Chapter 39
It Ends with Life
Brynardian people had more than enough reasons to live in pessimism, yet most still smiled even when their stomachs were empty and their clothes were threadbare. But the sight of Alissa’s hometown as she climbed the rubble with Eldric didn’t resemble the place she had grown up in at all.
The narrow streets she used to run with Freyah as a child were filled with endless piles of debris.
The market where she used to sell her hunting spoils had been reduced to ashes, and the wooden benches along the cobblestone were engraved with promises of revenge.
It was a town of ghosts, and only those who stayed could testify to the horrors they had witnessed.
People poured into the streets as the deafening crash of the wall sent tremors through the ground, shaking every surface.
Horrified faces emerged from doorways and alleys, their shock palpable.
As the initial wave of fear dissolved, the city descended into chaos.
People scattered in every direction like disoriented ants.
They screamed desperate prayers for salvation, pleading for the heavens to spare them from the beasts they believed were coming.
Others were more concerned about what the Iron Claws would do to them now that the wall had fallen.
Amid the madness, some stumbled and fell, trampled underfoot by those who fled, oblivious to the fact that no monsters were actually chasing them.
Alissa and Eldric fought against the tide of panicked people, struggling as if swimming against the current.
Some reached for her, their hands gripping her shoulders, shaking her as they cried about loved ones slaughtered by armored men hunting her.
Guilt clenched her insides, but there was no time to dwell on it.
Her focus had to remain on the path ahead.
All she wanted was to reach Dhalia, but with each passing second, the way to her daughter grew more crowded, more impossible, as people’s desperation intensified.
Suddenly, a man seized her from behind, pressing a knife to her throat. “I will deliver you to them. This must end!” he shouted, his voice raw with anger.
Before Alissa could react, Eldric struck the back of the man’s neck, dropping him unconscious in an instant. Without looking back, they pressed forward, gaining ground when a woman grabbed Alissa’s legs, begging her to surrender.
Alissa did not stop. She kept moving, dragging the woman clinging to her leg.
When another person blocked her path, something in her snapped.
“STOP!” she roared. Whether it was her magic or sheer despair that made her voice reverberate through the air, the effect was immediate.
Every person froze as they turned to stare at her.
Alissa crouched down, gripping the woman’s hands. “They won’t hurt you anymore. Look!” she urged, pointing at the bodies left in her wake.
Only then did the Brynardians register the blood-stained woman before them and the stranger by her side.
The corpses of the men who had terrorized the town for months lay near the rubble—a reminder of everything Alissa had done to get there.
As the realization set in and no beasts came after the people, confused whispers spread like wildfire, and the terror began to fade.
Panic slowly gave way to uncertainty and wary glances.
Finally, when the chaos ebbed, Alissa saw her chance to move toward her daughter.
Hopefully, it wasn’t too late.
The Weller’s place had never seemed so far away. When she finally reached her best friend’s childhood home, Alissa kicked the door down. The seconds that would have taken them to answer the door were precious time she couldn’t waste.
“Where is she?” she breathed.
Mrs. Weller wore a flowered dress, the red and orange details of which reminded Alissa of Freyah’s hair.
An apron stained with sauce was tied around her hips.
When Alissa’s gaze fell on Lorena’s face, she noticed the woman looked paler than ever.
Her usual neat appearance was far gone, with her hair tousled and dark circles shadowing her eyes.
It seemed losing her husband had been a weight too heavy to bear.
And she hasn’t yet learned of Freyah’s passing.
“Alissa?” Mrs. Weller’s hand rested on the left side of her chest. Alissa was almost unrecognizable with all the blood. “What took you so long?” she asked, running to the threshold to hold her.
“It’s a long story. Where’s my daughter?” Alissa demanded, when suddenly a rough, senile voice whispered from across the room.
“Mommy?”
Nothing could have prepared Alissa for what she saw then.
She knew Dhalia would present all the symptoms of Senectus Subita by then, but knowing that didn’t make it any easier to witness it with her own eyes.
The glowing threads of the curse still encircled Dhalia, but the only thing that remained unchanged was her eyes; not even her voice was the same.
