I snort. The stuck-up leader of Fjellheim Heights just jumped up in my rankings.
I turn to Kaelith. He meets my gaze, and I honestly don’t know which way he’s going to fall, especially after I set him on fire. I glare, baring my teeth in warning: choose wrong, and I won’t hesitate.
He holds his hands up with an eye roll. “I may not forgive you for setting me on fire, Child of Ruin—” I growl at the nickname, “—but, I’d rather set myself on fire and let you piss on me than side with the fucking Divine Six.” He stands in line with the rest of us. “I stand with the Queen.”
Seraphiel laughs,loud and mocking, shoulders shaking like this is the funniest thing she’s ever seen. “We are stronger than all of you fucking fools.” She steps forward, a shit eating grin on her stupid fucking face. “One last chance to bow before I eradicate every last one of you.”
No one moves. Not a single fucking inch.
Shadows curl around Maelkar, shadow figures dancing around the walls. The whole of Zeriavoss darkens under Kaelith’s power. Thunder and lightning roar from Vor’Khar, and the rain lashes down, thanks to Virena, mist pooling at her feet like a summoning.
Sariya, Daisy, and Elyistria all join hands. The energy pulsing off them vibrates through the air, a god-tier warning none of the Divine Six should ignore.
“Well, you’ve made your choice.” Seraphiel shrugs.
Velentha and Aran gasp in unison. “NO!” Velentha screams, tears welling in her eyes.
Aran surges forward, but he’s too late.
Amarithe’s magic explodes, and the entire room freezes. I can’t move. None of us can. Every person standing against the Six are paralysed under her enchantment. I strain, my muscles screaming as I try to lift my sword.
Sweat pours from Amarithe’s brow. “I can’t hold them!” She gasps, shaking with effort. “NOW, CALRIX!”
Calrix’s laughter echoes around the room. “I’ve waited a very long time for this, Child of Ruin.”
He charges forward, his face split into a grin. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the miserable bastard smile before, and it’s a sight that sends shivers down my spine.
I see his sword before I feel it. It slides straight through my armour, sinking into my gut. My eyes widened as he twisted it with another laugh, then rips it free with a sickening, wet shluck.
A roar rips from my throat just as the enchantment breaks. I fall, my knees hitting the stone hard, blood pouring from the wound. My sword clatters beside me, the flames sputtering out. Somethings wrong… the pain is wrong. I’d been stabbed hundreds, if not thousands of times. Something was on that blade, something cursed, something deadly. I could feel it already, spreading like molten acid through my veins. My pulse stutters, and darkness beings to claw at the edge of my vision.
“No!” Daisy screams, the force of her grief shattering the last remaining shreds of the enchantment in the room.
She drops beside me, hands pressing against the gaping wound in my abdomen, desperate to stop the river of blood. It soaks her fingers, joining Talia’s blood on her gown and the floor.
“Korithax, look at me. Stay with me.” She whispers, her voice frantic.
I try. I turn my head, blinking heavily through the blur. Her face is wrecked, and flame trembles on her crown, pulsing in time with her erratic heartbeat.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, choking on the blood that’s bubbling in my throat. “I’m so… sorry.”
I can feel the sticky crimson fluid trickling from the corner of my mouth, her thumb brushing it away in desperation, like it would somehow stop my life from fading away.
“No. Don’t you dare. Don’t you dare say goodbye.” Daisy cries.
My hearing warps, her voice distorting like I’m underwater. Was this truly it? Was this how I was to die?
“I need you,” she sobs against me. “I need you with me, do you hear me? You’re my husband. You’re my king, my mate, the other half of my soul. I love you.”
I reach out a shaking hand, streaking her ivory skin red as I cup her cheek. “Don’t let this be the end of you, sunshine,” I rasp. “You were born to reign… not to break.”
“No. No, no, no—don’t say that. Don’t leave me, Korithax. Please.”
Her hands press harder into the wound with pure desperation, and I suddenly feel her magic ignite. It explodes from her palms—wild, white-hot fire laced with streaks of darkness, of ash, of something so ancient I can’t recognise it.
It surges into me, searching, burning, trying to fix what can’t be. But the poison resists, devouring the magic as quickly as she pours it in. Her flame seems to scream with her grief. It surges outwards, not from her hands, but from her body. Flames roar up the walls, melting the stone and scorching the sigils of the Divine Six right from every surface.
Yet still she tries to save me.
