37.

  Ash

  “ASH!”

  Spook’s voice cut through the haze just as my knees buckled. My vision blurred and the world wavered. I forced my head up in time to see a shadow unfurl behind him, a smear of living darkness reaching for his spine.

  I tried to shout, but all that left my throat was a cracked whisper, barely more than a breath.

  “Watch… out.”

  It was enough. He heard me. Like he always did.

  Spook twisted away in one sharp motion. The shadow-blade hissed passed where his heart had been a moment before, slicing empty air with a murderous promise.

  Suddenly the ground shuddered beneath us. A low groan built into a violent tremor. Then…

  BOOM!

  With a loud explosion the top of the temple burst apart. Stone shrieked as it tore free. The doors blasted outward in a plume of blinding white light that swallowed the world.

  The blast hit me like a fist, throwing me flat on my back. Distant screams rose. It was as if the world was falling apart around us.

  Waves started to slam into the cliffs below with bone-cracking force. Seawater surged over the beaches and poured inland like a beast unleashed. Explosions rolled through the sky from the distant mountains. Black smoke unfurled from the mountain peaks, cloaking the horizon.

  My head throbbed with a dull brutal rhythm, and for a moment I couldn’t pull in air as if I’d forgotten how to breathe.

  Hands grabbed me.

  My body reacted before thought could catch up. I lashed out, fighting the grip.

  “Stop! It’s me!” Spook’s voice strained, dragging me back from the cliff’s edge. A wave reared up and crashed over the rocks, drenching us in a freezing spray.

  Gasping and choking, we clawed our way back to the foot of the broken temple, the stone slick beneath our palms.

  “Are you—”

  A roar shattered the air.

  “NO!”

  The Fiend’s voice shook the ground itself. Spook and I whipped our heads toward the field below just as a rift tore open. Raw. Jagged. Hungry.

  Ethilorian cavalry and Underworld spawn alike scrambled toward higher ground as seawater spilled into the spreading maw of darkness.

  The pull of ancient magic tugged at the Underworld creatures, dragging them screaming into the void. As if an invisible hand pulled them towards their doom.

  “This is the end, Fiend!”

  That voice… that beautiful, furious voice…

  It cut through the chaos like an arrow through the night.

  Faelwen.

  She emerged from the temple, winds whipping her dark hair like banners of war. And behind her…

  “Artemis?” Spook whispered, incredulous.

  A figure stood, draped in white robes and golden armour, staff blazing with pure light. His hands raised as he guided the magic that pulled the creatures into the rift. We locked eyes for a moment. My heart stuttered.

  Golden eyes.

  I knew that expression. The calm that hid centuries of wisdom and life experiences.

  It was Artemis.

  So this was what he’d been hiding. All this time.

  “I knew it,” I whispered, a faint smile appearing on my face. A wave of nausea rolled through me, vicious. Blood filled my mouth; I coughed, crimson spattering the shattered stone steps to the temple.

  That wasn’t looking good.

  Not good at all.

  My vision narrowed, black edging in like ink dropped into water.

  “Sp…” I tried but another fit wracked me. Spook dropped to his knees beside me, pressing firm hands against the wound on my back.

  “I got you,” he said brows knitted together his eyes fixed on the bleeding wound. He fumbled for field dressings in his pack with frantic precision. His eyes found mine as he guided me towards a tree where he sat me down. He gave me a hesitant smile and started dressing my wound.

  But we both knew the truth. This was no ordinary wound. Black veins slithered from the wound on my back to my stomach. I knew a shadow blade didn’t just cut flesh. It hollowed you out from the inside. A slow process of disintegration. And I was already fading.

  It wouldn’t be long before I would lose consciousness. Even through the blur, my gaze found her. The one person I loved most.

  Faelwen.

  The one person in this pathetic life of mine that kept me tethered. Power rippled through her, sparking along her fingers. And stirring the air around her.

  My chest tightened. Not from pain this time, but from the aching swell of love.

  Tears burned. I didn’t want to leave her in this crumbling world. Not with the possibility of her being pregnant.

  Spook followed my gaze, his eyes softening.

  “I’ve got them, Ash,” he comforted me. And I knew he spoke true. He would look after them. A feeling of peace settled in my heart.

