by H. L. Burke
Arynne landed on her side with a bone jarring thud. Ignoring the pain in her ribs, she rolled and shot.
The stunned Friya tripped trying to dodge. Flames washed over her chest, and she fell screaming to her knees.
With a gentle buzz of magic, Kay was at Arynne’s side. He pulled her to her feet. “Are you all right?”
“Just bruised.” She gingerly touched her side. “Where’s Athan?”
They both spun to see the sorcerer stagger towards them. His eyes were wild, nostrils flared, his sallow skin more corpse-like than ever. Kay’s hold on her hand tightened, but Arynne chanced a smile. The older man’s feet dragged across the ground beneath tattered robes, and the magic at his fingertips sparked and sputtered like a fire trying to take to damp wood.
“This doesn’t need to end in more bloodshed,” Kay said.
Arynne’s mouth fell open. After what Athan had done to Kay, even if he’d used his brother as a tool to do so, and now knowing that Friya had been behind the avalanche that had killed Elfrida and so many other innocent souls, Arynne couldn’t imagine a way this could end other than more bloodshed—preferably Friya and Athan’s blood.
Athan scoffed. “And what alternatives are there?”
“Leave Frorheim. As a sorcerer, the dark wastes would offer you little challenge, and from there, you would have the whole world at your feet. Set up a home for yourself by the shores of the Skymere or in the great forests of the Gloaming. There is nothing for you here.” Kay waved towards Friya. The sorceress struggled to stand, only to fall gasping to the grass, clutching an ugly, ragged wound across her chest. “Your only remaining ally is wounded and near death. I can get her to a mender—”
“Don’t listen to him, brother!” Friya cried out, her voice a pained rasp. “We’re so close to our vengeance.” She staggered to her feet. “Take from me! With the power of my soul, you will be unstoppable.”
Kay’s eyes widened. “No!”
Friya threw her arms open. Athan stretched out his hand, and a cord of dark magic flew across the field to collide with Friya. It sank into her chest like a spear. She put back her head and screamed.
“Stop!” Arynne sent a ball of fire blazing towards Athan, but it broke upon a shimmering shield of purple light. Dark spirits rushed from the gaping hole in Friya’s chest like birds of prey swooping towards a kill. Obsidian fire blazed behind Friya’s eyes. Her skin turned black and brittle as a charred corpse. With one last keening cry, she shattered into a thousand pieces all of which rushed towards her brother along with the wailing dark spirits he’d summoned.
“Look out!” Kay grabbed Arynne by the arm and traveled.
As soon as they’d landed, a shock wave expanded over the field with an ear-shattering crack. Arynne fell against Kay who rocked on his feet but remained standing. The sound echoed around them, and the light of the Starspire flickered ominously.
Athan stood in the middle of the plain surrounded by frantic dark spirits. They circled him like crows to carrion, shrieking and cackling. A crack opened in the earth which expanded towards the Starspire and a lone figure, barely visible in the distance: a figure standing with his back to the fight and his face to the Starspire. Light streamed from his hands as he channeled magic into the massive crystal.
“He’s going after Olyn!” Kay breathed.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Panicked, Kay tightened his hold on Arynne’s hand and traveled again. He collided against Olyn who gave a shout of surprise.
The young king gaped at his brother but kept his arms outstretched—silver light arching from them to the Starspire a few feet away. “Why are you—”
“Look out!” Arynne gasped.
Kay whirled. The growing chasm snaked towards them like a crack spreading across ice. Kay threw out a blast of light.
The starcasting magic hit the chasm, arresting its advance.
Arynne let out a tense breath. “How’s the Starspire?”
Olyn’s jaw clenched. “The star spirits are terrified but so far unharmed. We need to keep the dark spirits from attacking them. I’m not sure, even with the strength of the Starspire at my command, I can hold them back on my own. If they attack the Starspire, they could corrupt it.”
Arynne shuddered. “We can keep closing the rifts, but Athan will open them just as fast. We need to kill him.” She shot Kay a glare. “No mercy. We can’t afford it.”
He winced.
