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Do it now, little love, Desmond said.We’ll be right here with you.
Claire choked back a sob as she fell to her hands and knees.I love you all. So much.
She didn’t let them respond before she dug deep, blowing open her magical center until it was no longer a separate part of her but magic raced through every cell of her body. It felt like she was being struck by lightning as she blew open every channel. She hesitated briefly over her Triad bonds. Desmond responded by pushing his magic at her. Her magic responded, latching on and pulling.
It was like the world went technicolor around her and Claire could see the magic in the air. Roland and Vanya glowed brightly outside the barrier, their stolen magic a beacon for Claire’s now wild magic. It latched onto them even through the barrier and started pulling.
Claire forced herself to her knees, her every muscle screaming in agony at the movement. Her entire body felt raw as her magic flowed out of every cell of it. She gripped the flask of Ligamen in a shaky hand and tried to channel the magic flowing out of her into it. The Ligamen flask warmed against her hand as it fought back. Claire focused on tearing apart the ingredients inside of it piece by piece until one of them gave away. Magic soared out of her hands into the flask, forcing the ingredients of the Ligamen apart. Her hands burned but still Claire held onto the flask. Finally, with a searing heat, the Ligament stopped glowing light pink, fading into a drab gray.
Claire dropped the flask on the table and reached for the Fortis plant next. The plant’s Energy threw her hand away from it and Claire’s eyes widened. The plant must sense her intent. It made sense, it was in the plant’s best interest to stay alive but Claire couldn’t allow that. Not today. Not now.
Instead of pulling magic from her Triad, she tried pulling it from Vanya and Roland again. Their stolen glowing magic faltered as she was pulled on it. The first indication that Roland and Vanya were faltering.
She pushed past the Fortis’s protective Energy with the stolen magic. Even with the additional magic, Claire’s hands shook with exhaustion as she finally pushed past the protective Energy enough to set the plant on fire. Claire fell forward, tears of pain rolling down her face as the last tendril of smoke tickled her nose.
Come on, little love, Desmond coaxed,One more. You can do this. We’re right here.
With his words came in a push of magic but Claire could feel it was shaky. She was draining her men along with herself. She was killing them along with her.
None of that, Malcolm growled.We’ll go wherever you lead, little treasure. Even there.
For eternity, Everett promised softly.
To the ends of the Realm, remember?Desmond said, quoting the words he said to her so long ago in the Elven Forest.
Bolstered by their magic but also their faith in her, Claire reached shaky fingers towards the Metallicum as tears streaked down her cheeks. This was the last ingredient she had to destroy.
Roland and Vanya must have realized this as they doubled down on their attack. Claire was unable to hold in the cry of pain as Vanya landed a particularly vicious blow, shattering part of the barrier before Claire was able to fix it. To do so though, she had to divert some of the magic she was going to use to destroy the Metallicum.
Malcolm was the next one to push magic to her and Everett followed behind. Claire pressed her palm against the Metallicum, intending to shatter it. The Metallicum reacted, trying for the first time to suck Claire’s Energy.
So that’s what it felt like. Like a bone-deep exhaustion was pulling at her very pores. Claire resisted, pushing back at the Energy and calling on her metal affinity to shatter the Metallicum into a fine dust. It resisted and Claire let out a cry of desperation.
It’s not working! It’s not enough!She wasn’t enough. She wasn’t going to be able to do it. She had condemned them all to die for nothing as she felt all of their magic levels dipping dangerously low through their bonds.
Her Triad poured more magic into her and it felt like she was wrapped in their embrace. By the Realm, how she wished they were here.
It’s okay, Everett soothed.
It is enough, you’re enough,Malcolm said, his growl nowhere to be heard in his voice.
You can do this,Desmond said.We’re right here. In this life and the next.
Their words wrapped around her like their magic, filling her with the smallest spark of hope. She couldn’t let them down. She couldn’t let this not be enough, to go through all of this pain for it not to be enough. Claire took a deep breath through the pain, and then another, and dug deeper than she ever had before. She reached out to Vanya and Roland’s magic and yankedhard.
She felt their magic give way finally, it coming easier into her hands then it ever had before. She didn’t waste time trying to figure out why. Instead, she poured harder into the Metallicum, determined to shatter it. She poured their magic and her magic into the metal for what felt like an eternity, emptying an already empty well until it felt like time froze.
In that moment, she realized that this emptiness of magic felt like when she had first joined the Academy. Back when she thought she didn’t have any magic at all and was a low level blind witch. If things could be different and she had a choice and the ability to change this outcome her mother probably saw coming, she would give up her sight all over again to go back to what it was like then, just a short year ago. She would give up her sight and all of this power if it meant getting longer with her mates.
With that last thought, the Metallicum in her hand, finally exploded, reacting in a way she didn’t see coming.
Energy exploded from the dust in her hands. The force of it threw Claire backwards and sliced through both barriers, obliterating them completely but not before the Energy ricocheted back in her direction. The armor on her chest took the brunt of the blow as Claire fell to the ground, empty of magic.
Bone deep exhaustion pulled on her eyes and it felt like she was fading from this world. This is what it felt like to die, she realized. She couldn’t feel Vanya or Roland’s life forces nearby so she must have done it, they must have won. But she couldn’t muster the Energy to feel excited at all. Instead, she used the last bit to search for her bonds.
Tears slipped down her cheeks when only emptiness greeted her. She couldn’t find them. Where were they? Had they… her breath stuttered out of her. She was so tired now. Her eyes blinked closed. Hopefully, she would see them on the other side.
With that last thought, Claire let her eyelids fall shut. The last thing she saw before the world went black was Puck dropping a dead raven at her side.
