Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“You know why,” Holland said softly, sadly. “She would never willingly endanger you.”
That made it worse.
Because this—all of this—wasn’t just Kolis’s fault.
“Ezra will be with Marisol and her father once more,” Holland said. “You need to let her go.”
I shook. “My mother…”
“You need to let them all go, Sera.” His voice was closer. “This is not where you are needed, and you’re in no condition to continue as you are.”
Tremors ran up and down my arms as I closed my eyes again. “And where am I needed?”
“A god who serves in Lotho must be Ascended soon,” he said. “The energy Embris’s death released is making its way across all the realms. It must return to a vessel before it circles back—”
“I know what will happen,” I cut him off. “That doesn’t change what I must do. I have to bring Ezra back. I have to bring them all back.”
Holland’s sigh was heavy. “I don’t want to hurt you, Sera.”
Crushing agony formed a tight ball in my chest. I opened my eyes, slowly faced him, and all I saw at that moment was an Ancient standing before me. One who had known all along that those he’d laughed and fought beside would die like this.
Streaks of swirling eather brimmed beneath his flesh. “Eythos once found himself in a similar position. A plague struck down a village he favored. He brought them back—all of them—even though that was not what the realms needed. And he continued to do so, each restored life leading to others believing there would always be a second chance. And each life cost another theirs until he had ended the lives of as many as he restored. By the time he realized his folly, it was already too late. It was expected from him. You need to be better than that, Sera.”
“I don’t care what Eythos did,” I spat. “Nor do I care about being better than him or anyone. That is what led to this!”
“How?” Holland shook his head. “How can you think that?”
“Because trying to be better is what stopped me from going after Kolis. Trying to be better is what prevented me from refusing his deal and entering the eirini.” My wounded hand ached as I lifted my fists. “Trying to be what I’m not is what allowed this.”
“And what are you, Sera?”
“What you trained me to be,” I snarled. “A fighter. A killer. Not some fucking benevolent ball of goodness.” I shook. “If I had just listened to my gut from the beginning—”
“Things would’ve been different?” he finished. “Maybe. Perhaps if you had rejected Kolis’s offer, this never would’ve happened. Or maybe you would’ve lost those here and more in the battles that followed. Maybe if Kolis hadn’t kept all his pain to himself, he would’ve turned out differently. Maybe if you hadn’t held in all your pain, you wouldn’t have given in to it now. Many things could’ve been different, but this is what happened,” he said. “Now, you must do what is right for the realms.”
“I don’t give a fuck about the realms.”
The bands of churning eather stilled in his flesh. “You don’t mean that.”
“Believe what you want.”
The skin of his cheeks began to thin. “I will not allow you to make the same mistakes those who came before you made.”
That was the wrong thing to say. Grief gave way to ruinous fury. Eather spilled from my fingertips, pooling on the blood-soaked ground. “Try,” I whispered—or yelled. I wasn’t sure. But my voice was both everywhere and nowhere. “Try to stop me.”
Mist drifted from him, spilling onto the ground. It sparked with a thousand dazzling stars as Holland changed, became taller and broader. His features sharpened. His flesh became starlight as the mist formed wings and then thickened, solidifying until I thought I saw glossy, black feathers in the glow of the nearby fires.
“What in the actual fuck?” I whispered.
Holland shot forward, and instinct kicked in. I spun to the right, summoning the eather. I didn’t want to hurt him, either, but I wouldn’t allow him to stop me. I threw my arm out, and eather erupted from my fingertips. The raw energy slammed into Holland, rippling over his body before seeping into him.
His now hairless head tilted. When next he spoke, his mouth was full of starlight, and his voice boomed like thunder, rattling my bones. “You know better than that.”
My lips parted as he rose into the air, his massive wings stretched high. Wisps of pure white eather swirled around his arms.
I took a breath.
That was all.
And then I was no longer in the courtyard but standing on the white limestone and granite steps of the Temple of Keella. I was in the heart of Croft’s Cross.
Or what was left of it.
Holland grasped my shoulder. “Look.”
The tall, narrow tenements had been reduced to piles of rubble. The already uneven cobblestones were shattered. Bodies lay everywhere. Survivors scrambled up heaps of jagged stone. There were screams for help, pleas for the gods to bring aid, and among the chaos, a dark-haired woman robed in white stood in the cluttered roadway, cradling a limp babe against her chest. She hummed and smoothed her hand over a pale cheek.