Hissing steam rises from the ground as he speaks. “All those acts of bravery weren’t noble at all. They were simply a means to hide what you are. All this time you’ve been attempting to become something you were never created to be: a mere pawn for the Alliance’s tyranny. Deep down you knew that no matter what you did, how good you were, how many lives you saved, they would never accept you. Never grant your heart’s desire.”
My blood turns to slow, creeping ice that the heat from the searing fire can’t thaw.
Sage’s fingers spark once more, itching to unleash on Maddox. The same way my powers itch inside me, begging to command the beasts away. Or Sage himself to die in a thousand fires. Both sides of me are warring for control as I face the monster I know I can’t destroy.
“One act will grant you everything you’ve ever wanted. One simple act will give you the power to save whomever you choose.” Sage’s voice softens with that gentle lilt he knows sounds like my father. I think of the photo of my dad, laughing. Those eyes that said he loved me. My knees weaken.
But the venom in Sage’s words spirals in my soul. Bodies litter the ground. Not many are left standing. It will only be a matter of time before Sage has destroyed each and every one and siphoned their knowledge, giving him even more power. If I have the ability to stop all this destruction, stop the killings, stop this endless bloodshed, what would I be if I didn’t?
The gold in Sage’s eyes warms with a hypnotic glow. He sends a quiet blast striking a wounded girl nearby whose shaky fingers are prying open a vial of healing serum. She collapses into the mud before the glass touches her lips. “Reach, then, and freely taste . . . / Taste this and be henceforth among the gods / Thyself a goddess, not to earth confined.”
Taste? Taste. The word echoes, a cobra’s hiss in my dizzy head. Consume . . . Consume what? The serum? No. Taste something forbidden, the same way as Eve.
Sage’s voice is steeped with a promise. “Join me, Lonicera, and you will grant them life.”
The greedy power inside me leaps at Sage’s request, straining to break free.
The rain continues but struggles to snuff out the fires. Shields and swords of the fallen glisten in the hazy stench of battle. Without a weapon, there is nothing I can do to save the Awakened except give Sage what he wants. Belial circles above me, swooping in to attack anyone who tries to reach me. But when I hear Maddox cry out in pain, my heart nearly bursts. The temptation is too great.
And Sage knows it.
I want to save lives. It’s all I’ve wanted. I walked into the fight believing, “at this last sight, assured that man shall live.” But here I stand, no different than the last Destroyer Blight. Sage has cornered me. And no one will survive unless I agree. If joining the realms is what it takes, then what other choice do I have?
The words to give Sage what he wants wrestle on my tongue. Heart and mind collide as heat from the flames grows hotter. Closer. Urging me to choose.
Choose. The word echoes inside me. Pop believed every choice would reveal who I am. Create what I’ll become.
“Hey, Blighty!” A shout cuts through the battle, sounding too much like Cole. “Don’t give up!” It is Cole. He should have been long gone. Why didn’t the idiot head back to reconcile with his family and do the one thing he’s wanted? Why is he here, in the haze of war, tucked under the barren branches of a willow tree?
Through the rising smoke his Steel glistens in one hand. He clutches something small in the other.
It’s a tiny white bird.
No. A Cormorant.
Ayala.
“Sage will negotiate.” Cole swiftly sidesteps an oncoming Legion through the branches of the willow tree. “He won’t let his beloved die. Will you, Sage?” Brawling flames give enough light for everyone to see Cole point the shimmering Steel at the tiny beast, taunting Sage.
Sage takes the bait. He releases a thunderous growl and slings red lightning at Cole. But Cole is nimble and avoids the hit, ducking behind the trunk. I want Cole to leave and let the tiny beast go, but then I look around.
Suddenly I understand.
The Cormorants are held captive in midair. Their wings flap in unison, but they don’t dare move as they watch Cole deftly outstep each strike Sage sends his way. Even the Legions have slowed their pursuit.
Cole has given the Awakened army an advantage by creating the ultimate distraction.
