Page 288 of The Ascended
My crown of stars.
"Impossible." Moros whirled to face me. “You shouldn’t even be able to stand right now.”
I grabbed three of the motes of light, morphing them into blades that caught him in the chest, driving him back a step.
The distraction was all Thatcher needed. He ripped the dagger from his chest, wound already closing. One fluid motion took him off the dais. He landed in a crouch that cracked stone beneath his feet.
I pushed myself up, gathering power for another strike?—
Pain exploded across my scalp. Fingers twisted in my hair, yanking backward. I hit the ground hard, sparks exploding across my vision. Elysia's beautiful face filled my sight.
"You already rid yourself of the blade?" She produced a dagger from nowhere. "Here, have another."
I'll handle Moros,Thatcher sent, rolling away as Olinthar’s body lunged.Just stay alive.
You stay alive.
I caught Elysia's wrist as the blade descended, rage blazing beneath my skin despite poison trying to snuff it out. She was stronger than she looked—pure Aesymarean blood ran true in her veins, years of practice behind every move. But I had something she didn't.
Nothing left to lose.
A burst of energy rushed through me. Perhaps death's final gift. I was healing at an unimaginable speed. My wound had already started to close as if my body was fighting the poison with renewed fervor.
"Nice try." I used her momentum to roll us across the floor.Stone cratered beneath us. "But my back isn't conveniently available this time."
We crashed into a pillar, but this one held, cracks spidering up its length. Elysia's blade skittered away into darkness.
"That's better." She tried to pin my arms. "I can look you in the eyes when I end you."
“Oh really?” I slammed my forehead into her nose. Cartilage crunched. Blood exploded between us. “Can you still see through all of that?”
She whimpered before cracking her neck and smiling, crimson coating her perfect teeth. “It doesn’t matter. You’re going to die either way. Killing you will only further prove my loyalty to him.”
"Why are you doing this?” The question came through gritted teeth as she slammed her knee into my thigh.
She reeled back, twisting her fingers into my gown and pulling. "You wouldn't understand. You were born powerful. Born to matter."
We rolled across the temple floor, trading blows. My body screamed in protest, but I pushed through the pain. It was getting more bearable now, as if something beyond divine healing was coursing through me.
"I was nothing," she snarled, managing to pin my wrists for a moment. "Beautiful, yes, but beauty only gets you so far. My parents are lesser Aesymar, content with their mediocrity. They expected me to disappear into obscurity just like them."
I broke her hold, driving an elbow into her ribs. "So you decided to help destroy the world instead?"
"I decided to matter!" She rolled away, coming up with another blade. "Do you know what it's like? To be overlooked your entire existence? To have everyone see your face but never your potential?"
"Plenty of people feel overlooked without turning traitor," I spat, dodging her strike.
"They lack ambition. When Moros approached me, when he saw what everyone else missed—someone willing to do anything, sacrifice anyone, to rise—I knew mymoment had come."
"Your moment to be his puppet?"
"His queen!" The word burst from her with desperate pride. "When he rules all four realms, I'll stand beside him. Not as decoration, but as power incarnate. My parents, the Legends who dismissed me, everyone who thought Elysia would amount to nothing—they'll bow or they'll burn."
Behind us, reality groaned—a living thing in pain. I risked a glance and my heart nearly stopped.
Olinthar's body betrayed itself. Arms bent the wrong way. Skin rippled and bubbled like boiling water. Bones cracked and reformed, turning him into a puppet with tangled strings.
But Moros was no mere possessing spirit. He was a Primordial, older than the gods themselves.
