by Lisa Rector
“You know nothing about love, and you’ll die for your treachery.” Catrin watched the crimson blood trickle down Rhianu’s neck. Einion could not love this barbarian!
“Kill me and you’ll kill Einion’s son with the same stroke.”
Catrin paused and really looked, not letting her pressure slacken on the blade. Deep inside, she saw it, the light in Rhianu—the first sign of life in the womb.
The knife fell from her hands, and she crawled backward, away from Rhianu. “No. No!” Impossible. She loved Einion. Wasn’t he always hers? As the truth doused her, Catrin’s arms quivered, barely able to sustain her weight. He was never mine. She choked, and tears rolled down her face. He fell in love with Rhianu. Had she trusted him this much, to leave him alone, without a promise or commitment? But deep down she knew he didn’t love her as she loved him. That was why they’d parted. She had her hopes set on a dream—a childish, romantic whim.
Pain stabbed through Catrin’s chest while light built in her core. The pressure! Light rushed into her extremities and pushed against the surface of her skin until it glowed. What’s happening?
“Catrin! Stop!” Urien arrived and stepped in front of her, grabbing her shoulders.
Trahaearn stood in her peripheral vision. He had heard her call. He came to her. Trahaearn…
It’s all right, Catrin. Don’t give in to the grief.
He was crying. Her pain was his pain, and he was unfamiliar with the broken heart of a woman.
“Catrin, calm down! Control yourself!” Urien yelled.
Catrin, this will pass. You’ll heal from this, but don’t let your anguish destroy you, Cerys said. This is too much for any one person. You need to gain composure before it kills you.
“I don’t know what’s happening!” Catrin cried aloud and in her heart to the dragons. “Make it stop!” She felt as though her heart had split open and the light rushed uncontained from its core. She felt hotter than ever before. Emrys didn’t have fevers, but her body was burning up.
Urien wrapped his arms around her, squeezing her. The heat in her body leached into him while he pulled it from her. Her skin cooled and the heaviness in her chest softened, giving blessed relief. Catrin stopped shaking and only tremored slightly, but her weakened body crumpled in Urien’s arms. He lowered her gently to the ground.
Catrin watched, exhausted, from her horizontal viewpoint while Urien turned to Rhianu, who was wrapped securely in Trahaearn’s grip, the blood from her wound still dripping onto her clavicle. Half a dozen emrys stood around her at the ready, should she try anything.
“Call off your riders, Rhianu. The battle’s over. You have lost,” Urien said.
“They’re not mine to command anymore,” Rhianu said in a meek voice. “Einion has succeeded in becoming the Vessel. I’ve been stripped of my powers. The riders will cease only at his command. They’ll fight until all are dead. If you don’t believe me, you can ask him yourself. Meuric should be bringing him shortly, I would imagine.”
“The Vessel?” Urien raised his voice so those around could hear him. “Prepare yourselves. This battle is about to become much worse.”
Shaking, Catrin pushed herself to her feet. She looked around. Einion was nowhere to be seen. “Don’t believe her. She’s a web of deceit.” If Einion came here as the Vessel, what sort of havoc would they face? What possessed him to even consider such a scheme?
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
THE VESSEL
When Einion’s sight returned, chaos accosted him. Dragon attacked dragon and energy bolted through the sky in blinding streaks while rider fought rider.
Meuric still gripped his shirtfront.
Pleasure roiled inside when Einion realized where he was. So many people. One would make an easy kill.
“Oh, Meuric, what have you done!” Einion shoved his grip off and allowed the power to rip through him. “Brought me to the scene of the battle in an eye blink! I never knew such abilities existed!”
Einion rose into the air while the dark energy expanded, rushing into his extremities. He threw his arms wide as he embraced this gift. So much death. SO much rage across the battlefield. He could feel it everywhere. It made him stronger. It made him want the power.
No! He struggled to focus. He had to fight it. He did not want this darkness. The well’s images of the desolate field surfaced in his mind. I am not yours to control. I am not your vessel. Leave my body!
