by Marisa Mills
“Wynter,” Viviane rasped, Freya’s ring resting in the palm of her bloodied hand. “I can’t fight anymore. Take it with you, help Alexander.”
“Thank you,” I said, taking the ring.
Viviane smiled weakly. I hated leaving her, but I had to help Alexander. If I could get my mother’s charm, I’d be able to heal Viviane. The battle between Reverie and Aubade raged outside the inner circle. The ground seeped with white frost as Dorian unleashed magic against a pair of the king’s battle mages. More were fighting their way to the king’s defense. I tripped over a skull, looking up at the stormy sky and the ring of trees and burning mages. I felt something cold and wet on my cheek as snow landed on my cheek.
I pushed forward, following the bursts of flame that punctuated the sky ahead. Decay raked through the ground like black claws. I fought through the soldiers until I found Alexander and his father, their blades locked. I slipped Freya’s ring on my left hand, feeling Sibyl and her powers flow through me like smoky quartz. My skin buzzed with electricity and my hair stuck to the blood on my face. Wind fluttered the trim of my dress. I felt like I could be blown away at any moment, but I raised my arms and released the energy, like I’d done once in Conrad’s class. Jagged shards of ice fell like daggers. I’d been aiming for the king, but they fell like rain, slicing everything in their path.
“Look out!” I yelled. Alexander swept aside as a chunk of ice narrowly missed him. The king’s eyes glanced towards me, and the blades slipped. With a sickening crunch and a burst of light, Alexander’s sword sank through his father’s breastplate. Alexander stepped back quickly, moving seamlessly into a fighting stance.
I stumbled to Alexander’s side, my blade ready, but the king doubled over, clutching his chest. Alexander’s eyes flickered to me, checking for damage. The king tried to raise his sword, but his hand trembled.
“Alexander…” he rasped.
“Father,” Alexander said, his voice soft, “please. It doesn’t have to end like this. Just give us the pendant. And the device you used to free the demons.”
I glanced up at Alexander, my eyes wide. He was going to let the king live? After all he’d done, the demons at the Academy, killing my mother? Fury filled my veins.
Gregory spat blood on the ground. “Y—you—where did I go wrong with you?” he sneered. “You’re choosing them? The demons?”
“Loyalty is not given, it’s earned.”
Alexander brandished his sword, but before he could strike King Gregory fell forward, coughing blood. Lightning burst from the ground, followed by an ear-shattering scream. I gagged as the smell of charred flesh curled in my nose. The harsh rains fell apart like curtains being drawn, and Celeste stepped over the king’s corpse.
***
“That’s three royals now,” Celeste purred, ticking off her fingers. “The king and two princes. Shall we add to that number, Alexander?”
Her green cloak was tattered, and dark veins spread from her eyes down her cheeks. A patch of black hair stood out from her snowy white head, now mostly bald. My father’s rings dazzled from her hand, surrounding her in an aura of colorful magic.
She reached into the king’s cloak and pulled out a small device. It was the size of an apple, with small gears that rotated on a central axis.
“We’re going to stop you,” Alexander growled, raising his sword.
“I don’t think so,” Celeste said. “It’s a clever little invention,” she said, holding up the device. “A shame we didn’t think of it earlier.” She tore the king’s pendant from his cloak and clutched it in her bony fingers. After a moment, her skin began to soften and smoothen. Her hair grew in and color filled her cheeks.
“Ah, much better,” she said. “This really is Nick’s best work. The enthusiasm of youth I suppose.”
I glanced behind me at Viviane. Dorian had stripped off her jacket and was drawing healing sigils over her arms and shoulders, but her face was too pale. She didn’t have much time.
Tatiana and Jessa, their faces bloodied, joined us. Mist rolled over the top of the hill as we stood our ground, bringing the stench of blood and death. We had four enchanted rings and one freed demon. I tightened my grip on my sword. “This ends now, Celeste,” I said.
Celeste narrowed her eyes and raised her arm, sigils shining and gleaming. “For once, I agree.”
