Second to last chapter of the book!!
Let's get into it!
First Person - Y/n
The next morning, I woke to find that Nikolai was still asleep beside me in the tent. I took a deep breath and slid out of the bed slowly and walked out of the tent.
The walls of the house were covered in mist and looked up. You could see the deep blue that came from early dawn. I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist from behind as Nikolai kissed my neck.
"Good morning sunshine," said Nikolai, "I guess now it's time to get back to our ever so morbid rescue mission."
"I still feel like you shouldn't come," I replied as we began to walk back to the farmhouse. "We don't know what going into the Fold might do to you."
"I will take my chances, Y/n," replied Nikolai, "Because in the chance this does go wrong...I need to be there with you. In sickness and in health, till death do we part."
"Till death do we part," I repeated as we entered the main hall.
We found the others all packing up and Nikolai went off to help Mal. Genya came up to me by the door with a freshly-pressed coat in her hands.
"You should look your best when you put the Darkling in the ground," said Genya smiling.
"Thanks," I said with a smile. "I'll try not to bleed all over it."
She kissed both of my cheeks and said, "Good luck. We'll be waiting when you get back."
"Genya," I said grabbing her wrist before she could walk away, "If something goes wrong, if we don't make it, get to Ketterdam. I have an...acquaintance, which is the only word I have for him, although it's a loose term, there who owns this place called the Crow Club. We met when I was on a military excursion there and he owes me one after I helped him out. Use my name and he can get you, David, and Misha, to a safe place away from all of this."
She nodded, then hugged me hard.
I went over to Alina and gave her a tight hug.
"Come back," whispered Alina.
"I love you," I replied holding her tight. "Alina, if it goes wrong, tell that child of yours that I was the craziest Aunt out there, and that he or she lucked out in parents."
"She," said Alina and I froze and looked at her, "David told us. It's a girl."
"Congrats, Alina."
"I'll give you one guess as to her name," said Alina and I laughed, "Y/n Lantsov better return to meet Y/n Oretsev understood?"
I couldn't bring myself to nod so I hugged her tightly. I kissed her on the cheek before I let go and walked outside.
The Soldat Eclipsia waited in rigid formation with the twins and Mal. Nikolai stood there as well dressed more like Sturmhond than a prince and I sighed.
"Are you absolutely sure?" I asked as the group began to walk towards the Fold.
"I am, Y/n."
I nodded knowing there was nothing else to say and I interlocked our hands and we joined the group. Within a half-hour, we were standing at the shores of the Fold.
Nikolai and I went up to where the other Etheralki were standing.
Zoya, Nadia, Adrik, and Harshaw.
It felt somehow right that we should be the first to enter and that we would do it together.
The Squallers raised their arms, summoning current and dropping the pressure as Zoya had done back in the caves.
My ears crackled as they layered the acoustic blanket. If it didn't hold, Harshaw and I were ready to summon light and fire to drive the volcra back.
Nikolai unsheathed his sword which David had made and asked me to fortify with light. It was a sword that supposedly could cut through any nichevo'ya that came at us.
We spread out in a line, and with measured steps, we entered the darkness of the Fold.
It took everything in me not to raise my hands and wrap all of us in safe, protective light. I listened closely, expecting to hear the beating of wings, one of those horrible, inhuman shrieks, but I heard nothing, not even our footsteps on the sand.
Whatever the Squallers were doing was working. The silence was deep and impenetrable.
"Can you hear me?" I whispered.
"We hear you," said Zoya's voice.
We moved at a steady pace. I heard a click, then almost ten minutes later, a double click. We'd gone a mile.
At one point, I heard the distant flap of wings above us, and I felt fear move through our ranks like a living thing. The volcra might not hear us but they could scent prey from miles away.
Were they circling above us even now, sensing that something was wrong, that someone was near?
The absolute madness of what we were doing struck me at that moment. We had dared what no one else ever had: We'd entered the Fold without light.
But I guess when in a war against an ancient power, dare is all you have.
