Page 141 of Queen of Legends and Lies
The handiwork of my magic assaults my senses.
The blistering force of superheated steam, churning just below the surface.
Magic coils within me, a living, breathing thing that strains against the confines of my control.
Gritting my teeth, I channel the roiling energies. Shape them. Hone them into a devastating weapon.
The world explodes in a cataclysm of fire and steam. The shockwave rips through the drachen like a scythe through wheat. They tumble from the sky, charred and broken, their screams lost amid the roar of the maelstrom.
But it’s still not enough.
Never enough.
For every drachen that falls, a dozen more take its place. The endless tide of darkness threatens to engulf us all.
But they’re also not my real target.
I shift my focus downward, to the earth.
They’re not there yet. And if our plan works, they won’t be.
Harnessing all our merged powers, I reach deep inside myself. To the very core of my being, of our magical bond.
And I pull.
With a shuddering crack that echoes like the tolling of a funeral bell, the earth splits asunder. A chasm yawns open like an infected wound, a gaping maw of molten rock and angry heat.
The fissure spreads. Widening and deepening, carving a scar into the very flesh of the world.
And still, the drachen come. They coat the horizon like night herself. Driven by a hunger that knows no bounds, the corrupted army advances, heedless of the destruction.
“Sweet merciful gods,” Agnar breathes.
My throat tightens. More. We need more power.
Sterling lashes out, throwing a row of ice spikes at the drachen that have managed to come within firing distance. He pulls on his power, and I can sense the magic leaving his body and taking shape.
The words of the prophecy echo in my mind.“Break the worlds…and save the worlds.”
Tears blur my vision, the enormity of the moment slamming into me like a physical blow.
This is it.
The culmination of everything we’ve fought for, everything we’ve sacrificed. Everything we were warned about.
Before I can lose my nerve, I leap from Dame’s back, plummeting toward the yawning fissure below.
“Come back to me!” Sterling hovers on Tanwen, watching me fall.
“Always!” In those split seconds as I dive, I memorize every line of his face.
Wings tucked tight, I barrel toward the earth. The heat is stifling as I near the surface, the air thick with ash and smoke.
Ash Queen. Is this who I am?
I know this is my destiny. The path laid out before me from the moment I first drew breath. To descend into the heart of theworld, to the very bones of Narc himself. There, I will face the final battle, the ultimate test.
I close my eyes, surrendering to the descent, to the fate that awaits me. And as I plunge deeper into the darkness, into the unknown, I carry the love of those I leave behind, the hope of a kingdom reborn from the ashes of its own destruction.
