Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 129912 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 650(@200wpm)___ 520(@250wpm)___ 433(@300wpm)
Unless we stop her.
Korah looks at me one last time, her eyes swirling with a pain I don’t understand. Then she takes off, meeting with Hassha to fight alongside her.
I roll over and push onto my fists, carrying the pain of my mate. I feel her gone…I know she’s gone. I want to leave this land and find her, get to her, but it’s all up to me.
All of these lives are on the line because of me.
Rowan is gone. Danica.
Willow. My sweet, beautiful Willow. Fuck, it hurts.
Who will be next?
No more losses. Yuri’s voice is louder now. You fight, Caspian. Do you hear me? You are my chosen, and you do not get to quit. You fight!
I stagger to a stand and clench my fists together, feeling the land quake under my feet. Tossing my head back, I close my eyes and open my mouth, focusing on my life spent in Vakeeli.
All I’ve gained.
All I’ve lost.
The smiles of my clan. The pride they took in working alongside me.
The smile on Willow’s face every morning I woke up to her.
The softness of her hands as she held my face, as she kissed my lips.
The wedding we were planning.
The baby we were going to hold dear and protect. A being we were meant to create and share.
Tears stream down my cheeks as I yell to the sky. The ground shakes even harder, and then before I know it, all of it crumbles.
EIGHTY-NINE
THE REGALS
The warlands turns to dust, and the entire army falls with it. But somehow, the Seed of Yuri manages to use his power to catch those alive—every single one—and have them land in the ocean.
The creatures burn to a crisp as sparks of red lightning break out of him, electric and pulsing. They squeal before bursting, and as badly as Hassha and Korah want to see this power pouring out of him—this energy that once belonged to their dear Yuri—they don’t take their eyes off Selah.
Hassha conjures a rope and wraps it around Selah, but she breaks loose. Korah attempts to grab her, punch her, and though she gets one strike, she misses the other.
Smirking, Selah clutches Korah by the throat. Red lightning floats past them, striking the air as the Seed of Yuri unleashes all his pain, all his anger, all his heartache.
He’s lost his mate. It was never supposed to come to this.
Hassha grips Selah’s head, trying to force her to set Korah free, but Selah doesn’t relent.
“He will prevail,” Korah chokes out behind Selah’s grip.
“But you won’t,” Selah snarls just before crushing Korah’s windpipe. Then she raises her sword and plunges it into her sister’s belly.
Korah struggles to breathe while Hassha screams from both the action and the pain.
“Good luck healing yourself,” Selah growls, clutching her own stomach.
When Selah releases her, Korah’s body drifts to Blackwater. Hassha leaves Selah to catch her.
But in their wake, Caspian bolts upward and slams into the wretched Regal.
She gasps as blood pours from her mouth, but he is relentless, locking chains around her throat, slicing her with swords, punching and kicking and roaring.
Every blow weakens her. She tries teleporting to another part of the sky, but he’s right behind her, attacking again.
He’ll have her head soon. Korah knows this. She watches from her position below as Hassha places her on a patch of grass.
“Sister,” Hassha whispers, pressing a hand to her stomach. “Heal yourself. There’s more to be done.”
Korah only smiles, raising a shaking hand to cup Hassha’s cheek. “It’s time, Hassha.”
“Not yet,” Hassha moans.
“Her blood will run cold. I cannot let that happen.” Korah forces a smile. “I tried. We tried so hard, but we both know what has to be done. We won’t succeed otherwise.”
Hassha nods, though her heart is heavy. “Yes, I know.”
“I love you, Hassha.”
Hassha leans down, pressing a warm, radiant kiss to her sister’s forehead. When Korah smiles weakly, revealing bloodstained teeth, Hassha’s tears grow thicker.
“I love you, Korah, Regal of land, water, and vegetation. Regal of beauty with the most tender of hearts. You are worth more than you know.”
Korah smiles. “You’ll see my beauty again.”
She closes her eyes, and Hassha releases her to back away with silver tears lining her cheeks.
Korah lifts her hands above her chest, screaming with her last breaths until an orb of purple light appears between them.
Her chest bucks, and she screams louder as all the energy remaining is drawn out, pouring into the orb. Her body grays as the power drains, and Hassha steps back again, weeping as her sister disappears and that light produces a seed.
A seed just like Yuri’s.
She doesn’t bother reaching for it, though. She knows exactly where it’ll go. It drifts across the field toward Blackwater Manor, and when it disappears inside the castle, she flies back up to finish this war with Selah once and for all.