Endreí could only resign himself to his fate, hoping that somehow, Rissa might at least escape a similar ending. She’d told him that his death would also mean her own, but he imagined that avoiding that fate at Dreya’s hands might somehow set her soul free. It was only a small comfort, yet if he was right, Endreí was perfectly willing to bear the brunt of Dreya’s rage for both of them.
Endreí stared back into the malevolent depths of Dreya’s green eyes, trying his best to face the end with some shred of dignity. The promise of the horrors he saw there threatened to unnerve him, but Endreí held firm, knowing that there was simply nothing he could do to stop her. Resigned to spending eternity at her mercy, Endreí managed to summon enough courage to commit one final act of defiance.
“Fuck you,” he swore back at her, imparting as much of his own anger to the words as he could muster.
The glare she shot back at him in response was even more disconcerting, foretelling Dreya’s intention to make Endreí pay for his pitiful display of audacity. But the delay that their brief exchange had caused was enough to allow Venna to regain her feet, and before Dreya could land her killing blow, she unleashed a tormented scream as a bright blue aura consumed her.
Dreya’s rapid movements had thwarted every attempt Venna had made to land the Spell before. But with her gloating over Endreí’s prone form, Venna was able to take advantage of the opportunity and strike her with the potent magic. As Dreya howled in agony, Endreí quickly crawled away, giving himself the space he needed to try another Spell.
He’d been far too close to dare before, but with a few precious yards between them, Endreí cast Flame Barrier, funneling every shred of its power into the tiny patch where Dreya was standing. The Spell’s magic erupted in a raging inferno, and Endreí was forced back even further as its heat grew too intense for him to withstand. Yet even that powerful talent wasn’t enough to disrupt the hate-fueled magic that had brought Dreya back to life, and she stumbled beyond the confines of his Spell, fully engulfed in its flames yet still clearly intent on exacting her revenge.
Endreí could only gaze in disbelief as the shining green light of Dreya’s eyes focused on him once again, still glaring at him hatefully from deep within the swirling fires that surrounded her. They’d managed to strike Dreya with their most powerful weapons, but neither Venna’s divine casting nor his own Spell had been enough to put an end to her. Endreí had nothing left to try; no secret magic he was waiting to unleash or devious trap he’d held in reserve. He knew that it was over—Dreya had won, and death would only be the very beginning of his torment.
A terrifying scream shattered the air as Dreya raised the charred staff once again, a mixture of absolute rage and a primal desire for revenge echoing around him. Endreí thought it was Dreya who’d let loose the terrible sound, but as he stared back at her in defiance, Venna slammed into Dreya’s still smoldering body, bearing her animated corpse to the ground.
Straddling her smoking remains, Venna pummeled Dreya with a relentless series of blows from her wicked mace, any one of which would have been sufficient to kill a normal person. But even after enduring numerous strikes from Venna’s weapon, Dreya continued to fight back, warding off the attacks with her charred arms and clawing back at Venna with her burnt fingers.
Something inside Endreí suddenly snapped, and he lurched into motion, yanking Dreya’s head back as he grasped her by the singed remnants of her hair. The stench of her putrid, smoldering flesh flooded Endreí’s senses as he twisted sideways, and he had only a second to glimpse the blistered skin of her scalp before plunging the full length of his dagger into her temple. Dreya’s body jerked as the sharp edges of his blade slid into her skull before going completely limp. Endreí didn’t dare dream that it was over just yet, however, and he withdrew the weapon only to use it to slice through her neck, separating Dreya’s head from the seared remains of her body.
Rising up off the ground, Endreí stared down at her headless corpse for a long while before he finally allowed himself to believe that the battle was truly over. Once he accepted that they’d actually won, Endreí remembered Rissa’s injury and hurried over to where he’d seen her fall to the ground. Or, at least he tried until Daze stopped him halfway there.
“Maybe you want to let go of your souvenir first?” Her brows arched as she pointedly glanced down at Endreí’s left hand—the one that still held Dreya’s decapitated head firmly in its grasp.
