All around me, her beasts howled. Their heartbreaking cries dragged on forever as they tilted their heads to the heavens and let their emotions free. Wet fur lined the undersides of their eyes, and they gathered around us. Lying down, they curled their bodies up against her lifeless form.
In front of us, Ocnolog jolted in place as his nostrils flared wide.
Even if he’d threatened to unleash fire our direction, I wouldn’t have moved. My throat ached and my whole body shook. I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing. Nothing mattered anymore. I didn’t care about the battle, about the war. I didn’t care who ruled over Lendria. The only thing I ever cared about was gone.
A dark chuckle pulled me from my reverie. “I told her she couldn’t win.”
I jerked my head up, meeting Yazmin’s tight stare. My bones quaked. I didn’t care about the country anymore, but I did care about vengeance. About retribution. Yazmin would pay for the pain she’d caused.
Summoning blood from the still-closing wound in my shoulder, I formed a pointed spear and let it hover by my side. Aimed it directly at her center. “You will pay for what you’ve done.”
She only smirked. “I don’t think so.”
Ocnolog reared back and opened his maw. Fire and brimstone and death brewed beyond his fangs, and I glared at it head on. I would burn away with my love. But not before I rid the world of Yazmin.
Just as I was about send the spear careening toward her, something strange happened. A beautiful sparkling light the size of a gem lifted out of Leena’s body, right from the fatal wound in her chest. It hung low over her, then drifted toward Ocnolog’s open maw. He considered it for a long moment before allowing it to travel through his mouth. All at once, the fire in his throat died. And that glittering, stunning light pulsed through his body, halting just over his own heart. And then it ruptured into a thousand tiny particles that rushed out over the clearing.
Abruptly, the smoke disappeared.
The fires that were eating through the grass were extinguished.
And Yazmin screamed.
An uncontrollable tremor overtook her body, and she lost her grip on his horns. She fell to the ground in a writhing heap, her hands wildly grabbing at her chest. Fresh blood bloomed between her fingers, and her face went parchment-pale.
“No!” she screamed, panicked eyes raking over the lawns until her gaze landed on Leena. “You. You did this.” Trembling, she attempted to clamber to her knees, but her body gave out and she screeched wordlessly in anger. Clawing at the earth, she dragged herself forward, leaving behind a trail of smeared blood.
“You…” Her garbled accusation ended in a wet cough. Blood flecks shot from her lips, and she collapsed. She craned her neck upward, glaring at myanam-carawith nothing but sheer hatred, and reached a shaking hand toward her. It hovered weakly above the ground until her chest gave one last pitiful heave, and she went completely still.
A relieved sigh scraped through the air, and Ocnolog settled onto his haunches. Tipping his head to the blazing sun, he closed his eyes.
In my lap, Leena stirred. For a moment, I didn’t breathe. Didn’t look. I couldn’t bring myself to hope that somehow she’d survived this. Not when I’d watched the very life leave her eyes. When I heard a startled gasp, I tilted my chin down. With a slight smile pulling at her lips, Leena looked up at me.
“Hey.”
A choked sob escaped my chest. “Hey? That’s all you have to say to me right now?”
Nuzzling her head against my collarbone, she chuckled. “It’s done.” She pulled me down to her and kissed me. Slowly at first, as if to reassure me that she was there, and then deeply and with so much passion that I forgot to breathe. She wasalive. Somehow, despite everything that had happened, she’d made it. She’d won.
She’d saved us all.
Breaking our kiss, Leena pressed her forehead to mine before reaching out to her beasts. They’d leapt to their feet in excitement and were clambering around us, heads knocking into our sides and happy yowls slipping from their throats. She stroked their hides and laughed—the sound so pure and light and full of love that my tears threatened to start up again.
Once she’d calmed them, she turned back to me. “There’s something I have to take care of.” Standing tall, she regarded Ocnolog with a warm, motherly smile.
“You ready to go home?”
He peeled open his eyes, looking from her to the beasts at her back.“Yes.”
Leena thrust both hands outward, and a flood of power unlike any she’d ever demonstrated before rushed from her center. Rosewood light raced across the open plains, and the vines and flowers lining her skin glowed like the stars. And for the first time in history, the beast realm door appeared right before our very eyes.
Suspended in the sky, the double doors were larger than any mountain and carved out of white oak. Platinum vines, flowers, and leaves adorned the wood in a magnificent pattern similar to the markings on Leena’s skin. The gleaming handles shook as she worked to pull them open. A wondrous, rich groan coursed throughout the land, and then the beast realm was there. The rolling, endless hills of lush grass. The tall, snowcapped mountains and effortlessly blue sky. The doors stood open wide, and Leena beamed up at the sight.
Ocnolog spread his wings to take flight, then paused. There, standing at the threshold of the beast realm, was a being unlike any I’d ever seen. It took me a moment to realize I was looking upon a goddess.Celeste.She was magnificent. Ethereal. Her billowing hair flowed around her like a halo, and the vines and flowers racing across her skin changed color with every shift of her body. She cast her arms wide and, with a tender smile, beckoned to her beast.
A low, emotional groan rumbled from Ocnolog’s throat, and he launched into the air. He passed through the realm and landed before Celeste, who threw her arms around him and cried. For a long moment, neither of them moved. Only after an eternity passed did Celeste turn her attention to Leena.
“Thank you.” Her melodious voice rang out loud and clear for all to hear.