We kept moving. Two clicks later, we stopped and took up our positions to wait. As soon as we sighted the Darkling's skiff, we'd have to move quickly.
My thoughts turned to him. Cautiously, I tested the tether that bound us.
I felt the hunger that he felt. He was eager to unleash the power of the Fold, use it to become the most powerful person in Ravka. And he was ready to fight for it.
That was the difference between me and him. He along with everyone else believed that the amplifiers had to be brought together because it would give me power that I would never give up, but I was willing to let it go.
The little machine David had built to rid the amplifiers of their power was in my pocket. Ready to be used at any moment.
The minutes ticked by, and my nerves began to jangle. The Squallers could maintain the acoustic blanket for only so long.
What if the Darkling waited until night to attack?
"Where are you bastard?" I whispered and I felt a nudge.
The answer was in the distance, a pale violet glow, moving toward us from the east.
Two clicks. We fanned out in the formation we had practiced.
Three clicks. That was my signal. I raised my hands and set the Fold ablaze. In the same moment, I bent the light, letting it flow around every single person in our line like a stream.
The Darkling would see nothing. We were invisible.
The skiff slowed. As it drew closer, I saw its black sails marked with the Darkling's emblem, the glass quality of its hull.
The students must be belowdecks. The Darkling stood at the prow, surrounded by his shadow horde. I didn't know what I expected to feel but the sight of him had caught me off guard. Since I last saw him, so much had changed.
I glanced over at Nikolai who looked smug and I smiled after realizing what his thoughts were. He had gotten to marry me instead of the Darkling.
However, that smile disappeared as a shot went off and struck one of the Darkling's oprichniki. He toppled over the skiff's railing. Then the shots came in a rapid patter, like raindrops on a rooftop at the start of a storm.
Grisha and oprichniki slumped and fell against one another as confusion broke out aboard the glass skiff. I saw more bodies fall.
Someone shouted, "Return fire!" and the air erupted with sound of gunshots, but we were safely out of range.
The nichevo'ya beat their wings, turning in wide arcs, searching for targets while Harshaw threw fire at them and I heard screams.
There was a single click. The Squallers sent a wave of sand crashing through the air. More shouts rose from the deck as the Darkling's Squallers tried to respond.
That was our cue. The twins, Nikolai, and I bolted for the skiff, approaching from the stern. We didn't have much time.
"Where are they?" Tolya whispered as we boarded.
"Maybe below," I replied.
The skiff was shallow, but there was room enough.
We ran across the deck, searching for a hatch, careful not to brush against the Darkling's Grisha and guards.
The remaining oprichniki had their guns trained on the empty sands beyond the skiff. We were close enough that I could see the sweat on their brows, their wide eyes. They twitched, jumping at every real or imagined sound.
"Maleni," they whispered. Ghosts.
Only the Darkling seemed unfazed. His face was calm as he surveyed the destruction I'd created.
Suddenly, an oprichnik yelled, "Get down!"
The people around us dove to the deck and the air exploded with gunfire.
Two other glass skiffs plowed into view, loaded with oprichniki. As soon as they came into contact with the light, the skiffs ignited with the glowing violet flame of lumiya.
"Did you think I would come to meet you unprepared, Y/n?" the Darkling called over the chaos. "Did you think I would not sacrifice an entire fleet of skiffs to this cause?"
"I really do want to rub this ring I have in his face," whispered Nikolai and I just shook my head.
I heard screams, shouting, our soldiers returning fire. A red stain appeared in the sand and with a lurch, I realized that one of our people was bleeding. It could be Vladim. Zoya. Mal.
I had to get them out of here. Where were the students? I tried to keep my focus. I couldn't let the light falter. Our forces had canisters of lumiya.
They could retreat into the Fold, but I knew they wouldn't. Not until I was clear of the Darkling's skiff.
I walked around the masts, searching for some sign of a trapdoor or hatch. Then a searing pain cut through my shoulder. I fell backward, crying out. I'd been shot.
"Y/n!" whisper-yelled Nikolai as I hit the ground.
I sprawled on the deck, feeling my hold on the light falter.
