The remaining Arkhevari formed a rear guard as we descended toward the platform. The instant my boots touched solid ground, I shoved Naeris behind me and swung my blade into another charging shadow. The creature burst apart. More landed immediately after it. An endless flood. Naeris appeared at my side instead of staying behind me, where I put her. Why I ever thought she’d stay there is beyond me. Her dark curls whipped around her face as she drove a knife into one creature while kicking another directly off the platform into the Abyss below.
“You know,” she shouted over the chaos, “for a cosmic horror dimension, this place is surprisingly exciting.”
I stared at her. Then I barked out a disbelieving laugh. The female was completely insane. I loved her so fiercely it bordered on agony.
“Inside!” Dravok ordered.
The ship doors slid open. One by one, we fell back toward the entrance while the remaining Arkhevari covered us. Zapharos entered last. The instant his boots crossed the threshold, the doors slammed shut behind us.
Silence crashed over the cabin. Only the sound of our breathing remained. Outside the viewport, the battle still raged across Nox Eternum. Countless points of golden light struggled against an ocean of darkness. Naeris stepped into my arms the second I lowered my sword. I held her so tightly it was almost desperate. She looked up at me, breathless and glowing from battle.
“We survived.”
Barely.
But I touched my forehead to hers anyway. “Yes,” I whispered. “We did.”
The ship tore away from the collapsing battlefield in a violent burst of acceleration. Everyone staggered. Warning sirens blared throughout the cabin as the hull groaned under the strain.
“Shields at forty-two percent,” Nadine reported automatically, though her voice sounded distant and shaken. “Port stabilizers damaged. Multiple energy breaches along the outer hull.”
“We’re alive,” Ella said faintly, still staring at her glowing hands as though they belonged to someone else.
Ahead of us, the swirling darkness of Nox Eternum slowly receded beyond the viewport. Not far enough. Never far enough. But safer. For now.
Zapharos stood at the controls, blood streaked down one side of his face, his expression carved from exhaustion and iron determination. Golden light flickered around him as he guided the damaged ship through the currents away from the Abyss.
There was nowhere left to retreat. No hidden sanctuary. No reinforcements waiting beyond the stars. Only war. We all knew that.
Dravok suddenly stiffened beside Nadine. “The Hall of Seven.”
I felt it a heartbeat later. Mental voices collided against my consciousness, urgent, demanding, overlapping.What happened? Why are the Mmuhr’Rhong mobilizing? Zapharos?
The Hall.
The remaining Arkhevari commanders, scattered across the surviving fronts. Zapharos closed his eyes briefly and projected his thoughts outward with enough force that even I felt the reverberation.Seek cover. Consolidate your forces. Prepare forfull incursion. He paused. Then added grimly:The final war has begun.
Silence answered him. Not fear. Understanding. The kind that came when ancient warriors realized the battle they had dreaded for millions of years had finally arrived.
Beside me, Naeris trembled slightly. Emotional exhaustion. The revelations. The battle. The bond between us pulsed so intensely it felt almost unbearable not to be alone with her.
I sheathed my sword and pulled her gently into my arms. She came willingly and without hesitation, pressing herself against my chest with a soft exhale that nearly undid me. My hand slid into her hair.
“You fought well,” I murmured against her temple.
A sleepy smile touched her lips. “So did you.”
“You terrified me.”
That made her laugh softly. “I noticed.”
I tilted her chin upward until her eyes met mine. The fierce exhilaration from battle had faded, leaving something infinitely more vulnerable behind. “You cannot throw yourself at cosmic horrors armed only with a knife.”
Her expression turned entirely unapologetic. “But it worked.”
I stared at her for a long moment. Then I kissed her. Slowly this time. Not driven by battle or desperation. Just relief. Gratitude. Love.
The bond between us settled warmly around my ribs, soothing wounds I had carried since the moment I first opened my eyes in the Abyss. When I finally pulled back, her forehead rested against mine.
