Chapter Forty-Five
Kade
I nodded toward Atreya the moment her gaze fell upon Valos across the battlefield. In the next breath, she vanished into her shadows. My mother deserved to deliver his death by her hands.
Above us, a skyship broke from formation, flames tearing through its hull as the Sky Elves harnessed violent gusts of wind to hurl it toward the distant forest, away from Woodhaven.
They were holding the line, trying to keep Ember from pushing farther inland.
But two enemy ships had already breached Woodhaven’s skies, hovering over the city like vultures.
Fire rained from them, blistering the air with smoke and heat.
I could hear screams from beyond the walls.
Earth Dryads launched boulders through the sky, their bending warping the terrain as stone rose and flew like arrows.
But the Ember ships were armored—thick plating protected their underbellies—and the stones shattered uselessly against their gleaming hulls.
This was what my father had been working on all this time.
Woodhaven soldiers popped up from the ground like spears through soil, rising from the earth to join our men. Emelyn and I sprinted toward the heart of the battle. I kept close, our strides matched, and then—
We slammed into the Ember’s soldiers like a wave crashing onto jagged rock.
Chaos erupted. Their swords burned with the fire they wielded, leaving scorched trails through the air as they struck.
Wind howled from the Sky Elves above, twisting and pulling, making every move more of a struggle.
And the ground itself betrayed us—dryads shattered it with furious bending, splitting open craters to swallow soldiers whole.
A shout came from behind Emelyn. A soldier bore down on her with his blade raised high. I Hollowed behind her, shadows snapping me into place. My sword met his with a metallic shriek. I twisted, slammed into him, and drove my blade through his gut. He choked on blood and fell to the ground.
Emelyn and I shifted back-to-back in perfect motion. Another wave of Ember soldiers closed in. We met them without hesitation.
Nevarah and Taryn soared overhead, carving through the battlefield like twin comets. The wind screamed in their wake as they knocked soldiers off their feet, pressing toward the next skyship. But the tide was unrelenting.
My shadows lashed out behind the lines, slithering into the minds of unsuspecting enemies, turning their focus inward.
Emelyn and I struck with purpose, our blades finding flesh again and again.
We moved in perfect rhythm. Until she faltered.
Emelyn stumbled, and a sword found its mark, slashing across her side.
I lunged, cutting down her attacker with a burst of fear and rage. I turned to her, but something was wrong. And not just the blood staining her tunic.
Her eyes were glowing, which wasn’t surprising, but it was the same empty, eerie light I’d seen only once before: that night at the palace. When she hadn’t been Emelyn at all.
No.
This wasn’t Emelyn in control. It also wasn’t the Peacebringer guiding her—it was something darker. Someone else.
She lunged. Not at our enemies, but at our own.
“Emelyn!” I caught her with a tendril of shadow, yanking her back toward me. She spun on me, feral, not recognizing me. Her axe arced, and I parried, steel ringing out.
“It’s me,” I said sharply. “Let me in. Please.”
I reached for our bond, pushed through with my shadows, with my mind, but slammed into a wall. Nothing. No light. No warmth. Like before, I couldn’t get through to her.
There was just emptiness.
She attacked again. I blocked, tossing her axe and twisting, slipping behind her to bind her limbs in shadow.
That was when I saw the woman from the throne room that day in the distance.
She was being protected in the back by soldiers on Ember's side.
Emelyn knocked my breath from my lungs and shoved me back before reaching for her battle axe again.
I couldn’t pin her down. Not here. If I left her vulnerable, someone could kill her. But if I let her loose and went after the Celestial, she’d kill our people—and I knew Emelyn. The moment she came back to herself, it would destroy her.
I had no choice. I had to go after the source to save her.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
Then I vanished.
I Hollowed across the field toward the Celestial Fae from the throne room, but my shadows would be useless against her.
So I went in with steel. I came at her with my twin swords, and she turned just in time, catching my blades with her own. Sparks flew. The force of the impact sent shockwaves through the air.
“Why are you doing this?” I snarled, blades flashing as we clashed again.
She wept as she fought. “Because he has my son. If I disobey, he’ll kill him.”
I hesitated for a heartbeat. Glanced toward where my mother was locked in deadly combat with my father. Of course. He wouldn’t have a Celestial’s loyalty unless he held something over her. We’d been right.
“You don’t have to do this,” I pled. “I’ll help you find him. Just stop.”
She came at me again. Swords rang, dancing in a blur of motion. She was quick and skilled.
“I can’t,” she sobbed. “He said he’d kill him if I stopped.
” For a moment, everything about this woman reminded me of my mother when I’d been a child.
She was so broken, so pliable and willing to do anything and everything my father asked of her so she wouldn’t reap the consequences.
She was bent beneath my father's will, terrified to disobey, twisted into something unrecognizable just to survive.
“I’m sorry,” I said, and then I moved quicker than shadows and her head rolled from her shoulders, her body crumpling softly after it.
I turned back to Emelyn and my breath caught, my eyes going wide.
“No!”
She had collapsed to her knees.
Across the battlefield, I saw Valla, her lightning dancing in her raised hand. Her grin was wide and cruel. The lightning flared. Thunder cracked. And the bolt screamed toward Emelyn. Toward my mate . . .
I didn’t think.
I didn’t breathe.
I Hollowed straight into it.