by Ali Winters
She could feel his panic grow with each word.
Yeva threw back her head and let out a laugh. “That is rich, coming from you. You, who have done nothing but manipulate me. You, who has tried to steal power behind my back in order to sway the balance to your will. You, who stole from me and—” her words died in her throat as her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Silas stood, shaking his head as if that denial would sway her at all to his lies. “You know that is not how the balance works. It has nothing to do with what I want. I have only done what the balance demands.”
“You have betrayed me!” she shouted. Yeva was tired of his pretty words, his gentle tone. She didn’t want to hear his excuses any longer. “You stole from me, you took one of my own and turned her against me, and then you slaughtered her and her family!”
Silas stopped. The look he gave her set her blood boiling. How dare he look as if he had no idea what he’d done. He had taken her sacred chalice, turned Nivian and her family against her, and tried to take her power away—her reason for existing.
Yeva ignored his head shakes, the pathetic objections when confronted with the truth. “I have done nothing but try to keep the balance of power even, and you have fought me the entire way. You took Nivian, and you destroyed her!”
“Yeva… It’s not what it seems. I didn’t—”
“Spare me your lies. Unless you wish to see this one destroyed as well?” Yeva pressed the orb of power against Phobos’s face. The Reaper cried out as it sizzled against her skin.
A streak of dark flashed behind Silas. The night was almost upon them, but there was still enough light to see the Reaper who thought to sneak up on her. Silas dared to try and distract her so they could attack.
She would not let him get away with such under handed tactics, not when they were so poorly executed. She would not put up with the insult.
Yeva slammed her power into the Reaper’s chest, pushing more and more of it into her, commanding the tendrils of light to wrap around everything the dark creature was made of. She ripped her hand away and let go. Phobos screamed and collapsed to the leaf covered ground.
From the corner of her eye, Yeva could see her writhing upon the loam, but she did not take her eyes off Silas. He seemed to be frozen in place, unable to look away from the thing as her power destroyed it from the inside out.
Then there was silence as the Reaper crumbled to dust and disappeared, as if she’d never set foot upon the earthly plain.
Silas’s brows drew together, his shoulders slumped. If she didn’t know better, Yeva would say he looked heartbroken. She huffed at the thought.
Was anything he did or said ever real in the first place? From everything he’d done to betray her, it couldn’t have been more than an act designed to keep her weak and unquestioning as he gathered more and more power to his cause. To turn the balance to his favor.
Silas’s chest moved up and down as his ragged breath fell, panting from his lips. Dark smoke like plumes churned at his feet, formed in his hands, swirling and flashing like a storm. Then he let it loose. The power flashed out all around him, passing Yeva with a gust of wind.
With the sun only minutes from setting, the last rays of light slithered along the forest floor. An inky wall formed behind Silas. Reapers rising up from the shadows, darker than the deep sapphire sky at their backs.
“Give up now, Yeva!” his cry echoed through the forest.
SILAS
A COLD, DARK smile spread across Yeva’s lips.
“No.” She took a step closer, her brilliant emerald eyes shadowed by the light in her palms. “You give up, Silas. You will not win this fight.” She spat his name and it felt like a curse.
Then, one by one, Silas saw several faces appear, heard the snapping of dried branches, the crinkle of fallen leaves as they crunched under boots. Their expressions varied from worried, to unsure, to furious.
The tension built until it was palpable. Still, no one moved or spoke, each side lined up for what was to come. He was thankful he had called Caspian to summon his Guardians to him.
“Talk to me, Yeva. This is not a game,” Silas said.
Yeva’s Second marched out of the cover of shadows and up to her side, motioning for the others to stay. No emotion showed in his expression as he took them in.
Silas cursed under his breath. If only he had been less focused on her and Phobos and more focused on their surroundings, he might have sensed that she was masking their energies with her own.
But Yeva was his weakness, she always had been. She had a way of clouding his mind, and his love for her had made him a fool. Even now, in the most crucial moments where the balance rested on his ability to right everything that had happened over the last several weeks, he’d failed to keep his head on straight.
Love. Damn Gaia for allowing such a thing to exist. Love would cause everything to fall to ruin. Why had the mother goddess not warned them to stay apart, to avoid the heart’s curse?
Silas knew he had to act soon or Yeva would do something rash. He stayed perfectly still, his gaze locked on hers.
“The time for talk has ended.” Light sparked in Yeva’s hands. “We will hunt you down, every last one of you.”
A scream ripped through the trees as a Watcher charged. Silas’s heart beat in his chest. Thump… thump… thump.
Then more cries followed close behind. He could feel the Guardians at his back follow suit. It was like watching a wave of water collide with flowing lava. Deadly. Chaotic. Furious. Unstoppable.
Kain yelled orders to the Watchers, but none heeded him.
Sparks flew under the cover of trees, flashes of light and dark. Screams of pain and anger mixed into a single horrible sound. Black and red cloaks mixed in blurs as the world around him descended into chaos.
Silas clenched his fists at his sides, calling his power to him and letting it flow through his veins, red hot, building it up until it fought his control, begging to be released.
