His fingers came up, brushing the strands of hair that fell over my shoulders. “I always…wondered what…you’d look like with your…silver hair,” he murmured, groaning and gasping between the words, though a small smile curved his lips. “I’m glad…I got to see it at…least once.”
“Stop it,” my voice was sharp, pained. Trembling as I clutched his hand. “You’re going to befine—”
Suddenly Rena was there, covered in blood as her eyes frantically fixed to the wound. Without a glance in my direction, golden light emanated from her palm, laying over the spot where the arrow shaft protruded from his chest. Her breath hitched and when she opened her eyes, I already knew what I’d find waiting.
“Syra—”
“Don’t.” I hissed, refusing. “Fix him,healhim now.”
“I can’t. My magic is too depleted and the wound is too—”
My scream was one of rage, injustice. Darkness exploded once more, rippling and tearing across the ground. Tears streaked down my cheeks as my body shook with every cry. “Please.I can’t lose you too, Bran. Ineedyou.”
“Syra,” Rena’s voice was soft, careful. “There isn’t much time left, my magic is the only thing holding him—”
“No.”
“Sy,” he was wheezing now, blood painting his lips. “You’re…going to be…okay. Take,” he gasped, shuddering as Rena’s golden light flickered. “Ma, you have to…look after…her.”
Swallowing the rage and the grief I took his hand, squeezing tight. I nodded frantically. “I promise Bran, I’ll look after her, but you needto stay awake.” His sigh came soft then, his face relaxing as another shuddering breath shook his body.
My tears dripped onto his cheeks, washing the blood down his chin. His next words came quieter than a whisper. “Remember the flame…toads, okay? Whenever…you feel…catch them and…know that…if they roam…in the Kingdom of…I’m catching them….with you.”
His next breath was a soft, shuddering rattle. A wheeze, and his chest didn’t rise again.
Time stopped when his heart did.
For a second there was nothing. No sound, no feelings, no agony as my entire body stilled and my mind went utterly, completely blank. Something inside me cracked—
And then the darkness exploded.
Chapter Forty Two
The shadows erupted.
A wave of inky tendrils burst outward, flattening trees and soldiers alike. Armour crumpled as screams were swallowed whole. The sky dimmed and snow turned black like rivers of ink as I slowly rose to my feet. My hair fell in tangled strands of silver over my shoulders as I turned.
The battlefield fell silent.
The grief trickled in slow and steady, fueling the rage within me as I turned to face what awaited. My body was not my own. Roan and Kairen faced six soldiers, and at least twelve lay dead, bodies scattered around the clearing. Though none moved now, every eye fixed to my shadows as they slithered over the ground like silent hunters. They leaked into every part of the surrounding wood, searching. I saw them in my mind's eye as they slithered over root and rock, through the leaves and branches.
Little golden soldier,
you think the light will save you now?
Come out and play.
I saw when they found him, circling like a snake waiting to strike, to sink its fangs into the prey it hunted.
I felt nothing. It was a terrifying, yawning emptiness as my hand lifted, tugging the shadows towards me.
“Bring him,” I spoke, my gaze unfocused.
In a flash they tore him from the branches of the tree he hid within, his body scraping over the bark all the way down. They drug him over root and ice, giving no heed to his screams, his pleas. My legs were still shaking, but I could no longer feel the pain, though somehow I knew it remained. Distant and untouchable as the shadows drew more and more from me.
I was darkness. I was ruin.
I was tired of forgiveness.
