“We need to hold them,” he admitted, releasing her. “We need to help the crew.”
Elowynne looked between the two brothers, and Atlas gave her a nod of approval. She met Draevyn’s gaze before giving him a dip of her chin, agreeing to fight.
He turned without hesitation, hurling himself back into the fray. He slammed into the nearest guard, flame roaring from his blade, while others began to scream wherever Elowynne focused, followed by shadows tearing them apart.
And through it all, Draevyn’s thoughts were tethered to his Wildfire as she held her ground against her sister, the weight of the Blood Moon’s peak pressing down on them all.
CHAPTER 70
Esmyra
The violent clashes of power rattled the very bones of the palace. Every strike, every pulse of divine magic was a war for their shared essence, a battle not just of flesh but of soul.
Esmyra levitated in the air above it all, her lungs straining as dust and smoke choked the air. The domed ceiling was long gone, shattered into jagged teeth against the blood-red sky. Pillars cracked and thundered down around them, sending shards of pale stone skittering across the shattered floor.
She’d lost her spear in Naerysa’s attack, and her stomach twisted when she saw it lying half-buried beneath debris, the shard of velsinyte jutting uselessly out of reach.
Without that weapon, she wasn’t sure there would be a way to defeat Syrena. If she held her off for a few more minutes, would the bond be broken? If neither sister was able to absorb the other’s power, what happened then?
Truthfully, she wasn’t willing to find out. An image of her ripping her sister’s heart from her chest appeared in Esmyra’s mind, and she grinned.
For a moment, she tore her gaze from Naerysa and looked across the chaos below.
Jak’s cutlass flashed as he gutted a guard twice his size, bloodstreaking down the side of his temple. Atlas’s voice carried even over the roar of collapsing stone, rallying the others as shadows whipped from his hands.
Draevyn’s hair was plastered to his face with blood she prayed wasn’t his. Every movement he made was reckless and unyielding as his sword blazed with fire, cutting down anyone near.
Her stare moved to the opposite side of the room, where Jenli fought alongside Ren and Riven. Vines shot out of the floor at Jenli’s command, halting their attackers and keeping them still as Ren cast them in a haze of impenetrable mist, all while Riven’s elven powers brought endless screams out from their throats.
They were bleeding, exhausted, and fighting tooth and nail against forces meant to crush them. But they were stillhere. Esmyra’s crew wasstillfighting for her.
Her crew. Herfamily. They needed her.
“We need to finish this!” Kaelypso boomed.
Esmyra dragged her focus back to her sister, who wore a malicious smile as if she could sense the direction of her thoughts.
“You can watch them die,” Naerysa purred, eyes glowing like burning coral, “or you can give in. Either way, you lose.”
The floor lurched, sending another pillar crashing into the fray below. Cries rang out as the crew scrambled for cover. Draevyn’s voice rose above it, a ragged shout of defiance.
Esmyra had no intention of surrendering, and she refused to fail those she loved.
The air crackled around them, two goddesses suspended above the wreckage like twin stars destined to burst. Every breath scorched Esmyra’s lungs, every pulse of power threatened to tear her apart, but still she pushed forward.
With an ear-shattering screech, she launched herself through the air until she crashed into her sister. Together they plummeted, slamming into a mountain of jagged and broken marble that was nearly as tall as the ceiling had once been. The ground screamed beneath the force, fractures splitting wide through the wreckage.
Esmyra scrambled across it, muscles trembling as her eyes locked onher sister. Naerysa mirrored her movements, talons flashing against the broken marble as she sought leverage. The air around them shimmered as the tower of debris they clung to groaned, teetering on the edge of collapse.
And above them, the Blood Moon reached its zenith. Its crimson light bathed the broken palace, seeping into the cracks of stone and illuminating their skin. The sight only deepened the madness in Naerysa’s eyes, all while sharpening the resolve in Esmyra’s veins.
Esmyra didn’t waste another second as she leapt, her hands shooting forward before her fingers closed around her sister’s throat, talons digging into her skin with a deliberate force. Naerysa struggled beneath her, solar light lashing from her, but Esmyra’s grip was relentless as power coursed along her arms.
She felt every betrayal, every stolen moment of both hers and Kaelypso’s lives, and it burned in her chest like an all-consuming blaze.
The pulse of her goddess power thrummed through her, amplifying her strength.
Rage mixed with vindication became a dangerous thrill. She was finally the one in control, finally the one holding the power she had been denied for so long. Cold certainty settled in her chest, tasting her revenge as it sat in her grasp.