  “Thank you, buds,” I whispered and he smiled at me.

  My eyes wandered back to the scene unfolding before me.

  Artemis stepped to Faelwen’s side, laying a hand on her shoulder. His golden eyes flashed white and something impossible unfurled.

  Light, threaded like veins, spread from him into her. Her own veins began to glow, her eyes turning white with ancient power. It was as if those two became one. The wind rose, spiralling around them, shaping itself to the force they commanded.

  Her expression shifted from fury to something colder. Older. Divine.

  She looked like a goddess pulled from forgotten scriptures. Terrifying in her beauty. Breathtaking in her wrath. My heart skipped a beat and my breath caught.

  Slowly, with the calm of execution, she raised her hand and pointed at the Fiend.

  Lightning exploded from her fingertips, a spear of white fire that slammed into him and hurled his shadowy form off the high hill and into the raging water. With another sweep of her hands, she bent the world to her will.

  Waters receding back to the sea, volcanoes silenced, trembling earth soothed to stillness.

  But the Fiend was not done.

  The sea erupted. A column of black water broke open as the creature of my nightmares clawed its way back into the world. The creature I had only seen a handful of times. Spook’s face drained of colour and my heart sank. A sinking, icy weight dropped like a stone in my stomach.

  The Fiend’s eyeless voids locked onto me.

  My fingers dug into the earth. My knuckles bleached white. The nightmare wasn’t over. Not yet.

  This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

  ? ? ?

  Faelwen

  A powerful sensation I had never experienced before swelled inside me the moment Artemis’s hand settled on my shoulder. Our joined magic rippled outward, and the very world reacted.

  The earth cracked, the ocean reared like a wounded beast, mountains split with thunderous rage.

  I need your help, little one, Artemis whispered into my mind. His warm voice calmed my beating heart.

  I’ve spent too much energy, and the realms slip. We must end this war. Don’t fear, together we’ll support each other, he said.

  Go for it, buddy, I send back. His energetic soul and magic took control over me, with such gentleness only he possessed. My consciousness drifted sideways. Still present and watching, but no longer steering.

  It felt like sitting beside the driver of a carriage, seeing every jolt of the reins yet unable to grasp them myself. Unless danger struck. Then he would hand me back the reins.

  Artemis held my body like a marionette. Him being the pillar of power behind me as he drew in more and more magic from the universe.

  Lightning roared through me. Searing. Exquisite. It leaped from my outstretched fingers toward the Fiend. It crashed into him, pushing him off the hill and into the water.

  Screams from soldiers and monsters blended into a single discordant cry as water flooded the fields below.

  We stood on an island of mud and stone amidst a sea in rebellion.

  Westray, buddy, I whispered internally, breath catching. It’s all flooded. The people…

  But Artemis was already moving. Our magic braided together, soothing the shuddering earth.

  I felt his exhaustion like a tide battering against my awareness.

  When he created the realms, he had help from his brethren. Now he was rewriting them alone. And my own reserves were depleting fast as well. Bleeding from every strand of my being. It wouldn’t be long before I ran out of strength.

  We need to end this now! I cried.

  He grunted in agreement, unable to form words.

  It was that moment the world stilled.

  From the ruptured water rose a nightmare incarnated.

  The Fiend, unveiled. His true form.

  A humanoid silhouette sculpted from liquid darkness. Wrapped in writhing smoke. Flame-like tendrils crowned his head, pulsing with malignant life. His eyes. Two voids cut from existence itself.

  Each punctured by a pinpoint of icy blue that stabbed straight into my soul.

  He lifted his hand, a black flame kindled in his palm.

  And hurled it.

  Artemis reacted instantly, flaring a dome of shimmering light around us. Around Spook and Ash too who lay only a few feet away.

  The shadow-fire slammed into the barrier. It devoured the edges with black tongues. The ground scorched. The air screamed.

  A horrific laugh followed. Cold and empty. Devoid of any humanity. Like death given voice.

  Another blast of shadow flame hit us. My limbs trembled under the strain of sustaining the dome.

  When the fire diminished, Artemis drove our remaining magic outward. He shaped a towering wall of red fire that clawed at the sky. The Fiend flew right through it with a shriek that rattled my bones, vanishing into the inferno.