Then Yeva lifted her arm and flung a blast of light toward him, filling his vision. Silas crouched low and sent his own blast of power hurdling toward her.
NIVIAN
Nivian watched with horror on her face. One second everyone stood still, waiting for the tension to break. And it did. Just not in the way she’d expected. A Watcher charged them, setting everything into motion.
Yet, seconds after everyone had taken action, her feet remained rooted to the ground. She had to fight, she knew that deep down in her very core.
Was it only yesterday when she’d completed her first mark, ahead of schedule and cleaner than most Guardians could manage on their first assignment? It had filled her with such confidence at the time.
False confidence. Because here she stood, paralyzed.
What should I do? she wondered. She knew nothing of battles.
Silas and Yeva moved in a dance, light and dark colliding with explosions that sent tremors through the ground beneath her feet.
Nivian shook her head, trying to rid herself of this nightmare that formed before her. Why they fought made no sense at all to her.
But the balance. She understood that.
“The balance must be maintained at all costs,” she whispered under her breath.
She scanned the fray, looking to see where she could make a difference, somewhere she could do something to turn the tides and end this.
Nivian’s eyes snagged on one figure. He fought at Yeva’s side, his power complementing hers as they went after Silas, blocking and throwing counter attacks.
Though Silas held his own, he was slowly losing ground.
Her eyes met the Watcher’s for a second and instantly a tug pulled from within.
This is what she was meant to do. She must render him useless. Allow for Silas to regain his footing and put an end to this before the balance was damaged beyond repair.
Without him in the way, it would be an easy victory for the Guardians. The numbers on both sides dwindled at a steady pace, and
while many Watchers fell, more Guardians seemed to be losing the fight.
Nivian narrowed her gaze upon the Watcher she knew she had to take out, and ran forward. A ball of dark power formed in her hands. The man with the forest green eyes lifted his hand and aimed at another Guardian who approached from his left. But Nivian was faster. She threw her power out and struck his, sending it harmlessly into a tree.
Bark cracked and shattered, raining down splinters all around them.
He spun to face her, fury contorting his features. Then he stepped back, readying another attack, but she lunged, tackling him around the middle and slamming his body into the ground.
They hit hard, limbs tangling together. Nivian twisted and pushed on him, trying to get up, but he rolled and landed on top. He was heavier than she’d thought.
She called her power to her, but he grabbed her by the shoulders and slammed her back down. The impact rattled her teeth and shook away the power she’d managed to call.
Nivian threw her head forward, colliding with his, and she felt the warmth that had built up in him fade. He might be preventing her from calling up power, but she wouldn’t allow him to either.
Blasts exploded from every direction, deafening. Light and dark, fire and ice. But she remained locked, exchanging physical blows, with this Watcher.
Her body ached and she could taste the tang of copper on her tongue. Nivian jerked her arm and elbowed him in the side of the face, knocking him to the side, and straddled him. She called her powers and built up an orb of darkness in her hand.
Nivian’s hair fell in tangles, creating a white curtain. She lifted her hand to brush it out of her eyes and realized too late that she’d made a mistake. He struck, knocking the wind out of her and sending her flying onto her back with the force of his power.
A ringing filled her ears as the world swayed. By the time her brain settled in her skull, he had her pinned down, his legs crushing her arms to her sides.
Nivian squirmed and wriggled, trying to gain a fraction of an inch to get free. But he was too strong. It was clear he’d had the training for fighting, and she had none. She had barely existed at all.
She stilled from under him and looked through the dirtied tangle of hair. He stared down at her, but she got the feeling that he didn’t actually see her. There was nothing human in his eyes. No sign of what she knew Watchers to be.
An orb of light formed in each of his hands, swallowing up everything in her peripheral vision until he was all she could see. His green eyes were the only thing left in the world. Nivian’s fingers twitched in response.
She could see her reflection in those eyes. A dark hood and a nest of white hair covering her face.
Nivian waited for him to strike. His hands moved, bringing the awful power down toward her chest. He would destroy her.
She screamed, in one last attempt to force her powers to come to her, and his movements hesitated. She didn’t dare look away.
Fear and uncertainty filled his expression. He slammed his hands down upon her with the full force of everything he had just as she grabbed at the backs of his legs, sending what power she had into him.
A cry ripped itself from her throat as his power surged through her. She wasn’t sure if it was her cry of pain, or if his mixed with it, but she didn’t stop pushing her power into him until everything went black.
NIVIAN
SHAPES AND COLORS blurred into an array of dizzying movements, seeming to mix with the cacophony of sound ringing in her ears. Nivian twisted to her side, at least she thought it was her side, she couldn’t tell up from down.
A moan of agony escaped against her will. The scent of scorched grass filled her nostrils and made her lids heavy and eyes burn.
She panted, unable to catch her breath. Each movement sent a sharp pain burning across her chest. Every bone of her body, every muscle, seemed to protest her movement as she struggled to lift herself up to look around.
