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I watched as she struggled against the hold the Darkness had on her, fighting against the internal force she had created. Finally, she gripped my hands in hers, begging.
“Please. End this. End this now.”
I knew what she was asking of me. The only true way to rid the Darkness was to first extinguish its creator. Nodding my head, my own tears trickled down my cheeks, sadness for the life she could have had hitting me. Reaching inside, I grabbed a small dose of power, quickly reaching inside of Willow and ending her life. Quietly, her body fell to the ground, her arms falling to her side. And in her last moments, I hoped that she found the peace that had been stolen from her for too long. I hoped that she was reunited with the family she had lost.
Turning my back on her, I aimed my sight towards the sky. The Darkness still roiled in the air, desperately trying to find a source to control it. I felt the tendrils find my skin, begging to enter. And for a moment, I understood how Willow fell into its clutches. The shadows whispered to me stories of a pain free life. One free of heartache. One void of the tragedies I had lived through. But I had something Willow didn’t, a bright life ahead of me.
Pushing the Darkness away, I knelt once again, digging my hands into the soil of the earth. Calling on the land, I felt its energy course through me, using my body as a conduit. Agrum Di Vinum was the only thing that could truly expel the Darkness. The only thing that could rightfully bring peace back to the realm.
My head was thrown back by the force of power and I stared into the sky, watching in awe as bursts of sunlight streamed through the Darkness clouding above, diminishing it streak by streak, until finally, I was met for the first time with the light blue hue of Agrum Di Vinum’s sky.
Closing my eyes, I felt the heat of the sun warm my skin, and I knew that this was it. This was the feeling of peace.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Madden
I was staring up at a blue sky. In my mind, I knew that wasn’t right. That the sky should be filled with blackness. But as I lost more and more blood, I struggled to hang on to reality. Maybe this was death. A blue sky to remind me that everything would be okay. My breaths became more labored and I knew I couldn’t hold on much longer. I had promised Wilder that I wouldn’t die, but I knew I was. And so, I closed my eyes, Halley’s face behind my lids. I thought of the woman that had changed my life, hoping that even as I went, she would still be alive. That she would go on to live a fulfilling and happy life.
“Madden.” I heard her voice, as if she were with me as I died.
“Madden, open your eyes. Please. Please. Please.” Her words had turned into sobs which didn’t seem right. She shouldn’t be sad in this dream.
“Come on asshole, wake up.” Wilder’s snarky voice interrupted Halley’s and I knew then that something was wrong. I loved the guy, but his wasn’t the voice I wanted to her right now.
With struggle, I peeled my eyes open, staring at Wilder and Halley’s faces as they leaned over me. Halley’s cheeks were streaked with tears, clearly upset. With effort, I reached up, swiping the tears with my thumb.
“Don’t cry, sweetheart.” I begged, not wanting to see the hurt shining in her eyes.
She chuckled through the tears and in that moment, I felt her hands pressing against my chest. And with each breath I took, I felt small bits of energy coming back to me. She was healing me. I wasn’t dying. And I couldn’t be fucking happier, screw that going into the light shit.
Frowning at the pain in my chest, Wilder laughed.
“I think he’s coming back to us finally.”
Shoving at him, he didn’t budge, my weakness obvious.
“Instead of laughing, how about you help me up.”
The fucker laughed again, but once Halley withdrew her hands, he did as I asked, pulling me to my feet. I waivered for a second, my head dizzy from the loss of blood, but I stabled myself. I was in too much pain. My arm left arm was hanging on by a single thread. But I was alive. I would be able to watch my brothers grow up, I would be able to live the rest of my life with the most beautiful girl, and I didn’t have to miss a moment.
Realizing how lucky I truly was, I pulled the two in front of me into a large hug, barely holding onto Wilder due to my ripped arm. But as they hugged me back, I realized that it didn’t matter if I lost one arm. I had everything I needed in my arms right now.
“Where’s everyone else? How many did we lose?” I asked, catching back up to the present.
Clearly, by the blue sky, we had won. The Darkness was gone. Now I only hoped we hadn’t lost too many of our people. Instead of responding to me, Halley gripped my good hand, guiding me out of the woods and into the clearing where the battle had taken place. I took in the scene, hundreds of bodies strewn across the blood painted grass. And as much as I hated the death that had taken place, I focused on the thousands of Divines standing amongst the carnage.
There were no more shadows covering Divines. No Shifters stuck in their creature form. Instead, there were thousands of Divines hugging each other close, cries of happiness sounding.
“My boy!” I heard shouted from across the clearing and then my mother was running full speed at me, wrapping me up in the tightest hug possible.
“I couldn’t find you. I thought you were dead. Your arm.” She wailed, her words mushing together as she spoke as fast as possible, but I didn’t let her worry for too long.
Pulling her into my arms, I patted her back, assuring her I was okay. I was alive and she hadn’t lost me.
“Hayes, Cruz? Are they okay?” I wondered, searching behind her.
And then two goofy smiles were in my line of sight, each of them without a scratch on them. Hayes lowered his eyes when he saw my arm, guilt in his expression, but I knew that would fade with time. I’d make sure of it.
