And now—excision. “Out,” Jacen commanded.
The demon goddess obeyed. She slithered out of Seth’s ear, an eyeless thing no larger than a scorpion. Chitinous legs unfurled as she twitched weakly against the black stone.
“More coming!” someone shouted, and Jacen had never been so relieved to hear a human voice. Ysira’s.
She was bloody and exhausted, surrounded by at least a dozen Firstborn corpses. Saraida guarded her back. Teheda had again put himself in front of Nines, who was still crumpled on the ground.
Armored boots thudded up from below. Zivoran knights this time—reinforcements from the valley, arrived at last.
Ysira set her jaw and raised her ashek, a torch against the dark. She killed two more in the time it took Jacen to catch his breath. She fought without restraint, with a reckless disregard for her own safety, made possible by the power at her command. But the others were flagging. Soon, sheer numbers would overwhelm them.
And why was it sodark?
The knights noticed, too. As they emerged onto the roof, they stopped dead in their tracks. They shouted and pointed—at Neri.
His eyes blazed, energy crackling over his body. A column of red light pierced the sky. It had torn the fabric of the universe wide open, bringing forth a devouring shadow.
That red became the only light. It was mirrored on the obsidian, on the knights’ armor, and on their naked blades as they clattered to the ground. Even the wind had gone utterly still.
The creature that had slithered out of Seth twitched again, more violently. Jacen steeled himself and seized it. It proved no different from trapping any recently exorcised demon. He hurled Turil toward the storm. Caught in a crimson flare, the Lady of Pain crumbled to dust.
The whole world shifted, caught in the pull of a power not seen in centuries. A power which, at a fraction of this scale, had ruined the mortal bodies of all who wielded it.
Yet Neri Semira remained standing.
Heat radiated off him. Jacen shielded Seth with his body, watching through his fingers. One knight ran into the column of light, swinging his sword at Neri with wild, violent fear. He died screaming, armor fused to his flesh as he cooked inside it. Three more tried, only to be knocked back like ashes scattering in a gale.
The station was gone by now, crushed to a singularity along with everyone on board. Above, the tear in the universe continued to spread.
“The moon!” someone shouted, pointing up.
Saraida fell to her knees. Teheda was already there, tears streaking his face. Firstborn soldiers clustered near the stairs in their suits, hiding from the heat but unable to look away.
Ixion, the smaller of the two moons, was a waxing gibbous. It had been faint in the dusk, invisible in Naxal’s encroaching darkness, but now it too glowed red—and cracked down the middle. A piece of the moon tore away, spiraling into the devouring void.
Terror consumed Jacen that this would be the last thing he ever saw. Terror—mixed with a strange relief.
Perhaps it was time. He did not know whether he had it in him to confront the horror of his own existence or the inheritance of blood on his hands. He could die knowing he’d helped set this world free, one final act to wash the stain he’d left on it clean. Perhaps, if everything burned, something new might stand a chance.
Yes. This was for the best.
Jacen took Seth’s hand. His eyes were open now, red-brown and warm as a sunset. Wide with fear and wonder, and fully hisown once more.Thiswould be the last thing Jacen ever saw. His last moment in this life, fixed in his memory whether what remained to him was an eternity, or only another instant.
But something new in Seth’s expression compelled Jacen to turn, once more, toward Neri.
With the implacable force of a river that carved a canyon, Ysira approached Neri. She healed as fast as she burned, and she reached him unscathed. Bathed in holy fire, her face was the most beautiful thing Jacen had ever seen.
Though it seemed to cause her pain, she took her son’s head between her hands. She said something Jacen could not hear.
Tendrils of red light coiled around the shadow in the sky, brighter and brighter until they engulfed the shadow. In an instant, like the twist of strings pulling a knot tight, it all vanished. Not an explosion, but a collapse.
The impact rippled across the Scar. Jacen felt it in his bones, as would every soul in Zivora and beyond, throughout all Celes Lor.
The sun blazed forth.
47
ASCENSION
