“How could this happen?” she cried. “They put their trust in us and we failed.”
“It’s not over. It’s not going to end like this. Something is happening out there. This isn’t the end.”
Isa pulled away from him, looked at the shifting light coating their skin. “Garild, what is this?”
He shook his head. “I don’t know. I wanted to find out, but I needed to get here. I needed to make sure you were okay. Isa, I’m sorry it took this long.”
“For what?”
Closing the distance between them, he kissed Isa, without fear of consequence, without worrying about who might see. He kissed her because he needed to, because he wanted to, because as the world crumbled around them, it was her face he saw, her voice he wished to hear, her skin he wanted to feel.
And if they survived, it was her he wanted by his side until the end of his days.
“Keep running,” Naree’na yelled, sliding to a halt as Trista and Barog continued past her. “I’ll hold them off.”
Trista felt the air ripple with power, an odd sensation that raised the hair on the back of her neck. There was a strange weight in her head, a mental shield Naree’na had placed to keep her from harm. It wouldn’t be enough, not for long, not with the full force of the Blades coming after them.
They’d managed to find another ship and were halfway there, crew in tow, when soldiers had come spilling over the ridge, a wave of crimson and gold. Time had run out, and the others were still gone, off trying to stop the world from ending.
The only protection they had against the might of the Blades was Naree’na. She stood firm against them, maintaining a shield while everyone boarded the ship, blocking arrows and arcs of crackling energy. It was waning in power, Trista could see that well enough, the barrier getting smaller and smaller with each impact.
Even if they got on the ship, even if they managed to get out onto the water, there was no way they would reach the sea alive. Trista glanced nervously at ships approaching in the distance, spreading out and blocking their exit.
“Now is our chance, Trista. Go!” Barog commanded, gripping her hand tightly and pulling her along. In his other hand, he held a dagger, little use as it would be against people that could turn their minds to jelly.
The rest of the crew had made it onto the ship and went right to work with preparations. Trista stood in the middle of the chaos, trying to stay small, to stay out of the way. She looked to Naree’na, watched as she struggled to maintain her barrier as she backed up towards the ship. “Barog, we have to help her. She’s not going to make it.”
Barog watched her struggle, his expression hopeless. “And what are we to do? Trista, we cannot stand against them, not without powers. My men cannot fight this enemy. She knew what she was asked to do, the sacrifice she might have to make.”
Trista ground her teeth, each impact against the barrier making her wince. “So, we just stand here and watch? Barog, we’re not making it out of here. This is the end of the line. Look at those ships on the horizon.”
“No,” he said gruffly. “We can navigate around them.”
“Barog.”
“We can make it through. We’ll force our way to the sea. It’s not going to end like this.”
“Barog!”
“It’s not,” he said, but she could hear the way his voice broke on the words, a ship crashing against the rocks. He turned his body towards her, his expression grim. His eyes traveled over her body, soaking in every detail, before rising to meet her gaze. “The gods saw fit to grace me with the presence of such a stunning land maiden, only to try and take her from me. They jest, and I do not like it, not at all.” He took a step closer, then another, and another. There was barely a gap between them when he stopped. He looked down at her, eyes dulled by grief. “So many words trapped in here,” he said softly, thumping his chest with his fist. “And so, I will say what I might not have the chance to say again.”
“Barog…”
“Hush, Trista. Just listen. This is important. You are the most beautiful, most courageous, fiery, intoxicating, wonderous, intelligent woman I have ever had the pleasure to know. In the short time I’ve known you, I have fallen deeply, deeply in love with you. My goddess of the land, my siren, my red headed seductress.” He gripped her shoulders, pulled her even closer. “Our time is cut far too short. It should not end so.”
Trista was barely listening, too distracted by the golden orbs of light rising over his shoulders. She pushed him away, pointing towards the orbs rising from land and sea. “Barog, would you shut up and look!”
