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Clear as a mountain stream, it had hundreds of facets reflecting every ray of light that hit it, no matter what the angle. One brilliant red beam shot straight to the stone in the amulet on Magnus’s chest, like a beacon.
The longer I stood there, the more distinct the voices became. But one, deep and sonorous, resonated above the rest.
“You say you’re a man of honor. Yet your past is as dark as mine. Your queen –ourqueen – deserves someone better.
“Listen to them, Magnus. The voices of those you slaughtered. Hear the truth – and then perform the most honorable act of your life. Wipe the slate clean that you may enter the afterlife with your honor intact. Listen to their voices then wield your sword one last time – and take your own life.”
The Lord of Darkness. He’d seized on my lover’s greatest strength – and his biggest weakness. The code of honor he lived by. The Dark Lord meant to conquer him not with brute force but by insidiously taking possession of his mind, just as he did with Drayke. It seemed to be working since Magnus was allowing the men to attack him without defending himself. If it went on much longer, I feared the Warrior of the Seven Stars would die by his own hand.
I didn’t stop to think or plan or strategize. With a wild cry, I charged straight at Magnus’s attackers. They were too close to him for me to wield my sword without risk of injuring him, too, so I unsheathed the dagger he’d given me, thrusting it into whatever body parts I encountered.
To my astonishment, each one I attacked disappeared before my eyes in a cloud of dust. That’s when I realized the Dark Lord had summoned his forces from beyond the grave. Their power over my lover was not physical but mental, just like his.
When the Dragon Lord and I battled our ancient enemy, he nearly turned Drayke. But at the crucial moment, my words of love tamed the beast within him. Brought him back from the brink.
Magnus had taught me a great warrior does not fight for himself. He fights for those he loves. It was time to remind him of that.
I slashed and whirled, sending his ghosts back to the realm of the unseen. As I did, I raised my voice to drown out all the others.
“Magnus! Warrior of the Seven Stars! I am your Queen – and your lover. You swore an oath to the Goddess long ago in a fortress hidden deep within Mt. Jarazal. You vowed to protect me, to fight by my side against the Lord of Darkness. Fight to the death if you must.”
I saw his eyes flicker toward me and softened my tone.
“I need you, Magnus. The Dark Lord is about to seize the power of the Sacred Stone. I cannot stop him alone. I need you now, my love. Fight with me, for only together will we defeat him.”
He came out of his trancelike state so fast, he nearly knocked me off my feet. With a roar, he slashed his way through the hordes around him, sending them whirling off in clouds of vapor. He charged through the doors of the temple.
I saw the Dark Lord reach for the diamond, watched Magnus grapple with him. Suddenly an evil laugh rang out. Our enemy disappeared, leaving Magnus clutching the Sacred Stone.
Though he was gone, his deep voice boomed out.
“You want the diamond? Take it. But with it comes the weight of your guilt for all the honorable menyou’vemurdered. The stone was forged by the earth itself, turned into a brilliant gem by millions of tons bearing down upon it for untold millennia. You’re a weak, flawed mortal. Do you think you can bear its weight?”
I saw Magnus falter. His legs buckled, but he didn’t let go of the stone. He grabbed for the altar with one hand to support himself and missed, falling to the ground with the giant diamond landing on top of him.
His chest rose and fell underneath its bulk as he gasped for breath. I didn’t know whether the sacred stone was truly that heavy or if the Dark Lord had tricked his mind with another illusion. All I saw was my lover suffocating before my eyes as the diamond crushed him to death.
Chapter Nineteen
Melisandre
I didn’t have the light of the Seven Stars beaming down on me inside the cavern, allowing me to tap into its energy, as I did when I met the Dragon Lord. But I remembered Drayke’s words that night.
“You’re the granddaughter many times removed of the most powerful sorceress who ever lived. Her blood flows in your veins. You have the ability to harness the energy of the stars,” he’d said.
Ever since I was a child, I’d been able to see things, know things I couldn’t have seen or learned by any rational means. I took that for granted. It wasn’t magical or mystical. It was a gift I was born with, as others are born with the ability to flawlessly play music they’ve heard only once or do complex mathematical equations in their heads. But having power to summon the energy of the stars? How could I possess that ability and have been unaware of it all my life?
He went on as though I’d asked the question aloud.
“Deep in your heart, you know magic exists, even though your rational mind won’t believe it. You’ve seen it with your own eyes. Tonight you watched me transform into a fire-breathing dragon. Now it’s your turn to harness the magic within you. Raise your arms to the sky, Meli. Feel the energy flowing into you. Entering through the palms of your hands. Now, breathe it in. Can you feel it?”
I did as he asked and then nodded. “I think so.”
“Hush. Don’t speak. Empty your mind. Just concentrate on the energy. Listen to my voice and let the power fill you. Let it pour through your body, flow through your veins. Breathe it in until you’re bursting with it. Now – gather it into a ball. Can you feel it? A bright light pulsing deep inside you? I want you to take a deep breath, count to three, then send that burst of light rushing through your outstretched arms and out your fingertips. Are you ready? One, two…”
I didn’t know what to expect. The dazzling rays shooting from my fingers startled me so badly, I almost fell over backward.
Though my analytical mind rejected the idea even now, that night I discovered I did have power. Mystical power. He’d proven to me I could summon a force that defied the laws of the Universe as I knew them.
