I fall with him, my fingers brushing against the curls that fall across his forehead. His jaw ticks, veins shooting along his neck and up his temple. He takes his fists and beats them against the ground before a dark growl escapes his trembling lips.She is controlling him.
“Go,”he chokes out.
I take my hand, curling my fingers around his chin and lifting his gaze to meet mine. His emerald eyes gradually shift to a crimson red and my heart seizes. “I will never leave you again. No matter the darkness. I vow this to you.”
A soft tug pulls on his lip before his eyes clench tightly in pain.
I cuff his cheeks with my trembling hands, pulling us closer together and breathing out, “And a vow to you is like taking a vow to our Gods. I shallneverbreak it.”
My thumb catches a tear that falls down his cheek before placing my lips against his, and I pull away.
Damn it,I pull away.
I can hear the cracking of his voice, breaking as he shouts for me, pleading me not to go.
But there is one thing about me that he might not remember.
I never listen.
I do what isright.
When my father, King Deskyiara, ordered me to never see Koen again or my throne would be taken from me, I saw him anyway.
When all the men in the battle games shouted for my death, scuffing under their breaths for me to leave or they’d take my life, I stayed and became a chosen. A damn Queen.
I am fearless. I will die for those I love.
I am a damn Deskyiara, and let me show my sister what a Deskyiara can do when pushed to their limits.
“You have me wrong, sister!” Fire flickers against my fingertips, and her eyes widen in fear.
“Arrows, take formation!” she shouts, eyes frantically searching up high. “The toxin must be leaving her system!”
My brows cave inward, never glancing where she does, but keeping me gaze locked onto her.My target.
Death bellows violently as his daggers slice through the darklings that swarm over him, their cherry-red blood splatting on the ground and in an instant, they erupt into ash with just a flick of my wrist. His chest heaves with exertion, a smirk smears across his face as he lets his head crash back onto the ground, sending clouds of ash billowing around him.
Theon hurtles toward him, his white hair whipping in the wind while he grips his hand and yanks him upward with all his might. Meanwhile, Klayra, Kaine, and Hyreo are locked in a fierce battle, struggling against the relentless swarm of darklings leaping from the mountain cliffs.
I know they won't hold out much longer on their own.
And Koen is on the brink of shifting with Tilly's control.
As I surge forward toward her, a blaze ignites in the distance, and in a blur of motion, my Fireninze charges towards us, her hooves beating against the ground, kicking up clouds of ash and dirt. She soars past the dragon, her flames scorching the edges of its wings, provoking a gut-wrenching roar from its razor-sharp mouth.
I fall towards her, wrapping my arms around her neck as she nestles her nose into my side.
“You’re dying. You need to go to a healer.”I hear her voice, filled with worry.
“Not until my sister is dead.”
I throw my leg over her body, gripping her mane tightly as I begin to charge towards Tileatha. Koen must have been rushing towards her as well. He limps, but yells with his daggers in hand. He must be fighting the shifting with everything he has.
I always believed he was strong.
And Gods, how I love him.
We charge towards the dragon, our screams dancing with the yells of the others. I lift my arms, fire flickering against my palms as I am ready to unleash my dragons towards my sister when my chestconvulses.
