“FALL!”
Thearchway he passed beneath crumbled to the ground, blocking my way.
“Wherethe hell are they?”AvlynandKaleoshelped me pull some of the rubble clear so we could follow afterJunand the king, but we had lost time.Raulahad hauledHadeonoff to a nearby manor, where a whole cohort guarded him.Rightnow,Ididn’t even think about him.AllIwas thinking about wasJun.Whatthe hell was he going to do?
Wescrambled down the crumbling alleyway.Mostof the fine manors were completely destroyed to rubble.Bodiesin fine clothes lay crushed beneath stone alongside those who wore nothing but rags.Afew still had walls standing, only partially victim to the city’s destruction.
“Keepmoving,”ItoldAvlynas they started to pull open a door to a still-standing building.Theyfrowned but followed me.
Wekept going until we passed a home with its entire right side destroyed, all the fine trappings covered in a thick layer of dust.Thehair on my arms rose, andIfelt the air vibrate as magic was used nearby.
Imotioned toAvlyn, and they helped me pull open a door in one of the undamaged walls.Westumbled into a library, the shelves lined with deep red oak bookshelves; most of the books were knocked to the floor from the destruction.JunandAbraxasmoved about the space frantically.Inthe center of the roomIsaw gashes in the floor where they had hastily pulled a table over; the princess' body rested motionless on top of it.
Junslashed his arm and let his blood drip into a bowl held out byAbraxas.
“Whatare you doing?”Iscrambled over the prone furniture and books towards him.Ireached out for his arm, but he jerked away.
“Myblood isTori’sblood.Weneed it to locate her.”
I’dseen spells like that before.Usinga person’s own living blood to find their location.Torilay on the slab before us.Itwas no mystery where she was.Ilooked atJunwith worried eyes.
Abraxassaw my concern and interrupted beforeIcould speak. “Weare using it to locate her spirit.”
Hehad inscribed a glyph circle on the ground, and it pulsed eerily with the faint green glow of his magic.Hehad healed from the battle, his dragon blood making quick work of any injuries, but his eyes were still hollow, and his skin was almost as sickly asTori’s.
“Youmay be aGod, but even you cannot cheat death.”
“Ihave once, andIwill do it again.”
Ilooked over atTori’sbody.Thiswasn’t like the cavern.There,Icould feel how life had clung to him and how he had clung back.Hisheart had still beat, if weakly.Tori’sheart was empty.
Ilooked atAvlyn, and tears streamed from their eyes.Theyreached out forAbraxascautiously.
“Sheis gone,”Avlynwhispered.
“SHEISNOTGONE!” he snarled, his eyes turning that blazing yellow.
Myheart caught in my throat, andItook a step back, trying to dragAvlynwith me.Theking took a deep breath and calmed himself.Thatgold faded back into a deep green that was drowning in sadness.
“Ican still feel her; she still clings to life.Ourbond is not broken—not yet.”Aheartbroken fool.
Junhit me with a look so unlike him, so menacing and full of warning.Itreminded me ofTori.Ireached out with the magicInow felt beating within my own heart.Torihad broken the world open, and magic now sprung up from every leaf and stone.Itwas easy to find and easy to use.LikeIhad been born with it.Ireached out to it.Ididn’t need much; just a fraction of my energy gone.Themagic leaped from my heart toAbraxas’, andIfelt his bond withTori.Itwas weak, stretched tight likeSpinner’sweb, just a moment away from snapping, but it was there.
“Youhave little time,”Istated blankly.Heblinked and then nodded, returning to his work.
Itwas cruel for me to give him hope.Deathwas the final barrier, the one all magi faced and had tried to overcome.Howmany stories had my mother recited to me over theyears, the moral always the same?Anyonewho tried to cheat death failed every time.Anyother hope was no more than a faetale.
Isaw what he intended to do.Hewould useJun’sblood to locateTori’ssoul and try to summon it back to her body.Itwouldn’t work.Ihad read the accounts of numerous attempts over the ages, all of them failures.Deathwas the greatest force of them all, and it cannot be overcome.Atbest, the spell simply didn’t function.Atworst, something much more horrible came back, or the caster themselves were flung directly into the hells.Icould see there was no arguing with him.Ilet him work.
Ireadied the magic that now blossomed from my heart.WhateverAbraxasdid was his own prerogative, butIwould not let it harmJun.Iwould not let it harmAvlyn, whoIknew wouldn’t leave his side.Islid my hand into theirs.Theireyes widened for a moment asIslipped my fingers into theirs, but they squeezed my hand gently as we watchedAbraxas’ manic work.Juntrailed behind him, providing more blood as needed.
Eventually, he finished his preparations and nodded toJun, who stepped out of the circle.Isighed in relief as he came to stand nearAvlynand me.
Abraxaswalked over to the table that heldTori’sbody and picked her up as if she were the most delicate of flowers.Herhead and arms lolled lifelessly, and it brought a wave of nausea to my stomach.Hestepped into the circle with her and knelt down in the center.
Hetightened his grip onTori’sfractured body.Theglyphs at the edge of the ward shifted from green to a glowing bright white;Jun’sblood bubbled as it was burned away byAbraxas’ magic.Ilooked over the glyphs again, andIfrowned.Theyweren’t right.Theseweren’t the glyphs for a summoning, and he wasn’t leaving the circle.Hejust heldToriwith their foreheads pressed together.
“Abraxas, this is wrong…”Isaid.Avlynlooked at me withworried eyes, moving closer to the circle, but the power of the spell drove them back.Ilooked at the glyphs again whenIsaw it.No, this wasn’t a summoning but a sending.
