The crack of the bones breaking serves as a release for my own rage and anger, the darkness ebbing, as if content for a moment.
I look up and see Fenix half-concealed at the edge of the trees, retreating to the north.
I turn back towards where Kalan’s body still lies. Dead. And Ten is there, standing guard over him, as if he knew I’d need a moment with him. I want to run to him, to seek solace in his arms. To find my normal—mybalance again.
My feet crunch on the icy ground as I walk back to Kalan. The mark over his chest has mangled and melted his clothes to his skin. It’s similar to mine, and I reach for the place on my neck where my pendant used to be, now scarred and damaged, a permanent reminder of where the stone used to be and where my magic used to be contained. Now, it serves as a warning.
A sob threatens, and the sting of tears freezes on my face.
This was Novandia. All of this. He might have had the Usher to target his power, but I recognise it now.
All the calm and quiet I had nurtured and fought for vanishes, and anger races in, faster than water, faster than light, and it burns through my body as the grief catches me off guard. This man has watched over me and kept me safe for twenty years. We’ve only just cleared the air between us, and now any future I have with him in it, our paths free of lies and secrets, has been stolen from me. Just like my real parents. Just like all the answers to my questions.
The power hums under my skin as if anticipating what I’m about to do and answering to my rage as if attuned to it.
“Ever?” Ten says gently and steps towards me, his arm outstretched.
I back away and shake my head. “Go. Get as far away from here as possible. All of you!” I shout, not wanting them to risk the fallout of what might happen next. “There’s still an army. There’s still a war on our doorstep. Go and help. Go back to the Court. This isn’t over.”
“Ever…” He tries again, but I’m beyond that now.
“Run!” I scream, the word clawing through my throat, desperate for them to be safe—from me.
The Maker said I was unbound, and I feel that in every fibre of my body. The magic within me feeds on my emotions, and my loved ones cannot be here to see the consequence.
I turn to the sky, call on every drop of power and let it overtake me, just like in Nehandun.
“Aslendrix, help me.”
I feel her magic as if answering my call. I recognise our connection now. I fought for her; our bond over these last weeks has grown, and here, now, she knows me and can sense every single one of my intentions.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
“Yes!”My vengeance is the spearhead of my power, and I will not back down.
If Aslendrix grants this, then it will destroy Novandia. Not just keep him trapped in his powerless curse, but see him broken. Destroyed.
All the menace and energy I absorbed and built into the well in my chest erupts, responding to that one thought, and I become everything I fought to contain: light, and darkness, power and fury.
Light explodes from the spot where my necklace used to rest. I don’t need it. I am unbound—my power can’t be confined. Every single strand of power weaves and twists until it stretches far up into the stars.
Not just Novandia’s power. Not just Aslendrix’s but everything that has ever touched me.
But I need more. To do this, I need more.
“She will not help you to destroy, child.”The Maker’s voice cuts through my thoughts.“That is not her way. She chose you because it’s not yours, either.”
“Well, she chose wrong!” I scream, looking around to find the daughter of the Goddess. She’s appeared at the edge of the snow and ice, her Triune around her.
My mind struggles to find the balance to fight for anything other than this. The blood, the scars, the beatings, every single bad thing that I’ve felt seems to scream at me all at once. Every muscle damaged or slice and cut of skin sings to me with pain, as if building a tunnel around my emotions, leading me to one destination. One result.
I want to do this.
“No. You are in pain. This isn’t what you’ve fought for. This isn’t the balance you know in your heart.”
The Maker’s voice is gentle in my mind. And for a second, I see her, standing at the end of the tunnel, the beautiful woman with raven hair she once was. Until she disintegrates and turns to ash. Everything turns to ash.
“You do not know the consequences of your actions, child. Remember that.”
