Page 80 of A World of Ruins

I can see the arena through the portal. I can see my home.

My leg muscles burn, and I cry out for help as I leap through the rift, falling to the ground. The first person I see is Darius, and I let out an anguished sob as I push onto my hands and knees, trying to stand but buckling under my tired weight.

Darius grabs me by the waist, then grips my face in his hands. He’s repeatedly saying my name, but I can’t seem to respond, my head lolling back and forth.

When he asks me about Gus, I shake my head. Sharp pains pierce my chest all the way to my heart. ‘I’m sorry,’ I say hoarsely. That’s all I can manage to say. ‘I’m so sorry.’

The instant realisation on his face destroys me, but he tucks me into his chest, not allowing himself to show any other emotion.

I pry myself from his hold, staring as I see that the whole arena is in flames, bodies burning in the distance.

Darius is covered head to toe in soot – his own doing, I imagine. I look on and find Illias on the side with freed Venators now standing behind him, and Leira and Lorcan with my brothers and friends. They’re okay. They’re alive.

I shake my head, murmuring, ‘The portal.’

I twist around where the portal is still open.

Lightning strikes the sky inside the Isle, and through the portal, far beyond the destruction of the Isle, I see Aurum gracefully navigating through the dragons surrounding him. Decay coats him head to toe, dark veins protruding from his mottled skin as our eyes lock, and he maintains a steady stride like nothing can hurt him.

I feel Darius shift while holding me, preparing to go in there himself.

My frantic heart won’t allow it.

I go to reach for the pendant when my eyes land on a dagger on the ground.

Something wild snaps inside me.

Lorcan seems to realise as he says, ‘Nara, don’t.’

I don’t listen as I lunge for the blade and kneel before the pendant.

Aurum pauses from a distance, his head tilting as shadows slither around his ruined face like serpents seeking refuge in his mess.

I stare at him with the dagger poised in my hand, and that is when he registers what I plan to do. He breaks into a sprint, a torrent of fury within his gaze.

Flipping my finger at him, I swiftly bring the blade down upon the pendant.

This is for Gus.

A surge of air courses through the space around us, almost sending me back.

I hear Aurum yelling in the distance and slam the blade down again. This time, sparks fly off the pendant as it shatters into pieces, severing the connection to the Isle of Elements.

Aurum’s remaining eye is the last thing I see before the portal vanishes and I succumb to exhaustion, not having realised I’ve dropped myself back into Darius’s arms until he whispers in my ear, ‘You made it out, Goldie. You made it out.’

I rest the back of my head against his chest, my brothers and friends coming to stand by Darius and me. All of us glance at the sky as dark clouds roll in, and for the first time in the history of Emberwell, it rains down upon us, calming the fire.

PARTTHREE

THEBATTLE OF THESKIES

DARIUS

A MEETINGWITHCRELLO

I sit up on the wooden floorboards. A musky scent hits my nose as I glance around at the familiar cottage, and the sun streaks through windows covered by long, tattered curtains. I carefully stand as a melodic voice hums what sounds like a lullaby from behind me.

I whirl around, my fists clenched, until I see a female. Her back is turned to me, tending to some freshly washed clothes, but I recognise the long dark waves of her hair all the same.

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