Page 68 of Return of the Darkness
“Just take it slow, Eli,” said Caellum. Soren’s focus slipped from Nyzaia to the King of Garridon. He stood next to her sister.Kill the king. That is all I ask of you, Soren.The light in the room darkened as Elisara crossed to the room’s centre. Soren shook her head, hoping to rid the darkness. A knee nudged Soren’s, and she looked down at Nyzaia, who met her eyes with a furrowed brow and inclined her head in question. The image of her burning eyes outside the tavern entered Soren’s mind, allowing her to focus.I see you.Soren nodded.
Elisara trembled as she stood in the middle of the room and turned her palms outward.
“I haven’t used it since I called it back in,” she whispered. The gods shared a look before Vala reached her descendant and clasped her hands in hers. Elisara hesitated, meeting Vala’s gaze.
“When you called it back in, what were you thinking of?” Vala asked. Elisara’s eyes watered, and she blinked back tears.
“Kazaar,” she breathed. Nyzaia shifted. Soren knew if she looked down, pain would mar Nyzaia’s expression.Separate Elisara and Kazaar.Vala’s hand moved to rest over the moon on Elisara’s collarbone.
“It is because he is still a part of you. Kazaar may be gone, but you shared a tie. When he left, a piece of him remained here.” Vala‘s hand lowered to Elisara’s heart. “He is your tether. He helps you, even in death.” Elisara sniffed and nodded before rolling back her shoulders. Vala bowed her head and returned to stand by her siblings, a note of pride in her eyes. As Nyzaia turned to look up at Farid, sudden envy surged within Soren at their tie. She clenched her jaw and looked ahead at Elisara.
Slowly, the Queen of Vala breathed in and out for severalminutes, keeping her eyes closed as though searching for something within herself. Soren stopped fidgeting as wisps of shadows radiated from Elisara’s body. Dark strands flowed from her and twisted, slow and steady, under their queen’s command. Soren tilted her head. A silver string appeared to drift through them beneath the light, but when Soren blinked, she saw only darkness. In her mind, the shadows stirred, hissing at the recognition of those before them. Her eyes snapped shut. She was on the cell floor, reaching through the vine-coated bars, which had been spread wide enough for a thirteen-year-old girl to escape through, if not for the remaining darkness forming a wall to stop her. Soren tensed as she opened her eyes again. Darkness swelled around Elisara. She flourished her hands as strands of shadow spiralled around her, forming a rapidly spinning cocoon around her body as its pace quickened. The wall of darkness grew so thick Elisara was barely visible. The dark walls Caligh had conjured on the battlefield sprung to Soren’s mind, matching the one keeping her sanity at bay.Do not fail me, Soren,he had warned on so many occasions. Soren frowned. What was his request?Separate Elisara and Kazaar. Kazaar was gone, but Vala said a piece of him remained in Elisara’s heart. Should she kill the Queen of Vala? Soren reached for the sword at her side but grasped air. The shadows moved so fast a wind picked up in the room. Soren glanced at the dagger strapped to Nyzaia’s thigh.No,whisperedthe delicate voice in her mind—cracked but present, pushing the darkness. Soren shook her head as the screaming started. Her soul tried to break free, rising onto her knees to grasp the bars.
“Now what?” Elisara shouted over the wind. Soren gripped her head as the wind whipped at her braids.
“Release it!” Garridon grinned, his eyes on Soren. Elisara’s hands shot out, and the sphere of darkness shot up in a plume towards the temple’s glass point. The darkness in Soren’s mind watched, awe-struck, trying to reach Elisara’s power while moving further away from the girl in the cell. The remnants of Caligh’s powerlaughed with glee, ricocheting around Soren’s head.
When Elisara yanked her hands down, the tower of dark magic crumbled—falling, falling, falling, until colliding with the stone ground. A crack resounded throughout the room, and the darkness in Soren’s mind screamed as Elisara’s power sunk deep into the Isle of Gods.Kill the king,saidCaligh. With his original and most stern command echoing around Soren’s mind, she swiped the dagger from Nyzaia’s thigh and spun in one fluid motion. As Elisara’s darkness sank deep into the Isle of Gods and the ground began to shake, Soren plunged a dagger into Caellum’s chest. He stumbled, wide-eyed, reaching for Sadira. The wind seemed to slow as Sadira turned to look at her husband. No signs of worry, pain, or heartbreak marred her sister’s eyes as she looked at Soren, and then Caellum, who held her shoulder. Her brow furrowed when she noticed his trembling hand before her eyes travelled to the handle in Soren’s grip. And when the ground trembled, Soren’s soul pushed through the shadows and tore apart the remaining shreds of darkness.
