He pulled me to my feet; we were sprayed with blood and the grime of battle, but he looked at me like I was solely responsible for creating the sun, moon and stars above. His hand wrapped around the back of my neck as he gave me a searing kiss that tasted of copper and salt. I moaned into him as the taste of blood mingled with the taste of him.
He pulled back, giving me a menacing grin. ‘Let’s do this.’
It only took another minute before we found ourselves at the edge of a clearing, where Aurora, Valerie, Serafina and Sage stood around Demir’s father, chanting as his hand lay on a black, pulsing mound on the ground. There was no dragon vessel. Instead, on the opposite edge of the clearing was a cracked statue of a dragon, reduced to cinders and emptied of the Mrak. As I took in the scene before me, I realised the pulsing black mound on the ground was moving, with a hand grasping at the ground beneath it. Out from under it, Queen Azayla rose on stumbling feet. This was the queen I had seen in the Wiccan memories that had helped trap the Mrak all that time ago, and here she stood, consumed by darkness, a hollow shell, barely recognisable. But it was her, and then I understood why the Mrak had called to me and why I could answer the forest. It was a part of me. My bloodline. She truly had become the vessel when the bodies of the dragons Axia and Ember failed. She hadsacrificed herself, and now here she stood, somehow disturbed from her slumber, thanks to the man standing before me.
This would be how I die. I had to do what she did. Hold the darkness within myself so that it could not leach into the land, but first, I had to kill every last evil fuck who unleashed this on our world.
As if reading my mind, all four high Elder Wiccans turned their gaze across the clearing to where Demir and I stood. Without breaking their chant that was waking Azayla, they strode towards me. The Mrak, already bolstering their power, had them almost gliding on a cloud of darkness that pooled at their feet. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Demir’s father draw a bow and aim it at me, but Demir was already charging towards him, shield raised. I had no time to think; my body reacted on instinct, running towards the women who approached—ones I had long considered allies.
The ones I had promised my love, and this bond to, in exchange for the truth that would put a stop to the Mrak. As they each raised their hands, power rolling off their bodies, I could feel the impact in the air before I saw it. Magic splintered into my body, trying to throw me back, but as I dug my blade into the earth and held on while an avalanche of magic flowed past me, as though I was in an enormous wind tunnel, they advanced closer. By the time the magic petered out, half of my armour was in shreds on the floor, but I was unharmed, as my skin glowed with the flames. Aurora, with her silver hair, reached me first, trying to place a hand on my wrist. However, her magic was no match for mine and she slumped to the ground in searing pain, screaming a guttural cry as the flames lashed out and wrapped themselves around her wrist. I don’t know how I was doing it; it was an unconscious thing, but I had no time to think about it any deeper.
A dagger flew at my head, and I moved out of the way just in time as Valerie, the quiet, cunning cunt, threw another. Serafina was next to her as she began to chant a different spell, raising herhands, but before she could finish, my blade sliced through her wrists. Serafina’s hands dropped to the ground as she turned white and fainted before a scream could even leave her lips. Valerie stumbled back, drawing another dagger to throw my way, but I knocked it out of her hand with my sword as if it were a toy. These women were powerful witches, but their focus was divided with the Mrak, while I was the one trained in combat and war.
Sage stepped forward, the ringleader of this deranged cult, and thrust her sword towards me. She was much older and more experienced, so I was not surprised that she had some fighting experience; but I quickly realised it was still no match for me. As her blade met mine I pushed her back and, using the few seconds where she struggled to regain her feet, I lashed out at Valerie. Turning behind her, I wrapped one arm around her shoulders and listened to the piercing scream that the eternal flames simmering over my skin evoked, then drew my sword across her neck to end them. She slumped to the floor, and as Sage met my eyes, I saw it there for just a moment: pure panic. She had not envisioned any of this going my way.
‘Remember what you promised us, Skylar? It’s about to happen. Why don’t you watch the show? You might even gain something from it, if you beg nicely,’ she said as her magic wrapped around me and spun me so suddenly that I was facing Demir and his father in the clearing, which was too far from me. Too far for me to do anything. Demir was kneeling on the ground before his father, beaten and bloody, swaying as he tried to keep his chin high. His weapon nowhere to be found. Whips of darkness enveloped Sebastian as his face displayed an unnatural grin and pure black eyes. Only then did I notice Azayla’s hand wrapped around his ankle, feeding him energy and power.
I felt the prick of Sage’s blade between my shoulder blades, holding me in place as I watched the scene before me. I felt Demir through the bond, sensing reassurance and love.
It’s okay, love. I hope I don’t see you for a long, long time. I love you. Give him hell, Princess.
Sebastian kicked Demir in the chest, sending him to the ground; his blade rose and slammed into Demir’s neck. I felt my scream but couldn’t hear anything. Sebastian hacked at his neck once more, severing it from his body. The darkness attached to Sebastian seeped into the blood that pooled from my Ruhi’s body, and as Demir’s beautiful but lifeless eyes stared at me, they turned black like his father’s until a tar-like substance dripped from them. This was the image I had seen in theOracleso many times before.
