I had hope, then. Maybe Magdalina could beat Droga.
A spell of Magdalina’s bounced off of one of Droga’s antlers. It crashed into half of a building that was still standing. It teetered and began toppling over, its immense shadow looming over us as it began to fall at a rapid speed.
“Look out!” Lucien roared. He spread his wings and took to the air, to avoid being crushed.
We couldn’t outrun this. I closed my eyes, certain this was the end. But Ethan growled, and my stomach suddenly dipped out. Weightlessness came over me, and I opened my eyes. My mouth hung open as I realized we were suspended high in the air, soaring over the ruins of the city.
Ethan had sprouted two white wings. He pumped them vigorously, raising us into the air with all the beauty of an eagle in flight.
Tears came to my eyes. “Ethan, you’re flying.” The moment was mystical. He’d finally earned his wings.
“Of course I am flying,” he replied. “Rest now,onawilke,and I will get you far away from here.”
I gripped tightly onto Ethan’s pelt as I looked down. Even from this distance, I could still watch the fight. Droga had shifted into a man. He was covering his eyes with one hand, which still poured blood. Magdalina approached him with a killing spell in her palm, and I held my breath, thinking it was over with.
Then Droga lifted a hand. A dark curse spread from his fingers, blooming toward Lady Magdalina. She didn’t have time to stop it. The curse wrapped around her form like wicked vines, constricting her arms to her sides. The killing spell died in her fingers.
Droga clenched his hand shut. I think I screamed, but the cry died in my throat. I watched as Magdalina began pouring blood from the inside out. It came welling past her lips, out of her nose. Her life source spilled onto the cobblestone, making a red pool that ran along the city streets as her eyes wept blood and her heart emptied out her mouth.
Lady Magdalina toppled forward, and her body splashed into the pool of blood. Droga’s curse around her ended, and yet still… she remained motionless.
I think my mind broke, then. I just couldn’t comprehend anymore. I’d never had a moment before where my mind hadn’t conceived a single thought, so this was all very strange.
“Get up,” I whispered to Magdalina, but she never did. Her form became smaller and smaller as we continued to fly away. I comprehended how ridgid Ethan had gone beneath me, but other than that, no more.
Droga raged, waving his head back and forth. He was still wiping at his blinded eyes, smearing his face with black blood. Droga had lost us, and without his sight, couldn’t see where we’d gone.
WORLDWEAVER! he bellowed.WHERE ARE YOU!
“Quickly,” Lucien urged. He beat his wings even faster. Ethan hurried to keep up with him as we flew away from the wrecked city, toward the mountains in the beyond.
I went completely numb. I couldn’t feel anything. Not the cold, or the ache in my body, or my exhaustion from the fight. I felt no sorrow for Dolinska, or what we had lost. I was confused by my lack of emotion, and partly wondered if I’d made it all up.
This had to be some kind of sick dream. I was still on my honeymoon— had to be. I was just caught up in a nightmare.
Why hadn’t I woken up yet?
We didn’t land until we were deep in the mountains and Droga had long fallen out of our sight. Lucien tucked his wings to his sides as he came to a statue standing in the middle of the forest. It was overgrown… an old sculpture of the goddess Vesna, the Blue Doe of Knowledge. Lucien paced in front of it, clearly shaken up.
“Why are we here?” Ethan asked.
“Arthur and I agreed upon this spot, in case anything happened and we were separated,” Lucien said. “I’m sure he’ll turn up in time.”
Lucien let out a weary sigh as he changed back into a man. “It’s best we remain here and out of sight, until our allies find us. Rest up. It’s about to be a long night.”
Ethan laid on the ground. I slid off his back, my body collapsing onto the snow. He draped a wing over me to use as a blanket, and curled around my body. His shifter heat was gentler than lying in a bed, and I found my eyes closing as I laid my head upon his soft shoulder.
“Ethan,” I whimpered.
“I know, onawilke.” Ethan pressed his wet nose to my forehead. I instantly fell asleep, as if put under a spell. Maybe Ethan had cast one.
I remained inside peaceful oblivion, until the sounds of the forest woke me the next morning. My heart stuttered, and my eyelids fluttered open. It was dawn. A small sprinkling of snowflakes fell from the sky, coating Ethan’s back. Lucien was still awake, leaning against the statue and appearing woeful.
Lady Magdalina. I squeezed my eyes shut, and two tears leaked out. They froze before they made it down to my chin. If there was ever a morning that felt so grief-stricken, I couldn’t remember it.
I didn’t want to wallow in my misery, so I tried to go back to sleep. I kept my eyes closed, attempting to block out the world.
Perhaps the dead were fortunate. They couldn’t feel like this.