Nikolai's shape flickered into view beside me. I tried to regain control. He disappeared, but through the railing, I could see soldiers and Grisha appearing on the sands. Oprichniki leaped from the other skiffs, moving in for the attack, and the nichevo'ya surged into the battle.
Panic clamored through me as I scrambled for focus. I couldn't feel my right arm.
Tamar appeared near the prow, vanished, stuttered back into view. A nichevo'ya slammed into her. She screamed as it sunk its claws deep into her back.
No.
I gathered my focus and sent the cut with the shot arm and tore the nichevo'ya in half, forcing it to disappear. Once it was done, I felt something being wrapped around my shot arm and I saw part of the shirt that Nikolai had been wearing tied around it.
"Thank you," I whispered.
"Anytime, wife," whispered Nikolai.
"Wife?" asked a voice from behind us and I winced as my good arm was slammed down to the deck.
The Darkling loomed over me, his boot pressing down painfully on my wrist. I raised my other hand and punched his knee hard.
He stepped back and I stood up, Nikolai and I standing across from him.
"Wife and husband," repeated the Darkling, "That should've been you and me."
"But it's not," said Nikolai, "Guess all the power in the world couldn't get you Y/n."
I focused the light again and made Nikolai disappear. I signaled him to leave and was relieved when I heard the scuffling of someone jumping off the skiff.
"I guess you have trained," said the Darkling, "Invisibility."
"Where are the students?" I gritted out.
"They aren't here," said the Darkling, and I looked at him shocked.
"They never left Kribirsk," I said.
"I told you that I would never hurt children, Grisha and non-Grisha alike," said the Darkling.
"I knew you wouldn't," I said slightly annoyed, "But I was afraid you crossed the line."
His nichevo'ya circled around us, forming a dome that shifted and writhed—wings, talons, hands.
I looked around for Nikolai off the skiff, worried that the effects of what the Darkling had done and him being in the fold could be starting.
"I knew the threat would be enough," said the Darkling and I turned back to him. "I knew that showing you ruthlessness would've made you believe it. It's so much easier that way, isn't it? To puff yourself up with your own righteousness."
"I didn't invent your crimes," I snapped.
"Where is the boy? I have my Summoner. I want my tracker too."
Mal was still just a tracker to him, thank the Saints. My good hand curled into my sleeve, brushed the edge of the flint.
"I won't let him be used," I said. "Not as leverage. Not as anything."
"On your back, the faithful dying around you, and yet you remain defiant," said the Darkling, "I can feel your intent as you feel mine, Y/n. Your hopeless resolve, your martyr's determination. I recognize it now."
"Well, if being a martyr wins this war, so be it."
The Darkling shook his head and said, "It may well take me another lifetime to break you, Y/n, but I will put my mind to the task."
"Good luck, then," I said and very suddenly, I created a large cut and threw it at the ground.
The skiff we were on exploded and the Darkling was blown away and so was I. I landed on my wounded arm, and pain slammed through my body. The Darkling's howl of rage sounded somewhere around me.
I forced myself to keep moving, dragging myself across the sand, away from the glow of the burning skiff. I saw sun soldiers and Grisha fighting by the illuminated skiffs. Harshaw down. Ruby bleeding.
Think, I said to myself. I was out of ideas. The blasting powders were gone. I couldn't raise the Cut. My sleeve was wet with blood, and my footsteps slowed.
I had to find someone to heal my arm. I had to regroup. I couldn't just run from the Darkling again the way I'd done that first time on the Fold. I'd been running ever since.
"Y/n."
I spun. Mal's voice in the dark.
"Don't be here, Mal," I pleaded.
I summoned a weak wash of light, saw his face streaked with dirt and blood. And the knife in his hand. I recognized the blade. It was Tamar's, Grisha-made.
"Mal, don't. This isn't over yet—"
"It is, Y/n."
I tried to pull away, but he wrapped his hand hard around my wrist, fingers pinching together, the sharp jolt of power moving through both of us, calling me, demanding that I step through that door.
