Page 134 of Ecliptic

We were losing.

I found Rowen, expecting to see my beautiful warrior on hisfeet, tearing down the enemy. But instead, I saw him on the ground, a Voro-Kai slashing down upon his chest.

Rowen rolled away at the last second but was kicked violently in the stomach. He flew through the air and landed in a painful thud. Before he could stand, he was kicked again. He couldn’t get up; the Voro-Kai was keeping him pinned down.

My body struggled, kicked, and erupted in Light, but I couldn’t escape Erovos’ gravitational hold. I was going to watch Rowen die—the love of my life—so inherent and unstoppable that I’d crossed the thermals of space to find him.

My eyes darted for Callum, Dyani, or anyone to help him, but everyone else was in the same dire position: fighting for their lives. Who knew how Maddock could have shifted the tides of war. I hated him even more.

Rowen’s eyes flashed to me trapped within Erovos’ grasp. His expression was so beyond broken, it was sorry. So, very sorry. His tortured gaze apologized that I would have to watch as his life ended. It was something I would never wish on my greatest enemy.

Deadly claws flexed, aiming at Rowen’s heart.

My throat was raw from screaming. It wasn’t supposed to end like this.

“Watch your precious lord die,” Erovos whispered in my ear. “Look at his face. He knows you will be next and that there is nothing he can do to stop it. His love for you is quite beautiful, really.”

I began to travel to Rowen, but I couldn’t. Erovos’ fingers dug into me like pins on a butterfly’s wings, keeping me in place.

If I couldn’t get to Rowen physically, then I would astrally. I started to project, my body going limp, but Erovos violently shook me back to myself.

“Don’t you dare leave this body or I will snap your neck. I know you’d rather witness your love die than have him watch asI kill you and give your body to the Voro-Kai. And I would. I would make him watch it all. Then, I’d slowly torture him,” he cooed in my ear as his frigid breath skittered along my skin. “Let him have the swift death.”

“Don’t touch him!” I screamed, thrashing in his hold.

My body shook uncontrollably. I couldn’t run, I couldn’t astral project. My blood and bones were useless. The only thing I could do was squeeze Mithrion tighter in my grip.

Suddenly, an idea struck!

Erovos had to feel me in my body, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t split myself in two—be in two places at once. I’d separated before, though not intentionally, and I’d never controlled both forms simultaneously. But I had to try!

I found the thread of my existence shimmering with the Elder Spirit’s first-light. It looked so precious and fragile, but I had no time to second guess how this might affect me.

I pulled at the frayed edges, tearing myself apart. My head felt like it was splitting in half; the pressure was unimaginable, but I gritted my teeth and kept pulling until I snapped like a rubber band.

At first, nothing happened, but then I stepped away from my body as if it were as simple as stepping out of a coat. I was the bow and the shooting arrow all at once.

My awareness shifted in two, doubling the horrors of war.

I blinked as my realities flashed before me. One helplessly watched as Rowen dodged a barrage of blows while the other ran towards him.

Explosions of shadow, light, and debris burst around me as I charged across the battlefield. Dead and wounded soldiers littered the ground. Most were unmoving while others writhed in pain, and some, I suspected, were already turning from Voro-Kai bites.

My gaze shot forward as my body moved on its own accord, habitual from hours at the training grounds.

The Voro-Kai had one of its hooves on Rowen’s chest, holding him down for the final blow.

I ran between them; it was the only thing I could do. The Voro-Kai’s talons would cut right through my spectral form and kill Rowen, but I couldn’t stop. I threw myself between them and raised my Ever-burn blade.

A jarring force clashed against me, and both sets of my eyes widened as I realized I’d blocked the demon’s strike midair.

I’d carried Mithrion across the threshold of reality. One part of me held her within Erovos’ cloak while the other blocked the attack that saved Rowen’s life.

I knew my blade was remarkable, but I had no idea it could cross the plane’s of reality; just like me.

I existed in a faded, glowing version of myself, yet my fury was in full force. I pushed my blade until the beast’s claws met my hand guard, then I whirled out from under the Voro-Kai’s weight. Power charged through my limbs and into the extension of Mithrion as I stabbed the demon’s chest.

The beast roared and staggered back, but I followed, my grip steady on the hilt. Fetid breath washed over me as I drove the blade in deeper, and as soon as the tip punctured its heart, the beast disappeared in a plume of smoke.

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