The Exodus

by Ali Winters

  Silas gasped as darkness radiated from his skin and the thread of his life vanished. With no power left to hold it up, the rune fell. Caspian caught it in his palm before it hit the ground.

  The wind that had encompassed Yeva, spread to pull Silas into its circle and the traces of their lives faded, all power gone from their bodies and held within the clay disks.

  “Caspian,” Silas said breathlessly. He pointed to the two runes that he now held in his hand that contained unimaginable power.

  Caspian studied them. They had changed. One a bright polished silver, the other a shining obsidian.

  “You must take these, and find the new Guardians of Life and Death.” His form wavered as he spoke. “Work fast my friend.”

  “Silas, what did you do?” Caspian wanted to grab him and shake some sense into him. “I could have transported you from this place. You could have regained your power.” He stared aghast at the friend and mentor who had given him an existence.

  “It is impossible for me to live if I do not have her.” Silas turned to face Yeva again. “We are bound to suffer the same fate. Life and death must be created and destroyed simultaneously.”

  Caspian swallowed the bile the threatened to rise. Silas had sacrificed his existence to ensure that the balance would not crumble.

  “I am fading fast. Our powers will not last long in those runes, you must find—” his voice came out broken, flickering in and out with his form. “The Guardians that are meant to replace us. They must be balanced to ensure the safety until the end of time.”

  “Silas—” Caspian started, but the ancient was looking down at the fading form that had held his heart since the beginning of time. Silas moved to place his lips on hers one last time as their forms wavered out of existence completely.

  THIRTY

  NIVIAN

  NIVIAN STIRRED WITH a groan. Her head was splitting in two from the pain. What happened? Her mind refused to focus. Wind kicked up across the square, reminding her where she was.

  “Yeva…” Nivian rasped.

  Rolling to her stomach, Nivian’s muscles protested every movement as she pushed herself to sitting. Blearily, she blinked and turned her face upward. The sky had darkened overhead, and the ocean that hovered above was midnight in color now that the sun was hidden from view.

  Caspian stood with his back to her, head bowed. Yeva and Silas were nowhere to be seen. Nivian looked around franticly. Buildings and pillars were crumbling, but it was almost impossible to tell the new damage from the old, it wasn’t nearly as extensive as the last time they went up against Yeva.

  To her left, Evander kneeled at Azira’s side, his hands on her shoulders as she sat coughing through the dust.

  The last thing she remembered was… She shook her head trying to clear the cobwebs. Caspian had shown up. He was attacking… who? Nivian grabbed the sides of her head, the pounding increasing. Where had Yeva and Silas gone? Kain… Yeva had attacked him! She wouldn’t let her get away with that.

  Nivian stood on shaking legs and made her way to the last place she’d seen the ancient. By the time she’d reached Caspian’s side, she was panting with the effort. Nivian looked up into his face. He stood there staring at something in his palm, not seeming to notice her presence.

  “Where are they?” The sound of her voice a mere, harsh whisper. Her throat hurt to speak. She swallowed hard and tried again to question Caspian. “Where did she go?”

  Slowly, he turned and faced her. “Gone.”

  Nivian waited for him to elaborate, but he didn’t. With slightly wider than normal eyes, he seemed to look straight through her as if in a trance.

  “Caspian,” she hissed. The pain in her head was fading, but it still thundered through her skull, making it hard to think. “Tell me!” She grabbed his sleeve.

  The jolt seemed to waken him. He sighed. “Silas and Yeva are gone. They have been destroyed.”

  She took a step back. “What? How is that possible?” The shock stole her strength and she was on her knees searching the ground for some clue, some sign, that he was lying.

  Caspian’s eyes narrowed slightly. “How? Nivian, you are the one who injured her in a way that ensured her destruction.” He held his open palm out to her, showing the two runes. One like black glass, the other, a bright silver. “This is all that remains of them.”

  “How will we maintain the balance?”

  “Go, take care of the Hunter. We will discuss this at a later time.”