He raised his head, eyes widening as he spotted the golden orbs, growing in size with each second that passed. “What is this?”
“I don’t know,” Trista managed to breath, unable to tear her eyes away from the beautiful light, the way it seemed to dance on the breeze.
The attacks on the barrier stopped, dozens of faces too enthralled by the sight to continue pressing forward. A strange silence settled over the ship, the seconds stretching into minutes as they watched the golden light shift and change. The silence deepened, and in that moment the orbs exploded, sending a cascade of shimmering energy washing over the ship.
The explosion of light was blinding, and Trista raised her hands to cover her eyes. The force of the energy slamming into her knocked her off her feet, but instead of hitting the deck, she continued to fall, slipping through a strange landscape streaked with creamy gold and white, with shimmering dust that streaked past her as she fell. Her silent screams trailed her descent, and when she thought it would never end, the motion ceased, and she found herself standing on the deck of the ship once more.
Only they were no longer in Korinth.
Dark spires jutted high above the city of Val’shar, and above them a figure floated in the air, currents of corruption swirling around it chaotically. The sea had turned a sickening black, and in the middle of it was a ship glowing golden in the gloom, their ship.
Barog appeared next to her, looking as bewildered as she felt. And he wasn’t the only one. To her right, Samira rose, dark eyes focused on Elfrind, on the corruption pouring over the city like rain. Several more flashes of light and others appeared, familiar outlines taking shape as the light faded. Tomias staggered to his feet, his eyes red and his cheeks streaked with tears, Mirin at his side. Naree’na looked about, her confusion barely contained, hand gripping her sword hilt tightly.
“Does someone want to explain what the hell just happened?” Barog demanded. “And why the hell are we in Val’shar?”
“Riel…” Samira said softly. She turned towards them, motioned to the left side of her body. “I was bleeding out in the sand just moments ago. That light, that energy, that power, that could only come from one person, from one being.”
Trista looked over Samira, at the tattered and bloody dress clinging to her skin. Through the holes in the fabric, she could see the places where wounds should have been, but there was nothing but smooth skin, not even the smallest of scars to mark her injuries. And they’d just been moved a vast distance, picked up and set down in the blink of an eye, carried by a golden light.
Her mind reeled. It was too much to comprehend, too much to think about. Everything she’d known about the world had been shredded and thrown to the wind. “Samira, what is going to happen? If that’s true…”
Samira turned her gaze back to Val’shar, her expression somber. “I don’t know, Trista. I don’t know.”
Tomias approached, glancing frantically about the ship. “Samira, she’s not here. I watched it happened, I watched her be pulled into that light! Why isn’t she here? Where is she?”
Samira reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder, her dark eyes meeting his. “I don’t think this is our fight anymore,” she said. “It’s hers. For better or worse, this is Kirheen’s battle now.”
An earsplitting sound erupted from the city, and Trista turned just in time to see a sliver of golden light explode from the heavens,
slamming into Elfrind and forcing him from the sky. The air glimmered where he’d hovered, golden stardust driving away the corruption wherever it touched. A heavy silence fell over the ship, all eyes locked on the city. In a sea of corruption, they could do nothing but watch and wait for the end.
CHAPTER 37
“We’ll have to cleanse him of Zekar’s influence,” Riel explained, her gaze locked on Elfrind floating high above the castle. “I will handle the physical corruption, but I leave his mind to you.”
Kirheen felt uncertain. The last time she’d tried to enter his mind, it hadn’t gone well, his power overwhelming her and nearly pulling her under. Riel must have sensed her unease, for golden eyes turned towards her.
“My strength is yours. My power is yours. You will not fall with me here.”
Riel spun her spear, gathering energy as it whirled through the air. As she slammed it against the ground, a loud crack reverberated through the city, and a beam of golden light slammed into Elfrind from the sky above, sending him plummeting towards the city streets. The impact sent up a plume of dust and debris, and Riel moved in the direction he had fallen.
