Grimnor continued to expelwaves of shadows. Once I caught my breath, I joined its efforts, weaving magic into theassault Lorien was maintaining. Our Vaeloran powers began to combine in earnest, twisting intosomething unprecedented—Light andShadow corded together like an unbreakable chain that wound itself around the void in front of Aleks, squeezing it.
It all felt different, now.
Maybe because I’d truly made up my mind to end this.
End this. End this. End this?—
Tears filled my eyes with eachsurge of magic I released, but the words continued to pound through my brain, and little by little, the balance of power began to shift.
Our different magics battled on and on, twisting, breaking, rebuilding with increasingly bright and violent surges. It was like watching a world fighting to be born from the chaos of a dying star. Light and dark both vying for dominance, then settling into equal forces while the void Aleks commanded began closing, the gaping mouth of cold getting smaller and smaller.
Overwhelming him.
We were already overwhelming him.
Maybe we wouldn’t even need to restore Lorien’s heart. Maybe things weren’t as desperate as I’d thought. I could see the runes on Aleks’s chest beginning to fade as his magic did, I thought; was it possible that we could purify those markings, somehow? That we could remake him, just as the Vaeloran could remake entire realms?
Ragged, desperate hope spurred me on.
I poured everything I had into one more surge of magic.
End this. End this. End this?—
The power built and built, its pressure mounting until the air itself seemed in danger of cracking, its howling lifting into a crescendo that made my ears feel like they were bleeding.
Then I caught something out of the corner of my eye—a flash ofmovement from Severin’s direction. A spell that must have been tethered to the ones carved into Aleks, because a moment later,the runes on his body blazed back to full, terrible brightness.
The void yawned wider once more, swallowing up the Vaeloran magic, distilling it down to a single point that wavered for a moment before bursting.
The force of it sent Lorien flying backward.
I managed to dig in my heels, anchoring myself with a few last wisps of shadow that I guided into a less abrupt finish. Aleks and I remained lockedtogether for one more terrible moment.
Then we both collapsed, falling toward each other in atangle of limbs and spent magic. I rolled out of his reach, grabbing Calista’s gravestone and trying to pull myself back upright.
Aleks clawed toward me, throwing his weight onto mine, holding me down.
My body ached so badly I almost gave in right then and there. In the fog of pain and exhaustion, it seemed like it could have been just another battle we were fighting side-by-side, him crawling toward me to make sure I was okay. How many times had his body wrapped around mine like this, protecting me in the middle of the wreckage?
Why couldn’t this be one of those times?
I dug my grip tighter into the stone, starting to twist myself around and upright—until I realized there was a knife pressed to my side.
I sank against the stone, turning my back to it and settling with slow, careful movements.
Aleks moved with equal deliberation, bringing the knife up to my chest. His breathing was ragged. His eyes were struggling to focus. His bodyshook with the effort of holding the blade steady, but the knife didn’twaver.
We’d ended up where we’d started this battle, with him digging sharpness into my skin.
Circling, always circling back to the edge of ruin.
The battle had come to a halt around us, almost everyone knocked to the ground by the force of the magic we’d beenthrowing off. Several didn’t appear to be moving. I heard my brother say my name—enough to know he was alive, thankfully, though I didn’t dare look at him.
Lorien was kneeling a few feet away, breathing hard. But he was still conscious. His magic was still flickering around him. Power stillburnedin the gaze he fixed on me. Ancient and undeniable.
Despite thepain of this last failed attempt, I was certain, now, that the two of us at full strength would be enough.
That there was no other way to end this.
