Page 199 of The Last One
Elyn mirrors my actions, dispatching her opponent with a strike to his cheek, piercing flesh and bone.
The remaining soldier, caught between us, faces his doom: two skilled women wielding weapons of destruction. In moments, he loses his left hand and right foot, collapsing in a scream of agony.
Panting, Elyn and I lock eyes once more, ready for the next challenge.
“You should’ve been punished for going against the Council,” Elyn says, glaring at me through narrowed eyes. “Because of that downright insubordination, no one wanted to defend you. But I did, Kai, and as your Adjudicator, I argued that you deserved another chance. I asked that the Council consider your age. Your intention. Your heart. Your commitment to justice, fairness, and equality. That you’d been targeted and misled by the Vile One.
“The realm of Melki. A pisshole, yes, but not sanctioned to be destroyed. You did it anyway. This time, you were punished and stripped of the twenty realms you oversaw. Because you’re Lord Mera’s daughter, because he begged for you to have another chance and promised that he’d help you correct the errors you made, the Council gave you Vallendor.
“You served as Grand Defender of one realm. And for a moment, you listened to your father, and you did your best to cultivate this place, and the mortals who soon came to populate this realm called you their Lady of the Verdant Realm. Veril Bairnell tried his best to be your sage—he’d been your teacher from birth. But mortals will do as mortals do, and the realm started buckling under corruption, from disease and murder.
“Emperor Wake started his campaign, then, against those who believed in the old god—you.You, and rightfully so, lost your mind when that bastard started calling himself ‘Supreme.’ You wouldn’t have it. And thus, the second Great War began, with orders now taking sides. The Renrian and Eserime with you. The Dashmala, some Renrian and Eserime, forced to fight for Wake. All of us—the Council, the Adjudicators—were on your side, Kai.
“That’s when you were given approval to destroy Trony Province by the sea, one of the worst provinces in Vallendor, a stronghold of the emperor. You sought to show him your ruthlessness, cunning, and strength, and so you commanded the sea to wash away Trony.
“But then you destroyed Danforthwithoutapproval,” she says. “The worst was Chesterby. You really,reallyhated Chesterby, and you showed it. Water. Fire. Earth. Without approval. That land is still uninhabitable. So many smaller villages, innocents, suffered from that destruction. That’s when you were stripped of your battalion, stripped of most of your learned abilities. Some of your soldiers defected to avoid punishment, and they joined Danar Rrivae’s mutineers. Your father could no longer protect you, and as your Adjudicator, I was sent here to mete out your punishment.
“By then, you’d destroyed Goldcrest and Eaponyswithout an army—that’s how strong you were, Kai. You evaded me, but you were also growing weaker each day—it’s not easy to destroy without help if you’re not whole. You were tenacious, though, and you ran from me and used the last of your strength to take to the sky. I don’t know where you were going, and I don’t think you did, either, but in mid-flight, you collapsed from exhaustion and fell from the skies and into the forest outside of Maford.”
“I opened my eyes with Olivia’s hand around my pendant,” I whisper.
“The pattern is repeating, Kai,” Elyn says. “You’re not as quick as you were before, and so your destruction is slower. The results, though, are the same. Maford—gone. Caerno Woods—burning still. Caburh—wrecked.”
“To fight the emperor!” I shout. “To retain control of Vallendor.” I shake my head, still unwilling to accept this version of my story. “And if I’m so evil, so reckless, then why did Sybel tell me—”
“Sybel is not an Adjudicator,” Elyn says, bristling. “She shouldn’t have interfered. Her heart has always ruled her head when it comes to you. She is weak, and her love for Lyra clouds her judgment.”
“How do you know who she is or isn’t?” I snarl.
“Because,” Elyn shouts, “Sybel is my mother!”
My legs buckle as though she’d punched me.
“She was your mother’s best friend, too,” Elyn says, “and when you were off destroying parts of Vallendor instead of doing your job as Grand Defender here, Sybel took over. Yes, she tried to convince you to save this realm from total destruction. To save this land fromyou, Kai.Youare the One who will destroy the world—”
“No!” I shout, squeezing my eyes shut. “Enough.”
“You know this is true,” Elyn says, her voice cracking. “My mother had faith in you. She believed that you could change. She tried her hardest to find a way to tell you about yourself in a way that wouldn’t end like this. Because every time, Kai, every time, it ends like this. You keep making the same mistakes. And you’ve reveled in your disregard of Supreme’s will.”
I hold my chin high even as my heart shrinks in my chest and my fingers numb.
“You should be ashamed of your actions,” she whispers, the muscles in her face twitching. “You should drop your head and beg for forgiveness this very second, but you never remember long enough to do that, and so you’ve never asked to be forgiven.
“Instead, you took your marking for destroying Ithlon, the second sphere on your shoulder, and you gained courage to take your third one, Melki, but that sphere wasn’t enough. You demanded a new one.” She touches the space beneath her breast. “Destroyer of Worlds.”
Another growl pulls my attention from the white-haired woman standing opposite me. An aburan, with the powerful body of a massive bear and the shrewd eyes of a man, throws himself between Elyn and me. He bellows, baring sharp teeth, and glares at me as if I’ve deeply wronged him.
Elyn laughs, retreating a few steps, leaving me alone to face the beast.
Fine.
“You are no Lady of the Verdant Realm,” the aburan snarls. “You have no power—”
Before he can finish, I swing my sword in a swift arc. The blade slices through the air, beheading the creature in a single, fluid motion. His words die on his lips as his body collapses to the blood-soaked ground.
My muscles burn with exhaustion, each movement turning sluggish and heavy. Is this Elyn’s plan? To let these otherworldly drain me so thoroughly that she can easily slip her blade into my heart without resistance? The air around me hurts now, and I just want to sit and rest my head against my knees.
Elyn approaches until she stands just a reach away. “You won’t ask for mercy, especially now that you have—” She flicks her hand, and she’s holding an illusion of my moth amulet.