The adrenaline was still coursing through his veins, and Endreí hadn’t even realized that he was still carrying the gruesome… thing. Dreya’s head tumbled to the ground when he finally released his grip, and Endreí quickly wiped off the greasy soot and charred bits of ruined flesh from his fingers as he grinned back awkwardly at Daisy. She made a show of stepping away from him once he was done, and Endreí took the last few steps to Rissa’s side.
Venna had already healed the rest of his friends during the short span of time Endreí had taken to clean himself and was busy examining Rissa’s injuries when he arrived. Her forearm was clearly broken, and Venna began casting a Spell to mend the wound as Endreí sat down beside her. Taking hold of Rissa’s uninjured hand, he offered his wife a bit of comfort while he waited for the magic to make her whole again.
Only it didn’t.
A puzzled look came over Venna’s face when her Spell failed to knit Rissa’s bones back together, and she withdrew a sharp blade from her belt before carefully cutting away the chain from Rissa’s arm, exposing the wound more completely. Although Endreí braced himself for the sight of her protruding bone, he wasn’t prepared for what he saw once the true extent of Rissa’s injury was finally revealed. A pair of splintered white bones jutted out from Rissa’s flesh, but it wasn’t the sight of them that caused the blood to drain from Endreí’s face.
“Oh, no,” Endreí heard Kara’s whispered lament as he tried to rein in his own sense of despair.
Although the break was indeed a serious injury, it wasn’t the true source of their concern. What troubled them had nothing to do with the stark white bones—it was the blackened flesh surrounding them that caused Endreí so much distress.
Corruption.
Injuries and illnesses of any sort could be deadly in this world without modern medicine. Even common, everyday cuts and scrapes might lead to death if infection set in. That was why it had been so crucial for him to learn how to make healing potions and for Stephanie to gain her curative magic—but they were out of potions, and Stephanie was dead, leaving Venna as their only hope of saving Rissa’s life. Had her wound only been a broken bone and torn flesh, Endreí would not have been quite so apprehensive, but corruption was something completely different. It was often resistant to even the most powerful healing magic, slaying whoever it infected and leaving them beyond resurrection—a talent they didn’t possess anyway. Rissa was aware of all of this as well, and she glanced at Endreí with a resigned look in her eyes.
“Sorry,” she gripped his hand tightly as she bid him farewell.
Endreí felt his entire world closing in on him, knowing that he was about to repeat an excruciating experience yet again. He’d held Trish close as she’d passed beyond this realm, and then Tási when she too had expired. Now he was clutching Rissa in his arms as she slowly surrendered her life to the poison that was eating away at her, but he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.
“No,” Endreí faltered as he replied. “You’re not going anywhere without me.”
They’d battled their way through so much together, and Endreí wasn’t willing to lose Rissa now that they were finally free. To have her fall not even in their final battle but to this foul fate in its aftermath seemed almost like some cruel joke. Yet he was helpless to halt the corruption that was spreading through her even then, and Endreí realized that all he could do was watch and offer Rissa what little reassurance he could as she gradually succumbed to its influence.
“This isn’t over yet!” Venna broke in before Rissa could reply. �
��I need you to hold her down.”
Without waiting for a response, Venna cut away the tattered remains of Rissa’s sleeve, exposing her entire arm. Recognition flashed in Endreí’s eyes when he realized what she intended, and he pinned Rissa’s shoulders to the ground as he steadily held her gaze.
“Just look at me,” Endreí’s voice trembled even as he tried to comfort her. “Focus on me; nothing else.”
Rissa nodded back at him, understanding the sheer agony that was mere seconds away, yet she only gritted her teeth and bore down, willing to endure whatever price she had to pay for a chance to avoid the horrible death that awaited her.
Venna’s blade was razor-sharp, and with her strength, she was able to slice cleanly through the flesh and bone of Rissa’s arm. Despite being prepared for the desperate act, Rissa’s screams echoed through the air, tearing a jagged hole in Endreí’s soul as he held her firmly in place. Glancing away for a split second, Endreí saw that Venna wore a mask of concentration as she focused on the gruesome task. The instant Venna cut away Rissa’s corrupted limb, she tossed it aside and quickly cast another healing Spell; this time to cure the wound she’d left behind in the wake of her hasty amputation.
