Chapter Sixty-Two Maxim
Chapter Sixty-Two
Maxim
Nameless dread sets my instincts on fire as I race to the front of my cave.
Moments ago, I woke from sleep to a darkness that beat at the burning embers of my fire, an oppressive black shadow flooding my cave.
Rushing to dress, I sprint out onto the sand dunes, where my fiery heart leaps into my throat.
In a sky that should gleam brightly with the sun’s final, burning rays, all light has vanished.
Gone.
Not a beam of sunlight nor even a ray of moonlight or starlight breaks through the dark…
“Brother!” My sister’s fearful cry cuts through the buzzing in my ears as I try to process the immense shadow forming an impenetrable canopy above us.
Zenaida rushes across the dunes, her silken clothing flying around her body, her golden jewelry clinking.
Even through the darkness, I can see that her tan cheeks are deathly pale.
She jolts to a stop in front of me, her legs trembling as she tries to take a knee, her mouth working, but all she manages is a gasped, “The sky!”
For what could be the first time in my life, my blistering heart is a block of coal in my chest, heavy as stone.
“I see it.”
A dark light so thick and complete that it reminds me, sickeningly, of the perpetual night that shrouds the bloodlands.
“Where’s Kaiba?” I ask, knowing my cousin will not be standing idle.
Zenaida’s reply is a rasped whisper, her throat clearly tight. “At the border. He was patrolling there this afternoon.”
“Good.”
I would have been there by now, too, if I hadn’t decided to play it safe. I wanted to make sure I slept during the hottest part of the day when my fire is at its most dangerous, before I set out for the Iron Kingdom.
Just as I draw breath to speak again, the light above us shifts.
Far in the distance to both the east and the west, moonlight pierces the darkness, cascading inward toward our location.
Beside me, Zenaida gasps, her hand flying to her heart, her head tilted back, a murmur of relief passing her lips as the darkness narrows and narrows, appearing as if it will vanish altogether.
But the nameless dread that drove me awake only grows heavier within my chest.
A channel forms across my kingdom, so black it appears as immovable as a solid object.
The approaching moonlight stops on either side of it, leaving a dark conduit that stretches from the north and extends south as far as I can see, a half-mile-wide path through which not a single ray of light shines.
For another heartbeat, I wait, willing the natural light to break through.
Instead of salvation, from the distance comes the horrifying shrieks of bloodthirsty creatures spilling past the boundaries that once contained them.
I fight to restrain my fire so I don’t endanger my sister, the corners of my mouth turning down as I meet her eyes. “Evacuate the city within this dark corridor. Keep our people safe.”
Her cheeks remain pale, and her eyes are wide with fear, but she draws a deep breath. And calms. Becoming the leader our people will need.
Just as I will be the warrior they need.
“Maxim.” She uses my name, a rare occurrence, as her hand lands lightly on my arm, a bold move considering I could incinerate her in a heartbeat. “What will you do?”
Yesterday, she came to me to warn me that I must choose a successor. Now, she looks at me for the first time in years as if my fire is a strength and not a fucking volatile liability.
I give her a crooked smile. “Now, I’ll burn.”
She inclines her head and backs away from me, hurrying through the darkness and toward the underground city. It will take everything she’s got to keep our people calm and see them to safety, a task I can’t help her with. Our people are not soothed by the sight of me.
My golden serpent chooses that moment to slither up to my side, approaching from the dune where he sleeps.
His upturned gaze narrows at the funnel of darkness cutting across the Ember Kingdom.
It won’t escape him, as it hasn’t escaped me, that moonlight has resumed shining to the east and west of this new corridor.
But through my land, it remains.
What fucking curse must my people suffer now?
With purposeful strides, I return to the front of my cave and retrieve the satchel in which I’ve concealed the dragon’s skin.
I’ll need it for the journey ahead.
Returning to the outside, I find my serpent already airborne, skimming low across the dunes.
My legs pound the sand as I launch myself into a run and leap onto his back.
As we soar along the dark channel, golden light flickers around me, and at first, I fear it’s my fire, a threat to my serpent’s life, but the light streaks across my view, outside myself, fitful and sharp.
For the briefest moment, the darkness around me shifts. Still oppressive. Just as thick. But within it, Thyra’s form takes shape. A mere flicker. A short burst of time.
Within that heartbeat, I’m wrenched away from myself—
Her face is turned away. I can’t make out her surroundings; everything is too dark, but she’s sobbing.
Her cries strike through my heart as she claws at her right forearm, where the image of the Dragonstone Blade rests.
She rips at her skin, viciously drawing blood, her cries turning to fearful screams—
And then she’s gone again.
My surroundings rush fully back into view: the sand dunes, my serpent, and the dark channel we’re flying through.
The vision of Thyra lasted no longer than a breath, but it consumes me.
I don’t know where she is or what has happened to her, but she’s alone and afraid.
Vulnerable.
My sister asked me what I will do now, and I answered her with only half the truth.
I will find Thyra.
And then I’ll burn the world to keep her.