I lunged forward and swung my sword, releasing decay. It swept towards Celeste, veins of black streaking the snowy ground like rivers of ink. The leather of Celeste’s boots cracked, but then the decay fell apart in puffs of black dust. Celeste tilted her head and smiled. Tatiana released her fire, wielding a torrent of flame like a hose. Celeste raised her hand, and Tatiana’s fire turned into red butterflies. Jessa spun on her heels and drew her hand up, drawing vines out of the ground. Concrete shattered, exposing the earth beneath, as large thorny roots stretched up like fingernails. They coiled around Celeste’s ankles before withering away.
I felt sick. Even my father’s four demons weren’t working against her.
Keep trying! Freya growled. Thunder rumbled above us and lightning flashed through the sky. I trembled as I released ice. Dorian had managed to freeze Celeste in Aubade, but with the king’s pendant she was even stronger now. Celeste’s breath grew frosty, but the ice broke into large hissing chunks, so cold that coils of fog obscured my vision.
“Is that the best you can do?” Celeste asked, giving the king a kick as she strode past him. His crown rolled off his head into a puddle of ice and blood. “I’d have thought killing your father might’ve given you some incentive.”
With a shout, Alexander lunged. His blade halted inches from Celeste’s stomach. His arm trembled with exertion.
“You’ll have to do better than that, boy,” she sneered.
Vines sprang from the ground and pulled Alexander down, wrapping around his neck and dragging him backwards over the rubble. I unleashed decay and ice together, and the ground crumbled away into steaming pits, leaving Celeste standing on a pillar surrounded by a moat of fallen soldiers. Celeste raised her hand, sigils glowing, and slammed her palm downwards. The wind howled, and without warning, I was flung backwards by an energy pulse that sent me tumbling over the wreckage. Pain scraped across my arms, my face, and my legs as I rolled to a stop. I landed face-down and shakily raised my head, blinking away blood that had frozen to my eyelashes.
I stumbled to my feet, Tatiana’s voice echoing in my ears. Fire sprang forward, illuminating the battle in fiery orange light. Celeste unleashed a wave of water that doused the flames and filled the cracked earth with streams that ran red with blood. Lucian burst forward, riding a wave of Tatiana’s fire. His dragon form took to the air and swooped down, scorching the ground. With a roar, his flight became sporadic. He crashed to the ground, ice crystalizing along his feathers. They snapped off like broken fingernails. Lucian shrank and vanished, retreating back to Alexander’s sword.
She’s too good, Freya muttered. We aren’t going to succeed if we keep throwing attacks at her.
What’s your plan, then? Sibyl asked. Death can’t touch her.
Dimly, I saw movement behind Celeste. Eleanor ran to help Dorian. She shoved him out of the way and hovered over Viviane. I saw Dorian shake his head. I steeled myself and focused, calling decay and ice at once. I moved into a fighting stance and thrust my blade so strongly the tip quivered. It split the air with a crack, before unleashing a torrent of black smoke and blue sparks. Celeste crossed her arms, her sigils gleaming with blinding light. With a shout, she thrust her arms apart, forcing the maelstrom of ice and decay to part around her.
I ducked behind the remains of a wall, half eaten by trees, and whirled around. A fireball blasted apart the concrete, so hot it melted the stone. I swept my blade before me, slashing at roots that reached for my dress like long fingers. My lungs burned as I gasped for air, trying futilely to catch my breath. Blood burned the inside of my mouth, filling it with iron.
&nb
sp; Celeste glanced over her shoulder before looking once more at me. Rose thorns scraped at her ankles, but she dismissed them with a snap. Jessa’s scream struck my ears. Celeste had sent the attack back at her. I lunged, my sword striking Celeste’s arm. Her sigils gleamed, and despite my strike being perfect, the blade refused to sink any deeper. I called Sibyl’s decay, forcing the magic out as blood dripped down my chin.
The air rippled, and I fell back. Alexander slashed with his sword, Lucian’s fire coming in spurts of flame and embers that cut through the smoke and fog. Celeste merely waved her hand, and he was thrown backwards. I scrambled up again and moved into a fighting stance. The decay went forth, and the world spun. I fell onto my hands and knees. My stomach lurched, and I coughed up blood onto the concrete. I couldn’t breathe.
The fight had shifted, moving closer to the woods, between the discarded ruins of what must have been a grand structure once. All that remained were tall, broken pillars and sections of wall that stood up like silent sentinels. Celeste lashed out at them with vines, pulling them downward.
