And then my thoughts circle back to everything that happened when I couldn’t remember.
Me abandoning Sarielle in Eldare.
My brother coming to me in the forest, convincing me that my wife was the enemy.
The inevitable pull back to her, that even my madness could not stop.
I had loved her all along, in every cell of my being, even when my mind had no recollection of who she was. My heart had known the whole time. It wasn’t that I’d fallen back in love with her. I’d never stopped.
And thinking of her brings the scent of her rushing around me, that scent of flowers and magic. I’m overwhelmed with it for several long moments.
Slowly, I realize that her scent is not a memory. I canactuallysmell her. Here, now.
My head whips in the direction of the scent. The gray mist around me swirls. I realize it’s not exactly mist… it’s filled with tiny sparkling bits of dust, as if from crushed rock. As if from…
A breeze blows the clouds of gray to the side, and I see the Court of Nightmares before me. Part of the Court of Nightmares. The rest of it lies in a huge pile of rubble. The double doors to the palace still stand, and before it, three shadowy creatures hover over something on the ground between them.
The realization slams into me and I gasp.
This isn’t hell.
And I’m not dead.
I leap skyward, my shadow wings launching me toward the palace, and Sarielle. As I go, my magic pulses outward, connecting with every other nightmare nearby. Sending them my thoughts, my feelings.
Our queen is in mortal danger.
I don’t just sense the nightmares in Selaye. I sense thousands more in the distance, moving rapidly in this direction. Somehow, all the nightmares in Valaron have been released from their prison. I don’t know how it happened, and before this day, I would have dreaded that very thing. But I’m not afraid anymore. I’ve come to peace with my darkness, and my beast speaks to all the others. We have but one collective goal.
I reach the shadowy figures first, and I crash into them, knocking them off the top of Sarielle. I recognize Isthsharyn, and I can sense that the other two are connected to her. One demon had been plenty, but three? Without my nightmare, I might have been afraid. But my inner monster doesn’t fear these things.
A pulse of magic shoots off me into the closest demon. Another wave of nightmares arrives, and they dive the other two, swarming around them. Sarielle sits bolt upright with a gasp, and I land next to her, hauling her to her feet. The relief I feel is so intense it makes another pulse of magic move off of me, and my wings wrap around us both as I pull her into a fierce kiss.
“Zyren,” she murmurs against my lips.
“Yes, my love. I’m here.”
Then we turn, hands clasped, and we send everything we’ve got into the three demons.
Our magic hits them as the other nightmares dive and attack, again and again, ripping into the three ancient beings. One bursts into ash, and a few moments later the second one does. Isthsharyn is last, and I catch sight of her one perfect blue eye, landing on Sarielle with a combination of panic and fury. Then she springs skyward, arcing over the courtyard to escape.
We turn in unison with the cloud of nightmares and follow. But then, from the swirling gray clouds, an enormous beast launches skyward. Astherius snaps her jaws and swallowsIsthsharyn whole. Then the ancient nightmare crashes back down to the ground with a resoundingboom.
The throng of nightmares spirals skyward, shrieks of victory tearing across the sky, and I turn to Sarielle once more and pull her into my arms, crushing her against me. Our lips meet, heat and shadow and storm, and our magic spins around us. My wings wrap around her, pulling her closer. I twist one hand into her silvery hair, the other wrapped around the small of her back. I can feel her heart beating and her blood pulsing and our nightmares intertwine.
“I remember now,” I say against her mouth. “I remember everything.”
She smiles, but there’s sorrow in it. “I’m so happy we can share that, here at the end.”
“The end?” My brow winkles. “But the demons are gone now.”
“The demons are gone, but Valaron is all but gone, too.” She places a hand over her heart. “I can feel it. I’m connected to this realm, and it’s dying. We don’t have much longer.”
“But Xinius… the realm merge…” My eyes cast skyward and as the words leave my mouth, I realize the heartbreaking truth. The throne room is gone. Buried in the pile of rubble to our left.
Sarielle nods as she sees the realization hit my eyes. “I don’t know how to perform the spell. Not without Xinius.”
“So, this is it, then.” I lock gazes with her, those beautiful golden eyes.