Page 92 of A Story of Sinners

It answered. My body became a flaming ball of golden fire, golden tendrils wisping about the room, hissing at the feel of iron buried into the walls, into the bars outside of the windows. My power would not be able to overcome the iron surrounding us, nor the runes carved into the stone outside of the tower, but I’d sifted into that palace dungeon by accident once before, and there was something inside of me capable of overcoming iron and runes.

There was something more, something that had always terrified me to touch.

So, I dug deeper, deeper than ever before, finding that golden spark burning bright within the depths. I reached down and grasped it, the feel of it burning me from the inside out, tearing at my soul and forming something new. Sharp teeth prickled from my gumline, and nails stretched to claws as my vision cast over with a bright haze.

This power was something ancient, godly, world ending and life bringing.

My gaze shifted to Gabriella, and she gasped, backing up a step. Screams echoed from the ground below, and a low growl tore from my chest as I met its origin. Eulalia. Isadora.

Swallowed by shadows and flame.

The dragon behind them roared its outrage, its pain, blowing hot flames from its mouth, molten flames that did nothing to destroy the enemy.

He was next, writhing as black flames rippled across his scaley skin. Kieran and that blue-haired high lord, Evander, followed, shadows surrounding their body and slowly crawling their way from their feet to their necks. Before the shadows took him, Kieran gazed up to the tower meeting Gabriella’s eyes, his mouth moving with the words, “Goodbye.”

Gabriella gasped, her eyes watering to the rim as his neck snapped.

Everyone. Malachi had murdered nearly everyone.

Redmond and Ryken would be next. I watched as Redmond cowered, and as Ryken closed his eyes, a sort of peace and acceptance and love trailed from him to me through our bond, his last words issued in waves of feelings.

I had to save them. I had to.

Searing pain shredded my shoulder blades, and something took form, slicing through skin.

Malachi’s bright turquoise eyes shifted upwards meeting mine, and the corner of his lip tugged as he clenched his hand into a fist.

Redmond’s neck snapped.

“No!” My scream tore through the night sky, bursting windows and sending stone and iron careening towards the ground. The tower crumpled around us as my scream continued shaking the stone beneath our feet.

Ryken drew his weapons, a sword in one hand, a dagger in the other, as he attacked Malachi with a cold and lethal grace, aiming the sword straight towards the male’s chest. But where Ryken had skill, Malachi had magic. Skill wouldn’t be enough to save him.

Shadows wrapped around Ryken’s sword, pulling and tugging, sending it flying to the ground. Armed with only a dagger, Ryken spun circles around the winged male, slicing small cuts into his armor, his face, reaching for the crystal Malachi clutched within his gloved hand. I craned my neck, desperate to see what happened next, but the stone ground beneath me collapsed.

I jumped towards Gabriella, grasping her tightly as we both spiraled from the tower. She was shaking and terrified as I held her close, cupping her head to the cradle of my neck and twisting us both around.

We fell from the towering height, and I held onto her with all the strength I could muster. We both squeezed our eyes shut as we fell towards the entrance steps, screaming all the way down. I shifted my body to take the brunt of the fall, ensuring that Gabriella would fall on top of me. My body would hit the stone first, I would make sure of it.

The intended impact never came, and when I reopened my eyes, it was to meet hers, wide and awestruck.

“Wings,” she gasped, and I turned my head. The flapping of wings at my back held us suspended just above the ground, halting what would have been a deadly impact.

My wings. Gold and feathery. Soft yet strong. I didn’t know quite what to do with them. I attempted to flap them once more. My back smacked against the stone portcullis beneath us, and Gabriella rolled away with a groan.

“Kieran, Eulalia, Fin, Redmond…Aiden and George,” she whispered. “They’re all dead.”

We couldn’t see past the wall surrounding the palace. Ryken was out there, fighting for his life. I couldn’t leave him helpless. He needed me.

I climbed to my knees and crawled to Gabriella, grabbing her shoulders. “Run. Hide if you must.”

Tears spilled from her eyes as she grabbed my arm, squeezing and pulling me towards her, unwilling to let go. “No! Not you too. Please, don’t go out there.”

I had to. I needed to rescue Ryken and see if anyone had survived the wrath of Malachi. It was too quiet on the other side of the wall, and it didn’t matter if I stayed at her side. He would be coming for me regardless, and she shouldn’t be nearby. I tore myself away from her grip. “Please, Gabriella. Hide,” I begged.

I closed my eyes, focusing on the area the two of them had been just mere seconds ago, the same ground littered with dead bodies and ravaged by war.

Then, I sifted. Falling through the earth beneath me, falling through time and space, but something was different this time. Sifting wasn’t just sifting…not anymore. My body hung suspended through that empty void, a golden light shrouding every inch of my being. Instead of being met with the sound of silence or a blast of air as usual, the sound of bells and chimes, the blare of trumpets, met my ears.

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