“Give her to me!” Sage pitches another bolt, but he’s careful not to strike the Inner Wall. Cole quickly dances around the tree trunk. Sage floats closer to Cole. Closer to the Well. Not only has Cole given me a chance to escape, but it’s clear he’s maneuvering hard to get Sage to strike the Inner Wall and create a splintering blast. So I won’t have to.
Lighting breaks through the clouds as another storm approaches. Maddox is lying on the field, alive but wounded. A Cormorant the size of a mountain lion hovers over him with a talon inches from his chest. Although he’s cut and bleeding, Maddox shanks the Steel deep into the floating creature’s heart with incredible strength. The monster shrieks. Before it crashes down, Maddox shoves it aside, and then leaps to his feet, taking out another Cormorant that has trapped Devon nearby. Others soon follow Maddox’s lead and take up the fight.
But it’s Cole that has me worried. He navigates every strike of Sage’s current with perfect ease, dodging, ducking, and daring, as each blast scars the earth. But how long can he keep this up before . . .
No, Cole will not die.
Thunder rattles my core. I race through large drops of freezing rain toward the base of the hill not far from the Well where several bodies lie. I need a weapon to join the fight. The burning air tastes acrid. I swallow back the vomit wanting to make its way up.
A Legion whips in front of me, shrieking madly. Stringy saliva sticks to its mouth. It gurgles, hisses. The outline of a face emerges from inside the flaking gray skin of the beast. Nausea grips me. It’s a face I know. A face with one kind eye. Mark. Any resemblance quickly vanishes, transforming back into the inhuman being as other creatures surround me, hemming me in.
I rush the throng of Legions, trying to break through their wall. The fabric sizzles on impact, making the Legions recoil. It’s enough to give me a clear path out and see that Cole is now on the south side of the Well, moving Sage near the willow tree, drawing him away from me.
Sage’s fury is growing. Each toss of his angry lightning is faster. Stronger. Brighter. I don’t know how much longer Cole can keep this up while holding the tiny creature in his hands.
“You will surely die!” Sage throws a bolt at Cole with such rage the willow tree catches fire.
Cole backs away from the shelter of the willow, closer to the marshy reeds that outline the Inner Wall. His head turns my direction and his movement stops. “Gray, don’t!”
Don’t? Don’t what? I turn in time to catch something sailing through the dark, sparkling as it hurtles in my direction with raging speed.
It’s a weapon. Paradise Steel.
By the time I register what’s happening, it’s too late. I’m hit with a deep punching wound between my ribs. Its force pushes me backward through the wintry air. I land hard on my back in the mud not far from the Inner Wall.
The sky opens, dumping sheets of freezing rain. The ground trembles as I lie there, stunned. While everyone was distracted, Gray accomplished the one thing he’s wanted since I set foot in the Garden.
My chest aches. I’m afraid of what I’ll see, but I lift my head anyway and squint through the stinging rain. But nothing is lodged in my chest. My shaking fingers touch the tender spot between my ribs, feeling for the incision.
There isn’t one.
It takes half a second for it to click. Gray’s toss was off. I was hit with the hilt by mistake. I push up on my elbows.
But Gray never misses.
As the battle rages, the scarring flames consume any sense of hope. Except that if the weapon wasn’t impaled in my chest, it’s somewhere nearby. I search blindl
y through the pouring rain, my fingers groping mud, carefully feeling my way for the Steel.
I find the sparking weapon near the Inner Wall. The vine-etched blade is a brassy metal. The handle ornate. Opal. It’s Gray’s Steel. The same weapon that cut me in the training room. The same one Sage tried to destroy at the gate. The one Cole said would be strong enough to create the blast needed to destroy Sage.
The hilt burns with a fierce sting—ten times worse than any other Alliance weapon. I loosen my grip to lessen the pain and use the fabric from my sleeve as a buffer. I push to my feet as someone shouts my name. Through the sheets of rain, I see Gray. He’s probably fuming that he missed and I’m not dead.
Except he’s not. He nods with approval at the weapon in my hand and then runs off to help Maddox, who is still fighting for his life.
That can’t be right. Gray sent the weapon on purpose? I teeter, stunned for a moment. Hope starts to rise in me again. Then I hear a cry that rips my heart open.
Sage’s delighted laughter follows, slicing through the field, cutting deeper than a sword ever could.
