50. Chapter Fifty Arryn
Chapter Fifty: Arryn
Watching my Queen fight Titania from behind the impenetrable shield was pure agony, my heart ripping from my chest as I felt every blow through our bond. For once, Rhowyn wasn’t shutting us out, and I could feel it all. The panic, the fear, the pain of her being slammed into the ground. The desire to keep fighting.
I watched helplessly as Rhowyn stood back up, throwing her own magic and pinning Titania to the floor. She threw punches at Titania’s face, splitting skin, sweat and dirt now mixing with their blood until Rhowyn shoved magic into her. The force of her assault split Titania’s focus, and she dropped the shield.
We all rushed forward as soon as it fell, but then Rhowyn was thrown back, landing in a heap several feet from Titania. When this first began, Rhowyn had rebounded from a fall so quickly it was incomprehensible. Now, she was struggling to get back up, her fatigue and pain being shared through the bond. Pushing up to an elbow, Titania shoved the dark magic at Rhowyn, intent on destroying her.
As the only person capable of defeating her, if Rhowyn went down, we would all fall. Without her, all would be lost. Looking at Titania, her eyes wide with malice and determination, blood dripping down her face. She was no longer trying to heal herself; her whole focus was now on Rhowyn.
The armies had faded from my focus, but as I took in the scene around us, my brain scrambling for a way out of this mess, I noted that they all stood still. Every face was turned to the battle between the Queens, the one that would determine everyone’s future. Awe and fear mixed in their expressions at the magnitude of magic being slung about, wielded as only masters could.
Months ago, Rhowyn knew nothing about magic, nothing about our world. Yet, here she was, trading blows with the most powerful among us. She was giving as good as she got. Moments even when she had the upper hand, but now, I could feel that all slipping away. Through the bond, I could tell she was flagging.
Rhowyn pushed to her feet, absorbing the dark magic to keep it from harming us, utilizing Lennox’s own secret against his mother. Rhowyn’s breathing increased, her chest heaving as the magic filled her. Lennox moved first, taking her arm to help her, but jerked away.
Looking at him, I asked, “What?”
He turned to me, a puzzled look on his face. “When I touched her, the magic started to fill me. It’s hard to explain, but that magic isn’t right.”
“Was it helping her?” I asked him, needing to know if this was the way we could help her or not.
He nodded. “Yes. The magic funneled into me in the same way that happens when I use my own magic. Our bonds allowed me to take some of what she was bearing.”
Lennox hadn’t even finished his explanation before Brannoc moved forward, clasping his hand to Rhowyn’s. His back went rigid as soon as their skin touched, the only evidence that whatever was happening was uncomfortable for him.
Not needing any further encouragement, whether it destroyed us or not, we’d do what we must to save our Queen. “Touch her. Help her take the magic.”
Lennox flew forward, taking her other hand. I took Brannoc’s side while Callum took Nox’s. Baer lined up beside me. As soon as my fingers closed around Brannoc’s, a gasp escaped my lips. The oily and slimy feel of the magic was oppressive. Not outright painful, but extremely uncomfortable. It was wrong in a way I could never fully explain. Lennox had been right; my instinct was to pull away from it, but I fought it, keeping my fingers laced tight.
My eyes drifted closed as whispers started to swirl in my mind, ones encouraging destruction and all-consuming power. Slamming my mental walls closed, I ignored the promises of indestructibility. My only focus now was pulling some of the weight from Rhowyn. She was our conductor, and we let her channel the magic into us.
The void in my chest slowly began to fill. As it did, I became weaker and yet so full. Like my insides were trying to push out of my chest, to burst me open if I took any more of the magic. Still, I held on as my legs trembled and my body began shaking to the point that I was nearly convulsing.
I held on until I couldn’t take another drop more of the magic, my body giving way before my mind could. Baer fell first, pulling from my other side. As he did, the magic increased its force inside of me. Unable to withstand it, I collapsed next, barely catching myself before my face slammed into the ground. I felt like a newborn foal, my limbs shaky and barely controllable.
Looking to the other side, I saw Callum fall. He was unable to catch himself, his chin hitting the packed dirt and reverberating through the ground. His eyes closed as he passed out from the impact and magic. Lennox and Brannoc still held on; something in their natures allowed them to hold more of the dark magic. If I had to guess, it was Brannoc’s connection to the Fomorians. Lennox was able to maintain his grip because it was his magic she was using. But before long, they, too, were shaking and close to collapsing.
