Page 315 of The Edge of Darkness

Silas took a vengeful step, readjusting his weapons in his grip.

“Have you forgotten that you’re a descendant of me as well, Auren? Why don’t you show your beloved the side of you that you long to give in to.”

His essence crested in my mind again, crashing through me like a tidal wave of endless night. It felt wrong. It felt devoid of everything good.

And then, it felt like mine.

No. No. No⁠—

Black claws lashed out, gouging deep slashes into the stone of my mental shield. I fell to my knees, clutching my head, and biting my lip so hard I tasted the tang of blood as it filled my mouth.

Between the jolts of pain, I saw Silas move. He launched at Lyceius, wings spread wide, his swords aimed at the fallen god’s throat. I tried to scream, to tell him to stop, but it was too late. Lyceius’s dark power struck, surrounding Silas in a fury, and before I knew what was happening, I heard what sounded like fabric ripping.

But it wasn’t fabric, it was feathers—entire appendages.

The crackling of cartilage and bones followed, and Silas let out a crippling yell that grew louder and louder. It bellowed down the valley, and I watched in horror as the god’s dark power tore the wings from my Dionach’s body and tossed them to the dirt.

Silas fell to the ground, writhing in agony.

A cry of pure rage nearly shredded my throat as it burst from me. I thrust my hand out, hurling a jolt of my light at Lyceius, scattering his malevolent darkness to the wind.

“That’s the spirit,” Lyceius snapped, eyes bright with wicked delight. He wanted me to lose control so he could chain me to the facet of my power that had surfaced earlier—the same way he’d corrupted himself.

Another current of his power hammered the walls in my mind, and I strained. Then, Niall’s essence was swimming through the torrent, trying to help me fight. I focused on his presence and wove fractures into my mental shield so that his shadows could join me. The smokey tendrils slid into each crack and crevice, fortifying my wall.

Lyceius’s laugh echoed. “If only you had more control.”

I paused.

Control. All I needed was control.

I was made to overcome this. This was what I was born for. Karios’s power ran within my veins just as much as Lyceius’s. So, I honed in on that kernel from the god-king, clinging to the goodness in it and the purity of my morals as I descended, deeper than I had ever gone, and too fast for my body to handle.

Power rushed into me like a flood. It overwhelmed my senses and shocked my system. I gasped at its abundance and how powerful it truly was. It filled me with a charge of energy, so potent and so vast, that I thought I would burst. My veins burned with cold starlight, and my body strained to contain it all.

A faint buzzing began in my ears, which then became a roar, drowning out the world around me. I was aware of my body, yet I wasn’t. I toed the line of consciousness while I harnessed the overwhelming cascade of power. It was too much. I felt like my very existence was on the cusp of oblivion⁠—

My arm moved, but it was in slow motion.

I was reaching to my side . . . grasping something.

Slowly, I raised a trembling hand in front of me.

Control, I told myself.

The talisman shook in my grip, pulled from the magical pocket I had safely stowed it away in.

Lyceius’s eyes flared as he beheld what I possessed. I didn’t give him time to react, though, before I slid it around my forehead, and everything went white.

Lyceius had all but forgotten about his talisman. In his rage and desperation to find me, he had lost sight of the small details that would make all the difference.

Once the band was on my head, everything that existed faded away, and the purest white light surrounded me, bathing me in warmth and peace. It was so peaceful, in fact, that for a moment, I thought I might be dead.

My mind was quiet. Lyceius’s presence had vacated it the instant I slipped the talisman on, cast out by my fortified power.

The frigid burn that had been flowing along my veins had ceased as well, allowing me to focus on the strange woman that now stood before me. She wore a long, white, silken gown, and her golden hair blew gently in a breeze I could not feel. She was ethereal. A glowing aura shimmered around her.

She spoke with a voice like a gentle, babbling brook. “Auren, Bringer of Light, Daughter of Karios, I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time.”