Page 287 of The Ascended
It wasn't enough. It ate at the edges faster than my body could repair. But I didn't need to heal completely. Just needed to hold together long enough.
"Soon, I'll have a body worthy of my return."
"And the girl?" Elysia asked. "She's stronger than anticipated. I've never seen starlight manifest so purely."
"She must die today." A pause, and I heard the smile in his voice. "Though I admit, in another life, she might have been useful."
Wrong, you ancient bastard.
I pulled starlight from that deep well within me. Power came reluctantly, stuttering. Not for a weapon. Not for attack. For something far simpler and more devastating.
A star. Compressed into a sphere no larger than my fist.
The effort nearly killed me. Black spots danced across my vision as I poured everything into that tiny point of light. It wanted to explode, to expand, to become what stars were meant to be.
Finally, I let it bloom.
For Thatcher.
Light erupted in the temple—a sun being born. Brilliant radiance washed over everything, coating the chamber in roaring brightness.Shadows didn't flee—they died, evaporated before absolute illumination.
Moros roared. The sound shook dust from the ceiling and made reality flinch. Stone cracked under that cry. I heard Olinthar's stolen body crash into something that shattered. Heard Elysia curse as light caught her.
Now.
I dragged myself across blood-slicked floor. Every movement brought fresh agony. Every inch became a victory. My vision swam, poison and blood loss working in terrible harmony, but Thatcher lay just ahead. Still unconscious. Still breathing. Still alive.
Ten feet. Five. Almost there.
My fingers had just brushed Thatcher's ankle when Moros clawed his way back to the dais.
He drove the curved blade deep into my brother's chest.
I screamed—a horrifying, blood-pitched thing.
"There." Satisfaction dripped from every word as black blood began seeping from the wound. "Soon now."
Thatcher's eyes snapped open, and I thought my heart might just explode at the sight.
Then his left hand shattered his restraints.
Thais!
Thatcher—Moros. He’s back. He's trying to take your body.I gathered starlight frantically, forming blade after blade despite the agony.Some kind of ritual. You have to get free!
I heard everything, Thais.His mental voice crashed into mine, alive with pain and fury.
Moros whirled toward Elysia, fury contorting Olinthar's features. "You didn't give him enough!" he snarled.
Elysia's eyes widened in shock. "I gave him a dose that would drop a colossus!"
The blade?—
Don't let him complete whatever he's doing!
Moros brought Olinthar's fist down towardThatcher's face. But I'd already released my arsenal. A dozen star blades screamed through the air. His focus on Thatcher cost him. Three found their mark, slicing deep. Blood the color of rot sprayed in an arc.
That’s when I felt it. Light coursing through my veins, eating me alive until it burst from my skin and hovered above my head.