Olyn stepped back and closed his eyes. “I have an idea. It’s not sustainable for long, but it will buy us some time.” He swept his hand in a wide circle. An orb of light formed before him. “I can make a light barrier over the Starspire.”
Kay coughed. “Are you sure? I’ve never seen a light barrier that large before.”
Olyn nodded. “It’ll take all my concentration, but I can do it. However, I’ll need to be inside the barrier for it to work. If I’m outside, I could be attacked, and if I lose concentration for even a second, I won’t be able to maintain it.
Arynne and Kay exchanged a look as well as an unspoken inquiry through the heartbond.
Arynne nodded. “We can keep him off you.”
“Let’s go.” Kay’s knees shook, whether from fear or from the expenditure of so much more magic than he was accustomed to, he was uncertain. However, as he drew on his traveling magic, the warmth of Arynne seeped into him through their heartbond. His courage bolstered, he traveled them towards Athan, aiming for an outcropping of rock churned up by the rifts that would offer them cover.
Immediately a barrier of light sprang up around the Starspire like a dome of silver glass.
Kay’s shoulders slumped. He had to hope that would be enough.
Arynne peeked out from behind their stone shelter. “He’s coming!” she hissed. Fire crackled to life at her fingertips, and magic vibrated through the bond from her to him. A pleasant warmth rose within Kay, stirring something in spite of their dire predicament. It took all his willpower not to grab her about the waist and kiss her. Instead he slipped beside her and looked towards Athan.
Dark flames wreathed the sorcerer, his power shimmering around him so that the air rippled. He strode forward with determination that belied his wasted frame. Kay’s hands tightened to fists.
“Easy,” Arynne murmured. “We need a plan.”
“Wait. I want to see what he’s going to try now.”
Athan held his hands to the heavens. The sky darkened above him, a circle of black clouds forming within the light of the Starspire. Putrid fog leached from the earth around his feet.
Smaller rifts?
“He’s drawing more power!” Arynne gripped Kay’s arm. “We need to stop him.”
Kay’s link with the Starspire quivered. He could hear their voices, but they didn’t sound afraid. No, they sparkled with excitement and anticipation and—confidence.
He placed his hand on Arynne’s shoulders. “Trust me. Just watch.”
Athan flung himself forward, his whole upper body moving in a sweeping bow towards the light barrier. Dark magic streamed from him. It crashed against the light barrier in a mighty wave. Arynne gave a muffled shriek. The magic broke against the dome of star-magic. The protective barrier didn’t so much as flicker.
Kay grinned. “Good work, brother. Good work.”
Wide-eyed, Arynne turned to him. “It held?”
“Olyn’s at full strength now; his magic is one with the Starspire.” He eased away from the rock outcropping. “Let Athan wear himself out trying to get through. It’ll do as much good as a bull-elk ramming his head against the side of a mountain.”
As if in response, Athan let forth another burst of magic. It crashed after the first and did as little damage. The sorcerer shouted in frustration.
“Frost take you, you coward! Hide behind your shell. Protect your precious Starspire, but when you emerge, nothing will be left in its light. If I have to kill every man, woman, and child and raze every building with my own hands, I’ll destroy this kingdom an
d everything within it that you love!”
Kay shuddered. “All right, now we move.”
A plan sprang to life fully formed in his head. He saw exactly what he needed to do and how Arynne would help him. Opening his mouth to explain, he caught her shrewd gaze. He blinked. “Did you just plant an idea in my brain?”
“Saves time.” She shrugged. “Come on.”
Hand and hand they traveled, landing a stone’s throw behind Athan.
Arynne threw up a ring of fire around the sorcerer. He whirled to face them, foul power crackling around him.
Now! A sense of urgency, energizing and heart-pounding, burst through the heartbond.
Kay threw up a light barrier over their foe.
Athan threw himself against the dome of light. The flames conjured by Arynne flickered and subsided from fierce orange tongues to wavering points of light as they consumed the oxygen within the dome. Athan collapsed to his knees.
Kay grinned. Even sorcerers needed to breathe.