  Only to manifest again mere steps away.

  My muscles stiffened.

  His forked tongue lashed the air. Dark words split the air and shadow gathered. Two monstrous hounds erupted beside him. Towering creatures of pure black sinew.

  Fanged maws. Horns curling from their skulls.

  Here I give you back control, Artemis said sharply, I’ll confront the Fiend. You take the hounds.

  Our souls twisted and with a painful pang… we separated. I flexed my fingers, grounding myself as Artemis lunged forward towards the Fiend.

  The hounds sprinted towards me.

  Instinct roared awake. I threw my magic outward in a sweeping blast that hurled them backward. My pulse raced. Survival igniting every nerve.

  My bow was in my hands before I registered reaching for it. I pulled the string, breath tightening as I enchanted the arrow. Frost gathered across the arrowhead. I released.

  It struck the nearer hound’s shoulder, freezing bone and sinew. The creature faltered.

  Then Spook darted past me, his blade carving deep into its throat before he dashed away again.

  Above us, Artemis and the Fiend clashed. Spiralling through the sky. Two of the most powerful beings colliding.

  Magic crackled. Too swift for mortal eyes to track.

  Below, a black mass of Underworld spawn arrived from the east gate. They overwhelmed the soldiers. Darkness swallowing steel and hope alike.

  Something inside me cracked and my shoulders sagged. I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. The last sliver of hope dissolving into nothingness.

  Then…

  A roar.

  A sound that shook the heavens. A sound that lightened my heart. From the storm clouds burst shapes of legend.

  Dragons.

  White, blue, orange, red, black and green. Their scales shimmering in fractured starlight from the night sky.

  They descended like living meteors, tearing into the drakes and the swarms below.

  Hope surged through me giving me new strength.

  We might actually win.

  When I turned my attention back to the hounds, the one my arrow had struck, had already reached me. Too close for a ranged attack. It leapt. I had to drop my bow, steel singing as I drew my sword.

  With a cry I slashed. Too clumsy. The beast spun on its hindlegs, then launched itself at me again.

  No time.

  I held the sword upright as it crashed into me. The blade speared through its chest. Yet it didn’t die.

  Its full weight slammed me to the ground. I released the hilt, bracing both hands against its snapping maw.

  Saliva dripped onto my cheek. A cold sweat crawled down my spine.

  “SPOOK!” I screamed, panic fraying the edges of my mind.

  He appeared above me. His dagger plunging into the creature’s skull. Again and again. Until it collapsed, dead weight pressing me into the earth.

  I shoved the carcass aside and sat up, gasping, lungs burning. My heart was racing and my body shook.

  “You’re okay. You’re okay.” Spook knelt in front of me, his voice low and steady. “Breathe, little fox. In through your nose. Out through your mouth.”

  I obeyed, shaky but anchored by his presence. Gradually, my heartbeat slowed. My trembling eased. With his help, I rose unsteadily to my feet.

  “We need to help Artemis,” I breathed, my limbs feeling heavy with exhaustion.

  “And how exactly do you plan to do that?” Spook pointed skyward. “Unless you plan on sprouting wings, I suggest you help your boyfriend.”

  I looked up.

  Artemis and the Fiend were still locked in brutal close combat. Day and night. Creation and ruin. Tearing at each other for dominion.

  Spook’s earlier words suddenly landed. I frowned at him.

  “What happened?”

  He led me to the tree where Ash lay slumped, eyes closed, his skin drained of colour.

  My stomach clenched. A jolt of panic slammed through me, giving my legs a desperate burst of strength.

  I sprinted the last few steps and dropped to my knees beside him. My trembling fingers found his neck.

  A heartbeat.

  Faint… but there.

  “Ash?” My voice cracked as I brushed my fingers over his cheek. His skin felt too cold. My gaze darted over him until it caught on the bandage strapped around his waist. His eyes fluttered open.

  “Hello, darling.”

  He grinned. Weak, bloody, but still like him. Even on death’s doorstep, he flirted.

  I smiled through my tears, stroking his skin as if I could anchor him here by touch alone.

  “Hello, my love,” I whispered. “Let me heal you.”

  I placed both hands over his stomach, gathering what little strength still lingered in me.

  “I don’t think you can,” he rasped, coughing up blood.