Demir’s head rolled unnaturally towards me. It took me a moment to realise what was happening, but it was Sage—she wanted to mock me. She laid Demir’s head at my feet, a reminder of what I had lost. The panic began to set in—my body shaking, vision blurring, throat closing—as the world faded from view. But instead of blacking out, it felt as though the eternal flame had turned its focus on me, burning me from the inside out. Searing hot flames licked at my bones, breaking them in every place imaginable. Vaguely, I felt Sage back away, fear dripping from her.
I screamed something so animalistic and sharp that it was unlike anything I had ever heard. Suddenly, the pain stopped. As I heaved heavy breaths, my body felt substantial. Sage looked smaller somehow, like I was looking down at her from above the trees. I tried to move closer, but instead of taking a step, a wing lashed out at her. A huge, scaly silver-and-blue wing.
Sage screamed, and as if the whole world had fallen silent, I zeroed in on her face and saw my reflection in her eyes. A dragon looked back at me, fierce and unrelenting in its power. I stretched out my wing once more, this time swiping my claws. They sliced through the middle of her body, tearing her to shreds. I barely even felt it. My unnatural hearing honed in on Sebastian shuffling backwards. With one last glance at Demir, I turned to the man I had spent my whole life hating. The manwho had taken away so much of what I loved in this world—the people I had dared to love.
A deep, guttural, reptilian screech escaped my soul and echoed in the air, one that could be heard even over the raging water outside the insular confines of this forest at that moment. But this felt wrong; it’s not how I wanted to face him. I had too much to say, and I wanted to feel his death in my own hands, not through this body that did not feel wholly my own. Sebastian tried to step back again, but one swipe of my tail knocked him to the ground. I screeched again at the unfairness of having this man at my mercy, only unable to touch him with my own hands and feel his life drain through my fingers. Sebastian brought both hands down to Azayla’s body, drawing all of the Mrak out of her until she became a skeleton, unmoving and covered with a sheer layer of skin. This is what one of the greatest queens in my bloodline has been reduced to. What I would be reduced to.
Sebastian pooled every ounce of dark magic he had and shot it at me. Instinctively, I roared at the onslaught, blue flames erupting from me as I met the magic head on. I pushed harder and roared louder, forcing his magic to recede slightly, but Sebastian was not done, and the Mrak wanted me, as if I were its home and it had been left out in the cold for far too long.
Inch by inch, the Mrak consumed my flames; even my talons, dug into the earth could not stop me from sliding back from the onslaught. My flames sputtered out and died on my tongue as I was cloaked in darkness. I expected pain, but instead, I found calm and comfort. This was what I had been searching for, for so long before I met Demir. This was death, and in that moment, it felt like I was embraced by an old friend.
I felt myself pulled out of this foreign body, suddenly becoming one with the darkness. It felt like I was back in Sienna’s office, trapped in the centre of my mind, but instead of hearing her voice or seeing my most tortured memories, Queen Azayla stood before me.
‘Queen Skylar, how long I have waited to see anothermember of my family. I had hoped the day would never come, but it would be a lie to say I am not happy to no longer be so alone.’
‘How can I see you? Hear you?’ I asked, bewildered.
‘You’re dead, darling. You’ve entered the Nether, on the cusp of your world and the spirit world. Demir waits for you there. So does your family. I need you to follow him; the Mrak calls to you. I need you to call it to a plane of existence from which it cannot escape, one that humans can never touch or return from.’
‘Take me. This is why I did it—all of it. If there is truly a way to take this sickness from these lands then I had to do it,’ I said with certainty.
Azayla smiled, reaching out for my hand. As I blinked, I found myself not in a place of darkness anymore, but in a world of blue and purple clouds, voices everywhere. Nothing truly solid, as though I was looking at apparitions, but I felt it—life was breathed into every corner of this world. A different kind of life, but it was full and whole. Peaceful.
‘The Mrak has already started following you; can you see it?’ And, as if on cue, a darkness started to tinge the clouds, turning them into darker hues. The lightness of the air turned thick and heavy.
‘No, I am just condemning these souls to the life we faced. These people deserve peace,’ I breathed, only now grasping the impact of my decision. I had always thought I would do anything to protect my people, but my people also lived here—my family, those I loved.
‘It’s okay, Princess,’ Demir whispered beside me. Stumbling, I reached out to hold him, but my hands fell through smoky tendrils of air.
‘My sweet, sweet sister, always looking out for everyone else. I’ve got this. You’re not the only Azdaja blood in this space. I know what I’m doing.’
‘Jahnah,’ I breathed, not quite believing it was my sisterbefore me. If I could shed tears in this plane of existence, I would.
‘Sky, it’s been a long time, my friend,’ Zoe said, hugging me as her arms went through me. ‘I’ve been here a little longer than the others, Sky, and in that time I’ve learnt things the others have not. Thanks to a certain someone who had a little more motivation than the rest.’ She smiled, nodding behind my sister.