With his other hand, he forced my fingers around the knife's grip. The light wavered.
"No!"
"Don't let it all be for nothing, Y/n."
"Please—"
An agonized scream rose over the clamor of the battle. It sounded like Zoya.
"Save them, Y/n. Don't let me live knowing I might have stopped this."
"Mal, you are going to be a father! I can't let you die!"
"And I don't want my daughter to grow up in a world where her father could've made it better," said Mal, "Save them. This once, let me help you...End this."
So many voices echoed in my head.
Mal's, Nikolai's, Alina's, Genya's, the woman from the first time I was in the Fold with the Darkling.
All of them were screaming something but one voice was the clearest.
Baghra's.
Power was always yours. Long before the amplifiers.
I had to make the decision now. I looked at Mal and then whispered, "I'm sorry."
I punched him in the stomach and he fell to the ground. I turned and ran towards the center of the Fold. The Darkling had been knocked out which would buy me some time. I kept the light illuminated near the skiff so the volcra would be away but I still sprinted towards the center of the Fold.
Mal screamed my name as did others, all of them yelling for me to come back but I ignored them and still ran.
Once I was there, ruins of a small farm, I placed the device on the floor and started harnessing both of my abilities. One in each hand.
"What are you doing?" said a vision of the Darkling.
"You believe your raw power is what will get you victory...so do I."
"I am the Darkling, Y/n and I've had hundreds of years of experience."
I laughed and he looked at me curiously.
"And I am the Eclipse Summoner," I said as my abilities reached their full charge, "my blood is raw power."
I shot my power at the device with the amplifiers and there was a giant explosion of light and shadow. I felt myself being thrown back and slowly something revived inside of me.
It was like the very power that I had known had been uncaged. Let out to finally be free.
The next thing I knew, I was glowing, standing in the center of the Fold. I could feel the power coursing through my veins, maginified ten fold, beating in my heart.
Baghra had been right. The amplifiers had always weakened me. They came to me in a time of need and I thought they were what I needed but I never needed one let alone three.
I was the power I wanted, and that would be the Darkling's demise.
I headed back towards the battle ground and my army was still hiding amongst the ruins of the skiff and the Darkling was a few feet away.
Scanning. Looking. For me.
"IM HERE ALEKSANDER," I yelled out and everyone turned, "And do I have a reckoning for you."
He brought his hands together and bursts of shadow were sent towards me but I challenged them with my own light and shadow.
They disappeared instantly and I smiled. He looked at me almost curiously as if he hadn't expected to see me light this.
"You knew the amplifiers weakened me," I said taking steps closer, "You wanted me weaker so I couldn't fight."
"You destroyed them all?" asked the Darkling and I smirked. "That was ancient power-"
"What you don't understand Aleksander," I snapped at him, "Is that I am powerful. I am the last of the Apexiori Clan. I am the daughter of the first Eclipse Summoner."
"Basically..." I finished, "I am ancient power."
I sent out hundreds of cuts right at him, one after the other, and he narrowly avoided the first few and was cut by the next. If he hadn't moved, the last one that I had sent would've cut his head off.
"You won't win this," said the Darkling as he harnessed a steady beam of shadow and threw it at me, "We could go on forever."
"Is that what you've been telling yourself for so long?" I asked stopping the beam with my own light, "Trying to convince yourself that I was too weak, too fragile to ever defeat you?"
"A good warrior knows when to admit his enemy is strong," said the Darkling, "You may be strong but your emotions are not."
He pulled the shadows back suddenly and closed his eyes. I moved to make the final move but suddenly visions of Nikolai, Mal, Alina, everyone I loved being consumed by shadows flashed across my eyes.
It seemed so lifelike and I couldn't tell if it was truly happening or not.
"No..." I whispered before I heard voices screaming.
"ITS NOT REAL!"
"FIGHT IT!"
"WIN THIS, Y/N! WIN THIS!"
"Get out of my...HEAD!" I screamed before I sent out a blast and threw him back.
He was thrown a few feet away and he got up slower this time.