But it was too late.
As Sadira screamed, Soren let go of the dagger in the king’s chest and stumbled back.
“I told you it would get worse before it got better,” Garridon said from behind.
Chapter Forty-Four
Sadira
Apart of Sadira was rotting away, dying. She felt it in her chest, the constricting of her heart as Caellum fell into her arms, knocking her from the chair. She froze the moment she fell onto her knees and watched the blood pool beneath Caellum as Nyzaia and Farid dragged Soren out of her sight. Caellum reached for the handle of the dagger protruding from his chest, and when his eyes finally met Sadira’s, she screamed. She crawled through her husband’s blood, as it soaked into the cracks of the floor, stretching from the hole Elisara’s power had created in the table’s centre. Her hand slipped when she reached for him. Sadira fell into his chest. She lay there for a moment, listening to the sound of his heartbeat as his hand rose to twist into her hair. She heard the faint thud, the deep beat of his heart belonging to her; she heard it every morning when she awoke in this exact position.
“Sadira,” he mumbled, but she could not bring herself to rise or look at him, to see the agony twisting his features. “Take…” he tried to speak. “Take it out. Please.” She shook her head and pounded her fist against his chest.
“No!” she screamed. Sadira had learned enough about healing and helping the injured at her engagement ball; she knew it would kill him the second she took it out. He would lose too much blood. Someone called for Vigor, as if Caellum could ever survive a stab to the heart. A hand gripped Sadira’s shoulder.
“He needs to see you, Sadira,” Elisara choked. “Don’t let him go like this. Please.” Sadira felt Caellum’s chest slow. Slowly, she lifted her head, her tears streaming in rivulets through his blood on herface. Caellum lifted a hand to her cheek, and Sadira crumpled the moment his wedding ring caught the light.
“I can’t do this without you,” Sadira cried. “I won’t do it without you. Please, someone find a way—someone help him!” Sadira looked up at Elisara standing behind, with Vigor beside her. He shook his head as Vlad wrapped an arm around Vala’s queen. There was nothing he could do. Larelle bowed her head, as though already accepting the fate of Garridon’s king. Nyzaia was nowhere to be seen, having dragged Caellum’s murderer from the crime scene. The gods simply watched the death of yet another mortal. Garridon lacked the decency to even look saddened at the sight of his descendent sobbing over the body of her husband, her king, her love.
“It’ll be okay,” Caellum whispered, though his breathing was laboured. Sadira closed her eyes as more tears fell until she finally looked at her husband and brought her hand to his cheek. “It’ll be okay.” He started coughing.
“Please don’t leave me,” Sadira cried.
“I am grateful,” Caellum choked. “For the fairytale you gave me.” Sadira gripped the hand that bore the mark of their marriage. They deserved more time—neededmore time.
“I will never forget you,” Sadira cried. Her body shook as his blood bled into her skirts.
“I’ll wait for you,” Caellum wheezed. Coughs racked his body and blood filled his mouth. The damage was too much—his body was unable to cope. “I’ll be okay. I’ll be with my family,” he said. “I need you to do something for me.”
“Anything,” Sadira replied.
“Can you tell Sir Cain my father said thank you for raising me when he could not.” Sadira nodded but refused to believe he could not relay the message himself.
“Please don’t leave me,” she begged again, clinging to Caellum’s body. The ground continued to shake, and rubble fell from the temple.
“Find another fairytale, Sadira.” And those were his last words, spoken to the woman who had entered his life when he least expected and changed him for the better. Sadira threw her head back and screamed as the world collapsed around her. She sensed a body kneeling beside her as a shaky hand reached forward to close Caellum’s eyes and wrap an arm around Sadira. In the Vala’s queen embrace, the Queen of Garridon sobbed, her heart split in two.
Chapter Forty-Five