  “Take care—” Her eyes widened and she turned to look behind her. A heavy pit formed in her stomach.

  Kain’s unconscious body lay sprawled on the ground. A pool of dark red had formed under his body. She was on her feet in a second, running to Kain’s side.

  She fell to her knees, and gently picked up his head, placing it in her lap. “No…” Nivian’s voice caught in her throat. “Kain?”

  Her hands hovered over him, wanting to help but not knowing how. Eventually, they found their way to his face. His skin still had warmth to it, but he was pale—too pale. She leaned down and placed a soft kiss upon his lips. “Kain,” she whispered.

  “Nivi?” Kain said. She watched his throat bob as he struggled to swallow. His forest green eyes blinked up at her. And even through the pain, she saw the ghost of a smile that tried to form on his lips.

  Nivian made a shushing sound. “Don’t talk.” She pressed a finger to his mouth.

  Braving a look, she let her eyes take in the rest of him. He was hit just above his heart. Just like last time, she thought. He’d lost a lot of blood from a similar wound in the same spot, but he would be fine. Kain was a Hunter; he would heal fast.

  “You’re fine. You’ll be fine,” she said giving him a weak smile. Her fingers combed through his hair as she attempted to bring comfort to them both.

  Kain’s hand reached up and gripped hers, the movement making him grimace.

  She didn’t hear the footsteps that approached from behind until a hand landed on her shoulder. She startled. Looking up at the man who’d always been there, she begged, “Help him. Please, Caspian…”

  His face was impassive. “I am afraid he may be beyond our help.” When he spoke, he avoided meeting her eyes. “You must sever his life thread.”

  “No!” she yelled. What was he saying? “He’s a Hunter, he will heal. He has to. I won’t give up on him.”

  “Please—” Kain started.

  “No! I’ll give him some of my power.” She didn’t want to hear what Caspian had to say. It was wrong. Just because he didn’t want to try, didn’t mean that she couldn’t.

  She looked down at his body again. Blood soaked his shirt, the dark red taking over the once crisp white. Nivian turned on her mentor. “Caspian, there has to be something you can do.” She pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “Please don’t give up yet.”

  Kain squeezed her hand. “I can feel it, Nivi.”

  “No.” She shook her head. “You were hurt like this before. You were better in days. You can do it again. You’ll be fine.”

  “It’s not the same. I can’t explain it, but I know.”

  “There is nothing we can do for him. Even a Hunter could not help.”

  “I…” They had both given up so easily. How could they expect her to do the same?

  Caspian brought his hand over Kain’s body. The movement sparked a whole new rage within Nivian’s heart. She reached out and snatched his wrist. “No.”

  Caspian pulled back, but somehow the message he’d been sending got across, tearing at the wall of her denial. She couldn’t let him, or any other Reaper, sever Kain’s life. It was too personal. She’d never forgive herself for letting someone else be there with him in his last seconds. Nivian would hate herself, but there was no other way that she could see, especially if Kain knew he wouldn’t make it.

  Inhaling a shaky breath, she wove a hand through the air, calling forth his life’s thread. Golden light glittered and sparkled with a hypnotic intensity.


  Nivian placed his head gently on the ground and stood. Reaching behind, she plucked the scythe strapped to her back, and brought it forward. Hesitation froze her shaking body in place. It felt as though the air was being sucked from the room and she was slowly suffocating.

  Kain groaned in pain and blood seeped from his wound, further plastering his shirt to his body.

  “I can’t do it,” her voice cracked. Turmoil raged within and something she couldn’t name gripped her, squeezing as it threatened to crush her from the inside out. She wanted to stop and think. To find another way. But there wasn’t one… and there wasn’t time.

  An icy chill spread through her body, her chest felt hollow, as though someone had reached in and ripped her heart out when she wasn’t looking.

  “No…” her voice caught in her throat.

