I sobbed, clinging to Rhyan. As if I could cling to his soul by holding onto him, as if I could bring him back.
“I can’t leave him.”
“We’re going to be crushed if we stay. And I’m not letting you die. Not again! I watched it happen once before and it nearly destroyed me.”
“Then you know what it feels like!”
“I do. I do. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Lyriana, please. If we die here, the shards will be found, the Empire will go to Aemon and Morgana. So many will suffer like they did before.”
“Then take the red shard from me, and go.”
“What about Meera?” he asked. “What about Jules? Tristan? What about Bamaria? Do you think Rhyan would want this for you?”
My chest heaved.
“Do you think this is what he fought for? Died for? So you could end it here? Crushed to death? So it could all fall? So his fight meant nothing?”
“No.” I shook my head, crying even harder.
“Then get up! Get up and keep fighting. You have to keep fighting.”
I didn’t want to try. I was done. I was so fucking done. Every time I got back up, and tried again, I failed. Every time it just got worse. But as I looked back and forth between Rhyan and Auriel, Auriel whose heart still beat, who was still alive, and still desperate for me to live, to get up, and go on, I knew he was right. That this was what Rhyan would have wanted for me. It was what I would have wanted for him. I’d done what I could. I’d given him a roof. The last bit of protection I could manage. I kissed Rhyan’s cheek and placed my bleeding hand on his chest, right over his heart. Over the wound my sword had made.
I love you,I thought. Praying that he wasn’t in the in-between anymore. That he could somehow hear me. That he was at peace.Wait for me, Rhyan. I’ll find you. In the next life.
Me sha, me ka.
“Come on then, come to me,” Auriel said.
“He broke my arm,” I cried. “And my hand’s cut up.”
Auriel crawled inside the cart, reached for the red blade, and strapped it to his back. Then he scooped me into his arms, crushing me to his chest as he crawled out and stood.
“Can you run?” he asked urgently.
I nodded.
“We’ll fix your hand, and your arm, but you have to swear to me. You’ll live,” he said. “And you won’t give up. For Rhyan.”
“For Rhyan,” I whispered. Then I took his hand. And we ran.
The rocks were falling harder now. We couldn’t avoid getting hit, no matter how much we dodged, or how quickly we raced. The back of the cavern was sinking, the ground shifting and rising beneath our feet. The wall was in sight, the fissures breaking apart, widening, making a way for us.
We burst outside into the night, and I nearly choked on the cold, fresh air.
I stumbled into the grass, my body clenching in pain.
A chorus of bone-chilling growls sounded in the dark.
“Auriel?” I hissed.
“We’re surrounded,” he said, his body going still. “The akadim escaped when I took the green shard.”
“And now they’re all out here?” I asked, turning my head and seeing at least two dozen sets of red eyes popping up in the dark.
“Most ran—especially when they saw the light. But not all of them. Lyriana,” he said slowly, “You’re going to need to heal your arm. Right now.”
My pulse pounded in my ears as I stepped back, feeling the cool of the stone wall behind me. “I can’t heal a broken bone that fast!” I hissed.
