“Splendid.” Brea ground her teeth, then stabbed upward with all her might, letting out a fierce growl. Her sword chipped the Guardian’s stomach as though it were glass. A single shard dropped free, and she slid out of its path. “Better than nothing,” she said dryly.
Evylin readied herself to strike again. They weren’t intending to kill the creature but were simply keeping it distracted from Deckard’s charge. But as she reared back to thrust the Night sword into the Guardian’s hide, a sudden inferno lit a fire in her core.
Gasping, Evylin stumbled backward a step. Shivers raced along her body, and her muscles trembled. Only once before had she experienced such a feeling. Power radiated through her as her senses absorbed every detail of the room. Brea and Thom still slashed at the Guardian. Vayden and Ethenn held their bows aloft, arrows flying. Flames, flares, and wind coursed throughthe air. And on the dais, Rafferty watched as Deckard lifted the onyx Space Relic, raising the object aloft in his hand. His magic glimmered like the Relic.
The Guardian paused and looked back to the dais. Frozen, it stared toward the Relic for a drawn-out moment. Then it began to collapse in on itself.
Glittering shards pulled the Guardian apart, sucking it into the black hole that twisted around its center. Evylin yanked Thom away, though she felt no tug toward that black hole.
And in the blink of an eye, the Guardian was gone.
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Thom stumbled and would have fallen if Evylin hadn’t held him so securely. He gaped in awe at the empty space where the Guardian had been only moments before. They’d never killed one so quickly. Never.
A collective shock seemed to roll through the room. Deckard and Rafferty approached from the dais as the rest joined them from the back.
Brea stepped over, checking to be sure Thom and Evylin were all right before saying, “It wasn’t that easy in the Fire Keep.”
“It’s never been that easy for us either,” Evylin said, her eyes on Deckard.
Thom didn’t like the tense expression on her face. Nor did he like the placid one on Deckard’s. It startled him, seeing his brother so completely vacant of his humanity. He was empty. Void. Infinite. They’d feared the Deep. But whatever this was...
Thom worried the consequences of this vacantly terrifying display would be much worse.
As their troop huddled together, Auden held his hand out toward Deckard, who stared at it blankly. “The Relic,” Auden prompted.
Deckard didn’t move, allowing the Space Relic to hang at his side. He turned to Evylin, practically dismissing the Day Mage. “It will be more powerful in my hands,” he said matter-of-factly.
Distress flashed across Evylin’s face. “You’ve already used too much power, Jonn. We can’t risk you blacking out.”
Deckard’s expression remained eerily unmoved. “Remember the Day Keep?” he asked.
They all paused, exchanging curious looks.
“What does that—?”
Deckard cut Thom off. “In the Day Keep, when Auden wore the Day Relic, he was able to control the Shades.” Understanding passed through the troop while Deckard concluded, “When the Mage and Relic match, they can control the Keep.”
“We don’t know that to be true,” Auden objected. “We are attempting to take the Relicfromthe Keep, not returning with it. The Shades will likely still try to stop us, and we have no way of knowing how much of your energy remains.”
Though Deckard showed no outward signs of irritation, Thom frowned. Those magical shards still hovered around his brother’s form, undulating gently as though waiting on his command. No other Mage had behaved that way in Thom’s experience. Not even Ilain—the strongest Mage in two centuries—wore her magic like a cape. Deckard had truly lost himself to his power, and he was bleeding magic every second he left it alive around him like that. How long could he keep that up?
Deckard didn’t bother fighting a battle of wills with Auden. He turned back to Evylin, waiting for her command. She blinked and glanced at Thom. He knew she felt the same concern as he. But she also trusted Deckard. Shewantedhim to keep the Relic, to test the theory and see if they could simply walk out of here unchallenged.
Thom held no such quandary. He knew the danger. They’d seen Ilain lose consciousness after similar grand displays ofpower. Though Deckard wasn’t showing signs of fatigue, letting him access the power of the Relic would only speed his exhaustion.
“No,” Thom said suddenly, the word emerging with powerful force.
Everyone looked at him, but he didn’t flinch. This was his moment to prove himself, to show his dedication to his new purpose. He’d get Deckard and Evylin through this Keep; he would protect them, even from themselves.
Thom turned to his brother. “Jonn, give Auden the Relic,” he ordered. “Now.”
A curious expression drew Deckard’s brow down, but he didn’t act.
Thom sent Evylin a commanding look. She raised her chin in understanding, then reached across and took the Relic from Deckard’s hand. Immediately, she placed it in Auden’s.
The corners of Deckard’s lips twitched downward, but he didn’t argue.