  “Nivian, please… you have to.” A coughing fit racked Kain and blood began to tint the edges of his lips, a thin streak of it dripping from the corner of his mouth. “It hurts, Nivian…”

  She turned to her friend, the figure who’d been by her side for as long as she could remember. “Caspian, there has to be something you can do!” she pleaded, tears escaping the corners of her eyes.

  “There is nothing. You must cut his life thread before it fades.”

  “I…” she watched the bright golden thread flicker, and begin to dim. Fear choked her. Nivian didn’t know if she possessed the strength to do it. Her heart rebelled against the notion, screaming that there had to be another way.

  Blood rushed in her ears drowning out the frantic pounding of her heart.

  “Now!” Caspian shouted when she didn’t move.

  She brought her arm back and swung her scythe, severing his life thread, before her mind could process her actions. The blade sliced through the golden thread without resistance. The movement was smooth. Effortless. Her body had moved with a mind of its own from the centuries of performing this exact move on so many countless other life threads.

  It had been so easy. It should have been hard—should have been impossible.

  She froze, and her vision swam in a sea of black. Her scythe slipped through her fingers and clattered to the floor. Now, she would wait. Wait for the brilliant gold to fade and eventually vanish to nothing. Never to be renewed, never to return. Everything Kain was or could have been was destined to be wiped away as if he’d never been.

  Her heart drummed inside her head, pounding to an ever increasing beat. “I can’t let it vanish to nothing.” She hung her head as a fresh wave of tears fell.

  Nivian’s eyes widened. The watch… Kain’s watch! The watch Silas had given her before she’d met Kain for the first time. The one meant for him that she’d carried around for months, unable to give it back to Silas.

  Reaching into her pocket, she pulled the golden watch out. Nivian pressed the crown down and the lid popped open. As it sat in her palm, it suddenly felt heavy and cold. She had carried it all this time, just to have something of his with her. Had it been nothing more than a bad omen, inviting in the one thing she never considered?

  Nivian commanded his life thread to gather. Watching it sink into the timepiece as she’d had with every previous mark felt wrong with him. For the first time, she had an attachment to the life force she’d severed.

  When they met, she’d been assigned to reap him. Nivian whimpered. She thought they’d found a way around it. But here she was, completing the assignment that had changed her life in so many ways she wouldn’t know where to begin.

  Nivian closed the lid with a click and clutched it to her chest.

  Horrified, her hand covered her mouth. “I’m so sorry Kain…” Nivian said, shaking her head trying to deny that he had died by her hand. What had she just done? She could never forgive herself for betraying him. He couldn’t have meant it when he’d asked her to.

  With trepidation, Nivian reached down and grabbed Kain’s hand, lifting his spirit from his body. “I’m so, so sorry Kain. I didn’t—” Her vision blurred anew.

  “It’s okay. I was in a lot of pain. This is better now,” he reassured her.

  He was going to leave her now and there was nothing she could do.

  “Kain, I can’t lose you.” A tear escaped her eye and ran down her cheek unnoticed. “I can’t do this without you.”

  “You have to, Nivian,” he said calmly.

  “Kain… I—I—” What was she trying to say? Her heart was ready to burst with her swirling emotions; fear, sorrow, and pain.

  She had denied her feelings for so long, now it was too late. Her fear of the unknown had kept her from him. Nivian had refused him what he wanted—to know her true feelings. She loved him. She’d never loved anyone like this.

  Even without a single memory of her past, she knew down to the deepest recesses of her heart that she’d never truly loved before, at least, not to this extent. Her soul would have remembered the endless feeling of warmth. Nivian stopped holding back the words she’d been fighting for longer than she’d realized, and let them bubble to the surface.

  Why hadn’t she admitted her feelings? Why hadn’t she opened up? The endless life she’d lived had led her to depend on the future. There would always be more time. The fear of something strong and unknown that she’d allowed hold her back then was nothing to the pain she faced now.

  “Be strong, you can do this.”

  “Kain…” She took a step closer. “I—I—love you, please don’t leave me.” The words rushed from between her lips. Memories of their time together flashed through her mind.

