Page 5 of Ecliptic

Erovos' eyes churned, and his jaw hinged open, revealing rows of jagged teeth. He was a cosmic beast ready to feast. On me.

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned my head away. Images of Rowen, the man I loved to the core of my being, filled my mind.

“Erovos!” a voice shouted from the shadows, and the Dark Spirit’s maw snapped shut an inch from my neck. I squinted my eyes open.

The body of a bronze warrior emerged from the darkness, his silver-sleek hair matched the warrior circlets on his arms. It was Demil, the traitor who had put me in this position in the first place. “You know one little taste won’t be enough. You’ll feed from her until she is dead, and you need her abilities to leave this world.”

“You,” I seethed, wanting to rip his black heart from his chest. “I trusted you.”

Tears of rage clouded my vision as I recalled Sabra’s lifeless body and Ven’s tear-stained face. Two innocents used as leverage to get me to take Erovos’ hand and disappear with him into the darkness. I wondered if Rowen had realized I was gone. Had Dyani noticed her twin brother was missing, too?

Ven most likely told the village what had happened, seeking help for his lifeless wolf. I just hoped no one would come after me; it would defeat the purpose of everything I had just done—everything I had just sacrificed. I couldn’t bear it if anyone else was hurt or killed because of me.

After being held prisoner in the Crystal Crypts, I’d returned to the Wyn village. I’d only had a few days of healing before Demil traitorously led me beyond Nepta’s borders. My life had gone from empty shadows to overflowing darkness, and no matter how hard I tried, a peaceful existence remained a delicate ornament hanging just out of reach.

“The traitor might be right, and I may not be able to stop myself. Though I do wonder how long it would take to drain you dry,” the Dark Spirit said, bringing my thoughts back to the dead forest.

My mind clashed with horrors old and new. “You’re both sick.”

Without taking his eyes off me, he said, “Demil. Come.” And the man I had once seen as a beautiful warrior, who would do anything to protect his people, walked towards the world eater. A much larger silhouette followed him, and I immediately recognized the giant, Graem. “Your traitor tells me you are an astral traveler. A walker between worlds. No wonder you were so difficult to find.” He stared at me, his eyes never blinking. “And thanks to you, I have my next destination. I’m sure there is a tether leading right to where you’re from. For as I’ve said before, Luneth is nearly all used up, and I grow so very hungry.”

Horror twisted my gut.

Erovos said it himself, he’d already left a trail of stellar corpses in his path. The Elder Spirits tried to slow him, but if he gained the ability to travel through a gateway of connecting trees, the swiftness with which he could turn the galaxy into a graveyard was unimaginable. And now his sights were set on Earth.

“You may have the power to destroy worlds and extinguish light, but you can never take away hope. Luneth will fight youuntil its dying breath,” I gritted through bared teeth. “And you will have to go through me.”

“That is precisely what I intend to do.“

I had no idea what he meant by that, but I was no longer near the village. The fear of hurting innocents was as far away as the man I’d abandoned in bed.

Who cared if I self-combusted and took everyone along with me?

The Alcreon Light thrummed in my fingertips as if begging to be unleashed. I refused to hold it back any longer. I raised my palm and hit the world eater with a formidable blast of silver light. Unlike in the Crystal Crypts, when I missed the False Queen, my aim rang true, and I hit the Dark Spirit square in the chest.

He didn’t stagger or even shirk from my blast. Instead my Light stretched and distorted as he absorbed my power whole. Never to escape.

He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck. “Your Light alone cannot defeat me. And should you try that again, I will be forced to destroy that little village you are so keen to protect. Shall we begin?”

“Begin what? Doing to me what you did to all those men?” I asked, my voice broken from the realization that my Light didn’t affect him at all.

When I’d left with Erovos, I thought there would be a way to defeat him. A way to use my Light when I was far away from the village. But I was wrong. I had over-dealt my hand, and I now stood before a world eater with no weapon and no plan. Despair snuffed out any flicker of hope as realization sank in—Erovos had no weaknesses.

“Not quite,” the Dark Spirit said, his churning vermillion eyes trailing up my body. “Now, remove your clothing.”

3

“Wha…what?” I stuttered. Of all the things I expected from my willing abduction, stripping wasn’t one of them.

He studied me, unfazed. “I said, remove your clothing.”

Graem stepped up beside me, and my spine stiffened in dread.

“No.”

“I have something for you. Never in my years of searching would I have imagined a woman to be the bearer of the Alcreon Light. I’ve been envisioning this moment since I first laid eyes on you.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” I spat, hatred dripping from my every word.

---