer of hope for only a breath, a feeling that maybe we all could make it out of this alive, that our young world would have a chance of survival as I watched us all work together in tandem.
That moment was fleeting, though, for more men poured off the ships into the valley below Rida, most holding shields and swords.
The last of the men from the forest made their way to the plateau, my father and Therian among them, the pair of them immediately finding themselves fighting off roots that a Mother Blessed sent their way.
And to my odd happiness, they were losing.
I turned away from them, focusing my fighting on men coming down through the village, and shot roots forward, whipping them with a speed that knocked them over.
We continued this ruthless dance for a long while, time a thing I could not make sense of, thought at some point I felt my power begin to wane again.
I ignored it and kept pushing despite the chill that had begun to make its way up my arm and through my body, knowing that we were close. That this would all be over soon.
I felt the other Mother Blessed's powers lessen alongside my own, the distraction of fighting off this new wave of men allowing more flames to be stoked at Rida's base, the fire now growing to the height of a temple as they licked up her trunk.
I surrendered for just a moment at the sight, thinking that this was it, that maybe we should concede. That maybe the Mother Blessed weren't meant to walk Yllsora after all.
Everything around me slowed, dust stinging my eyes as I watched my father and Therian cut down the roots that attacked them and turn on the Mother Blessed, turn on me, fighting for the sake of violence, for the hope of controlling a power they could not even begin to understand.
My father's eyes caught mine for just a moment as I kneeled on the ground, spent and exhausted because of something he could have stopped, but didn't. Therian continued to fight as the pair of us looked at one another, father and daughter, a sacred pairing that should have allowed me to depend on him, to be protected by him, yet the moment he married me to Therian, I had lost all semblance of that trust.
"Allyra…" my father said, his voice muffled against the sound of swords all around us.
"How could you do this?" I asked, raising my voice against the cacophony of fighting behind us. "How could you betray me? Betray Mother like this?"
My father's face tightened, his eyes dropping as he clenched his mouth, as if he felt guilty, before he raised his gaze back to mine, now laced with determination. "I want what's best for this world, just like you."
"And you don't think the Mother Blessed aren't doing everything in their power to do that? You don't think I haven't sacrificed everything in order to save Yllsora?"
"The Mother Blessed have not been able to do anything since the Shroud. The mainland men need to take over. There needs to be a clean cut in power," he said, hesitating before he finished, his eyes flicking behind me for just a fraction of a second. "I'm so sorry."
I was grabbed from behind then, forced down to the ground, recoiling as the roots hissed at my touch, the pain shooting to the very depth of my soul.
My father watched as the mainland men forced my hands into the dirt, forcing my power to reach for the roots as more torches were brought to Rida's base, their flame licking up her trunk.
"Once we settle the connection the Mother Blessed have with Yllsora, the king can better rule Yllsora and set us back on a path of progress," my father said.
"No," I sobbed, the pain making me dizzy, the little bit of strength I had leaving bit by bit as the roots bit back at my force of power. "No, this cannot happen, it can't."
The edges of my vision started to go black, my entire body trembling as the sobs continued to rack my body.
The chill of the roots continued to shoot up my arms, freezing the very blood in my veins, my heart slowing as the mainland men continued to hold me down.
I kicked with the last bit of strength I had as this was not how I wanted to leave this world, not how I intended to lose this battle.
There was still much to be done, so much to be accomplished.
Before the Shroud, the Mother Blessed had just been getting started on our mission, only barely beginning to cross over to the mainland to do the work we were meant to do.
And now that I knew the truth of what Yllsora needed from us, what she truly needed to thrive, I had to see it through.
I did my best to fight against the arms that held me down, to stand up, to call the roots to fight against them for me, but found myself weak, unsure of where my father stood, where he had gone.
The leagues of men on the field blurred, and I tried to focus on the men in front of me, only for their faces merge into one as they began to fight before me.
The repetitive movements of their fighting mesmerized me and I worked my way up to my knees only to drop to the ground again, this time of my own volition, my strength waning.
I wanted nothing more than to rest, to sleep right then and there, and wake up to find all of this was over.
To wake up in a world where Rida had been saved, where the Mother Blessed were no longer threatened, and we had found a way to work with the revelers, bringing a permanent balance to Yllsora.
But I knew I could not give up just yet. I willed my eyes open, only to see my father fall, a sword buried deep in his chest, my brother standing above him.
I thought I imagined seeing my brother at first, that maybe he was my last semblance of hope. But he didn't fade away as I continued to blink, looking between him and the body of my father who now lay before me.
Even with all the wrong my father had done, I gasped at the sight of him, unable to move. I watched as the life drained out of his eyes, blood making its way up his throat and out of his mouth, before he went completely still.
"Lyra," I heard from above. I turned to find my brother standing above me, in armor that hung off his body, a blood-drenched sword in his hands.
"Calyn," I sobbed, standing on shaky feet and falling into my brother's arms.
"I've got you, I've got you," he said, holding me close to him. "How did you get here? Why are you here?"
"Father and Therian left Sorrel soon after you did, and I knew I couldn't let you face them alone. I've been making my way here just as you have."
"Father…" I sobbed.
"I know, I know," he said, pulling me closer to him. "I took care of him. He's gone now. He won't hurt you anymore. But we still need to take care of the rest of them."
I could hear Malik somewhere behind me, fighting off a stream of opponents, buying us time I thought we had already run out of.
I used the last of my energy to chance a glance behind me, and watched as Malik fought with everything in him, releasing all the rage he had for the cards he had been dealt, for everything Myaella had thrust upon him, for everything he had to sacrifice because of it, even if it was for the greater good of Yllsora.
But even with all his might, he could not fight against the sheer numbers of the mainland men on his own.
We would need something on our side, something to help us win against these odds, as Malik and I were already running dry. I saw it in his slowed movements, my own hands trembling as the roots fought back against me for what my father's men had made me do.
I thought for just a moment that maybe this was it—that we had tried, but that this was as far as we would come.
I was about to surrender myself to the ache I still felt coursing through me, about to tell Calyn that it was over, that it was over if we could not defeat the rest of them, when a loud crack sounded from above, the world trembled beneath my feet.
I had grown so used to the sensation that I did not think anything of it at first, thinking maybe Yllsora was finally cracking in half, ready to swallow us whole at the command of the Mother and start over again.
I couldn't have been more wrong.
I looked above me and watched Divinity descend.