Page 87 of Their War

Finally, I pushed through the last barrier between me and my men, who I could see were starting to fatigue. Where once they had fought with fury and assuredness, now they stumbled occasionally, their reflexes just a second later than they should have been, but in battle, that second could mean life or death.

As if my thoughts had been turned into reality, I watched in horror as Lennox stumbled over the boot of a dead soldier at his feet, catching a blade through his stomach and falling to his knees.

I screamed, unable to bear the thought that my cocky playboy could be gone. “Arryn!” I screamed again. This time I knew he could hear me. “Help Lennox!” Scrambling to Lennox's side, unable to spare a glance for anyone else except the man I loved, determined to ensure he made it out of this battle alive. I couldn't consider any other option, my mind unable to process what life would be like without him.

Slamming my knees on the ground beside Lennox, who was on his knees as well, his hand clutching at the hemorrhaging wound, a look of pain and confusion on his face. I reached for him, wanting to comfort him until Arryn could save him. “It's okay. I'm here now. You're going to be okay.”

I wasn't sure if I was trying to assure him or me, but when my hand should have connected with his cheek, it didn't. Instead, it passed right through him, his eyes looking through me.

Shocked, I turned to where I had last seen Arryn, intending to call for him again, but all I managed to see was a blade slicing through his gut. He cried out in pain, and I could do nothing but watch in silence, my mind unable to compute what was happening. Baer stepped in, blocking the next swing that would have killed Arryn, only to take an arrow through the back. His eyes widening, his mouth opening to say something, only nothing came out except a trickle of blood that ran from the corner of his lips, dripping from his chin. Brannoc, in his Raven form, swooped down to where Arryn and Baer were lying and changed to fae as he landed, stumbling. Another arrow pierced his chest, his arm, just as a blade ran through his chest, a guard stabbing him in the back. He fell to his knees next to Arryn, chest heaving and blood streaming from his mouth as he coughed.

“No!” I screamed, rushing to him. He couldn't be dying. They were falling. One by one, the guards cut them down until the only one left standing was Callum, his bare arms covered in bleeding slices, evidence of the many close calls he'd had. His chest heaved, his sword dropping in defeat as he realized he was now alone, his brothers already having fallen.

A clapping noise rang out as the guards held their blades in threat to Callum. “How delightful,” a cold, beautiful voice sounded out.

Titania stepped out, the guards parting for her, but keeping their gazes focused on the threat before them. “It seems we find ourselves in a familiar situation. The last rebel standing. How fortuitous that my favorite plaything will be around for my pleasure as I rule Avalon without question,” she gloated, her smile lascivious and a bit manic.

“No,” Callum growled out, his eyes flashing yellow.

“What was that, dear? I think I may have misheard you,” she questioned him, eyes narrowing on him as he stood defiantly.

“You heard me,” Callum stated. “You will never have me again. There's nothing left for me now. You've already taken my parents, Rhowyn, and now my brothers. I won't give you the satisfaction of having me, too,” he challenged.

What was he talking about? I was right here. Whole and in one piece. Couldn't he see that? My mind whirled as I tried to find a way to reach him, to save him from what I could see coming, my intuition firing off inside me.

“Ah!” I cried out, dropping to my knees and clutching my chest as a pain lashed through me. It felt like my chest was being cracked open, so intense and beyond anything I had ever felt before.

Again, another sharp lash tore through me, and I curled forward in an effort to alleviate the sensation. My eyes squeezed shut, and my teeth ground together as the agony coursed through me. Instinctively, my focus went to my core, the bonds that had once been strong were now withering away, one by one, like the ashes that surrounded us all.

As my mind realized why I was in so much pain, why the bonds were severing, I snapped my eyes open in time to see my last consort charge toward the Queen, knowing he would never get close enough to hurt her. But when a sword stabbed through his chest, he smiled in satisfaction. “Now, you’ll never have me. Have fun ruling over your new Kingdom of Ashes.”

“You stupid fools!” she shouted at her guards, grabbing a sword from a guard next to her, stomping over to the one that had struck the killing blow. Not hesitating, she swung the sword, decapitating the fae.

My eyes met Callum's as he lay on the ground, a smile stuck to his lips as his breaths became ragged and uneven. For a moment, I thought he could see me, but then I realized he was looking past me, his eyes unseeing as his last breath left his lungs.

Pain rang out through me, the bonds all gone now, leaving only an emptiness inside me, the likes of which I had never known before.

One moment, I could only stare hollowly at Callum, the pain from before nothing in comparison to the agony that ripped through me now that I was all alone. There was nothing I could do to save my men.

And the next, I was surrounded by a blinding light that had me squeezing my eyes shut, the pain vanishing in an instant.

The light started to dim, or my eyes were adjusting, probably both, when I decided to test opening them. Slowly, I opened my eyes, finding Avalonia before me. Everything came rushing back, forgotten in that vision that wasn't real. I was undergoing my communion with Avalonia in preparation for being crowned the next Queen of Avalon. It hadn't been real.

I frantically searched for my bonds, finding them all there, strong as ever. Exhaling in relief, my shoulders slumped briefly before anger tore through me.

“What the fuck was that?!” I demanded from the goddess.

“Necessary,” she said gently. “It was all necessary.”

“You think making me watch helplessly as my men are torn from the world and from me was necessary?!” I screamed at her, launching to my feet to stand within touching distance from her.

“Yes.”

“Please explain, because if I don't get a reasonable answer, I'm going to lose it,” I snarled at her, my anger making me throw caution to the wind. I was screaming at a goddess, and yet, I didn't care.

She tilted her head, unruffled by my anger and threat, a slight smile of amusement touching her lips and only fueling my rage more. “Don't you see? This is what will happen to Avalon and your men should you fail. Magic will die, and the land, which is sustained by it, will wither and turn to ash. The people who are dependent on the land will also turn to ash, one by one, resulting in the battle that you just saw. Death will rule this land, but Titania won't stop with just Avalon. Once she's destroyed this place, she will move on to Earth, then the next world until she has the ultimate power. Her hunger for it is endless. And only you stand in her way. Only you are capable of stopping her.”

Chapter Fifty One: Baer

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