by K. A. Linde
She toed Ahlvie’s side.
He sprang awake with bared teeth. Then he seemed to come back to himself. He took a step backward. “Sorry about that.”
“Instincts.” She reached for his hand. “I want you to know that I’m sorry that I allowed Sonali to experiment on you. And that Malysa had you for so long. I wish that I’d had a solution earlier.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“No, but I take responsibility. Now, I want to fix it.”
Dean appeared a few minutes later with a giant yawn. “I’ve barely slept the last three days. Do I have to be awake?”
“I need you at my back.” She smiled at him, remembering the conversation that she’d had with Maelia in Eleysia the first time she fell in love with Dean. It brought warm feelings to her stomach.
“Then that is where I’ll be.”
Cyrene instructed Orden and Dean to hold Ahlvie down.
Ahlvie’s eyes rounded with concern. “What exactly are you going to do to me?”
“It’s best if I just try it. It might hurt. Both of us,” she warned him.
He swallowed and then nodded.
She closed her eyes and dug deep into the well of her magic. It was full, but she didn’t know how much magic this would use. The last time she had gone into her spirit magic, it had brought Malysa’s focus on them. And that was the last thing she wanted this time. Still, she reached out for the link and protection that Sarielle provided. Better to be safe.
Birdie had been half-right. Cyrene hadn’t personally done anything like this before. But she had had it done to her. She’d been in Fen for three months as they worked on keeping her alive after the blood magic. She didn’t know if this would work. It was utterly different than what she’d gone through. And the infection was deeper. But it was worth a try.
She concentrated on the center of her magic, touched her hand to the diamond at her throat, and then stepped into the core of Ahlvie. It was easy to step into his mind, to slice through the weakened barriers he had in place against invasion. Malysa had cut through most of it already. But there, when she looked, she could see the darkness. The infestation of Malysa’s influence.
And, where she saw it, she slowly fed her magic into it. At first, there was nothing. It didn’t seem to react to her magic at all. Almost like the essence of her magic just swam through the murky darkness.
Then, she pushed more and more and more.
The Ancient Ones in Fen had worked with Avoca, Matilde, and Vera every day to keep her alive. To push that blood magic out of her system as best they could. It had been a miracle.
Cyrene was more powerful than all of them combined. And she would work on Ahlvie as long as it had some impact.
Instead of just raw magic, she tried each element.
And it was fire that changed the tide.
Burning.
Just like she had felt in her memory.
She cringed away from the raw power of it. Of using fire magic against Ahlvie. At the same time, she was careful. She was using it against the darkness.
But it only took one ember to start a forest fire.
She drew in more and more energy.
The darkness had a mind of its own.
Malysa wasn’t present. It was just what she had left behind. It was what made the Indres respond to her. When she had created them, she had included this malevolence. Had forced her touch and evil on every new imprint.
And now, she was fighting back.
Touching flame to what Malysa had put her finger on.
She didn’t have to keep Ahlvie from shifting.
She didn’t have to separate him from the Indres.
She didn’t have to trap the Indres form within him.
The Indres and Ahlvie had lived in communion all his life. It hadn’t been activated until that fateful day when he killed their alpha in Aurum. But the venom had worked its way through his system. Had allowed them both to live together harmoniously.
It was only Malysa that was the problem.
The darkness didn’t need to be there. The Indres was neither good nor bad. It was dependent on who controlled the creature. And if Ahlvie was in charge, she was certain that good would win out.
So, burning the darkness out, burning Malysa out of her friend, had to work.
And slowly, bit by bit, the darkness receded in his body.
She nearly cheered, but she knew that she had a long night ahead of her. She wasn’t out of the thick of it yet. She pulled up more reserves and kept working
Then as she watched the darkness disappear, something horrifying began to happen. Malysa’s presence began to…mutate. It multiplied and suddenly came around to begin to fill up the space that she had just burned through.
“No,” she cried out.
She felt Sarielle’s reassuring presence through the bond. And Dean shift toward her.
A thought occurred to her.
She couldn’t just kill the darkness. It wasn’t enough.
She left empty spaces for it to rush into again.
It was like a disease swallowing up everything in its path.
With a blast of her spirit energy, she called forth light and blazed her energy into the spaces where the darkness had receded. She was the Heir of Light. And it might mean that she could control Ahlvie later, but she would never use him how Malysa had. She would give him back his will. And, if the only way to do that was to stake a claim over him, then so be it.
With the combination of her fire magic burning through the darkness and the light coming in after to fill up the spaces, she watched as the black shrank and shrank and shrank. And then the blinding light took up the majority of the space within him.
She felt the darkness fighting back. Holding on to that last space. The light beating it back and staking a new claim.
Then it was all light. Bright, illuminating, glowing light. The golden glow that had infused her and shown from her figure was everywhere through Ahlvie. She couldn’t feel Malysa in him at all. Not even a drop.
She released her grip on her magic and collapsed forward.
Hours had passed, her magic was drained, and she felt like she was going to pass out.
Still, she opened her tired eyes and looked down at her friend.