The Watcher… Nivian twisted her head to the left, then to the right. He was gone. He hadn’t destroyed her after all. Nivian sent a silent prayer of thanks to Gaia, then she stumbled to her feet, leaning on a nearby tree for support.
There were far fewer Watchers now… far fewer Guardians as well.
Had she somehow destroyed him? The possibility of that thought didn’t fill her with pride as she would have expected. Instead, it filled her with a sense of dread and sorrow.
Guardians didn’t feel sorrow for their marks. Granted, he wasn’t a mark, but why should she feel it for this Watcher who was trying to upset the balance? She couldn’t make sense of the turmoil roiling inside of her, so she pushed those feelings down, locking them away, and focused on what she had to do.
Silas and Yeva still fought in the middle of everything.
She was alone. In all their wrestling and struggling, they must have moved beyond the edge of the fight. Nivian stumbled a step forward and stopped.
Somehow, the Watcher had survived her attack and moved on, leaving her to be destroyed, and he—
He reached out, grabbing a Guardian by the arm, who let loose a wail and then collapsed. The Watcher moved on, but her eyes were glued to the Guardian twisting and writhing on the ground. He went still, and then he was gone.
Screams and shouts from both sides grew louder until her ears rang. Nivian cupped her hands over them, trying to block out the din.
One breath in… two… three…
Eventually, her senses calmed and she could lower her hands.
The Watcher moved from one target to the next, his motions fluid and masterful. It was clear he was one of the more powerful ones. He worked his way closer and closer to Yeva’s side.
She took another step and a sickening wave washed over her. Nivian collapsed to her hands and knees, her strength leached from her body. She tried to call out to someone, anyone, but no sound came.
The balance was shifting. Oh Gaia.
The earth shook and rumbled. She could feel the ground breaking in the distance, a giant fissure forming and snaking its way closer.
Nivian looked toward her Watcher. He paused in his attacks and looked at the ground, as if he too felt it. Then he lifted his gaze to hers, and if she didn’t know better, she’d think he was pleading with her. Then she blinked and he was gone.
Had she imagined it?
“Kain!” Yeva cried out over the voices of the others.
Nivian could barely keep her thoughts straight. Kain… It was strange to put a name to one’s enemy. It made it harder for her to think of him as such.
She found him again, his gaze snapping to hers. He looked innocent in that moment, worried for her. No, she was mistaken. He’d wanted to destroy her only minutes prior.
Then he turned and ran, though, his progress was slowed by Guardians coming for him as he tried to reach Yeva again. Nivian scolded herself. For Yeva, his worry had been for Yeva. His attack on her must have rattled her brain more than she’d realized.
Silas had Yeva pinned against a tree. They were arguing, his power was holding her in place so she couldn’t move. Nivian couldn’t make out what was being said.
Nivian struggled to her feet again, only to collapse. She was helpless. She couldn’t stand, let alone fight.
If they kept going at this pace, they would all destroy each other. The balance would never be fixed. Silas couldn’t destroy Yeva… they needed them both.
Nivian racked her mind, trying to remember what she’d learned in her brief studies about what would happen if one or both were destroyed. She couldn’t make sense of what was happening, her mind refused to understand.
She tried getting to her feet once more, only for her damned legs to give out. She fell back to the ground, gasping. That Watcher had forced her to use too much of her power. Nivian swore.
Two figures fell to the ground in front of her, tumbling, light and dark mixing with the red and black of their cloaks, neither aware of her presence. The Watcher had the Guardian pinned to the ground. Witho
ut thinking, Nivian raised a hand and sent what little power she had left, hurdling toward the Watcher. It struck him in the chest, knocking him back.
A second later, the Guardian blasted her own power at him and he collapsed to his side. Dead. Then Nivian was alone again as the other ran off to fight once more.
A chill ran down her spine. She looked around, once more finding her own Watcher in the middle of the battle.
Kain watched her. The expression on his face… strange. She couldn’t make sense of it. He seemed angry, sad, hurt, confused. But most of all, there was an air of familiarity to the way he looked at her. Though, it was probably just her imagination again.
Everything became muffled. Then Kain looked around and gave her a single nod. The urge to go to him and ask him why he looked so sad, unnerved her.
His stance relaxed, and he dropped his chin, holding his hands out at his sides. Nothing happened at first.
Then she felt it.
A whoosh of warm air brushed past her. She wouldn’t have noticed if she had been fighting like all the others.
Kain’s head dropped back so that he faced the canopy above. Light flickered in his palms, orbs of power growing, then the light spread, not out, but covering his entire body.
Nivian gasped as she realized what he was doing. “Gaia, no…”
It wasn’t natural. She could feel the echo of his power pushing up against her own. There was only the smallest bit of restraint holding his powers steady. What he was doing would destroy him if he kept going.
Nivian pushed to her feet and took two steps before she crashed back to the ground. Again. Again. She couldn’t get to him.
She cried out, her voice, straining and raw, cracked. “No!” She couldn’t stop him in time. She was too weak. “No!” she screamed again, but even she couldn’t hear her voice among the explosions and yelling.
Nivian reached out as everything blurred. She swiped at her eyes to find them wet.