Kirheen followed after her, body tingling from the light dancing over her skin. It was hard to believe what she was seeing, what she was experiencing. The goddess Riel had been there all along, pushing and guiding them, awakening them one by one, only to have them fail. She feared Zekar enough to not directly interfere, to watch from the shadows as the world was consumed by his will time and time again.
Now that her anger had subsided, she felt pity for Riel, for the goddess brimming with such power yet powerless to stand against the one that had helped create their world. She could understand her hesitation, the fear that had held her back for so long, but it couldn’t continue. The cycle could not just keep repeating itself, leaving a world scarred and broken, doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past.
It had to end, even if it cost them everything.
“Riel, if Zekar is drawn by this, if he shows up…”
“He made this world, child, and he’d just as soon unmake it,” Riel explained, her words carrying an edge of bitterness. “There is little mercy in him, little care for the things that he creates. This world only still exists because I care, because I wished for it to be, but the love I hold for this world, for the first of many, only goes so far. Know well that I cannot stand against him, and that if he is drawn here, it will be for the last time.”
The finality of her words sent a chill up Kirheen’s spine. Her heart and soul felt heavy, the fate of an entire world pressing heavy on overburdened shoulders. Everything she’d faced, everything she’d fought for, to have it all wiped clean by the spiteful hand of a god, it was too much to comprehend. She silenced her mind, focused her troubled thoughts on the task ahead.
They found Elfrind in the Scarlet Square, rising from a crater that had formed in the ground from his impact. He staggered and fell to his knees, growling in frustration. The corruption was forming a barrier, wrapping itself around him, layer by layer until it was hard to see Elfrind among the Darkness.
“This will take time. Hold his mind while I draw away the corruption and strip him of his power.”
“No!” he shouted, rising to his feet. He flung out his hand, and a wave of corruption shot towards Riel.
With a flick of her wrist, a golden barrier formed, repelling the corruption. “Silence, pawn.” She jabbed her spear forward, an arc of radiant energy shooting forward to slam against his barrier. It latched on, light struggling against the dark, and she began to siphon the corruption, drawing it away bit by bit. “Now!”
Kirheen focused on Elfrind, on the fractured barriers of his mind. It was easy enough to slip into his mind, fueled as she was by Riel’s power. She materialized inside his mind, standing in the center of the Scarlet Square, the cracks in the streets running red with blood. The corruption had taken its toll. All around her, buildings crumbled, unable to remain standing under the weight of the blight crawling over their surfaces. The sea still lingered ominously over the city walls, casting a shadow over Val’shar.
At the center of the square, Elfrind sat, his body covered in corruption. It slithered over his skin, clung to his clothes, dripped to the ground where it rooted him in place, keeping him from moving. She approached cautiously, and in that strange, heavy silence, she could hear him weeping.
He raised his head at her approach, his eyes black, ebony tears joining the rest of the corruption. “Help…me,” he whispered. “It’s too much. It’s too much.”
“I know it is,” Kirheen replied softly, kneeling down next to him. “I’ll help you.”
Lifting a hand, she pressed it to the corruption, feeling the weight of it all, the vast energy binding his mind, and soul, and heart. There was so much pain, so much hurt, so many regrets. She let her power flow into the corruption, fighting to find the real Elfrind buried somewhere within.
“I didn’t want this,” he said urgently, his voice distorted. “I didn’t know. The whispers took hold. I was so weak, so weak, so weak. Traded one prison for another. How was I to stand against Him?”
“It’s okay now. We’re going to free you from this.”
“He hates this world. He wants to see it end. He knows, he knows.”
Kirheen couldn’t focus, not with his endless rambling. “I need you to stay quiet if I’m to free you. Can you do that for me?”
He nodded his head, his words melting into suppressed whimpers.
The corruption was peeling away layer by layer, revealing a patch of pale skin, the folds of his clothes, the whites of his eyes. As she worked, she could see the result of Riel drawing away his power. A strange golden glow was building in the sky, shifting and changing the light, forcing back the corruption as it grew in intensity.
