Page 102 of The Cruel Dawn
We have seven dawns left.
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Uncle Agon stands at the aerie’s lone window flanked by two Raqiel sentinels, all watching as I tumble down, falling through clouds, breaking through the gauzy film that separates the Abbey of Mount Devour from Vallendor…
I close my eyes and pull myself into a tight ball. But my eyelids don’t block the thrumming glare of the daystar.
My visits to the abbey and to the realm Linione weren’t supposed to be this way. I was supposed to be bathed, fed, outfitted with new gear. My father was supposed to hold out his arms, and I was supposed to run to him, and we were supposed to cry—from the anguish of my situation, from the joy of our reunion.
He was supposed to help me beat the One. He was supposed to love me.
Someone, finally, was supposed to love me.
But Father betrayed me, just like everyone else betrayed me.
The Council of High Orders.
My uncle.
Elyn.
Vallendor.
Supreme.
I’m alone. Again.
I’m falling, and I don’t know how to stop. Somewhere down there is the bottom, fast approaching. Fear pumps through me like water. I’m speeding up, my descent uncontrollable. There’s no one to stop me, no one to help me. I’m alone.
They told me that I was too quick to act, too quick to judge, too impatient to make the best decisions, that I needed to consider the consequences more carefully…
But Vallendor still exists.
I amnotthe One.
Their anger at what I’ve decided, in what I’ve accomplished, of who I am, is a weight on my chest in this freefall, pressing down on me so that my undoing comes faster.
I was told I was strong, smart, and powerful, but I’ve been condemned for being strong, smart, and powerful, and that’s why I’m falling now. Ultimately, onmyend, no one, not Agon, not my father, not Supreme, truly wanted me to succeed.
I was meant to fail. It was my destiny to fail. They knew I would fail. I was lured here to complete my failure.
Is this really happening?
No one slows my descent.
No one will catch me.
I’m not meant to survive.
A whirlwind of my own spite and my own hatred consumes me, and I can barely breathe. I see nothing now but shades of red and black. The vision of my body smeared across Vallendor burns in my vision, and I shout,“No!”I twist upright, my feet and legs ready for this collision. I will not die. I will not break like a brittle plate or crumble like stale bread against the realm’s pantry floor.
I no longer fear hitting the bottom. No, Iwelcomethe impact. Idarethis earth to claim me. The rocks and trees of Vallendor should fear theirowndoom if they fail to protect me.
A smile crackles across my face as I squint at the ground racing up to meet me and—
BOOM!
The world explodes around me. Boulders break apart, and solid ground is hollowed in one big crater. Full-grown trees come crashing down, no longer high and mighty. New rocks and logs, dirt and splinters rain down from the sky, but none of it vexes me, not one piece of gravel, not one clump of turf, not one mote of dust.