Kill them all. Let my magnificence fill you. You took my power. A part of me flows through you. Use it!
Cysgod assaulted his mind with all his uncertainties, all his misgivings, and Rhianu’s betrayal engulfed him. He struggled to breathe.
She betrayed you. Find her. Kill her. Make her suffer as you suffer. Her blood will end your torment.
No! Einion’s resolve weakened. His body throbbed.
“Do something!” a voice yelled.
Einion’s head whirled around. He fought to see, through eyes clouded over by his fury, able to sense only the light and dark energies surrounding him.
“Einion, fight it. Don’t give in to the evil. You still have light inside you!”
Another voice. “All of you, hold your shields on him.”
Another. “We must flood him with light.”
Searing heat coursed through him. They were attacking him, trying to force the evil out. The light burned with a savage ferocity.
Words rasped from his throat. “It’s useless. He’s under my command.” Einion cracked his neck around slowly and shrugged his shoulders against the power inside.
“Einion!”
A voice he could focus on. His eyes roved over the crowd around him, and he found her. Rhianu. The one who betrayed him. She was wrapped in a blurred, hulking mass. Einion wrestled to understand, his vision focusing on the shape. Trahaearn! His dragon held Rhianu tightly in his claw.
“Einion!” Rhianu called again. She struggled in Trahaearn’s grip. “Let me go!”
Meuric rushed to Rhianu’s side, a sword in his hands, ready to attack. “Let her go, dragon!”
A slender figured slipped into view. “Not a chance!”
Einion recognized that voice. Catrin. His shadow. His friend. Catrin…
He cast his gaze around. Lights circled him—lights of the emrys—pure holy beings, focusing their energy in a group effort. They pulled him down. More emrys arrived, and their light joined with the others.
An eerie stillness fell over the battlefield. The conflict had halted, drawn tight as a bowstring, waiting to see if Einion would be subdued or would overpower them all.
Meuric stepped in front of Rhianu, speaking to Catrin. “Back away, woman.”
“No.” Siana moved forward. “Dragon, release her. Let her speak to Einion.”
She betrayed you. They all betrayed you!
Einion fought against the voice in his head and yelled into the oblivion. “Leave me alone!” His body still had fight left in it. The other emrys gave him strength. They had an unending supply of light, and it continued to roll forth. But Einion knew—if the Evil stayed inside, and he didn’t transition, it would tear him in two. His muscles already ripped. His joints already groaned. Einion screamed and dropped to his knees.
Rhianu pushed out of Trahaearn’s grasp. She rushed forward to Einion, reaching her hand out.
Urien stopped her. “Do not touch him. Don’t get too close.”
Rhianu shook the emrys off. “I’m no fool. I was the Vessel. I know how this works.” She knelt in front of Einion and looked into his face.
He glared at her. “Woman, you have failed me. I’m disappointed. My chosen one should understand her allegiance.”
“Leave him alone.” Rhianu’s fervor softened to a look of desperation. “Einion, forgive me. I would do it all over. I’m so sorry. I would lose all my memories again if it meant…”
***
Rhianu paused. She had never done this, never looked deep into the soul through the light of the eyes, but it could be done. S
he had seen her mother do this.
Having no idea what a soul looked like with the Dark Master’s essence inside, Rhianu knew she had to look. She had to see what the Evil was doing to Einion. Whatever he was doing to Einion was the same thing he had done to her.
Her vision sank deep into Einion, peering far into his soul to see what lay beyond the tangible heart. As Rhianu’s sight moved farther, she saw him. A dark shadow, saturated and inky. Black tentacles of his shifting form wrapped around the shards of light that Einion held on to desperately. The darkness squeezed with a sickening pulse, crushing the light bit by bit. As the lights of the emrys entered Einion’s body, the darkness pressed back, but the light couldn’t penetrate the crusted shell of the dark matter and thwart it.
This was what he’d done to her. The Dark Master had bound her soul with his dominion. She’d never been of her own mind. Her agency had become wrapped in chains the moment Cysgod invaded her body.
