Everything sharpens again.
A beautiful, shiny, black realm comes into view around me.
And for a long, terrible moment, my world tears apart.
Chapter 53
Ijolt upright with a scream on my lips.
Tears pour down my cheeks, and my heart is filled with anguish. “What have I done?”
Strong arms cradle me, holding me close. Erik’s scent fills my chest. I recognize his arms and his worried eyes.
I also recognize my surroundings—I haven’t moved from the place where I fell to the grass. Queen Karasi’s body lies only a short distance away from me.
But pain is tearing at me, ripping at my body and my heart, pulling at my soul.
I’m screaming, and I can’t control it. “What have I done?”
“Asha.” Erik’s voice is raw as he holds me close. “Asha, what is it? What’s wrong? Tell me!”
“It shouldn’t have been him.” I rock with pain, unable to stop my cries. “Erik… It shouldn’t have been him.”
Erik’s face is deathly pale as my cry echoes around us. “Who, Asha?”
I’m barely conscious of the other people around me, of the relief on their faces that’s quickly turning to concern.
My brother, Gallium, stands beside Elowynn. They’re both injured with countless cuts and bruises on their faces and arms,and their expressions are strained. Behind them are the dragons Graviter, Vargo, and Torva, along with the humans Catalina and Rachel.
Blackbird and Concord rest on the grass beneath the nearby tree, their feathers ruffling in the breeze, but they are anything but peaceful, their eyes wide.
Elowynn’s sister, Gliss, kneels closer to me, her dark hair shining in the sunlight, and I register the way her hands are withdrawing from me. She likely healed me like she’d healed Erik.
I don’t care about my wound.
Ican’tcare.
“I saw him.” I grip Erik’s arms as hard as I can. “I saw the dark magic keeper. He took all of the darkness from my heart. He freed me from it.”
I press my hand to my chest, where the darkness lodged within my soul as soon as I had taken hold of Malak’s metal again.
“He took the darkness. He saved me from it, and then… and then…”
But it’s slipping away from me.
I try to hold on to the memory of the keeper’s face, trying to fix his features in my mind, but they’ve already vanished.
I can’t see him anymore.
I can’t remember him.
All I remember is the flash of pain in his eyes because all of his light was stolen.
And now…
I press my lips together. “I don’t… I can’t…”
“It’s okay.” Erik pulls me close to his chest. “Asha, you’re alive. That’s all that matters.”
