A croaking snarl ripped through Bayne’s lips just as my friends attacked once more. The Embodied zapped to the center of the valley. Bayne’s body hovered midair as he let the power of seven gods amass. Sparks of different colors emanated from his form as Bayne’s body began to shake.
The god tilted his head back, the silver disappearing as Bayne’s eyes closed, and he detonated. A ripple of wind slipped through the clearing before a massive torrent of power blew apart the wreckage. I clung to my connection with Kellan, with the other Bellators and caeluma, as bodies hurled backward. My grip on their threads tightened as death threatened to claim them.
Their lives strained against the desperate pull I had on them and the beckoning darkness where Tynan awaited the arrival of their souls. I could almost hear his slippery voice, the oily whispers that lingered beyond the Vael. He tugged at their life force, and I dug my claws into their souls, my own threads threatening to bust apart at the energy it took to maintain.
No.
My shadows writhed as the weight of countless lives pulled against me.
I was Death.
And today I decided who lived and died. The realization calmed my powers, and I took a breath.Safe. Those lives were safe with me. I released my grip as I felt the threat againsttheir lives slip away, and my shadows finally completed the transformation.
Shadows hung around me like a weighted veil as I hovered in the sky, my wings pumping steadily. My chest swelled as I took a deep breath, and I felt Tiberius wrap his essence around what remained of my soul. My shadows floated for a moment as I stilled my wings. Gravity tugged on my body, and I slowly tipped, as if teetering on an invisible rope. I tucked in my wings as my head lurched forward, and I dove.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
LYVIA
Unlike threads, the Weave cannot be broken, not by any mortal-made object, nor by death.
– Bonded Magic, 18thlevel, Living Library.
Lyvia – Living Library, Lotrennia
Charred bodies disappeared under a ripple of shadows as I landed in the clearing before the burning library and Sintarrak. I scanned the wreckage and felt for the bonds of my friends. Their life forces sent gentle pulses of acknowledgment back to me. I could still hear Nerissa screaming.
Go, I tried to urge them.Go far from here.
I blinked once, adjusting my eyesight to keep the library’s flames from blinding me before I turned to where Sintarrak stood. My lips twisted into a smile as I straightened, the ribbons of darkness writhing around my body and wings like living death.
Bayne’s face slackened in shock. Sintarrak’s silver eyes were wide in horror as they landed on me. He took a step backward, and a roar of power thrashed inside me.
“Hello, Brother,” I leered, the Transcindiel tweaking my vocal cords to match the sound of Tynan’s slippery voice.
Bayne’s face drained of color before his silver eyes ignited in rage. His head shook in denial.
“How did you escape?” he asked.
Something in my chest tightened at the sound of Bayne’s voice. His silvery eyes slipped over my wings.
“You’ve been watching my chosen one for some time,” I replied, drawing out the syllables in a hiss. “Did you think she wouldn’t come to me for help? She will be the empress,” I repeated Tynan’s words from the Abyss, still reeling at their meaning.
Sintarrak’s eyes darted around the clearing, looking for me,for Lyvia, I realized in a panic. A shield formed around Bayne’s body as he turned his silvery gaze back on me.
“You’ve been busy,” I continued, taking a slow step toward him through the shadows. “Taking what isn’t yours.”
My eyes slid over Bayne’s body. Sintarrak opened Bayne’s lips to respond, and I lunged. The Obscura surged forward in its purest form, savage shadows reaching snaking tendrils toward him.
Bayne’s lips opened in a snarl as he disappeared and reappeared in the distance. I surged forward, letting my shadows and wings propel me through the air. The darkness bucked at the Embodied’s shield as I chased him, and he threw blast after blast of unfathomable power at me.
The Obscura slashed at the lights, their heat and their pain dissolving in the raw power that I had become. A distant part of me marveled at it. Had fusing with Tiberius done this? Hadbecoming one done more than simply change our forms? Had it elevated our powers to that of an Embodied?
Shadows and light clashed through the clearing, and a pattern emerged. I slowed my chase, narrowing my eyes at Sintarrak’s movements as he used the Advetis power to zap from place to place. My shadows lunged, and as Bayne disappeared, I turned in the opposite direction and slammed into his body.
My long fingers gripped the side of his face, and for a moment, the deep ache in my chest left there by the man held captive by Sintarrak pressed against my heart. Bayne’s vision from the Waters of the Ascendiel had been this, and I ached at his misunderstanding. At the decisions he’d made since, his sacrifices for something he didn’t understand. I stilled for a mere moment.Was he still in there?
The silver in Sintarrak’s eyes, in Bayne’s eyes, flashed once, his face clearing in recognition.