Ahlvie slowly looked down at his body, which was now aglow, and then back to Cyrene. “What…what did you do?”
“I burned her out of you,” she gasped. “How do you feel?”
He touched his chest and then his face. A slow smile stretched on his face. “Lighter. Like I need a good, long drink.”
She collapsed backward next to him and laughed. “It’s really you.”
“Should I try to shift?” he asked hesitantly.
She waved her hand, letting the shield disappear from around his body.
Dean stepped forward. “Cyrene, we don’t know if it worked.”
She smiled at Ahlvie. “Show them.”
And then he did.
The shift was instantaneous. One minute, he was a man, and the next, the beast. Everyone held their breaths for the span of a few seconds before he shifted back. And, through it all…he was still Ahlvie.
42
The Reunion
Avoca
“Your Majesty,” a guard said, sticking his head into Avoca’s tent.
“Dayeli, what have I told you about calling me by my name. You have known me since I was a child.”
“Apologies, My Queen,” Dayeli said with a small smirk of defiance. “There are dragons on the horizon.”
Avoca snapped to attention. She slipped her ice-white blade back into its sheath and darted out of the tent. She saw the pair of dragons, and a smile lit up her face. Unless Malysa had acquired another dragon, this meant that Cyrene was back. And it also meant that she could prove that she had done what had been asked. She had spent too long away from Cyrene, and she missed her more than she could ever likely admit with words.
She felt Dayeli and Ceis’f fall in behind
her as she maneuvered through the Leif camp that they had set up with the rest of Cyrene’s army outside of Aurum. She had only arrived a week ago. But already, she could tell that the troops were restless. Too long training and waiting to get moving. And now, there was unease around her Leif army. She would need Cyrene to help smooth that over, too.
But first, her friend.
Sarielle landed, and Cyrene slid from her back. She rushed into Avoca’s arms. “I brought you a surprise.”
“Oh?” Avoca asked.
And then he was there.
Ahlvie.
Avoca was silent. Not even a gasp escaped her lips.
She just stared.
And stared.
Certain that she was seeing something. That it couldn’t possibly be him.
“I see I’ve left you speechless again, huh?” he asked with his characteristic lopsided grin.
She slapped his shoulder. “Shut up and kiss me.”
He laughed and then drew her into his arms. “As you wish, wife.”
Then his lips were on hers. Strong and warm and inviting. His arms banded her against him, and she wrapped her own around his neck, drawing him closer. She never wanted it to end. They’d had one precious night together after their impromptu wedding in Kinkadia. Then he’d been stolen from her.
She pulled back at that thought. “How? How are you here? Is it still dangerous?”
He kissed her again once more thoroughly in response. “All is well. I found Cyrene again in Kell, and she cured me.”
“You’re…you’re no longer an Indres?”
His fingers pushed up into her long blonde hair. Those golden eyes taking her in like a drowning man searching for air. “I still am. But Malysa has no hold on me. In a way, I am bound to Cyrene just as you are.”
Avoca’s eyes rounded. “That’s amazing. I can’t believe she did it.”
“I can.”
Then his eyes darted behind her to take in the camp, and he froze. A preternatural movement. One that spoke of the beast within spotting another predator and preparing for an attack.
“What is he doing here?” Ahlvie snapped. He pushed Avoca behind him as if she needed protection.
“What? Who?” Avoca asked.
“Ceis’f,” he snarled.
Ceis’f turned to face them once more. He had clearly turned away at their display. He just straightened and sent his own ferocious glare at Ahlvie.
“He’s a traitor and a spy. He works for Malysa,” he growled.
“No, he works for me,” Avoca said. “He’s part of my army.”
Ahlvie stalked forward, shaking, clearly a blink away from shifting. “I was with Malysa. I heard more than I probably should have, and she mentioned him. She said that she’d approached the last Leif of Aonia. If he still has his head, then there’s only one reason.”
“And why do you have yours, beast?” Ceis’f snapped with all the fury he’d ever had in him.
“Because I got away.”
“And you think you’re the only one who can play that game? I am older and wiser than you.” Ceis’f looked him up and down like he was nothing but a pup with fleas. “Most of all, I am loyal. I follow my queen.”
“Queen,” Ahlvie breathed, looking to Avoca.
She nodded once. “My mother passed the ring of my people onto me.”
“I’m so sorry,” he said softly. Then he looked back to Ceis’f. “You’ll have to prove that you’re not a spy for her. That she doesn’t have her claws in you. Malysa said she was glad to have burned the rest of your people so that she could use you for her efforts.”
Ceis’f stepped forward. His chest puffed out, and his eyes were wide with horror. “She. Said. What?”
“Malysa destroyed Aonia?” Avoca asked. “But…I thought it was humans working with Indres.”
“She said it was her. Word for word.”
Ceis’f turned then and found Cyrene watching intently but not saying a word. Avoca watched Cyrene and Ceis’f make eye contact. Adversaries from the beginning. Waiting, weighing, assessing. Changing everything that Ceis’f had ever known about what had happened to his people. It changed everything.
Then he knelt before the Domina.
