Page 99 of A Clash of Embers

I pulled the sword out of the scabbard, looking at the hilt. It was emerald and onyx encrusted. There was a divot that was the same shape as my ring. My Variance Ring. Athiana’s ring. I placed it within the divot and it fit snugly, vibrating softly in my hand.

Like the song. They called to me. My skin was itching and I felt like I needed to move every part of me. My fingers, my toes, my neck. I was uncomfortable. I blinked my eyes a few timeswhen I noticed a glow coming from my body. The shimmering speckles of gold that once beamed brightly when Luna helped me become a goddess were once again shining through me. I was incandescent.

I reached out, touching the tree, and my body pulsed. It vibrated through me. All the power tied into it as I watched the golden swirls spread up and down the tree. The light was blinding but the lock appeared. The same shape of my sword. The sword was humming in my hand as I reached it forward toward the lock.

As I pushed the sword into the golden key, it absorbed it. Swallowing it whole as energy swarmed around me and I turned the hilt to the side and pushed. When I did, blue light energy lit up the tree and crashed into the ground like a wave, knocking everyone down behind me. A surge of energy that washed over the land.

Everyone in Darthium would know the gate was open. And so would the people in Tetharus. The entire universe would know.

I held onto the tree, gripping it, trying to stand as the golden walls appeared, a vast emptiness beyond. The entry into Tetharus.

When I turned around to face everyone, their eyes were wide, as large as the moon. They were in complete awe.

“Madok and Eros are going to enter Tetharus and find who we are looking for. We must stay on guard for what might happen—”

A loud crunch and vibration of the ground stopped my speech. I searched for the source of the sound, hoping it wasn’t what Consul Loveridge thought it might be.

When I saw her eyes, I knew. It was the Lyetta.

“Ev! Madok! Run! You need to go. I need to close the gate. Go!” I screamed at them and they started running. When they did, chaos ensued. The beasts showed themselves as our entiregroup turned into their true forms. Ready to defend us, their people, and the world.

Finally, Ev and Madok were standing in front of me, “You need to go. You need to gonow.”

Madok nodded at me and entered the darkness not wasting another minute in the world that had failed him—a light flickered and he was gone.

Ev still stood in front of me, with his hand on my cheek. His eyes bore into my soul.

“I love you,” he said softly, pressing a last kiss into my mouth. Not a goodbye.

I watched as his wings tucked in behind him and he passed into the golden walls with one final look behind him. A smirk that I didn’t know if I’d see again. Then, he was gone.

Chapter 48

“Clara!”

I heard my name but the person speaking to me. I couldn’t figure it out.

“Clara! We need to run!”

His blue eyes were alarmed and the flames within them burned. Wanting to transform into his dragon form. The form he trusted me with.

He grabbed my hand and started running alongside me. We passed flames, screaming. I saw Griffin with the darkest fur that was singeing with every blast from the beasts that were attacking us. He was ferocious, with his hazel eyes, moving quickly with every movement of the beasts that were attacking us.

“Is he going to be all right?” I asked Luke as we kept running away from the cliffs.

He shook his head, “We can’t worry about that right now. Keep running.”

Looking back, I saw a lighter tan wolf standing beside Griffin, with a scar on their face. It was Alexandra, his second-in-command. She was putting her life on the line for him, to protect him.

Worry laced through my mind as I saw the people I loved fighting. Fighting for their lives. Kay swirled with energy alongside Consul Loveridge. Their powers ran wild through their hair, their hands, and their eyes. Any trace of their personalities was hidden, replaced by all-powerful, vanquishers.

Beasts, witches, wolves, vamprye, and humans. Together. We were united in our fight against this evil. To whatever end.

“Run! Run! Keep Running!”

The fire that surrounded us was overwhelming. The snow dissipated; the plants, the trees, everything was dying. Bursting into flames. Just like my dream.

"What are these things?” I screamed wanting to confirm what I thought they were.

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