“Will you? I would certainly love to see that.”
“I will.I promise.”
“That would be impressive, as this place will soon become your tomb.” The Minister affirmed Vi’s suspicions.
“Are you going to let her die?” Taavin asked. His eyes were filled with genuine uncertainty.
“I don’t want to.” But Vi couldn’t promise she wouldn’t.
Vi stepped forward, out of Taavin’s grasp. He disappeared from sight. Trusting her invisibility to remain in place thanks tochronot, Vi strode forward into the living core of the Crystal Caverns. She ignored the raving lunatic and prone woman as she walked around the edge of the room. The only reason she could ignore them was because she could feel the dark god underneath her feet, waking.
She’d given Raspian a taste of freedom for the War of the Crystal Caverns, and now he knew his time had come.
“I fear, my dear, that you must die without ever seeing my new world order,” Victor was saying. “But know that your death will build a society that favors sorcerers for eons to come.”
Vi positioned her stance wide, connecting her magic with the crystals around her as Victor wielded the axe. She was ready to make the transference. It would shatter the axe before it could wound Vhalla. That was how this would end, Vi decided.
But right as Victor was about to deal his final blow, a tall shadow appeared in the distant entryway, barely visible through the archways and doors.
“Aldrik!” Vhalla screamed.
“Vhalla!”
Mother above!Vi nearly shouted.
“It seems you shall be the first Solaris to die by my hand!” Victor said with glee.
Oh, Yargen, this was becoming a mess. Fire and ice battled as Aldrik and Victor levied their magic against each other. Chaos took over the Caverns and Victor finally put a temporary pause to it when he blocked the prince’s progress with a wall of ice in the doorway.
“Rhoko,” Vi whispered, hating herself for using the word. But she had to regain some control and contain the situation. Her magic flowed through the crystals on either side of the door, strengthening Victor’s barrier of ice. Aldrik slammed into it,hard, and winced. He banged his fists against the frozen wall, bloodying them. No fire or rage was going to break through her barrier.
Vi’s chest ached as she watched the frantic prince staring at Vhalla. Her hand pulsed with the magic that was keeping them apart. This suffering and the deaths that would follow would mean something when she ultimately succeeded. That was the only thing she could cling to.
Za and Sehra were in the Caverns now, too. Vi was grateful they came and escaped the Capital, until one of the warrior’s arrows managed to pierce her barrier with a flash of light. Sehra was using her limited Lightspinning to try and get through.
The chaos had distracted her from Vhalla and Victor. Somehow, Vhalla had freed herself and the two were now struggling over the axe. It had only seemed a second, but it had been long enough. Victor snatched the axe and had it over his head.
A scream rose in Vi’s throat and was stopped short as Victor swung the axe down, carving through Vhalla from shoulder to sternum. Vi saw glyphs appear where the crystals met her flesh. She recognized the shapes ashalleth. Taavin was working to ensure Vhalla survived this so Vi could focus on what she was meant to do.
The axe shone brighter, as though the magic within was trying to explode outward. Vi reached toward it with her mind and closed her magic grip around Yargen’s power, pulling it from the blade. The bright light of future sight tried to overtake her.Not now, not yet, Vi begged.
She kept herself grounded in the present by grabbing for the power that surrounded her. If she kept absorbing Yargen’s magic, she could keep the visions at bay. The crystals in the room flared brightly. The axe turned to obsidian, falling from Victor’s grasp.
Kneeling down, Vi pressed her palms into the floor and closed her eyes, remembering the word she’d seen glowing in this place years ago. “Suladin.”
Magic lifted off the stones and flooded her senses. Victor was still shouting. Attacks were being levied against him. Vi’s world was a hazy blend of light and magic. She saw the intricacies of the barrier that had been crafted to seal Raspian and, for the first time, began to understand them.
She pulled at the edges of the glyph, trying to uproot it from where it was anchored. “Juth calt. Juth mariy,” Vi whispered over and over, focusing on the cornerstones that kept Yargen’s power in place.
The world tilted, and a streak of red lightning shot across her skull. Raspian could sense that the cage holding him was weakening. He fought to be released once more.
The power surging through her made Vi dizzy. It swelled her veins to the point of pain. Everything within her hurt, and then was healed instantly by Yargen’s magic. Her mind was overwhelmed.
Tilting her gaze up, she tried to focus on the real world as the edges of her vision became hazy.
Victor reached down and picked up a crystal. He used it to channel power, not even realizing what he was reaching toward. The eyes of the dark god flashed in Victor’s briefly.
No!