Move! Sibyl yelled.
I couldn’t focus.
Wynter!
I couldn’t tell who’d screamed. Maybe it was Sibyl or Freya or everyone at once.
I heard the concrete tumble before I felt it smash through my leg. I fell screaming, covering my head with my arm. For what felt like an eternity, there was only falling rock. When it stopped, I tried to stand, but a wave of dizziness swam over me. My leg was stuck. When I twisted my torso, I could feel the broken bone scrape together beneath the heavy stone.
Focus, Freya said. You can do this.
I looked frantically around for help, surprised at the sudden stillness. Jessa was down, wreathed in a nest of thorns. Alexander was slumped against a chunk of concrete, clearly unconscious, and when I searched my mind for Lucian, the demon’s thoughts were fragmented and uneven. Tatiana was on her feet, but she leaned over and coughed up blood.
A figure strode towards us, shrouded in fog and smoke.
“Keep working, Dorian,” Eleanor called over her shoulder. “I’ll hold her off.”
But Eleanor wasn’t a powerful mage. And even if she had been, I knew she didn’t have a chance by herself. My father’s demons hadn’t been enough. Celeste was too powerful.
“Will you?” Celeste asked. “You’re barely more of a threat than the schoolchildren.”
We just need to catch her off-guard! Freya shouted.
Eleanor raised a hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning. Celeste deflected it effortlessly. “Oh, Eleanor, you were always so bad with magic,” Celeste said.
She slashed towards Eleanor, missing her neck by an inch. A dark blur darted onto the battlefield. Francisca grabbed a fallen sword and stabbed towards Celeste’s ribs. It was a perfect move, but the blade shattered before it reached her.
It’s those sigils on her arms, Sibyl said. They prevent attacks.
From the front, Freya said. Do you think it works from behind?
Eleanor raised her hands, sigils glowing. The smoke in the air congealed into black swallows that spun around her, before diving like poisoned darts. Celeste swept them aside like cobwebs.
“Are you upset I hurt your little urchin, Eleanor?” she asked. “Angry that I tortured Dorian?”
Eleanor’s face twisted in fury. Blood dripped down her black and silver robe.
“Or did he even tell you that?” Celeste asked.
“You’re never going to hurt my family again,” she hissed, “because I’m going to kill you, even if I have to rip out your throat with my teeth!”
I put my hand on the slab of concrete pinning my leg down, and forced Sibyl’s decay through it. I swallowed back blood as the magic surged through me. Slowly, the concrete fell apart, but it was agonizing and slow. Puddles splashed as Briar dropped to his knees beside me. “I’m gonna get you out,” he said.
You can surprise her while she’s distracted, Sibyl said.
Briar shifted his weight and put his hands on the edge of the concrete, straining to move it.
“Poor, little Eleanor,” Celeste cooed, calling fire to her hand. “You were always the most useless of the Rosewood siblings. Do you know what the faculty used to say when you were in the Academy?”
Don’t be hasty, Freya murmured. You’ll only get one chance.
“On three, I’m going to pull really hard,” Briar said, grinding the words between his teeth.
“I don’t care!” Eleanor snarled. “I trusted you, with my daughter, with everything.”
Wynter… Lucian whispered.
“One!”
“You mean Viviane? She was never your real daughter. You’re as barren as the Dregs. No wonder magic could never take root in you.”
“Two!”
“You’ve betrayed me for the last time,” Eleanor shouted. She snapped her wrists forward, slicing the air with a crackling whip of fire.
“Three!”
Briar grunted, and the concrete shifted. I pulled my foot free as stars burst before my eyes. Pain bolted up my leg, all the way to my hip. I exchanged a glance with Jessa, who was shakily climbing to her feet. When I looked up again, Celeste was standing over Eleanor with a cruel smirk, as my aunt scrambled through the mud on her hands and knees. I wasn’t going to make it in time.
Thud! A knife struck between Celeste’s shoulder blades. She screamed and stumbled. The flames in her hand sprang forth, but her aim was wild. Eleanor rolled out of the way as the earth burned around her. Celeste whirled around, scowling at Sterling, who’d appeared from nowhere. He stood with fierce determination, his dark figure silhouetted by the burning trees behind him. The scrap of red fabric protecting his neck was the only thing magical about him. Celeste was going to tear him apart.
