He hadstoppedfighting back.
“Why did you do this? Why me?” Her voice cracked as she raised the dagger above her head. “Was it all just for power?”
“Power…” His cracked, bloody lips twisted into a calculating smile. “Yes. I sought you out because of your power. We would’ve made the best team in the madness…”
She didn’t hesitate as she plunged the dagger into his exposed heart, and the monsters around the castle released screaming howls that echoed through the castle until they abruptly stopped.
All of the monsters dropped at once.
I stared at Fawn with admiration and awe as she twisted the dagger into his heart until the heart gushed with more and more black blood.
It took a goddess to free Hexarium from such an evil force, and I knew that my goddess was the only thing in this world that would bring me peace.
Matthieu’s vessel crumbled into dust, and her dagger hit the stone as it fell from her hands. Then both bone daggers turned to nothing, almost as if they ceased to exist at all.
My heart shattered into a million pieces as I witnessed the demented aftermath of our victory.
Saving Hexariumhadn’tbeen worth it.
Fawn’s body collapsed forward into the pile of his ashes. My radiant and fierce goddess, who had fought so valiantly to save Hexarium, lay lifeless before me. Her once-vibrant eyes, the windows to her powerful, beautiful spirit, now held an emptiness that echoed the void left in my own soul.
In a single moment, the castle was engulfed in an eerie calm.
A guttural sob escaped my lips. The tears that blurred my vision mirrored the cascade of emotions that surged through our bond from each of us.
Deep grief filled my heart and the bond we shared with Fawn as I stood there motionless, staring at Fawn’s dead body lying in the ashes of her enemy.
“Goddess…” My voice broke.
Hexarium had taken her from me.
I lunged forward and clutched her lifeless hand to my chest, my grip a desperate attempt to hold onto her. "Fawn, my goddess, our bonded…" I choked out, my voice a fragile whisper in the midst of the desolate silence. “Youcan’tbe dead.”
The castle's walls seemed to close in around me, the once-familiar surroundings now transformed into a labyrinth of sorrow and despair. The very essence of my spirit yearned for her presence, for the sound of her laughter and the warmth of her touch.
She was immortal, butwhere was her spirit?
The world’s heart of power surged inside of me, a cruel irony that seemed to mock the very essence of our struggle. The magic that had granted me strength and purpose now served as a haunting reminder of what it cost me.
My gaze remained fixed on Fawn's lifeless form. She wasn’t moving, and her body was just a vessel for a spirit that didn’tseemto be there.
With each pulse of Hexarium's magic, I felt myself teetering on the edge of an abyss. The darkness within me seemed to dance with the newfound power, an unholy union that threatened to consume all that was left of my sanity.
The power rushing through me became intoxicating, and I could feel every dark energy coursing through my veins. My body craved the darkness that it provided, and I soon found myself consumed by an insatiable hunger for power.
Thoughts of destruction ran rampant through my mind as I felt Hexarium's magic wrap around me like a cocoon of death.
In that moment, I realized the depths of my weakness—the fragile line that separated hero from villain, savior from destroyer. I’d never been a hero or a savior, but I also never was a villain or destroyer. Fawn and my brother had been the anchors that had kept me grounded, but now, with her gone, I wanted to be at the mercy of forces beyond my control.
The insatiable hunger for power that surged within me threatened to consume all that remained of my identity.
Desperation clawed at my heart, a silent scream that reverberated through the void. The only person who could have quelled this darkness was my goddess, and she was gone—forever lost to me.
The force of Hexarium’s power and strength consumed every part of me, gradually erasing my sanity until only chaos remained.
As I held my goddess’s cold hand, I teetered on the edge of oblivion. A single tear seared down my cheek.
“She’s not dead,” Casper murmured from somewhere behind me.