So many years of her life were simply gone in a matter of hours.
It was revolting.
Alissa felt Eldric’s hand squeeze her shoulder; his support was the only thing keeping her grounded. She feared that with the symptoms so advanced, the girl wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving. Alissa rushed her steps to Dhalia, her eyes swollen—her little girl was now an old woman.
“I’m here, baby,” she whispered, holding the wrinkled, fragile hands of her daughter.
“I’m sorry. I’m old now, Mommy.” Every word the girl spoke broke Alissa’s heart further.
“You don’t have to apologize, honey. You will feel better soon, I promise.” Alissa’s fingers slid down the long white strands of Dhalia’s hair, remembering how gold they used to be.
Eldric knelt beside her. “Alissa, we don’t have much time. We need to move.” Without hesitating, he gently scooped Dhalia into his arms.
Watching him cradle her daughter with such tenderness felt like a punch to Alissa’s gut.
She had been so consumed by the moment, by everything they had been through to get here, that she had momentarily forgotten the final sacrifice awaiting her.
One last life she would have to take before this was over: Eldric’s.
The pain that accompanied that thought stole the breath from her lungs.
She could only hope she would have the strength to do what had to be done.
“Where’s Freyah?” Mrs. Weller asked, her voice tinged with apprehension as she glanced left and right by the door searching for the bright red-headed woman to rush into her arms.
Another stab through Alissa’s chest. She slipped Freyah’s satchel from her shoulder and handed it to her mother, her mournful eyes saying what her mouth couldn’t. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her voice trembling.
Mrs. Weller collapsed to the floor, her scream raw and inhuman, as if a piece of her soul had died with her daughter—and in truth, it had. “What happened?” she pleaded with a voice breaking in desperation, struggling to comprehend their silence.
But Alissa didn’t have the strength to respond. Eldric stepped in to speak on her behalf.
“Unfortunately, we crossed paths with terrible people along the way,” Eldric said softly.
“Your daughter was one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met, and I hope it brings some solace to know that justice has been served.
” Though his words were well-intended, Eldric could never offer the comfort Lorena so desperately needed.
Nothing could ever ease the pain of losing a child.
After her parents’ passing, Alissa had often heard people say that time could heal all the pain, but she never thought that was the case for the pain of loss.
She knew now more than ever that time held way too much power over everyone’s lives, but healing grief was not one of them.
The truth was that Mrs. Weller would never fully overcome the pain of Freyah’s absence.
All Lorena could do was learn to live with the ache, to pretend that the invisible blade of grief piercing her heart was nothing more than a needle, until the day her own time to leave this life arrived.
Alissa rested her hands against Lorena’s cheeks, wishing she could stay there, comforting Freyah’s mother, but there was no time. “I promise I will explain everything later, but we need to go now. I’m sorry!”
Alissa turned to walk toward the door, only influenced by the constant ticking of the clock. The relentless reminder of time. Eldric followed behind, sprinting into the woods with the girl cradled in his arms.
The oak tree could be spotted from a distance, the only one standing amid the sea of surrounding pine trees.
Ironically, it was the same tree that had brought Alissa peace so many times before, a refuge for her racing thoughts.
It was right there that Thayan had resurrected Karine centuries ago.
Mrs. Ilden had explained that they needed to break the curse in the same place it was first cast, and now they stood where it all began.
Eldric gently laid Dhalia beneath the oak tree. Though her heart still beat, she was slipping into unconsciousness. Alissa knelt beside the elderly child, resting her forehead against Dhalia’s. She could feel the girl’s life slowly slipping away. Tears slipped from her eyes onto the child’s face.
“Hang on just a little longer, baby. I love you.” She pressed her lips to the fragile fingers, praying it wasn’t too late.
When Alissa stood once again, her eyes locked on the man who was willing to sacrifice his life to save her daughter’s.
Sweat dripped from his forehead, and she felt as if she could hear his heartbeat pounding in his chest. With the strength of their feelings for one another pulsing between them, their bodies crashed into a frantic embrace.
“Are you sure about this?” Her voice brushed his ear. She wouldn’t be capable of accepting his life as a sacrifice if he wasn’t doing it willingly.