“We got the keys from the wreckage, but they’re worthless. There’s no magic in them anymore. They might as well be artifacts,” Danny croaked out, tossing the Divinity Keys onto the grass. He sounded completely heartbroken— he wiped his mouth to shakily stand, drying away tears with the heel of his palm.
I stared at the keys, all seven of them together, and lost all hope. I wasn’t magical anymore, but even I saw that the keys had lost their powerful sheen. They were nothing more than hunks of metal now. Dread consumed me until I was colder than a corpse. I wasn’t sure how much time we had left now that the Warden had achieved his goal. There was nothing standing in his way from coming to Ilamanthe and turning the city to ashes.
We were all fated for death. It was only a matter of minutes until we met it.
Shadows elongated against the sunrise. I felt relieved as I saw Kallie rush into the gardens, followed by her twin brother, Kazim, and his mate, Sigrid. Kazim and Sigrid were supposed to be stationed in Malovia, leading the fae against The Mission, but it looked like Kallie had left through a portal to bring them to Ilamanthe as soon as she could.
The moment he saw her, Marcus grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. “Kallie, what the hell were you thinking? You can’t just run off like that and not tell me where you’re going! Do you have any idea how terrified I was for you?!”
“I had to get my brother,” Kallie snapped, pushing him off. “I wasn’t going to leave him to wait for the Warden!”
“You just yanked us through a portal with no explanation!” Kazim burst. “What’s going on, sis?”
“The Warden beat us, that’s what.” Kallie broke, her voice snapping as her eyes watered. “We couldn’t stop him. He opened the Elven Gate and took all its power, which means he’s going to wipe out everything. I had to get to you before he reached Dolinska, because he’s going to crush it to pieces, if he hasn’t already.”
“So you save us and leave everyone else behind?” Kazim demanded. “Our friends are back there!”
“There was no time, Kaz! I had to make a choice!” Kallie cried. “I didn’t have time to find all of you, so I took who I could!”
Tears shone behind Kazim’s glasses, and he bitterly turned away. “I’m no king worthy of the name if I flee my country and my people are left behind to suffer. I should be going down with them.”
“You’ll get your turn,” Danny said, sounding sick. My heart collapsed into my abdomen.
“I only bought us a few minutes.” Kallie put her face in her hands. “But I had to take the risk so I could see you again, one last time. I… I didn’t want to die without you.”
Kazim’s face fell, and he reached out to pull Kallie into a hug. “I’m sorry. If the world has to end, at least we’ll be going out of it the same way we came in. Together.”
Kallie nodded. Marcus was crying harder than before.
“Kallie,” Marcus said weakly. “I thought I wasn’t going to be there with you.”
Marcus knew better than to hope Kallie would survive what was coming. He just didn’t want her to perish without him being there to hold her.
Kallie’s face crumpled, and she reached out to Marcus. He took her into his embrace, while Kazim enclosed his arms around Sigrid.
None of us wanted to face the end alone. At least if we were all together, maybe it wouldn’t be so scary when the Warden finally came for us.
All of us jumped as we heard an earth-shattering boom echo through the air. It sounded like someone was dropping nuclear explosions overhead, and the bombs were going off over the city. Boom. Boom. Boom.
I looked up. My guts twisted as I saw the shimmer of a ripple ricochet across the surface of my shield, which held as fire rained upon it from above.
The palace awoke with wailing cries. Screams could be heard from the city as the explosions continued, growing in volume and intensity.
“What’s happening?” Marcus’ voice shook as he looked up at the shield, watching the ripples swarm across the magical surface like crashing waves.
“It’s the Warden. He’s trying to get in.” Charlie clenched his fists as he said the words. “He’s destroying the shield as we speak.”
Everyone’s faces paled. I acknowledged the truth with a grim acceptance. The Warden had come here first to try and break my shield down. Once he did, he’d cast his magic over the entire city. Every building, structure, and person inside Ilamanthe would be reduced to dust. Millions of people, gone just like that— we’d be gone, and it would be our fault once the Warden ruled over our remains.
My brain couldn’t comprehend the swell of panic that was pressing against my psyche, so it just shut down. I accepted our inevitable fate, knowing we’d done all we could to stop this.
At least… my friends had done all they could. I hadn’t gone with them, and now, I wish I had. I wasn’t sure what I could’ve done in my current state, but something inside stubbornly said if I had been there, things would be different.
It was a foolish way to think. The Warden had us beat the minute I chose to end the world. Charlie was forced to stop me, and that was when we’d lost everything. Though it wasn’t that long ago that I’d decided to bestow this fate upon the realm myself, now I saw it for the twisted end it really was. It was disgusting to think that there would never be another world where the Warden didn’t reign, because he’d live forever, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Oberi whimpered, jumping up so he was leaning into my lap and giving soft whines.
“I’ve got to get to Opal.” Ez ran away from the rest of us. We let him go, standing around uselessly while the Warden continued to pummel the shield outside. Boom. Boom. Boom.
“We have to do something,” Kallie pleaded. “Fight back.”
