Chapter 1
Iyana
AsIyanaawoke,thefire burned through her, setting her skin, her eyes, her tongue ablaze.Eventually it ebbed, and raindrops splattered onto her face.Blinking her eyes open, a sense of wrongness filled her.At first she couldn’t quite place it—the sky was now black instead of the muted brown of the Dead Lands, but that was themoonshining in her peripheral vision.There were no clouds hovering, either, so where…
Iyana looked up, still cradled in Emmeric’s lap, and he gazed down at her, his tears spattering onto her skin.His face crumpled when he saw she was awake, and the tears flowed faster.His hand was placed lightly over her heart, like he could shield it from breaking again, and Iyana squeezed it with her own reassuringly.
She couldn’t have been out for more than five to ten minutes, yet everything had changed in that short time.Iyana’s heart continued to crack apart and the sense of something beingwrongpersisted, making her long for the comfort of the black void she’d just been yanked from.Emmeric turned his head to the side, and soft sobs filled her ears.Not Emmeric’s though.
One thought clamored through her skull:Talon Talon Talon.
Every part of Iyana’s healer body and soul went on alert.She followed Emmeric’s line of sight and found Zane holding a lifeless body to his chest, rocking back and forth.Whispered sobs ofdon’t leave meandyou promisedmade Iyana realize some of her surroundings had pierced through that nothingness she had been in.She’d heard Zane mourning.For Talon.
He was gone.Iyana couldn’t sense a heartbeat, or breath moving in and out of lungs.His neck was at an obscene angle.Still, she scrambled off of Emmeric’s lap, diving into her replenished magic and pulling as much as she could from her Kanaliza.She could do this; she could heal him.There had been stories of ancient healers being able to bring people back from the brink of death.Logic whispered to her that he was beyond repair, but she refused to listen.
Ignoring Zane’s shout of surprise, Iyana flung herself at Talon’s body, immediately delving into the smallest spark of his soul still occupying his heart.She forced healing magic to every corner of his body.
The Dead Lands, Emmeric, and Zane all disappeared.
Iyana found herself in a sunny, verdant meadow.The air was warm with a pleasant, flower-scented breeze.Song birds trilled in nearby trees, and the soft shushing of a river sounded behind her.Turning towards it, she saw it was wide, but ran smoothly without rapids.On the other side, the deep green continued, and a woman sat in the grass, her long dark hair pooled around her.She toyed with the flowers at her side, and they leaned towards her, as if she were the sun providing them with nourishment.The woman’s gaze connected with Iyana’s and pure power shone behind her brown eyes.Her deeply tanned, smooth skin had a faint glow to it, and Iyana knew—this was a goddess.Motherly love and fear rose within her.It was Altea, then, and she was at the entrance to the Everlands.
A flash of red caught Iyana’s eye, and she looked to her left to see Talon standing at the edge of the water staring at Altea.
“Tal,” she breathed.
He turned away from the goddess and gave Iyana a sad smile.“Hey, Smalls.”
“Talon, you need to come back.”His gaze flickered over towards Altea.The goddess watching them with apt interest.She didn’t appear angry or happy—merely curious about how this interaction would end.
Iyana felt it then—the call of the river—and she staggered forward a step.It was harder to stop herself than she would have liked.But would it be so bad to stay?She’d been on death’s door only a moment earlier, and she had been content to wrap herself within a cocoon of night and sleep forever.Here, it was warm, and inviting.A paradise.Rolling hills covered in green extended into the distance past Altea.Trees dotted the landscape, and people, animals, and birds could be seen flitting around.They all lived in harmony.There was no war, no hatred, no jealousy—not in this place.The people were too far away for Iyana to make out their faces, but she wondered if Imo was here.Her parents.
Your family resides here, Iyana, and they are safe.Happy.The warm voice penetrated Iyana’s mind, smooth and sweet as honey.Altea smiled serenely at her.It would be so easy.So easy to step into the waters.Deliver herself into Altea’s loving embrace and live out the rest of eternity with the people she loved most.Everything in Arinem had changed irrevocably.Uther was dead, so what more did they need from her?Athusa would have Zane who would rule justly and fairly, allowing the empire to prosper.And even though Iyana had been rescued from the brink of death, was her life worth anything?
With a forceful tug, Iyana pulled herself away from ideas of self-destruction as she saw Talon take a step closer to the river.She knew, instinctively, that should he touch that water, he’d be lost forever.
“Talon!”she shouted, relieved when he stopped.“Come back with me.”
“I’m tired, Smalls.I have been for quite some time.”
Iyana shook her head.This wasn’t the joyful man she was accustomed to standing before her.
“I know,” he continued.“We all wear masks.I wear joviality to hide the depression.Don’t get me wrong, I am—was—generally a happy person.I liked to have a good time.But the last ten years…I was conscripted by a power-hungry emperor and forced to kill innocent people.People who had no business dying by my hands.And it took its toll, Smalls.I can’t do it anymore.”
“But Uther is dead.Zane will take over, and you won’t have to do that anymore.He’d never force you into anything, even if there are wars in the future.”
Talon shook his head.“You misunderstand me.I can’t live with the guilt anymore.I’ve killed sixty-two people who haven’t deserved to die.More who have.”
“Talon…”
“Four years ago, I murdered a fifteen-year-old boy.I didn’t realize his age at the time, only that he was coming at me to defend his home, and I cut him down without pause.He only had a knife.When his mother screamed and rushed to his side, I realized then what I’d done.I saw his gangly limbs and acne-scattered face.He didn’t even have a beard yet.I stumbled out of the city, retching the entire way.Emmeric finally found me a day later in the next town over, nursing a bad hangover, and I couldn’t bring myself to tell him what I had done.He still doesn’t know.I sent that family half of my earnings every month as an anonymous donor, because I later learned there were four younger children in the family.Their father had died several years before, and that boy—Devon—was their sole income.”
“Oh, Tal.I’m so sorry.”Iyana’s heart broke anew for her friend.She could read it on his face—he’d never gotten past this moment of his life.
“Ever since then, I tried to help more than I harmed.It’s why I evacuated people in Imothia.And if my dying act was saving Emmeric, then it was worth it.My life had meaning.”He said the last part with so much conviction—Iyana could tell that he honestly didn’t believe his life had any worth.
“Talon...”Iyana was crying now, large drops streaming down her face.She wanted to rush to her friend and hold him tightly.“Your life has so much meaning.You mean the world to Emmeric, Zane, your parents.To me and Kaz.Please, Tal.We need you still.”
He only smiled sadly again, gazing fondly at the river and Altea beyond it.When he looked back at her, he was crying too.“I’m so tired, Iyana.I want to rest.Please let me rest.”
