38. Chapter 38 #2
Yet nothing prepared me for just how strong the rot was here, and how weak the roots deep beneath her were, and how much they needed to rest. Still, I pushed, expending all of my power, knowing that it was only touching a fraction of the roots it needed to.
My hands trembled as I fought to keep my connection with Rida, yet it would only go so far.
The power of so much destruction was too strong, and it was only a matter of time before my power rebounded, the roots pushing it back up into me, and burning me from the inside out.
But even with that possibility looming, I kept pushing, kept fighting—for the roots, and for Rida—until I felt a jolt of power surround me, something much stronger than I had ever come in contact with at any point in my life.
A clap of power sounded from above, and I looked up, finding Mirelda and Myaella fighting above me, flashes of Divine power near blinding me as I watched them.
Even with the terrifying beauty that was their powers on display, I couldn't help but panic as the surrounding plains and trees began to wither, their green leaves and branches shriveling as they continued to battle.
They were taking too much, draining the Divine power that fueled Yllsora for their own fight, one that had already seen the downfall of the Caelium, and would now see the downfall of my own world.
"Stop!" I screamed at them, my throat nearly splitting in two with the effort.
I looked back at the field and found that the fighting between the mainland men and the residents of Hythe had begun again, the Divine fighting in conjunction with mortals, two everlasting wars existing next to one another.
There is something grounding about witnessing such a thing, something that you know will change the course of everything.
It's as if the world slows for a moment alongside it to take it in too, knowing that once this was over, it could never go back.
And if both the Divine and the men continued to fight as they did now, there would be no world to go back to.
I heard Malik grunt behind me, fighting with all his might against the mainland men that had surrounded him as I kept my hold on the roots beneath Rida.
Even as he honed all the strength he had, putting his all into the fight was not enough, as I watched Kain and another man from his camp seize him, pulling him back and away from the fight. Malik thrashed, but even his strength had begun to diminish.
It wasn't long before they overtook him, Malik growing limp in their arms as they squeezed his throat.
"Malik!" I screamed, my voice weak, nearly every drop of life within me drained. I had never seen him so vulnerable, so defenseless, and for the first time, I feared for his life, not knowing if he could fight off what was happening to him.
I panicked, fearful that Malik's end had finally found him, that his own men would be the ones to kill him and that I would be left to finish this on my own.
It was a foolish thought, knowing what I now do.
Malik struggled for only a moment before he found new life and began to thrash once more, a beast in a cage far too small for him. Kain and the other man struggled to keep their hold on Malik, the pair of them jolting with each of Malik's flourishes.
What happened next happened quickly. Malik anchored both feet on the ground and gripped one of the men holding him—Kain—his hands a vise on the man’s arm as the grass below his feet wilted, death spreading around him in a perfect circle as Malik drew on his powers granted to him by Myaella.
Malik continued this until Kain crumpled to the ground, his body dissolving from underneath his armor, withering into the dirt beneath him, feeding Yllsora with his body, the other man who had seized Malik quickly following suit.
The battlefield was quiet as everyone took in what had just happened.
Never had such a display of power been shown before, and the death of Kain at Malik's hands did not bode well.
It was then that the frenzy started anew.
My shock at the display of Malik's full ability washed over me as the fighting reignited. I couldn't wrap my mind around what I had just seen and the fact that it was Malik who had done it, that with only a touch, Malik could kill anyone from the inside out.
I knew his connection with Myaella could affect the roots, that he could crumple them with a flick of his hand just as I could bring them to life, but knowing that his powers could affect men and women alike, and so easily, changed everything.
The mainland men now looked at Malik with hunger, as if he was a beast meant to be tamed and used for his power.
Groups of men approached Malik on all sides, ready to attack.
Just as I was about to turn my attention to them, ready to aid Malik, a pair of hands came around me and yanked me back, a hand coming over my mouth as I screamed.
I was picked up from the ground, dragged back and away in the opposite direction of Malik, the smoke of the fire still stinging my eyes.
I fought back, thrashing and clawing at my captor, until a familiar ring came into view, freezing me in place.
Therian.
I had lost track of him during the fighting, too focused on the mainland men before me and the Divine above me to care what had happened to him.
"Let me go, Therian," I growled, clawing his hand off my face. Therian guffawed a laugh as he continued to pull me back.
"It doesn't have to be this way," Therian grumbled in my ear. "Stop them," Therian said, his eyes shifting to the Divine in the sky above us. "Come with me to the king, and together we can work with him. We can build Yllsora anew, and everything can go back to normal."
"You're a fool if you think everything will go back to how it once was after today."
I kept my eyes on Malik as Therian dragged me further, letting myself be distracted, so focused on Malik that I almost missed the rustling of the roots and vines beneath me that coated the ground, making their way towards Therian and I.
Of their own accord, and with me in Therian's grip, the roots wrapped themselves around his ankles, pulling us both down to the ground with a hard thump, wrapping around our bodies and anchoring us to the ground, their new prisoners.
These roots did not recognize how I was wrapped in Therian's arm and I could do nothing to stop them as they continued to wrap around us, my power drained and on the precipice of swallowing me whole.
This is not how I imagined I would die, in the arms of a husband I did not love, my eyes on the one I did.
I chanced one last look at Malik, wanting his face to be the last thing I saw, and found him clutching his chest, the rot no doubt making its way through his bloodstream, the veins in his face turning black at their corruption.
The battlefield was reaching its climax as I lay there, endless bodies of men falling to the ground as they died, Mother Blessed collapsing as they pushed themselves to the limits of their power.
A single branch fell from Rida's trunk, landing on the homes on the outskirts of Hythe, her death now imminent.
At this, the brightness of the Divine was thwarted within seconds, the Mother abandoning us once again, leaving only a dark cloud covering Yllsora, much like the night of the Black Shroud.
And this time, I felt nothing but peace.