"You wanted a new age of Grisha, and you will have it. But it starts with you dead, Aleksander."
Before he could fight back, I lashed out at him with the cut.
It was shaped different like a sword and it went right through his heart. He looked at me with rage but also regret as he fell to the ground.
I hadn't expected to win so quickly and I don't think he did either. But it had happened. I had won and defeat him. The Darkling's dying body was in front of me and I wanted to revel but part of me felt guilty.
I didn't want to nor did I expect to feel guilty.
I slowly walked over and kneeled next to him.
"Raw power...she knew," whispered the Darkling. "At least I'll see her."
"Tell her thank you," I said and he smiled.
"Can I ask for one thing?" said the Darkling and I nodded hesitantly, "Bring it down. I have lost but I wish to see you truly win. Bring it down."
He started coughing black blood and I nodded. This was the moment thousands had been waiting for but he was too. Maybe part of him had wanted to lose. Wanted to stop being the villain.
I closed my eyes and focused on every spec of light and shadow I had ever channeled. I had ever seen. Used.
I let it fill me, consume me and then I let it go.
Light and shadow exploded from my heart and slithered out in waves of glorious light and beautiful shadows. It slammed into the walls of the Fold and created hundreds of breaks and cracks.
Once it had been weakened enough, I sent out a blinding dome of late outwards and as it clashed with the Fold, there was only nothing.
It was gone.
I had brought it down.
The land beneath us was restored to its youthful green and the blue sky and sun illuminated the area around us.
Volcra were landing on the ground and golden mist seemed to shiver over them as they turned back into humans.
I turned towards Aleksander and he was still breathing but very very slowly.
"It could've killed you," whispered the Darkling and I smiled, "Y/n..."
He looked at me, seeing through the false smile I had and I laughed.
"How did you-"
"When you love someone with your whole being, you know," whispered Aleksander and I sighed.
"Don't say anything," I said and he shook his head. "Aleksander, please."
"Why?"
"It's for the people I love," I said smiling, "And I would do it a hundred times over."
"For all this time, I thought you were meant to be like me," whispered the Darkling, "But I now realize that I was wrong...You were meant to be greater."
He looked at me intently and I sighed.
"For what it's worth," I said as I leaned down next to him, "I did love you, Aleksander."
"I loved you too," said the Darkling, "I didn't think I was capable of love. You proved to me that I was and I know I don't have long but I'll always remember you, Y/n."
He came closer to me and I assumed he was going to make another attempt on my life but he raised his hands and gently held my face.
He connected our foreheads and it made sense.
He knew he had lost.
"In another life," I whispered as I felt his heartbeat slowing down, mine with it, "we might've ended differently."
"I hope I'll see you in the next life then."
It was the last thing he said before his body went limp and his heart stopped.
There was no one around us and I knew he wouldn't want some funeral or people cursing over his dead body and so I placed my hand above his heart and sent a blazing wave of light into him.
He exploded into ash and not risking it, I sent small rays of of shadow and light to consume the ashes. Become one with them.
"Goodbye Aleksander," I whispered.
I turned back towards the skiff and saw the people I had entered the Fold with come out slowly. They had their own injuries and scars but they didn't seem to care.
They were looking around, amazed at the scene before them.
"You did it," said Zoya before she looked at me, "YOU DID IT!"
She screamed and they all ran towards me but before they did, I started coughing up blood. I knew that the amplifiers had strengthened me but after using such limited power for so long, I don't think my heart was able to take the new power.
David had warned me about this but it was needed.
"No, no, no, no," said Nikolai and he ran to catch me as I fell to the ground. "Don't do this to me, sunbeam, please..."
"I'm sorry," I whispered as I felt my heart slowing down.
"Don't leave me," whispered Nikolai and I smiled faintly.
"You are a King now...the King Ravka needs and deserves."
"You were supposed to be my queen, Y/n," said Nikolai.
"I love you Pirate. You were and always will be my balance..."
The last thing I saw was Nikolai's face and then...
It all went black.
-☯-❁-◉-❂-
Onto the next chapter.