by Jada Fisher
“Oh gods.” His voice cracked, and his chest hitched as if he was bursting into tears, but no liquid fell from the black eyes he still had. “I did such horrible things to you, Eist. I was a monster!”
“It’s alright.” Eist could feel tears rising up inside of her. All that godlike power, and she had never thought to look at what would happen once she finally expunged the Blight from her world. “I’ll heal you. I can heal you.”
She furrowed her brow, trying to call all the magic that was so thick around them into her, but it didn’t respond. Just kept curling around her like she wasn’t even there.
“No, no, you can’t,” Yacrist coughed. “Even I know that much. Every single bit of the Blight has to go. What’s in me, and that little bit that’s in you.”
“No!” Eist argued, as if words would change it. “I didn’t go through all of this just to lose you!”
He smiled crookedly at that, once more every bit of the charming man that she could have loved. “Hey, it wouldn’t be a great story if I didn’t make a dramatic exit, would it?”
“You can’t,” Eist sobbed, her chest heaving as everything that had happened finally caught up with her. “Please, after everything, don’t do this.”
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay, alright?” He coughed, and both ash and black liquid flew from his mouth. His skin fissured further, threatening to crumble at any moment. “Eist, can you do me one favor?”
“Yes! Anything!”
He looked at her with such feeling that she couldn’t breathe. “When you tell my story, can you lie and say that you were madly in love with me?”
“Oh, Yacrist. I a—”
He held one gray finger weakly to her mouth, and she could feel ash smear across the seam of her lips. “Didn’t anybody ever tell you it’s wrong to lie to a dying man?”
“I… I’m sorry.”
“Ain’t nothing to be sorry for.” He coughed again, and the cracks covered every visible part of his skin. “I got a little off track, but at least I got the hero’s end of dying in his love’s arms.” He let out the tiniest of laughs and then crumbled entirely, blowing out of Eist’s hands in a cloud of dust.
Sobs wracked her frame as she fell forward, face-first into the earth. But even as she cried out all of the hurt, all of the ache, she knew that it was finally over.
The Blight was gone.
Epilogue
“Here. Let me b-braid your hair for you.”
Eist smiled and sat on a stool, allowing Athar to fuss with her long, gray strands. After all the magic had been forcibly ripped from her, she’d been shocked to find that her blonde tresses had lost all their color, leaving her with hair like a woman many, many, many more years older. But after five long years of rebuilding, she had learned to love her long, long gray hair.
“You know, we’re married. You don’t have to think of excuses to touch me.”
Athar chuckled behind her, his thick fingers making quick work of her loose hair. “I just w-want you to have every advantage you c-can in this tournament.”
“Like I need it,” she countered, tilting her head back so he could give her a kiss. And he did, quick and gentle, but it still made her heart leap just as it always did. “I’m surprised we even have anyone to go against me.”
“I s-suppose it is a bit intimidating to have to go against the dragon rider who b-brought down the Blight when thousands of years of warriors before her never c-could.”
“I was also a goddess for a very short while.”
His big thumbs stroked the sides of her face lovingly. “You’re s-s-still a goddess, in every m-meaning of the word.”
“Eww, you romantic sap,” she teased, standing and gently shoving his shoulder.
He just let out that rumbling laugh that she loved and gave her one last hug before placing her helmet on her head. “Go win this t-tournament so we c-can go celebrate. Ain and Dille are waiting on th-that as well. C-can’t let them down.”
“You’re right about that. When I win, they can buy our first round.” Eist straightened and crossed to the door, picking her halberd off the weapon’s rack where it was resting. “And then you and I can celebrate without them later.” She sent her beloved one last look over her shoulder, giving him a nod and a smile, then headed out into the reconstructed amphitheater.
The crowd was all standing, letting out cheers as Fior leaped from the parapet high above, gliding down in a practiced move so that Eist could jump up and grab his foot, using it to swing herself up onto his back flawlessly.
The citizens went wild, shouting loudly at the acrobatic move. And despite her lack of magic, Eist knew that somewhere out there, another girl was dreaming of soaring with the dragons, and it was only a matter of time until she would be called upon to fulfill a destiny she couldn’t possibly imagine yet.
THANK YOU
Thank you so much for reading the Power of Three Boxed Set, which includes the last three books in the Brindle Dragon series. The Blight has been defeated and our heroes have set to the task of rebuilding their kingdom. But while they enjoy the much deserved reprieve, the return of magic has led to unintended consequences they couldn’t have imagined.
In the very near future Eist, her friends, and some new heroes will be back in a new and exciting adventure to save Rothaiche M’or. I know you will love that series as much as you have enjoyed this one. While you wait, you might want to check out Oracle, if you haven’t read it already. It is the first book in the Dragon Oracle series which features a normal girl trying to live a normal life. The only problem is that she has visions of the future and finds herself mixed up with shape-shifting dragons.
Get Oracle here:
amazon.com/dp/B079KXS1SR/
I really enjoy hearing what readers think so if you could leave a review for me on Amazon, that would be really cool.
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