Page 130 of The Spark that Ignites
The vessel called to her, whispering secrets of worlds before her. Of cruel gods and a crueller world. A question and a request. The promise of sparks and a flame to bring forth life. To burn away the darkness. A final change to free the magic screaming for release in a gilded cage.
The Ballad of Beginnings.
Before the beginning, there was magic.
This was her chance to be someone. To bring peace to this land and breathe life back into it. To be worthy of the magic that chose her and no longer fear it or let it control her. Maybe this was how it was supposed to be all along. She was never destined to cross the gate and blend with the world around her.
Like Briar had said, maybe she was always meant to stand out.
To ignite.
Vesper had asked her what she prayed for, and, at the time, she answered the only way she knew how. She had prayed for her mother and sister but never for herself. All those years, she was begging for forgiveness for the terrors of her past. Too busy watching over her shoulder to look toward the future. Even her plan to bring back Maela had been a cry into the void for a redemption she feared she wasn’t worthy of.
Now, she could look forward. Helping these people. Controlling and owning her magic. And finding Shade.
Because this land was her godsdamn home and now that it belonged to her, she would fight with everything in her to breathe life back into it.
As Emmery gripped the side of the basin with steady fingers, she knew whatever happened, she would be alright.
She wasn’t a monster.
She would no longer be a coward.
And she was no one’s fool.
It started as a spark. Gritting her teeth, flames erupted from her hands in a golden blaze and Emmery roared as she too lit up. They licked up her arms, her waist, threaded her legs, and consumed her being. The temple illuminated in the glory ofkhaos. But the flame didn’t reject her as it did before. It beckoned her, coaxed her. Kindled her. And she was its tinder.
As her flame surged, thekhaosflame took something from her, reaching inside her chest to retrieve it, while simultaneously awakening a force within her. She let it.
Releasing the basin, the rhythmic crackle of flames filled the empty chamber. Thekhaosflame reflected in her eyes as she fell to her knees.
But she wasted no time to linger on her success. She needed answers.
Emmery cast the stone into the fire.
Images formed in the flames, flickers of her story, one she hopelessly longed to rewrite, wrapping her in memories and promises of what lay ahead. A mishmash of pictures.
Images of Vesper and her dancing. Sharing a laugh, her head thrown back in foreign joy. Visions of Ellynne. The death and bodies layering the streets, burned beyond recognition. Screams echoing and unending pain—there was so much pain. Thorns sharp as knives puncturing skin, blood pooling on the floor. The sound of an inconsolable man, his pleas lost in the screams of chaos and despair. A black horned wolf watching Castle Dusk as the sun set and rose each morning. Always watching and waiting. Briar’s cocky smirk, her shadows blanketing her and Emmery as they skipped through the forest. Callias, his golden hair shining like a halo, sword in hand, duelling with Emmery. A proud smile crossed his face when she disarmed him, his sword clattering to the ground. A pair of forest-green eyes surrounded by a cloud of dark mist. Shade’s eyes. Herimplexus, tethered,her soulmate. Her chest tugged toward the image, aching, and empty.
Before she could see what the future held, the images winked out, veiled by a blanket of unyielding shadows.
“No!” she screamed, launching to her feet and attempting to chase the shadows away. But it was no use and her future blackened. Her answers stolen once again. “Shade—” she whimpered, her shoulders slumping.
A horrified and shrill voice rang out behind her. “What have you done?”
Chapter Forty-Seven
The woman struck the ground and the temple floor quaked. Her shadowed wings spread and curled toward Emmery, preparing to strike, pointing to their target.
Melantha. The mortal queen, now a beast.
The golden flame roared behind Emmery, and she absorbed it. Immense power flooded her bones, veins, and pounding heart. It crashed in explosive waves, rattling the breath from her lungs—all mastery of her magic undone. Because this was new, heavy, and terrifying.
Melantha studied Emmery with sapphire eyes full of malice. Could she see the new power suffocating her? Melantha radiated darkness, an opposing force to thekhaosflame. Shadows trailed her clawed hand and slithered up her arms like serpents.
Emmery unsheathed her daggers and herkhaosflame enveloped the blades—a little trick Callias had taught her. “Don’t come any closer or you’re going to regret it.”
Melantha cocked her head as if sizing up her prey. “Do you think I wish to harm you?”