Before he could rejoice, a surge of dark power crashed against the dome from the inside. It reverberated through his magic and into his body. A sharp pain, like shards of glass stabbing through his lungs from the inside, sent him reeling to his knees. The light barrier flickered.
“Kay!” Arynne knelt beside him, her arms slipping about his waist. She leaned into him. “I’ve got you! Take what you need from me.”
Focusing simultaneously on Arynne and the Starspire, Kay pushed back against the evil attack. Dark spirits sprang from the earth around Athan. They grew in number, increasing in speed, until their flights about the inside of the barrier obscured Athan and all within. They slammed against the dome of light, each hit sending another jolt of pain through Kay’s being. He drew on Arynne, on the Starspire, on all of his own willpower.
It wasn’t enough.
The dome exploded with a resounding crash. It tore over them, ripping Kay from Arynne’s arms. His body left the ground.
He flew through the air then crashed against the earth, spine first. His head snapped back as throbbing pain rushed up his back and into his head. His breath abandoned his lungs. His vision swam. He made one futile attempt to stand only to have his body collapse like a discarded rag doll.
Arynne’s panic shouted at him through the heartbond then all went dark.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Ears ringing, Arynne picked herself up from the earth. The shock wave had flattened her against the ground even as it had sent Kay flying, perhaps because his body had blocked her from the majority of the thrust. She shook her head, frantically looking around. The dark spirits rushed into the sky with shrieks of victory, but Athan remained on his hands and knees, gasping for breath. Kay lay perhaps three yards away, eyes closed, body limp.
“Kay!” Arynne screamed.
Forgetting all else, she scrambled towards her beloved. She collapsed beside him, head to his chest, still exposed from the rip in his shirt. His breath still rose and fell. His heart still beat. His magic flowed through the heartbond like a trickle of warm water, reassuring her. He moaned at her touch but did not open his eyes.
“I’ve failed to kill you one too many times, boy,” Athan snarled.
Arynne spun around and threw up a wall of flame. Just in time.
A blast of dark energy collided with her fire, spraying foul vapor in all directions. Athan strode through the wall, eyes alight with verdant light. Purple-black veins spidered across his pale skin, throbbing visibly. A lump formed in Arynne’s throat, but she leaped to her feet to stand over Kay.
“You’ll fail again,” she said. “Kajik has a heart of mercy. He was willing to give you a chance to flee unharmed. I don’t. I saw what you did to him in the Lingering Dark, saw how little mercy you had for a man who never did you any harm. Killing you won’t be a pity for me. It will be a pleasure.”
Athan laughed. “You’re just a girl, a child who has had her powers less than a brightening. You only have value due to your bond to the Star Prince, and I’ve already taken him out of the fight. Run away, child, and maybe you’ll survive. Prince Kajik, his brother, and this whole Ever forsaken kingdom are mine.” He held his hands above his head, and a beacon of smoke billowed from his palms.
Arynne drew as much fire as she could hold without harming herself into her fingertips. If she sent out a false attack, a weak one he could easily deflect, he might be unready to defend against a second stronger attack immediately after. At least, it was worth a try.
A shriek threw off her concentration. Her gaze shot to the sky. Dark shadows hurtled through the light of the Starspire, cresting the top of Olyn’s barrier. They dove towards her, motes of darkness breaking off from their wings and leaving streaks behind them as they flew.
“Grimowls,” she gasped.
Swiftly drawing her magic into her core like taking a deep breath, she braced herself for a fight. She’d faced grimowls before—and also felt the sting of their talons.
A groan rose from beneath her along with a quiver of awareness through the heartbond. She just had to protect him until he recovered from the stun. That was all. She could do that.
The grimowls swooped towards her. Their talons glinted in the flickering light. They’d be upon her in a heartbeat.
Athan took a menacing step towards her. Arynne extended her left hand and sent a wall of flame rising between them. Her right hand shot up, and fire blasted into the lead grimowl. It burst in a shower of ash and feathers. She waved, and the wall of flame crested her. It formed an arch of raging heat over her and the unconscious Kay. Two more grimowls crashed into the barrier and fell apart. The others wheeled away just in time.