Unlike before, the injury lacked any trace of corruption, and Venna’s magic not only sealed off the gaping laceration but also ended the excruciating pain that had come with it. Endreí held Rissa’s gaze as she gasped for air, slowly recovering from the dual trauma of her brutal wound and the drastic measures that had been required to save her life. For several moments they just looked into each other’s eyes, knowing that each of them had only narrowly escaped a terrible fate until Rissa finally nodded at him, and he helped her stand up again.
With a clear sense of reluctance, Rissa broke free of Endreí’s gaze and took a deep breath before gazing down at what remained of her left arm. Venna’s quick slash had cut way everything below her bicep, leaving only a short stump below Rissa’s shoulder. She let out a soft sigh of regret over the loss of her limb, then took on a look of resolve as she did her best to put it all behind her.
“This time, let’s make sure that bitch can’t come back,” Rissa turned towards Venna as she spoke.
Watching over Dreya’s remains, Rissa gripped her Long Sword of Sharpness tightly in her good hand while the rest of them built a tremendous pile of wood. No one wanted to handle her foul body, so once the pyre was ready, they wrapped Dreya’s corpse in spare blankets before dumping it atop the mountain of dry tinder. Rissa had morbidly suggested erecting a smaller pyre for her arm, but the corruption had spread through it while they’d worked, reducing the limb to a putrid mess before they could tend to it. Endreí kicked a pile of dirt over the blackened patch of soil while she wasn’t looking, burying it as best he could under the circumstances. He wasn’t sure why he felt the need to do so, but somehow it just seemed… wrong to leave part of her behind without tending to it.
Once all was ready, Endreí set the towering pile of wood ablaze with a well-placed ball of fire, and they watched as the flames devoured Dreya’s body. Despite the danger, no one moved an inch until the entire heap was reduced to a pile of glowing embers, and there was no trace of Dreya’s corpse to be found. Finally convinced that they’d truly put an end to her, Kara led the way back into the forest once again.
Epilogue
Endreí leaned back, resting his head against the soft pillow as he remembered the events that had played out over the years since that day. Many had been good, some had not, yet all of them still echoed through his mind from time to time. The journey to reunite with the rest of the villagers hadn’t taken long, nor did the debate on whether or not they should return to the homes they’d abandoned. With the evils that had occurred there and the vulnerabilities of living so close to the old road made readily apparent, the vote to remain in the more isolated location they’d found had been nearly unanimous.
The first year there had been a difficult one. Without the fortifications they’d built, their new home was extremely vulnerable. But Venna had chosen to remain with them, and she’d used both her strength and healing abilities to save them more than once, earning her a rapid reprieve from the suspicions that had initially surrounded her arrival. Over time, the new village they established became even more secure than the one they’d abandoned, not only due to the lessons that had been learned but also as a result of the new allies they’d found.
Not everyone had been quite so naïve as they’d been. They soon discovered an entire network of small settlements tucked away in the forest just like their own, hidden from prying eyes and the dangers that the old highways and roads represented. The single trading partner they’d had before was soon replaced by half a dozen nearby villages, small communities that bolstered each other—both defensively and with trade. When it came time to erect their new walls, there was no shortage of volunteers from the surrounding communities either. Each of them recognized that having a strong neighbor only served to enhance their own security.
After the initial rough period, things improved quickly. Endreí still went on an occasional scouting mission with Kara, but Daisy and Len had taken over most of that responsibility, along with a few others. Endreí used his free time to both work on his enchanting and ensure that they never again ran out of healing potions, dedicating himself to his craft until he created more than enough of the red crystals as well. Although he resented the need for it, Endreí’s tiny gems became one of the village’s key trade items, furnishing them with many of the goods they simply couldn’t produce on their own. The crystals were a tremendous boon for the fledgling community and provided much-needed healing to those who might otherwise have gone without, but Endreí would have preferred to have been able to simply hand them out freely.