The last of the blighted substance fell away from Elfrind, and he looked over his body, finally freed from the corruption. He cautiously raised a hand, squeezed it into a fist, and released it, stretching his fingers wide. Kirheen stood and offered him her hand. His hazel eyes met hers, his gratitude felt in the weight of his gaze. Pale fingers brushed against her skin, gripped tight, and she pulled him to his feet.
Tall and proud, the prince that had been, the Elfrind that had existed before the Darkness had corrupted his soul. “Is it over? Am I finally free?”
“Not yet. Your mind is still vulnerable,” Kirheen explained. “There is more to do, but we’ll get you out.”
Elfrind looked around, taking in the terrible destruction that had destroyed his mind, that had allowed the corruption to take root.
“I’ll never be the same, will I? This damage can’t be fully mended. If I hadn’t been so weak, if I’d stood against him…”
Kirheen shook her head. “It was never that simple. Not even Riel herself has dared to try. Don’t blame yourself for this.”
He peered over his shoulder, eyes bright with tears. “If this doesn’t work, if I can’t be freed, please tell my sister I’m sorry. Will you do that for me? Will you tell her I’m sorry for everything? All those years she was alone…”
“If it comes to that, I will, but we’re going to ge-” Her words were drowned out, a sound like thunder reverberating through his mind. The ground began to shake beneath their feet, great cracks forming throughout the square, quickly widening as the earth trembled. Out of those cracks, corruption gushed, bleeding from the wounds in his mind. Kirheen was forced back, stumbling on the uneven terrain. “Elfrind, what is this? You have to stay calm! We’re trying to get you out!” she shouted, hoping he could hear her over the noise of the square being torn asunder.
A chasm had formed between them, isolating Elfrind. He staggered away from the gushing corruption, his eyes wide with fear. He was screaming across the void, his mouth forming words she couldn’t hear as buildings toppled, and the earth continued to buckle, sending more corruption rising from below. Kirheen was barely able to keep her footing, half crawling towards Elfrind, trying to get
close enough to keep him safe.
The sky was darkening, the sea rising higher and higher, winning the battle against the light. Riel’s golden glow was being forced back, driven out of his mind. High above them, the castles spires swayed dangerously. A twist, a crack, and one of the spires broke off, plummeting towards the city below. Debris fell in chunks, the most dangerous of hail as it battered the square around Kirheen. Sinking down, she formed a barrier, trying to protect herself from the chaos as his mind was torn apart.
Get out!
The frantic words of Riel rattled through her, breaking through her fear and bringing her focus back. She readied her power and attempted to slip back out of his mind – an attempt that failed. She tried again, ramming against his fractured barriers, but something stopped her, kept her trapped in his mind, unable to break free.
As she made one final, desperate attempt to leave his mind, the earth ceased its trembling, the geysers of corruption settling. Elfrind collapsed in a heap, his body gone as still as the city. Silence was all that remained, an overwhelming absence of sound that rattled Kirheen’s nerves.
She couldn’t bring herself to move, afraid that the slightest sound might prove fatal to them both. But her silence didn’t matter, the breath she held so tightly in her lungs unable to stop the catastrophe that was taking place within his mind. The shadow over the city deepened, grew darker. Lips quivering, she slowly raised her gaze and watched as the great wall of black water surged and began to fall. There was nothing she could do, no barrier she could create that would stop the force of the corruption. All she could do was watch the water coming towards her, watch the wave of destruction that would destroy them all.
Floating.
Trapped in a realm of shadows.
Kirheen opened her eyes with a gasp, the noise rippling through the silence. She was barely aware of her body, the heaviness of her limbs, the pinpricks along her arms and legs. Her mind felt empty, devoid of thought as she spun helplessly in the dark.
The Allseer Trilogy Page 89