And now he sought to close the lock and bind Einion for an eternity. Einion had valiantly freed her without thought to his own soul. Why, Einion? Why would you do this for me after what I did to you?
The Dark Master’s essence would not flee from the light, not like the mundane darkness inside of a half-emrys. His essence was more. It was something else entirely. They would never win. They would never be able to help Einion.
It’s because he loves me that he was willing to do this. What a fool! I damaged his light. I marred what was most precious about Einion. He healed her after her nightmare. He took her on that trip and told her to forget the darkness. Einion tried to show her how the light was good and how it could heal her even as he faced the same turmoil. I destroyed his continually positive spirit. He’s always been so selfless. I crushed him. This is all my doing. How can I save him?
And Rhianu remembered the ancient laws. She knew of one way that Einion could force the Dark Master away. Einion’s soul was racked with malice, pained from her treachery. He could be free if he enacted the law of forgiveness. He needed time to work through the emotions, but with the Dark Master inside him, his feelings twisted and contorted, confusing his true thoughts and feelings.
Rhianu’s eyes grew larger, and her body tensed. She would distract her master. She would weaken his hold and allow Einion the time he needed. “My soul does not belong to you anymore. Did you not realize, dear master? You made a crucial error.”
His error was that final punishment, showing her that all her years as his servant meant nothing. The Dark Master’s thoughts were for only himself.
Her hatred for Cysgod sprang from her and coiled through Einion. Rhianu saw the Dark Master buckle.
“The fey might have been a cruel trick. But that was to your own detriment. I should have realized before—I am no longer yours!” Her heart had been Einion’s from that first forsaken kiss. The kiss that sent them both spiraling on this downward trajectory.
Cysgod’s wail ripped from Einion’s throat. “You will always be mine! You gave me your oath!”
“My oath was broken. Now you know how betrayal feels!”
***
Her intense scrutiny subsided. Rhianu flinched and Einion knew she looked at him alone.
“Einion, my soul is yours. I give it to you. You’ve already had it for longer than I’ve known.” A tear slipped from her cheek, and she blurted out, “I love you, Einion. I love you! Fight his power. You’re strong. Don’t let him take ahold of you. Your light is stronger than any darkness you ever carried. Oh please, come back to me.”
“You betrayed me,” he said through gritted teeth. Oh, how his body hurt! He was to the point of wishing for death. Perhaps he’d been past that long ago.
Another voice broke through his torment. Einion, dearest Einion. Meinwen. Einion shut his eyes, and he saw her standing at Gorlassar’s entrance with Lord Ithel’s hand in hers. Einion, you must find it in your heart to forgive. Forgive Rhianu, and in doing so, you can both be free from the hurt—from the pain. The animosity allows the evil to stay in your heart. Forgive her, Einion.
I don’t know if I can.
My brother, my dearest brother. You are not this. You are yourself, the same Einion who has loved so truly and so unselfishly. Fight it. Find it—the forgiveness.
Meinwen. He felt tears on his face. What did he have left? Meinwen spoke the truth. She believed in him. He loved Rhianu. Forgive the ones I love—no matter what. Deep down inside he didn’t hate Rhianu. This feeling of betrayal… Cysgod made him feel this way. I could never hate her no matter what she’s done to me. He had been angry, but it was fading. Rhianu…
Einion forced his eyes open. He cried out as he felt his strength leaving. His body slackened. His lifeblood waned.
A white figure dressed in a swirling robe appeared behind Rhianu. Each step he took whispered across the grainy ledge, and he moved as if the world had slowed on its axis, time inching along. The figure knelt beside Rhianu. Einion knew him—his father.
In all his glory, Brenin reached for Einion. His hand did not make contact, but instead lingered a few inches from Einion’s flesh as though he could not touch him, as though the mere inches were impossible to breach. “More are with you than the one against you, my son.”
A veil dropped and countless numbers of men and women appeared around Einion. His vision burned from the intensity of their white light. The host of beings surrounded him, waiting, like Brenin, with outstretched arms, lingering but unable to touch him.
