Niklaus shouts for Vrath.
I beg Dellilian to wake up.
My thoughts lock onto Krimson’s, finding him through the grand stretch of time between us.
As the axe anchors high to prepare for the swing, the official in charge asks, “Any final words, citizen of Demechnef?”
I strain against my ropes until my limbs turn purple.
Niklaus bellows profanities, begging and pleading.
And just as Uncle Niles lifts his gaze to the crowd, to his son yards away…something to our left gives him pause. I follow his focal point to a black rift spilling into this world, gashing through the merciless storm.
A deafening silence.
Then an iron pulse of an almighty.
A gulf of creation opening, where only angels may tread.
The same fissure of time undone by the Nightlung, and out of the cosmic ink seeping from the torn seam—Krimson steps forward, then to the side, unveiling my parents and DaiSzek.
“Impossible…” Niklaus mutters.
My chest throbs at the incredible, majestic sight. I exhale a sob and whisper, “Dad.”
“Any final words?!” the Vexamen Official repeats.
Uncle Niles locks eyes with my father, grinning with tears spiling over the dimples in his cheeks. That watery gaze shoots to me in astonishment. He lets out a small airy laugh of delighted disbelief, then back to my dad. He parts his lips, as if there are a million words he wants to release so that his old friend may hear all he’s had to say over the years.
My uncle smiles, not an ounce of sadness in that golden look he gives my parents. A knowing glint in his eyes, because he told us this would happen.They’ll come for me.
“Yes,” Uncle Niles announces. “Long live my family. And long live DaiSzek, the one true king.” And then he shifts his focus to Niklaus, tears emerging as he mouths, “I love you, my son.”
The executioner throws his weight into the swing.
No.
The axe comes down on Uncle Niles’s neck.
The sound of his neck snapping.
The instant scarlet fireworks of blood.
Screams.
My own.
Niklaus.
A head with golden-white hair hits the stage.
Shoulders and an open neck still in place.
“NOOOOOOO!”
Chaos.
Blood.