Still, things went so well that he and Rissa had started a family together. Their world was soon brightened first with a baby boy they’d named Eolfrí, followed by a daughter, Luníel. Endreí hadn’t known the meanings of the names Rissa had chosen until she told him: Sunshine and Moonlight. The pair were a perfect blend of both him and Rissa, with shining silver hair and skin tinted by the entire palette of the sunset. The young family had seemed destined for only happier times until tragedy struck.
Rissa was taken with a severe illness one winter, a deathly malady that sapped her of all her strength. Her near-death by Dreya’s corruption had left her somewhat weakened, and despite Venna’s constant vigil and unceasing efforts, Rissa succumbed to the sickness within only a few short days. With her unexpected passing, Endreí fell into a deep, lingering malaise, caring nothing for himself and wishing only to join her in whatever realm lay beyond this world. Although Kara came to tend to him and tried to coax Endreí from his despair, it was Venna who’d not only stayed with him almost constantly but also taken care of Eolfrí and Luníel when he couldn’t.
When Endreí finally emerged from beneath the shroud of Rissa’s death, he was mortified by his actions. Wallowing in his misery had been bad enough, but he knew that ignoring his own children—Rissa’s children—had been an unpardonable sin. Endreí shuddered when he considered what might have occurred had Venna not seen to them, vowing to never abandon them like that again.
It had been difficult at first, reclaiming the life he didn’t really want to live, but the alternative was simply unacceptable. Endreí pushed himself to do what he had to do, not for his own sake, but for Rissa’s—to honor her for the rest of his life by caring for their children. His burden was made quite a bit easier when Venna continued to aid him, bringing meals to his home and helping whenever she could. While he’d been… indisposed, Venna had comforted Eolfrí and Luníel after the loss of their mother. It was perhaps the worst thing he’d done, not being there for them when they’d needed him the most, yet he also recognized the genuine connection that had grown between the three of them. That bond had only grown stronger over time, and Venna became almost a second mother to them, a fact Endreí genuinely appreciated as he worked to redeem himself.
Months passed while Endreí devoted himself to becoming the father he knew his children both needed and deserved, and he’d realized that the most difficult times were finally behind him one evening when the end of the day arrived and he hadn’t thought of Rissa’s passing even once. It wasn’t as if he’d forgotten her—or ever would—but he’d managed to devote himself to the present without lingering over the pains of the past. He’d even been able to offer a silent toast of respect in her name as he sat down alone at the end of the night, smiling for once at her memory rather than shedding tears.
The change in himself wasn’t the only thing he noticed after that. Once Endreí emerged from the fog of his grief, he began to observe the subtle hints of affection in Venna’s care—her lingering touch and the quick glances they shared before she looked away revealed her desire for something much more than just his friendship. Although Endreí had begun to accept Rissa’s loss and even move on with his life, the realization made him uneasy at first. Venna seemed to read his hesitation clearly, and her ministrations became a bit more… restrained.
Endreí soon found himself missing Venna’s cautious advances, however, and he realized that there was more than gratitude in his feelings for her as well. Yet the situation was also a delicate one. Although they’d both lost their spouses, Endreí’s wounds were still relatively fresh, and Venna’s loss, while much older, had come at Endreí’s hand. To say that he was uncomfortable exploring what might lie between them would have been quite the understatement.
Still, Endreí knew two things: the first was that Venna was worth the risk. She was an incredible woman, both strong and beautiful, to be sure, but even more than that, a generous soul. Not only had her efforts gifted him and Rissa with a few more precious years, but without Venna’s intervention, he would have also been deprived of the joy that Eolfrí and Luníel had brought into his life. Even more important to him was the fact that his children had come to truly love Venna, as she had come to love them in return. It was the thought of bringing her into their lives more completely that finally motivated Endreí to act.
Echoes: A Second Skin Novel (Second Skin Book 6) Page 21
