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The silence is heavy as we all hold our breaths, watching the top of the funnel kiss the soil. The moment it hits, darkness explodes in a wave, rolling with a strength that sends the waiting soldiers hurtling backward. In the blink of an eye, Whiro steps through a portal of his shadows, bringing a deadly chill to hang in the air.
We rush back in and slam the door. My thunderous heart steals my breath as I move to peer out the window. Draven shadows us all from prying eyes as we watch from a distance.
My father’s hands raise in the air, wide and taunting as he slowly walks in a circle. “I know you’re here, Emmerelda!” he bellows maddeningly. “That you are alive.” His fists clench and snakes of shadows lash out around him.
“Are you hiding from me, Daughter? Knowing you stole from me by setting free all the souls that are rightfully mine?!” His feet root themselves into the ground, facing the castle. “Come out and face me. Have a little chat with your father.”
Draven’s solid form tenses beside me, with an all-consuming warmth of protectiveness unfurling in the bond. It makes my heart swell, but I can’t hide. This is our last chance to end this once and for all. To save the world from his fury.
My mind races with a million thoughts on what to do to not go down there blind. And right then, one memory becomes clearer than all the rest. Something my mother said: Light may clear the darkness, and can even restrain it if bright enough, but only his own power will be his undoing.”
An idea sparks along with that fickle thing called hope.
As I twist my head to look at Fynn, Cora, and Draven, my heart thumps with love for them. They have proven that I don’t need to fight any battles alone, that we can all sharpen our swords together. And now…we have a greater power on our side. Hundreds of those who wish to see Whiro destroyed.
Stepping closer to the door again, I pull it slight ajar and harden my spine with determination. The frigid kiss of the wind seeps through the crack, wishing me good luck as I breathe it in deeply, burning my lungs from the chill as I do.
“I have a plan.” Peering over my shoulder, I smirk. “Are you with me?” I know I don’t have to ask. Especially given how both Draven and Fynn huff, and the way Cora rolls her eyes. They all smile while doing so, nonetheless.
“We are with you always, Em,” Cora says with a wink, and seeing her next to Fynn, it’s so easy to see how perfect they are for each other.
Draven grips Fynn by the nape of his neck, getting his full attention, the shift in the room growing heavier. “Find my mother and brother…please,” he strains out. “Put them somewhere safe, and with guards.”
Fynn’s brows lower as he dips his head in acknowledgment. “I will ensure they are safe before I find you again.”
“I will join you,” Cora adds. “In case someone gets hurt if there are any surprises.”
Draven looks at her then, a grateful smile on his face. “Thank you,” he says softly, the emotion he’s feeling from that small offering clinging to every word. His mother and brother are everything to him.
Before we part ways, I quickly tell them my plan, hoping that it will work. Needing it to work. For one wrong move will determine the fate of the world.
I open the door fully, so Draven and I can walk out to where Whiro waits. The sound of scraping steel is faint in the background as soldiers right themselves back into position after the blast of darkness. The force of Whiro’s power humming in the air is suffocating, making it feel as if I have an anchor tied to each of my ankles that’s weighing me down.
I can feel Draven’s beast surge forward, tearing through him with a primal force as his wings snap out and eyes melt to a molten silver. Fury consumes him as he looks at the threat looming before us, the muscles in his jaw pulling taut. Whiro is standing in a vortex of shadows, clashing against one another as he pins his deadly eyes on me.
“I should have killed you when I first had the chance. For centuries, I’ve been reclaiming my power, and one worthless girl thinks she can destroy it all,” Whiro spits, fists shaking with crazed energy crackling around his fingers. “You have no idea what you have done,” he seethes, his eye twitching as the strength of his power causes the wind to pick up speed.
My eyes remain firm and steady on Whiro, never wavering. I dig my heels deeper into the soil as I let my power thrash within my veins. “Oh, but that’s the thing, Father. I do.”
In the blink of an eye, that funnel of power grows. Lashing out to slam into the ground, cracking it with a booming thunder that feels as if it’s drumming in my own chest, banging against the cage of my ribs. Draven moves, putting himself between me and Whiro.
A crippling dose of fear penetrates my chest with a brief flash of memories from the night I died. I stare at Draven’s back with his wings flared out, muscles bulging and strained. But looking closer, I don’t miss the slight tremble to his fingers, and the racing pulse in his neck. He looks tragically beautiful.
“I won’t lose you again,” his deep voice rasps down the bond.
Before I can respond, Whiro’s hands swiftly raise as small pods of shadows scatter the ground, and with them emerge the Corrupted. They stand there motionless as they wait for their command. And when a row of Scavengers materializes in front of Whiro, I get déjà vu.
Which only intensifies when Fynn and Cora portal in nearby, giving Draven a quick nod to let him know they took his mother and Emil to safety. Both of their eyes widen when they take in Whiro’s army, yet they withdraw their weapons anyway.
“Oh, Emmerelda, you can’t save your friends now.” Whiro’s chuckle sounds uneven and wrong as it slithers over my skin, leaving a vile sensation clinging to me. “How does it feel to know you are the reason this whole world will be wiped away?”
My molars gnash together so tightly I feel like they might shatter. But I don’t give him a response because he knows he’s holding my biggest worry, aside from Draven, and threatening to sever it. To be the reason so many innocents will suffer.
“You won’t get the chance if I can help it,” Draven seethes. His words a barely restrained simmer compared to the fury wrestling to spill over within him.
The wind billows around us, growing more frenzied, and I watch the others drag their gazes to each threat. Their grips tighten on the hilt of their weapons, readying for what we all know will come.
Before Whiro can set his army on us, the sound of a stampede descends, revealing another mass of soldiers charging down the path. This must be the second part of Asiza’s army, the ones that watch over the remaining lands outside of the castle.