  “Of course I can,” I said, forcing a smile I didn’t feel. “You’ll see. You’ll be up and running before you know it.”

  He smiled up at me, eyes shimmering with something that made my chest tighten painfully.

  I closed my eyes and reached inward, opening my window to the Weave. Pain flared as my drained body protested. I pushed it away and poured every scrap of power I had left into him… even pieces of myself.

  But what I found halted me.

  A knot rose in my throat. My breath faltered.

  The blackness had already spread far beyond the wound. Shadow seeping through him like poison ink, devouring organs and unravelling his life. Thread by thread.

  The more fiercely I pushed my magic against it, the more it grew. Feeding on me. Feeding on him.

  Ash groaned.

  I stopped instantly, slamming the window closed before I hurt him more. My hands shook as I lifted his hand to my face, clutching his fingers as if they were the last solid thing in a world turning to dust.

  “It’s okay,” he whispered.

  I shook my head violently. Tears blurred everything. His fingers brushed my cheek with a tenderness that broke my heart.

  “Maybe Artemis can save you,” I choked out.

  He shook his head.

  “It’s too late, darling.” His voice was calm. As if he had made peace with the end. “I wish we could’ve had more time.”

  A tear slid down his cheek. I caught it with my thumb, my own breath fracturing.

  “I wish that too,” I whispered. The words broke on a whimper. My fingers clung to his sleeve, refusing to loosen, refusing to accept his fate.

  “Maybe in another lifetime we’ll get to see the end of our days together,” he murmured, voice thinning.

  A sob tore through me.

  “But I wanted you in this lifetime.”

  “I know, darling.” His eyelids fluttered. “We’ll find each other again. When my soul is free… when we’re both reborn… I’ll find you. And I can’t wait to fall in love with you all over again.”

  Tears streamed down our faces.

  “I love you so much,” I whispered. “I will always love you until the end of time.”

  He huffed a weak laugh.

  “And even longer?” he teased.

  Despite everything, I let out a trembling giggle.

  “Yes,” I breathed. “And even longer.”

  “Good.” His voice wavered. “Will you… please hold me now? I’m scared.”

  My heart shattered.

  I leaned down, gave him one soft kiss – his lips warm but fading – and settled my head on his chest.

  “I’m here, my love. Spook, Artemis and I… we’ll find you in the Underworld. Artemis promised me the souls bound there will be reborn when the realm collapses.”

  “Thank you…” He inhaled sharply, a shiver running through him. He tried to lift his arm to hold me, but it dropped uselessly.

  “I… I can’t feel my legs.”

  “It’s okay,” I whispered. “Just close your eyes. Focus on our breathing. Our warmth. Our love.”

  Achingly slowly his trembling eased.

  Then a soft exhale.

  His last.

  I felt a snap as the bond between us broke, piercing my heart like an arrow. I cried out and closed my eyes, doubling over.

  When I opened them, his body was turning to ash beneath my hands.

  His face looked peaceful. His eyes closed, lips parted in the hint of a smile, as if he’d simply drifted into a dream.

  “Until the end of time,” I breathed, pressing a final kiss to his brow before he disappeared completely.

  And then he was gone.

  A stillness fell. The world muted, muffled beneath a dome of grief I couldn’t break.

  The war raged beyond it, but none of it reached my awareness.

  I couldn’t scream.

  Couldn’t move.

  I was almost afraid to breathe, in case it disturbed the last memory of him I held in my mind.

  Ash.

  My Ash.

  The father of our first unborn child who had slipped away too soon.

  Silent tears formed new pathways over my face through the grime and blood.

  I didn’t notice Spook kneeling beside me until his arms wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me tight against him.

  His body shook with sobs, and I leaned into him without truly feeling it.

  I didn’t hear the Fiend’s dying scream as he was dragged back into the Underworld.

  Didn’t hear the dragons slaughter the last of the spawn.

  Didn’t hear the rift close, or Artemis landing with a loud thud on the ground, or the shouts of victory rising form the survivors.

  My world had gone numb.

  When I went to sleep last night, I hadn’t known this day would be the last day I got to see his face.

  I wished he could’ve stayed.

  Here.

  With me.

  But all that remained was emptiness. A hollow, echoing ache where my heart used to be.