“You’re a good man. You’ve always chosen the right,” Brenin said. “Choose the right now.”
“Please, Einion. Fight!” Rhianu’s plea forced his gaze back to her, but Brenin and the angels stayed by him. The tears streaming down Rhianu’s face were equal to his own. Einion saw the pain on her face. He saw her love for him. She truly loved him, and he did love her. He remembered—that was why he had done this. She gave me her soul.
As if Rhianu heard him, as if she reassured him of her love, she nodded while dripping tears splashed from her chin.
He would use his last breath to forgive her, and he would let go… Einion opened his mouth and with the surest voice he could summon while looking full in her eyes said, “I forgive you.”
In unison, Brenin and the angels closed the distance, drawn like a magnet, their fingers slipping against Einion’s body. Brenin curled his palm against Einion’s face, and their eyes locked. Einion breathed an inward sigh of relief. His father would be taking him home. At this final moment, he knew that was why the angels had come, and as pained as Einion’s body was, he welcomed it.
An ear-piercing shriek bit into his head. But Einion felt weightless.
A shockwave—a burst of pressurized wind ripped from his body with a resounding boom.
But Einion felt free.
The blast heaved Rhianu and Trahaearn backward. Catrin crashed into Meuric’s arms. In a matter of seconds, the rippling surge bowled over every emrys and dragon across the battlefield in a sweeping wave.
Einion collapsed facedown, aware of angelic hands still holding him, cradling his ruined body—
And silence—
And light—
Einion shuddered, once, with a wheezing breath.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
Rhianu struggled to her feet before anyone else could react. She looked around. Einion lay unmoving, his body as still as death. There was nothing she could do for him now. My dear, sweet Einion. I’m so sorry.
Her Mother had crumpled nearby and Meuric… Where’s Meuric?
She screamed, her fingers digging into her thighs, bracing herself. “Meuric! Meuric!” She looked at the emrys toppled around her, some gradually coming to their feet. “Someone help me! Move! Get up! Don’t just lie there!” She frantically searched the group. He was just here. Did he use his gift to escape? Did he blow up?
Rhianu grabbed her mother and shook her. “Where’s Meuric?”
Rubbing her head, Siana sat up, and wrapped her arms arou
nd Rhianu.
“Where is he?” Rhianu hiccoughed, and her tears fell uninhibited. She mopped at her face with her hands. “He can’t be dead, can he?”
“I don’t know,” her mother whispered.
Her brother. The only person she had relied on for so long. He’d never stopped Einion from taking the power. Was he too late, or did Meuric let Einion take it from her?
Rhianu shook her head. She’d been a fool. What had she been fighting for? When Einion tore the power from her, Rhianu lost the resolve to fight. She no longer cared about the battle. She cared only that she hurt Einion. Her power-hungry actions caused him to take the Dark Master’s essence—to save her. She never wished this on him, and now he was dead. Rhianu looked over her mother’s shoulder at him. Oh, Einion!
Emrys knelt around him, surrounding him, obscuring her view of his body.
“What are you doing? Leave him alone!” She forced the tears away, outrage filling her. Why are they touching him? She tried to pull away from her mother and go to Einion, but Siana held her firmly. Rhianu pushed at her mother’s shoulders.
“Let me go to him. Let me go!” Her mother’s grip was strong. Rhianu deflated. Maybe Einion’s body was too broken. Maybe they didn’t want her to see. Rhianu sank into her mother’s arms. She had not been held by her mother in this way since she was a young child. Her head fell against the loving shoulder, and she cried.
Einion had given his life for her and freed her from the Dark Master. Her body felt detached, lighter than when she had taken the energy from her mother. Lighter now that his essence was not a compressed ball in her mind. She didn’t think that she wanted to be free from his power, even after his punishment, even after the Dark Master had left her bawling on her knees and marinating her broken heart in her own filth. She never thought she’d be free or could comprehend how it would feel. She’d been willing to stay the Vessel if it meant Einion never took the power and lost his light.
