Page 300 of The Edge of Darkness

Saxon’s swords lay at his sides. His hands shook where they gripped the shaft of the lance that looked to be over a half an inch thick.

When he opened his mouth, I flinched, knowing what was coming next.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Forgive me, Niall. I’m so sorry.”

I shook my head. He shouldn’t be apologizing. He hadn’t failed me. I’d failed him.

In my nightmares, I would always try to muster up my power so that I could end his suffering, but I could never manage.

The thought of attempting it now and failing . . .

It wouldn’t matter anyway. He was a Dionach. Try as I might, I could not end his suffering by giving him a quicker death. A pierced heart, or decapitation were the only two things that killed Dionachs. All other power, weaponry, and warfare was futile.

Auren dropped to her knees in front of him, palming the air around the wound, desperate to find a way to help. “What can we do?” she asked him.

The red light in the markings on his temples flickered, and he let out a broken breath. “Take my blades. Keep them,” he said, looking up at me. “It was an honor to protect you . . . while I could.”

His words struck deep, opening up some ancient wound within me, and stinging like a thousand small cuts.

I dropped to my knees before him. “The honor was mine.”

Without hesitation, I reached my arm out, and he clasped it, hard, gripping me like a brother I’d known for centuries.

“Tell Remic . . .” He paused to gulp down air. “Tell him . . . that I’m sorry . . . for everything.”

I clenched my jaw, fighting back a rush of emotions. “I will tell him of your bravery, and what he meant to you.”

The tension eased around his eyes, and he offered me a kind smile. “Thank you.” He squeezed my arm one last time before the red in his eyes faded to gray, and his gaze lowered to the ground.

“No . . .” Auren whispered, biting her lip and placing her hands over her heart.

A moment passed, then two, and then I was somewhat aware of a blur of black, charging at us from out of the corner of my eye. I didn’t even think. A pulse of my power shot out and incinerated the beast.

A sense of numbness washed over me as I loosened my grip on Saxon and slowly lowered his body to the side.

Words left my mouth, but I could hardly hear them. “Auren, I need you to take the others and get them away from here.”

“W-What?” She turned to me, searching my expression, but my eyes remained fixed on my fallen Dionach.

“I don’t want to risk hurting any of you,” I said.

She knew very well what I was referring to. “Niall . . . there has to be another way . . .”

I shook my head. “Lyceius is waiting for one of us to break. He’s waiting until he thinks he truly has the upper hand before he shows himself. And if I’m being honest, I’ve been needing to expel this power for longer than I want to admit.”

Concern rippled down the bond. “But what about what you said before? Two powers to bring the change . . . stars and ash? If you use everything now⁠—”

“I won’t use everything now. Just enough. The rest is yours. And you will use it. We can’t take any chances of Lyceius prevailing.”

“Then save it,” she said, her hand finding mine. “Save it, and we can summon him, together.”

I wanted to agree with her. It would have been easier to just step back and reserve everything for the end.

I lifted my eyes to the wall of darkness. Skadi’s shadows were still charging toward us from the plains. I could feel their vile essence as they neared.

“And let this next wave roll over what’s left of our armies?”

“There could be more after that,” she reasoned. “For all we know, his forces could be endless.”