How Titania was able to hold so much of the dark magic inside of her, I couldn’t fathom. The tide seemed nearly endless as she laughed, pouring the magic into Rhowyn with an insane glee. Never before had I seen her like this. I had always assumed that this lurked behind her eyes, but it was like she no longer cared who saw her insanity. In light of what I was witnessing now, her tyrannical presence before seemed like an innocuous fly in comparison. Completely harmless to the destruction that was now so close.
Brannoc fell first, Lennox just behind him. Rhowyn’s body snapped taut as she bore the brunt of the magic funnel alone. Her eyes were closed, and tears leaked from the corners. Her cries of agony tore at me, but I knew I couldn’t touch her again.
Through the bond, I could tell she was hearing the whispers I had, the ones that had wanted me to give up. I could feel her will succumbing to their insistence, unfaltering in their persistence against her mental wall. Pushing to my feet, my muscles screamed at my request to move. More than once, my arms threatened to give out on me. If they did, I wouldn’t be able to get this far again. I was using everything I had left to get to her. Failure was not an option.
Crawling to where Rhowyn was now on her knees, my pace agonizingly slow, I called out to her. “Rhowyn.” She didn’t respond, didn’t acknowledge that she could hear me. I tried again. “Rhowyn, my Queen, don’t give up. Fight this. You’re strong enough, the strongest person I know. Just hold on.”
Her voice whimpered out as she spoke, “But I’m not. It’s too much. I can’t take any more, I’m sorry.” Tears now fell from my eyes at the agony I could feel and see. The magic was ripping her apart slowly. There had to be some way to save her. Some way to stop this.
Just then, when I was about to give up hope as well, Cyerra took Rhowyn’s hand. A cry of relief fell from Rhowyn’s lips. Then Revna and Ramund joined their daughter on Rhowyn’s other side. Revna barked out a command, “Ravens, take hold. Help our Queen.”
They did just that, swirling in quickly, touching each other, and taking the magic from Rhowyn. Through the bond, I could feel the instant relief, her mind becoming her own again as the Ravens helped her channel the consuming magic.
Rhowyn’s eyes snapped open and narrowed with determination as she pulled on the magic. The shadows flew into her, faster and faster. Titania cried out, her face now showing panic. She moved like she was trying to stop the flow, but Rhowyn tightened her hold on the dark magic, consuming it until the shadows finally ceased.
The Ravens dropped their hold, each of them gasping and crumpling from the magic. Rhowyn stood again and stalked toward Titania, who was now on her knees. “Please, don’t hurt me. Lock me up. Keep me in the dungeons. I won’t fight you anymore.” Titania’s pleas littered the air as she tried to say anything, hoping it would spare her life.
Rhowyn said nothing as she leaned down to place a palm on Titania’s forehead. Light started to flow between them, Rhowyn sucking out her fae magic, her life force. The same magic that had been pulled from the land, from Avalonia. She kept pulling as Titania sobbed, unable to free herself. Titania’s hands went to Rhowyn’s forearm as she tried in vain to dislodge her.
What could have been minutes or hours, they stood there, locked in that hold as magic flowed. The last little bit fluttered into Rhowyn as Titania’s eyes rolled back, and she fell away from Rhowyn, her skin sallow and gray, her face devoid of life. Turning, Rhowyn’s eyes looked out at the frozen crowd of fae soldiers, her eyes glowing with light.
Light seeped out of her pores as she shook from the magnitude of what she had consumed from Titania. Her mouth opened, and Avalonia’s voice came out. “Avalon. Today, the land will get its magic back. Today, you are free.”
As soon as the last word fell from her lips, the magic burst from Rhowyn in a light that was so bright that everyone had to duck and hide from the force of it. A wave of magic flowed over us all, a shockwave that pushed us back. Some people fell, the thumps of their bodies hitting the ground sounding out in the silence. Another burst of light flung from Rhowyn and flew outward.
Rhowyn gasped as the last bit left her, flooring us all and knocking us out. A crack in my chest had me crying out and succumbing to the darkness of oblivion.