The tiny white Cormorant, Ayala, takes flight.
No. Please no.
Through the shadows, on a heap . . . overturned, is Cole.
He is sprawled out, facedown. There is no sense of the Current flowing through the mud toward him. But it has to be there. It has to be.
I plunge through the drenching rain—over armor strewn throughout the field, dodging Awakened and Legions alike to reach his side.
“Cole.” No response. “Cole!” No. I shake his listless body. “Cole, please. Get up!” There has to be a spark. Please, let there be at least an ember. I lift his heavy arm, searching the mud for anything that is not just darkness . . .
Lightning splits the sky above the barren tree. I fumble with the vial from his pocket. “You were supposed to leave. Go back to your family. Not come here.” The shaky words swell inside my throat. I turn his head and pour the healing serum into his slightly open mouth. His eyes, once brilliant emeralds, stare dark and vacant somewhere beyond me. “Cole, no. Please. Please!”
Golden threads pulse from the Well in every direction, except near him. I toss the useless vial. I dig through the mud, desperate to catch a thread and force it back to Cole. “Come here!” I demand it. I’m hitting, digging, beating the earth with my fist as the cords slip around me, seeking new paths. “I said come back!”
My voice echoes through the field, but I’m left huddled next to Cole, surrounded by nothing but darkness. I scream into the pouring rain.
Legions flock, ready to siphon the wispy Current seeping from Cole’s body. Fueled with nothing but rage, I attack them instead. Exploding embers ignite the air. Gray’s Paradise Steel cuts with power beyond measure. One by one the beasts descend. The hilt sizzles my palm, but I don’t care. I welcome the pain, letting Steel and Legion collide.
For Cole. I strike a monster.
For Pop. I kill another.
For Juniper. Another and another.
For Jess . . .
And every name of the dead. One after the other, I destroy the vile creatures with every ounce of strength I can muster. But with every one I take out, another takes its place. More Legions arrive—lured / With scent of living carcasses.
Footsteps splatter through the mud as someone runs in my direction, shouting something I can’t hear over the screeching Legions.
It’s Foster. With disheveled hair hanging in his soot-covered face, he joins me, and we fight the descending swarm of Legions clamoring for Cole’s lifeless body. Foster attacks the Legions with thrusts and swipes as angry as my own. The vile beasts retreat, and I collapse next to Cole. Foster pulls me back.
“Be wary not to siphon any remaining power,” he says to me, but his sorrowful expression lands on Cole.
I crawl back, sickened at the thought. I’d forgotten I could do such a thing.
More buzzing sounds approach. This time behind me. As I jump to my feet, I’m hit. I fall facedown into the mud, but keep hold of the knife. As Foster takes out the beast, I push up to my elbows.
Sage has backed away from the Inner Wall. He paces the base of the south hill, the entrance to the maze not far behind him. The battle rages, but at the moment, I don’t have the strength to fight. Thankfully Albrecht and Silver Assassin make an attempt to attack Sage. But they’re quickly knocked back by a hard swipe of his tail.
They’re no match for his power.
No one is.
Sage glides my way with horrid strides; hell trembled as he strode. I stand. My hands shake. Do it. Take Gray’s knife and lodge it deep into Sage’s chest. Aim for his heart. I know that even though the weapon is made from the gate, it won’t kill Sage the way Gray killed a Cormorant. I know Sage will eventually heal, but there is a possibility I can wound him enough to replace the ache in my soul with vengeful satisfaction.
Sage’s army protects him from oncoming attacks as he approaches. “Ye shall not die. How should ye? . . . / Look on me, / Me who have touched and tasted.”
Steam puffs from his flat nose. With each breath my loathing for him grows. The Steel vibrates in my hand. I force myself to face him, sulfur burning my lungs, overcoming the sweet nectar scent lingering under the oak tree.
The Inner Wall lies ten feet to my left. A magnetic force tugs the knife toward the Well. I hold it close to my side. But the tug is enough for me to realize that Sage is too far away. If I attack the Inner Wall, the strike won’t do any good. I need to wait for the right moment.