I rushed forward, unleashing Sibyl’s decay with all my power. My leg screamed in pain, but the decay burst forth like smoky black snakes, wrapping around Celeste’s ankles. I drew my sword slowly upwards, although my arm felt like lead. My snakes dug their fangs into her calf muscles, tearing away her flesh. Black veins pulsed beneath her skin as she struggled against them.
Eleanor tossed a wild look in my direction, before throwing herself forward. When Celeste’s sword came up, she rolled into it, letting it pierce through her body and getting close enough to grab my mother’s pendant. Celeste’s eyes widened as Eleanor tossed it to me, blood dripping from her lips. I caught it out of the air, and felt its energy rush through me.
Celeste screamed, slicing through Eleanor’s body to free her sword. It cut from her navel to her shoulder. Eleanor’s neck flapped crookedly for a moment. She was dead before she hit the ground.
Decay flooded through me like a river, swallowing the landscape like a heavy curtain. It gushed around Celeste like a geyser, lifting her into the sky. I brought my hand down, pinning Celeste to the ground, pulling her skin off until I could see her cheekbones. This time, it didn’t grow back. But she waved her hand, unleashing a powerful cyclone of energy that corrupted everything around her. Jessa’s vines wrapped around Celeste’s ankles, tying her to the ground. My heart raced.
We have an opening! Lucian exclaimed.
Alexander lunged forward, unleashing his fire. Tatiana was just behind him, her voice never wavering. An arrow found its mark in Celeste’s back. Claribel threw aside her bow and approached, drawing her knives as she came.
Celeste swung an arm out, swatting her away like a fly. With a fierce cry, Francisca slashed her knife down across Celeste’s wrist, opening a deep gash. Celeste stumbled, but Alexander was ready.
He brought his flaming sword down upon Celeste’s wrist, just beneath where her sigils ended. With a gush of blood, Celeste’s hand fell to the ground, the rings quickly stained with blood. Celeste growled and bared her teeth. I limped closer, forcing back the pain and exhaustion.
“It’s over,” I rasped.
Celeste’s eyes flickered upwards.
�
�It is,” she snarled between broken breaths for air, “but you’re too late. The demon chamber has already been opened. Reverie is falling. All this fighting, and you’re all going to die.”
Twenty-Five
“BUT HOW?” ALEXANDER SAID.
“Where did you think your father got that device?” she sneered. “I designed it for him, years ago. It wasn’t difficult to make more.”
“But how did you access the chamber without the king’s pendant?”
“You never needed the pendant,” Celeste said, “only the blood and the ability to speak with demons. Gregory needed it, but you didn’t. Not everyone has your father’s gift, but once he figured out how to enchant a tattoo for the same purpose, I had everything I needed. I set off the device hours ago. I killed your king. Now your kingdom will kill you.”
Dorian brought his rapier straight through Celeste’s back. She gasped, blood bursting from her mouth. Her body froze around his blade, and when Francisca sliced off her head it rolled several feet away. The rest of her body crumbled into chunks of frozen flesh, leaving nothing but her icy heart on the edge of Dorian’s sword.
“Viviane,” he said, glancing quickly to his left. I stumbled through the smoking remains, through blood and ice, to reach Viviane’s side. She was so pale, the blood was a bright red stain. I prayed I wasn’t too late. Energy pulsed through me as I held my fist over her chest, casting both of us in a bright glow. Nothing happened for several moments, as the others gathered around me. Then Viviane gasped, grabbing Alexander’s wrist tightly and sitting up with a ragged breath. She lifted a shaky hand, pointing towards the sky. My gaze snapped upward. Reverie did look closer than it had been, and the sky above it was red and angry. Dark shapes filled the skies. Thousands of freed demons with nowhere to go. They’d tear Reverie apart.
All around us, the sounds of battle faded as mages from both kingdoms turned to look at the sky. A few screamed and fled, but they wouldn’t be fast enough. We couldn’t outrun the falling continent. It would crush everything it its path for miles.
