The Dark Between Dreams | ✔️

Chapter 45 🔻 Grave Mistakes

I blinked my eyes to clear them of tears when I crashed against the window. The battleground that was the city of After teemed far, far below us. Somewhere down there, the sun still slept. I turned to Vale, whose tearing eyes met mine. I took her hand. Neither of us looked behind us at our advancing enemy.

"Remember, we're not going to die," I told her.

She squeezed my hand tighter. "Let's end this damned nightmare."

Together, we leaped from the tallest building in After. The enraged second-in-command of the city reached out to grab at us, but he was too late. Wind bit at my skin and tangled my hair. I shut my eyes.

There were so many ways to fall.

You could fall from grace like a once beloved king, or completely fall apart into thousands of tiny pieces. Or you could fall to your demise like that meek girl back in Tacoma.

The last time I had fallen, I'd risen from the sands here. I wondered where I'd end up when I landed, but all I was aware of was Vale in my arms as we fell together.

I was never falling when I was with Vale. I was always flying.

I pulled her closer.

We hit the ground.

And all was quiet.

If I'd kept my eyes closed, I probably could've fooled myself into thinking I'd died again. But the gentle rise and fall of Vale's chest beneath me made me stir. I sat up and brushed locks of my hair from my face. "You alright?" I asked her.

"Yeah," she said, wincing at the cold air that hugged After's ground level. "I think I'm okay."

The sound of hissing arose from the ruined city. In an instant, Vale and I scrambled to our feet as one, machete and spear brandished. "Maybe not as okay as I originally thought," the other hollow said. Shadows stepped forth from the rubble. Their movements were excruciatingly slow as they cornered us against the high-rise we'd escaped from.

I let out a long sigh and blew strands of hair from my face as we squared off against an army of twisted souls. Not once since I'd died had I been able to properly rest in peace. My gut ached at the sight of Vale's pylon lying in a twisted heap of bent metal at the foot of a building. My eyes caught the glow of something buried beneath the debris the shadows crept from. Just as the trauma of an earthquake or a flood could lift coffins up from beneath the dirt, the chaos that was the siege of After had raised the other half of the sun from its grave. I pointed my spear at the light beneath the pylon. "Vale," I whispered.

"Go!" Vale said, still pointing her blade at the famished shadows. "Wake it up like you did the last one! I'll keep these guys off you."

"Right!"

I left her side and stepped toward the buried live lux. Shadows hissed and braced themselves to pounce at me. Vale shoved herself between them and me, shouting, "Stay back! I don't want to hurt you!"

The hissing increased. It almost sounded like rain as I knelt in the rubble and shoved aside bits of metal and stone. A warmth caressed my skin. Pulsing, red light enveloped me. I blinked tears from my eyes, trying to stifle the sound of Webb's last scream echoed in my head. I ignored everything else except for the slumbering crystal I uncovered.

A halberd cut into the crystal just as I was about to touch it.

The king of After stood tall over me atop the crystal, pupils glowing like coals. "Back," was all he said. The faint red glow of the crystal gave him a demonic appearance and highlighted the many lacerations in his flesh and dents in his armor, marks from his battle with Crow. A mob of armed ghosts rose amongst the dust and rubble behind him.