With a jagged smile, Sage shifts his focus to the maze wall as his Legions descend, carrying something ghostlike through the pelting rain.
It’s a slumped body in a white gown. The figure seems to float in the darkness. Not thirty feet away, the Legions hold the frail body between them. The tips of her bare toes scrape the mud. Her Current, fueled from the Well, is a burning ember about to die.
He found Mom.
“Grant me the power.” All warmth is drained from Sage’s voice, the hiss returned with forked tongue.
The knife burns my fist. I’m trembling. Sage will take everything from me until he gets what he wants.
Absolutely everything.
I ready myself to run and strike the Inner Wall as soon as Sage is close enough.
“Pathetic girl.” He glances at the Wall as if he could read my thoughts. “Did you not hear what I said?” Sage’s obsidian eyes turn hard. “Ye shall not DIE!” He lifts his hand. A raging red spark snaps through the air. No. No. No!
Mom collapses. Her tiny ember snuffs out.
A violent tremble rises inside me. The weapon shakes in my fist. Giddy Legions descend over her but Sage backs them away. He hovers at Mom’s side and flicks his tongue. “This one, I’ve been waiting for.”
My focus tunnels into one thing and one thing only: the monster.
I splash through the mud with a guttural cry. As Sage turns to fully face me, I leap into the air and shove the blade deep into his chest, stopping only when I get to bone.
Sage roars. I grip the hilt as my whole arm slides into his flesh, a stinging gelatin. Sage shoves my face and shoulder with such force, I fly backward through the sooty air, clinging to the Steel with a death grip. My arm is covered up to my shoulder with black blood—beastial slime—that burns with the venom of a million hornet stings.
Sage teeters back. Before Legions can descend, I throw myself over Mom’s body, covering her from the Legions and from Sage. Warmth seeps out of her. Her caramel threads are evaporating. Lavender taints the air.
“Greedily she engorged without restraint.” Sage’s voice smiles, even as he writhes in pain.
I scoot back and spit at the ground, nauseated. That’s what Sage wants me to do. Taste. First he offered the girl with the flower headband and now my mother’s power. He wants me to join him in doing the unconscionable and siphon the Current.
I can’t.
I won’t.
Sage’s beastly face cont
orts. “Very well, then.” He lumbers over to my mother as black smoke engulfs his calves and feet. The wound on his chest bubbles and oozes but obviously has no deeper effect on him.
I stand in the darkness of his shadow, nothing but a puddle for him to trample on. All while Sage’s army attacks anyone who tries to venture near. And he won’t move close enough to the Well for me to strike.
I can’t let the monster take the last of her. But I don’t know how to stop him.
Sage carelessly plucks Gladys’s hairpin from Mom’s hair. When the metal sparks between his fingers, he tosses it into nearby flames. “Since you not only denied my generosity, but then inflicted me with this ghastly wound, I promise you no one shall survive this battle. Not a single one.” He leans in to absorb the last bit of my mother’s power. To take her thoughts, her memories, dreams—all that she is. But he will not have her.
“Sage!” I rise.
He stops, almost amused, as if he knows he’s pulled the right trigger.
And he has.
My blood throbs in my veins. The Steel burns my palm. I force myself calm as a faint scent of the sweet nectar pushes its way through the ash, bringing clarity.
The vision showed that I would bridge the realms. Sage has seen that vision and knows what I will do. But he doesn’t know that the three visions, when placed together, tell a bigger story.
The bridge must form, so it can break. Only then can it turn into the ladder, where something new will rise.
Sage waits for my answer, his charred mouth upturned in a grotesque smile. The Awakened, weary in the fight, can’t hold much longer. If joining the realms can give them direct access to the Well and strengthen them the way Foster said, and this mainline power is the only chance they have to live, then I need to trust the path.
I have to make the terrifying choice.
I’ll bridge the realms, but I’ll never side with Sage.
I’m drenched by unrelenting rain. A honey-colored thread flows through the ground, pulsing beneath me for the first time.
I rise with Guardian strength and envision every creature on the battlefield. Then I speak the words that I know will change everything. “Destroy Sage.”
Realms of Light (The Colliding Line Book 2) Page 27
