I glared.
Mercurial held up his hand, revealing a star of gold and red light, shimmering and spinning against his palm.
Just as quickly as he’d appeared, he was gone, the light vanishing.
The ground shook suddenly, and a clap of thunder and lightning exploded with enough force, it felt as if it had broken the sky in half.
Not the sky … My eyes widened. It had broken the tomb.
The seraphim statue was opening.
No. No!
“What have you done?” I yelled, searching for Mercurial. “You traitor!”
But the only response he gave was a bell-like laugh, muffled by the sound of stone grinding against stone as the tomb continued to come apart.
“I curse you!” I screamed.
But he only continued laughing as Asherah’s tomb opened. “You already have.”
“No! Stop!” I held up my hands, but they were strange to me now, lighter in color than I’d ever seen. Unblemished, roughened only by calluses. My hands, but … not. There were no burn scars, no sign of the fall I’d taken, of the light burning through my skin. I tried to push my power out, to use what remained of my energy stores, but no magic came from me. It was stagnant. Still. Trapped within my body.
Every muscle straining, I tried to close the tomb, to reseal my spell. “No. No! Seal! Seal!”
The white seraphim came to life, stone no longer. It rose up on its hind legs, its wings spread out, sharp and ready to attack. Blood dripped from the pointed feathers. This wasn’t possible. This wasn’t happening. Then she stirred.
Asherah rose from the tomb. New, and different. Her body glowing with a light this world could no longer sustain.
I blinked.
No.
Not Asherah.
She was Asherah no longer.
And I was no longer Auriel.
My name was Rhyan. Lord Rhyan Hart.
No, that wasn’t right … Not lord. Just Rhyan.
And she was … She was …
“LYR!” I yelled. “LYRIANA!”
Her hazel eyes widened, her hair, which had been fiery red a second ago, was now almost black in the dark of the night. “Rhyan!” she cried in anguish.
I rushed forward, my arms outstretched and ready to hold her. “What happened to you? Gods, Lyr! Are you hurt?”
Snow had coated the ground as I worked, the mountain top covered by pure ice. But now, though the air remained frigid, the ice was melting into thick streams. The water was rising above my boots and knees, flowing down the mountain like the tides of an ocean. Rising and rising, higher and higher. Until our bodies were almost completely submerged, practically drowning.
“I’m sorry!” Lyr sputtered. “It was my fault. Mine. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I thought I was stronger.” She held my gaze. “I thought I could stop it. But I couldn’t. They’ve returned. All of them.” Lightning flashed, and she closed her eyes. Her body was sinking beneath the water.
“Lyr!” I reached for her, but she was gone.
A wave rose from behind and crashed over me, drowning me, too. I couldn’t breathe. I was submerged, my body was somehow rising and sinking all at once, floating in the icy waters, being taken by the tide, even as I swam against it. The waves were rushing and rushing until I was going over the edge of Gryphon’s Mount. I flailed, reaching for something to hold onto, reaching for her. For Lyr. For my love.
