LILY
Though I slept under the stars, I feel like I've been buried deep in the earth. Tiredness clings to my skin like an old gown.
I splash water over my face. My green eyes are lukewarm, lacking their usual bite. It's obvious I'm not ready to bring the world to its knees. I hate doing nothing, but I have no choice. I need strength.
A twig cracks behind me. I raise my hand to swipe the woodland creature away, but my arm freezes in mid-air.
The black cat watches me warily. Its obsidian eyes are emotionless.
"Hello, Onyx," I say.
The cat cocks its head. Bethany?
"Take another guess."
He studies my appearance - the Dark Witch's appearance - and dips his head with understanding. So it is you, Lily.
"Where is she?" I demand, not bothering to use names.
Onyx understands me. Adamantine wanted to come, but a strong sleep charm took care of her. She will not be bothering us.
"Good," I tell him. "Why are you bothering me then?"
Onyx doesn't answer. Instead he looks around, taking in the trees with their star-speckled branches, and the rock that rises above them all, silent and dusk-stained. Do you remember coming here to talk and watch the stars? We learned day by day about this planet's people. Even the flora and fauna fascinated us, though you were more in awe than I was.
I do remember. Somewhere past the forest's edge was the village where I lived with Arti and his wife Marta. It's an abandoned plain of weeds and wildflowers now. There's nothing to say a village had once been there.
We used to reminisce about Phaedra, Onyx continues. You held out hope that it had survived somehow, at first. You dreamed that we would go home one day.
The memory stirs something inside me. I clench my fist. "I don't see what that has to do with anything," I clap back. "Why are you here?"
Onyx's gaze is solemn. I have come to take you to the Forest of Sorrows.
The laugh bursts out of my throat. I can't help it. This cat is hilarious. "You expect me," I wheeze, "to take your paw and let you walk me to my doom?"
Onyx blinks. You are laughing.
"Of course I'm laughing. What did you expect me to do about such a stupid offer?"
The Dark Witch did not laugh about such things.
I frown, suddenly irritated. The emeralds on my dress glint coldly, like lizard eyes. "I'm not letting you take me anywhere."
I did not think you would.
The energy around Onyx shimmers. Trees blur together as his cat form shifts and stretches.
I smile.
A large black panther stands before me. It's a few feet taller than me, with a sturdy build and muscled limbs. Serrated spikes made of sapphire run the length of its back, culminating in a diamond-shaped stone at the end of its tail. Its eyes are black and hollow, lit only by the flicker of pale blue ice-fire. Where its paws touch the ground, mist rises from the earth, coating its fur in a frozen twinkle.
"This brings back memories."
This is how he looked when I first found him on Phaedra, albeit slightly smaller and unsure of himself. I taught him everything he knew.
We do not have to fight each other, Lily. There is reluctance in the ice-glow of his eyes. Come with me to see Rikamu.
I shake my head. Not likely. If he wants to do things this way, it's fine by me. Let's see just how much his powers have healed over the past thousand years.
I shoot a streak of blue energy at him. He leaps into the air, dodging it with ease. When he lands again, the ground shudders, coughing up shards of ice.
I shoot a few more times, but Onyx dodges them all, sending the ground into a spasm each time he lands. He stands and waits, gaze empty.
An orb of cold energy blooms in my palm, growing so large I can barely see past it. I hurl it at Onyx.
He leaps into the air...and swallows.
I blink.
He ate my attack.
He literally ate my attack.
Onyx's eyes glow brighter as the orb disappears into his body.
Annoyed, I shoot several more like it, but he catches them all in his powerful jaws and downs them like they were chunks of tuna.
Time to change tactic. I rush at him, so fast the trees blur into brown and green streaks on either side of me. My fist collides with his chest. There's a thunderous boom as ice splinters fly from the impact spot. Onyx's paws slide backwards, coming to a hissing stop mere feet away.
Ice creeps over the hole in his chest. The wound glows once, then goes back to normal.
Onyx still doesn't attack.
I shoot shards of ice at his eyes, but they disappear into their blackness, hurtling through the distance like meteors.
And Onyx stands there, watching me.
I'm getting annoyed now. Why doesn't he attack? Why is he just standing there like a big lump?