“She slaughtered my people,” Ceis’f said with passion. “It would be an honor to serve in your army to return to the favor.”
43
The Uniting
Ceis’f knelt before her, offering his fealty.
Cyrene couldn’t have been more surprised if she’d tried. Ceis’f, who had always hated her for stealing Avoca from him. Who had hated humans for the last twenty years for the destruction of his people. For the ones who had stood by and done nothing.
And now, to find out it was Malysa.
“You have to make sure he doesn’t have the darkness,” Ahlvie warned.
She nodded and pressed her hands to Ceis’f’s forehead. He was practically feverish. He was much more difficult to read. He’d never been an open book, and he mostly certainly wasn’t receptive to her trying to get through his mental barriers. Not to mention, he was strong with elemental magic, especially air and fire. It was a difficult combination to combat.
“Relax,” she breathed.
Then she was in.
And she nearly fell to her knees with the weight of that mind. The heartbreak and devastation. The rage and unrelenting anger. The passion and drive to have vengeance. It was all he had worked toward. All he had wanted other than Avoca.
But she found no darkness. None of Malysa’s claws in his mind. Nothing to suggest that he was anything but what he said that he was.
She released him, easily letting those barriers return and being careful not to look anywhere she wasn’t welcome.
“I accept your offer,” Cyrene said. “Welcome to the Doma, Ceis’f.”
He rose to his feet, stiff and unyielding as ever. He dipped his chin once. That was as much acceptance as she would ever get. But…it was enough.
“Now,” she said, turning to face all her friends, “I’m glad to be back. I think it’s time we all get caught up.”
It took a while for everyone to finally assemble back into the war council tent. But once they were, Cyrene couldn’t help but smile to see everyone in one place again.
Dean was seated at her right. Avoca was seated next to Ahlvie. Her mother’s ring on her finger, indicating she was the new Leif queen of Eldora. An honor and a travesty since her mother was dying. Cyrene knew how much she wanted to be there. Orden was seated next to Ahlvie. His gaze jumping to Gwynora seated on Cyrene’s left. They had much to discuss but not quite yet.
Quidera entered behind Brigette, and it actually appeared that they had an amiable relationship. Brigette laughed at something she had said. It was good to see the queen of Eleysia lightening up.
Finally, the last person she had invited to this meeting arrived—the Commander. Tristen of the Guild.
He didn’t sit but stood a pace back from the table and crossed his arms over his chest. Watching and waiting silently as he did.
Ten in total. And here was her real war council. Her real warriors. The team that she had assembled over the last couple of years. That made perfect sense and worked with her. Perhaps not Brigette…exactly. But she had the might of the Eleysian army at her back, and if anyone had as much anger directed toward Byern as Cyrene did, it was Eleysia. And so they were allies.
“Thank you for coming,” Cyrene said. “I am glad to finally have you all in the same place. I know that it took some time to assemble our allies, but I believe we are much stronger for the effort. And we had more time to train. But the time for training is over.”
Ahlvie nodded his head at her. Avoca looked solemn. Brigette’s lips were pinched together. Dean’s eyes were steady. Everyone stared at her with their trust in her to serve as a competent leader. And she wanted to prove them right.
“I have only led an army into battle once before, and it was no real battle.” She keenly felt the absence of Shadowb
reaker in that moment. “Many of you were there on the front lines with me as we faced Malysa. Some of you have just recently heard about her. But she is our enemy. She has sworn to destroy anyone who opposes her. I cannot stand on the sidelines of history and hope that someone else will step up to take my place. I will go onto those front lines, and I will stop her from threatening our world, no matter the cost. I am asking you to do the same with me.”
No one said a word, but the answer was obvious on their faces.
“You are now my generals. And I will need every one of you to win this war. To bring together this unlikely army with humans and Doma and Leifs and dragons. I have reports from Quidera and Gwynora that training has exceeded expectations with Vera’s assistance.” She looked to the Commander. “Where are you with your mission?”
“That’s what I came to tell you,” Tristen said with a rare smile. He stepped forward and tossed a heavy gold crown onto the council table. “Aurum has fallen.”
Orden jumped to his feet. “How?” He turned to Cyrene as if she had personally duped him in this. “You didn’t tell me you’d sent the Guild in to sack the city.”
“I did not,” she agreed easily. She stepped around the table and collected the Aurumian crown from where Tristen had carelessly tossed it. “The Guild are assassins. They are not soldiers. Though I would love for them to fight for me in that regard. But I offered them another objective when I petitioned them to join me. I told them they could take down a kingdom.”
“We cut through the opposing forces. Malysa had her people stationed there, as you’d suspected. They never saw us coming,” Tristen said.
“And Merrick?” she asked.
Tristen frowned, deeply displeased. “He fled. Opened a black hole and stepped into it.”
Cyrene nodded. She’d warned him about the Nokkin’s powers, and she hadn’t thought they would kill Merrick. But it sure would have been nice if it had gotten another of Malysa’s generals off the board. “I didn’t expect anything less. Malysa wasn’t anticipating you. She’ll not make that mistake again.”