As if shouting her name would bring her back.
But Nadir hung on.
"Princess, I promised you evermore. And I can't do evermore without you. I need you to come home. Please, Nyssa. Bring everything back andcome home."
She still hadn't moved.
Nyssa's eagle landed on the sand.
It gave Nyssa's leg a nip, its every chirp confirming everything Bala feared.
"Nyssa, please," Nadir continued to beg. "Hear us. Come home."
The serpent moved, and Bala's heart dropped as she watched it disappear into the ocean.
Breath choked in her chest, Bala began to tremble. Nyssa was as limp as she'd been seconds before. She looked over his shoulders to Lex, whose own tears were streaming down her face.
"Nadir, she—“
But she couldn't bring herself to say it.
Nadir didn't respond. He was sobbing, saying her name over and over in her chest as he cradled her. Begging her to come back. Lex's forehead fell against Nyssa's, and she shut her eyes tight.
"Dammit, Princess,come home!" Lex begged a final time.
But their Princess was gone.
Bala's stomach lurched into her throat. She launched to her feet and ran before it evacuated. She was sure her heart would stop at the way in which it throbbed in her chest. She forced a deep breath into her lungs, staring up at the sky as she bit back the breakage of her entire form. Forced herself not to split the world in half with the wind circling them.
Her Princess lost in the void.
Taking on an entire village on her own to prove her worth in this war. Trying to be a hero for people that called her a traitor.
What was she supposed to tell Dorian?
The thought of the fire Prince made Bala's stomach launch again. This time she did vomit. Light-headed, the world began to spin. She did not know how to face him for this.
He would set the world on fire and kill them all.
Wind shuddered around them. Smoke curled. The three flinched at the weight of the flapping wings as a great beast landed on the ground not far from them. Amber eyes pierced the darkness.
Bala's heart dropped at the sight of the Sun in her phoenix form.
Nadir launched to his feet.
"Bring her back!" he shouted.
Lex sprang off the ground and grabbed him. Nadir struggled, writhing against her grip and screaming at the Sun.
"Bring her backnow!Stop toying with our Age andbring her back to me!"
Bala thought she had felt pain before, but the sight of Nadir and the noise of his cries broke her completely. The phoenix only stared at him.
"I promised her I would find her!" Nadir shouted, and Lex threw him sideways. But Nadir didn't care. He launched again, and Lex grabbed him once more.
"I promised she would not be taken by that void!" Tears streamed his cheeks, saliva sobbing from his mouth.
"Take me to her or bring her back!"