I hurl more energy bursts at him, one after the other. The forest explodes around us. Through the smoke I see Onyx leaping and dodging. I rise into the air, because the ground is shaking with significant force. Trees crash to the ground. Blue fire paints the horizon.
I gather all the energy I can, still shooting my smaller attacks to distract Onyx. I have to split my mind in two. One part of my consciousness keeps the smaller attacks coming. The other part gathers energy from the destruction around me, bringing it together into one big shining shard of ice. The shard sizzles and sparks with energy.
Now it's time for Onyx to have a real taste of my powers.
The shard lurches forward, through the smoke and ice fire, towards Onyx.
Onyx opens his mouth wide.
The shard shoots through.
There's a blinding flash of light. I feel myself flying backwards, bark and fire tearing through the air with me. Pain explodes in my back as I crash through one tree after the next. I can't stop the momentum.
Ropes of ice mist shoot from my fingertips, wrapping around tree trunks and boulders, or anything that could slow me down. There's a ripping sound as the ropes come apart.
I skid to a stop, panting heavily. "Heal," I hiss, gritting my teeth in pain.
The chaos clears to reveal a barely-hurt Onyx, standing there looking almost bored, as if I was a toddler chucking building blocks at him.
This is not good. I knew he had ferocious powers, more than I could dream to have, but he was young and injured when we crashed here.
"Heal," I say again, because the first time wasn't enough.
Onyx watches me impassively. Then he closes his eyes.
And the heavens explode.
There's a thundering from above that pummels my ears, forcing me to put up a shield of ice. Lightning cracks the skies. It's the same ice-blue as the flames in Onyx's eyes.
There's a flash that stings my eyes. Lightning bolts stab into the forest. One strikes a tree, and the tree freezes. Its lack of motion has an unnatural quality to it. Not a single leaf has fluttered, I realise.
Three more trees go the same way. Onyx is freezing the forest with ice lightning.
And it hits me in a rush, why he waited. He was absorbing my energy. Every attack I hurled at him just made him stronger. I curse my stupidity.
There's an explosion of ice fire next to me. The trees there are now frozen in place. I put more energy into my ice shield. I don't know if it will hold, but...
BOOOM!
Every cell in my body is on fire. I cry out in pain, but my mouth is stuck in place. My energy is frosted over, and I can't move any part of myself. The shield around me is no more.
Onyx growls, advancing slowly.
And I'm helpless.
I can't move.
Can't attack.
Can't defend.
But no, I'm not helpless. Because I'm not just any Phaedrean. My fate forged my being. Fire was my death, and death is all I am. The same death brought alive, over and over, to seek revenge.
I don't just have ice magic.
Heat sears through my limbs. I feel them melting, then boiling.
Fire is death.
And death is me.
Flames roar to life around me. The heat scorches my body, but I don't care. I can withstand it.
Onyx rears back, surprised.
I'm a column of fire now. All I see is fire. Fire and rage and death. My eternal hatred burns so strongly it hurts. I scream my pain. I scream my anger. I scream everything inside me, just like I did a thousand years ago when they betrayed me.
They betrayed me.
I am their punishment.
The fire explodes outwards. A terrible shriek rises from the flames. I keep burning, and the forest burns with me. I burn until I have no fire left.
Slumping to the ground, I see Onyx lying on his side, still. The anger and hatred has been all used up. In its place, something else rises.
Onyx.
He's hurt.
My Onyx.
I crawl towards him, tears streaking down my cheeks. How could I do this? How could I hurt the one who has stood by my side for a thousand years?
I put my hand on Onyx's back, carefully avoiding the scorched sapphire plates. The flicker in his eyes is weak.
"Heal," I sob. "Heal...please..."
I reach for whatever magic I have left. I'll use all of it if I have to. If it saves Onyx, I'll drain myself empty.
Energy flows from my hand into Onyx's body. I feel the damage my heat attack did to him. I reach for that damage, soothing it with my energy, fortifying it with any strength I can muster.
The light in Onyx's eyes grows brighter.
A sob of relief escapes me. I can feel him getting stronger under my touch. I'm getting weaker, but my precious Onyx will live. That's all that matters to me.
Onyx is studying me now, with those fathomless eyes of his. His jaw twitches, and if he were human, I'd say it was the beginning of a smile.
"Onyx, I'm sorry," I say.
A gigantic paw swipes toward me, and everything goes black.