Page 108 of A Crown of Hopes and Sorrows

“Apollo!” Temi screamed.

I turned towards her.

I wonder, now, if I hadn’t done that.

Might I have noticed the way the breeze shuddered?

Might I have had time to intercept?

But I did turn.

The whites of Temi’s eyes glimmered. “Zephyrus is here.”

I gasped and shifted around again.

But too late.

The wind jerked back like a rope, the discus caught in the eddy of its wake.

“Cyn,” I screamed, running towards him.

But the disc reached him first.

It cracked against Hyacinth’s temple, and his neck snapped as though it had unhinged. The sound of it seared itself into my mind, sank down into my bones, ached into my heart, so that I would hold it forever, so that it became a part of me.

Zephyrus’ laughter trailed on a breeze right as my knees struck the turf hard enough to rip up skin and grass. Hyacinth lulled against the ground as he hit it.

“No,” I roared, grasping his shoulders and pulling his head onto my lap.

Temi and Epiphany jogged up at the same time that Len and Delon arrived.

“Cyn,” Delon gasped.

Epiphany fell beside us and reached her trembling fingers out towards him before popping them over her mouth. “Oh, Hyacinth.”

“No,” I screamed again.

And I tapped into my powers.

I could heal.

Maybe if I tried hard enough.

If I pushed enough.

My entire life I’d practiced reservation with my divine nature, never letting those powers more than tingle into my blood.

At that moment, I released those boundaries like clouds sweeping from the sky, allowing the sun to beat down.

And the magic surged through me as if it consumed me, burning nerves, peeling away skin, glowing like the stars had fallen and caught the world on fire.

The group covered their eyes, backing away.

But I didn’t stop.

I forced the magic even harder.

Heal, godsdamnit. Please heal.