Her gaze flicked over the circling birds of prey. The smoke and heat distorted her view, but she counted at least seven remaining. Pursing her lips, she flung her hand in the opposite direction, sending the arch of fire back over Athan. Seeing her exposed, the grimowls banked and dove again.
Heat shot from her. Afraid to draw from Kay in his injured state, she accessed her own strength, the fire within her very core. It rose to the occasion. Blazing projectiles crashed into two more grimowls.
The flock broke apart, coming at her from the front and the back. Spinning, she pulled her powers into a cyclone. Orange and red flickered about her, radiating out like the beams of the sun.
Kay lurched up beneath her. “Arynne?”
“I’m all right!” she snapped even though cold already gnawed at her insides. If she used too much more of her inner heat, she’d start to freeze from within. “Only three left!”
His eyes widened. “Look out!” He shot a blast of light in the direction of Athan. Arynne whirled.
Kay’s starcasting slammed into a dark bolt, but another quickly followed. Arynne yelped and threw up a shield of fire. Athan’s attack deflected off it.
A screech snapped her head in the direction of the grimowls. The last three dashed towards her, too widely spaced to take with a single blow. Hands shaking from chill, she flung a ball of heat at the leader. It combusted. Its flock-mates didn’t stop.
I’m running out of fire! And time!
She sent out a panicked attack that only grazed the second’s wing. She braced for the hit.
“Meowl!” A streak of white crashed into the third grimowl. The evil bird spun to the side, colliding with the second. The grimowls hit the grass. The white streak pulled back, hovering for a moment, snowy wings flashing in the light from the Starspire.
“Sol!” Arynne cried out in delight.
The cat-owl pounced upon his fallen foe.
Kay staggered to his feet. He sent a wave of starlight over Athan, knocking the sorcerer backwards, then spun and struck one grimowl with his magic even as Sol scratched and clawed the other. Coal-black feathers flew in all directions.
Seeing Kay fighting again, Arynne inhaled his magic like a drowning woman gulping for air. Energizing sparks rushed through her. The cold dissipated, and hope kindled within her ... along with a plan.
“Kay! Get ready to travel—and follow my lead!” She grabbed his arm. With a focused thought, she conveyed her strategy through the heartbond. Without hesitation, Kay traveled them behind Athan.
The sorcerer spun to face them just in time to deflect their attacks, bolts of fire and light shattering on a shield of heavy fog.
Kay traveled again, first to the sorcerer’s left where Arynne sent out a wave of flame, then to his right where Kay slammed a starbolt into his side. Athan blocked the first. The second crashed into him. He cried out and fell to his knees. Arynne threw a fireball into his face, but a dome of putrid green light sprang up over Athan. Her attack broke against it.
Kay and Arynne froze. The shield flickered over Athan, lightning snaking over it.
“Can we break it?” Arynne asked.
“I don’t know.” Kay’s hold on her hand tightened. “He can’t hold it forever.”
The ground shook violently beneath them. Arynne fell against Kay who in turn dropped to his knees. Tentacles of murk exploded from the earth in a shower of dirt and stones. Arynne threw her hands over her head.
Cords of dark magic shot out and grabbed her about the chest. She shrieked as they jerked her away from Kay. Another choking vine snatched her beloved off the ground and into the air.
Travel! she shouted through the heartbond.
A burst of frustrated energy answered her.
Panic surged through Arynne. Kay?
Can’t. Hold on. Trying.
Arynne reached for her own power only to cry out in agony. The dark spirits sprang upon her magic. They tore into it with a thousand needle-like teeth.
Selfish, girl! A sibilant whisper burrowed into her ear. You think to command the prince when you can’t even look after yourself. Let’s see what lies in this foolish heart.
A spear of dark energy plunged into her chest. Arynne tried to scream but only a rasp escaped.
Arynne! Kay’s shout echoed through the heartbond for half a heartbeat before the dark powers descended upon their link, cutting her off from his strength and warmth. Her heart seized. No. She needed him. She needed Kay. She couldn’t do this alone.