“She left the realms as so many others have—drained of her magic and destroyed by Thomoth.”
“Don’t speak its name!” Xariel roared. He closed his eyes, hands balled into fists. Gradually the rage bled from him. “You’re trying to make me care. I’m long past caring.”
Brief hope flared in Dmitri’s heart. “Keep telling yourself that. I stopped listening long ago.”
“If this happens, if we win, where will you go?”
“I have vowed to care for those Tho… the creature harmed. Wherever that takes me.” What did Xariel expect Dmitri to say? That he’d come back to this place, live in comfort at the expense of so many others?
Xariel released a snort of disgust. “Your bleeding heart will be the end of you.”
“So you’ve told me… on many occasions.” Please, let Xariel consider the reach of his decisions.
“I must think on this.”
Dmitri fought a sigh of relief. He’d not lost the argument yet. “Your servants have slipped their leashes. They kill without remorse, for more than survival. But you know that, don’t you?”
Instead of his usual posturing, Xariel stared at the ground, voice pitched soft. “That is regrettable.”
“You control them. Make it stop.”
Xariel stared off at the horizon. “I no longer have a say. The portals are open. They travel where they will.”
“You could stop them if you wanted to.”
Xariel pinned Dmitri in place with a searing glare. “And why would I want to? They’ve already lost everything. Their world collapses as we speak, leaving them dying and desperate. And me? The only thing I have, what keeps me going, is the desire for revenge and to restore Eallarial.”
“What about Martin?”
“Shenamed him Arkenn.”
“What of Arkenn?”
“Yes, I still have him, though he doesn’t even know.” Xariel paused for a long moment. “No matter what I decide, he’ll stay here, where he’ll be safe.”
“He won’t agree.”
“It’s not his choice.”
”Is it not? He’s a man, Xariel. He’s formed a mage bond. You know what separation from a bond mate can do. Would you put him through that pain?”
“He must survive!”
“But will he want to? You know there are always two. So many believed it was us.” Such bitter reminders. People misplaced their faith in Dmitri.
“We certainly proved them wrong.” Xariel’s laugh held no humor.
“We have a new chance. The two of us, with Ma… Arkenn and Petran, also a man of two realms. Whoever we can find to assist. We’ve sent many mage-born away from the city to keep them from the creature. Some have matured and can possibly return to help. It will be our last stand.” Begging? Yes. For this, Dmitri would beg.
“What makes you think we’ll be victorious when we failed with a force of thousands?”
Dmitri winced at the reminder of their earlier defeat. “Because we can’t afford to lose.”
When he spoke again, Xariel sounded like the man Dmitri once knew and loved. “Did you tell him who his mother was?”
“Only that I knew her, that she was from my world, Eallarial.” Dmitri’s heart stung. So many times he saw traces of the mother in the son, yet dared not tell Martin of his true heritage.
Xariel gave a sharp nod. “Tell him no more.”
