Page 60 of Last Ride of the Umbra Fae

“You must fight for what’s left. Don’t look back. Ride fast. Your life depends on it… To Earth’s Fall…”

I saw the moment his sight vanished into a void, a vacant expression that saw beyond what my lavender eyes could.

Silence had never been so earth-shattering. My breathing stilled. The air no longer existed in the space that left us empty. The ringing in my ears grew to a throbbing pulse. Before I could fully grasp what was happening, I heard the most terrifying of sounds, ones that ripped my soul to shreds. I didn’t realize at first that it was me screaming out in anguish. The life had left his eyes, and he gazed into a void, into nothing, nothing as I shook his body. My world had blurred and ended in one breath. I could bend the dark, manipulate power, and harness the moon’s energy, but I couldn’t bring him back. I was powerless to the otherworldly things that bound me here. For the first time, I felt useless. My mind fell into despair as I leaned over his body.

Still warm.

Maybe he will breathe again. Maybe we can save him.

I waited for that subtle rise of his chest, the thrumming beat of his heart against my ear as I rested my head against him. I waited, praying to the stars my heart would still so I couldhear him.

Breathe…breathe, breathe,I begged.

Voices sounded off with gunfire in the distance. The clamor of horses’ hooves rumbled through the ground, an echo in the sway of my entire world shifting.

I strained against the strong arms that wrapped around my waist. My shadows unfurled in all directions, losing sight of where to go. I was trapped inside my racing mind as every muscle tensed.

He was gone, he was gone.

The thoughts rang out until they were screams for all to hear.

“Come back!” My cry ripped from my throat as I looked to the canopy of the trees, screaming for his soul to return. A curse tore from me as I thrashed in Ryder’s arms.

“We are running out of time,” Ryder pleaded.

We always had been.

I didn’t know how I moved, but I managed. Every step heavy until I placed my foot into the stirrup and mounted Ryder’s horse. He got behind me, reached between my arms, and gripped the reins.

I turned back one last time, watching Pa’s lifeless body until he disappeared from sight.

33

Ryder

Earth’s Fall

We never had any time to process a gods-damn thing. We could be gone in the next breath, no time to strain against reason.

Survive. Live. Fuck. Laugh. Repeat.

End’s Wrath died, and I didn’t even know if he’d had a name beyond the legend. Vessa was the only extension of the man he had been, a father who had tried his best. I bit back the sting of tears trying to form—holding them in, but they were a force on their own.

I’d failed Vessa.

I’d failed End’s Wrath. I’d failed him no matter what he had said to Vessa.

In the beginning, all I’d cared about was saving my soul. Now, here I was, wishing I could have traded places to save his. I hadn’t been fast enough, and I would have to carry the shadowsof that moment for the rest of my fucking days. Her cries would become a darkness shrouding my heart.

There was no ambush waiting at Earth’s Fall; they must have assumed we’d all been taken by that Sheriff Dawson. I knew we’d reached Blightstone Hollow’s end when a thick wall of haze lined the entrance of the forest.

“Don’t stop. Keep riding,”Vessa said along the bond.

I wanted to say I was sorry, but if I spoke, I knew she would end me. I briefly peeked down to see the vacancy in her eyes. I’d made a promise. I would get her to Earth’s Fall even if it killed me.

I squeezed the horses’ sides to ride faster, holding my breath as my stallion leaped into the thick, steamy fog, exhaling when we landed on terrain no different from Blightstone Hollow’s. It was the chill that suddenly swept across the land that snared me. The climate changed within the blink of an eye as a cool breeze grazed our skin. My stallion slowed to a trot. We rode up to a fountain filled with crystalline waters. The fountain of the Eternal. Giant stone statues of unknown warriors whose tales had been forgotten surrounded it. We dismounted.

“Wait here,” she said, briefly glancing my way. A heaviness settled onto my chest as she spoke those words, but I watched her leave with my head tilted in observation. She confidently walked the path as if her soul had been here before. To my surprise, she walked past the fountain to a waterfall I hadn’t seen until she stood on its ledge. Beside it were statues of gods who each of our powers belonged to.

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