Page 65 of Three Scorched Kingdoms

His words are punctuated by the clang of swords, but the sound of it no longer sparks dread in my veins.

We’ve won.

Leo’s words echo inside me.

Aries puts another orc down and then slowly begins to make his way toward me.

I watch him, grateful and stunned. We made it.

We actually made it out alive.

But then, through the haze of battle, a familiar darkness begins to creep into the edges of my vision. The air grows colder, the light dimmer, as a shadow spreads over the far side of the valley.

It creeps over the grass, rotting it instantly as the shadow surges forward.

The blight is here, but it’s more than that.

It’s exactly what I feared most.

My magic begins to drain, and I clamp down on its flow, cutting it off from myself—and from him siphoning it away.

Constantine has arrived.

“Paige!” Aries’ voice cuts through the din, and I turn to see him staring up at the ridge behind me.

I spin to find a figure cloaked in shadow standing ominously above me, the very air around him warping with his dark magic.

Constantine.

The sight of him sends a bolt of fear through me, but it’s quickly followed by a surge of anger, of determination. This is the moment we’ve been dreading but also the one we’ve been waiting for.

“Who is that?” Leo asks, at my side instantly.

Aries joins us, out of breath.

“His name is Constantine,” I say quietly. “He’s from my world.”

“What does he want?” Leo asks.

Aries and I exchange a look.

“Me,” I say.

“Paige,” Aries begins, his tone a warning. But we both know it’s no use. The threat is here. We have no choice but to face it.

“We finish this,” I say, my voice steady despite the storm raging around us.

Aries nods, his eyes locking with mine, a promise in his gaze. “Together.”

We break into a run, cutting our way through the battlefield, the chaos of the fight falling away as our focus narrows to one goal: reaching Constantine. The world around us seems to fade, the noise, the blood, the bodies—none of it matters anymore. All that matters is stopping him.

Constantine watches us approach, his expression unreadable, but I can feel the power radiating from him, a dark, oppressive force that presses down on my chest, making it hard to breathe. But I don’t falter. I won’t.

“I see your time away from the library has been productive,” he says, nodding at the battlefield.

“Your meddling here did nothing to stop us,” Aries snarls.

“Is that so, Your Highness? Or does that title no longer apply?”

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