Page 94 of Fractured Shadows

“Razcorr!” I shout, and he takes off, but I know not even he’s fast enough to save her. He won’t be able to stop her from falling into the rocky river below.

The scream of pure agony that spills from me echoes in the night as I drop to my knees. The sound shatters through the lands, my magic spilling from my flesh with the fury and grief that overtakes me.

It rips through everything and tears it apart as magic explodes from me in a burst of power the realms have never seen.

It hits the king, but it doesn’t stop.

Not as my grief overwhelms me.

Not as I stare at the spot my sister hung while sobs rack my body and tears flow from my eyes.

In my pain, I find a darkness I didn’t know I had, a depth I didn’t know I possessed, and I turn it on him—the gilded king.

I strip him of every gilded edge.

ChapterForty-Seven

Getting to my feet, I storm toward him.

Everything I have done, I did it for her, my sister.

He took her from me, just like his ancestor took love from the monsters.

He’s once again stolen the heart of our side and taken something precious.

This time, though, I let the pain flow through me, learning from the past, guided by the king and queen from so long ago. I do not let it consume me. I do not let it kill me.

Not yet.

I harness it, just as I have utilized every ounce of suffering in my life.

All the times I was beaten and abused. All the times I was spoken down to for simply being a female. All the times I was denied and dismissed. All the times I was teased and questioned.

My entire life, I have been seen as less than, until them.

My loves fight the storm swirling around us to get to me, to be with me, but I hold them back. I know that when I end this, when my purpose is over, I will crumble and fall just like she did.

It seems the monsters are always doomed to love and lose, but it will end here with him and me.

No more death, no more suffering.

Our fractured lands will be whole once more, and the shadows and the sun will be united.

Even in agony, even in fury, I know that what I’m doing is important, that it matters.

That I matter.

Despite the fact that my heart is tearing from my chest, my eyes sting with my tears, and my body heats with the pain, I stop before the king and give him mercy.

I vow to free him from this mortal suffering and the rot in his soul.

He raises his arm to shield himself from the tornado of agony lashing him, his eyes wide, lost, and terrified.

He is just a man.

“Please,” he begs, getting to his knees, his hair blowing back from his face. “Please, don’t kill me.”

“How many others begged you to spare them? How many girls begged you not to hurt them?” He swallows as I tilt his chin up with a finger like I saw him do to so many others.

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