  “I know,” Kain said, the corner of his mouth tilting up into a sad smile.

  “You know?”

  “I think I’ve always known. But I was selfish and wanted to hear it from you. I’m sorry I pushed so hard.”

  “No, don’t apologize. It was my fault…”

  “I’ll never stop loving you. Not even death could stop me.” He looked down into her eyes.

  Nivian wanted so badly to reach out and touch him, to hold him, to feel his warmth, and to feel his embrace. He was inches in front of her, but she could see through him. This isn’t right. It shouldn’t be like this. I should have protected him.

  The dark stone behind him cast a shadow through the deep forest green of his eyes, muting them. Tears ran down her cheeks. Kain placed his hands on her shoulders, but she couldn’t feel his touch, there was no longer any substance to him. She would never feel his touch again. A hollowness ate away at her soul.

  “Nothing lasts forever. You of all people know that, Nivi. It’ll be okay. Be strong, for me.”

  There had to be another way. It couldn’t end like this. Nivian turned sharply to Caspian. “Let me take his place! I’ve had my chance at life, let me go instead!” The icy hand of fate wrapped itself around her heart as desperation held her, stealing the strength from her words. “Please…” she begged.

  “Nivian, you know that is not possible. I am sorry.” His deep voice resonated with the feeling behind his words, but she didn’t care.

  Caspian averted his gaze.

  Her heart felt like it would give out on her as she crumpled to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Nivian grabbed for Kain’s lifeless body, but two strong arms pulled her, dragging her away. She scrambled, straining to reach him. She wanted to hold him. Her heart refused to believe he was gone.

  KAIN

  Kain reached out to Nivian. He wanted to hold her one last time. It broke him to see her fall apart in front of his eyes.

  An impatient tapping echoed from behind, drawing his attention away from the face that he’d grown so fond of. Slowly, Kain turned his head to look at the source. Standing there with her arms crossed and a red high-heeled shoe tapping away was…

  “You?” Kain’s words trailed off. He knew the woman who stood before him. He had saved her before; around the time he’d met Nivian. What was she doing here in the middle of this island under the ocean, in the middle of a place that shouldn’t even exist? Of all the faces
he would have thought he’d see at a time like this, Cassandra’s was the last one he expected.

  “Yes, me. I am your Spirit Councillor. Now, come along, we don’t have all day.” Cassandra dropped her arms to her side and spun on her shiny heels. After a few paces she stopped, and looked over her shoulder. “Any day now, life loser, we have a lot to cover.”

  Kain nodded dumbly before looking back one last time at Nivian still crying over his body. It was strange to see himself from this vantage, lifeless.

  “No…” Nivian whispered desperately. One hand reached out toward him, while the other was clutching his watch to her chest. The look on her face was enough to break his now unbeating heart.

  Cassandra tapped her foot impatiently. “Let’s go, dead man walking, I have better things to do than watch this soap opera,” she huffed out.

  Kain glared at her. Not caring if he irritated her, he stepped toward Nivian. This was his last chance, his only chance, to say goodbye. Consequences be damned, he wouldn’t leave her without saying something. Though his mind drew a blank. Nothing he could think of seemed right, nothing would make things okay.

  “Kain…” Nivian’s voice broke as she curled into herself, sobbing uncontrollably.

  “It will be okay, Nivian. I promise.” He cupped her cheek with his hand, an eerily unsettling feeling. A slight resistance, but if he pressed on, he was sure his hand would pass through her. Kain gave her a crooked grin. Feeling the pain of heartbreak after his death was unexpected, however weakened it was, it could not be denied. Her pain echoed through his spectral body.

  He hated seeing her in pain, but there was nothing they could do anymore. It was done.

  Kain turned and followed his spirit councillor. A portal opened up in front of him and he stepped through the blinding light, mesmerized by the vast new world that lay before him.

  NIVIAN

  Nivian stood clumsily and tumbled forward. Caspian wrapped his fingers around her wrist, stopping her from chasing after Kain. His presence angered and comforted her simultaneously.