Roche emerged from the portal into pure darkness.
"What?" she muttered in confusion, spinning around to face the crumbling portal behind her. Frustration flared through her. "I said Moiris! Moi! Ris! Not a creepy dark cave!" She rolled her eyes and huffed, ready to make another portal or call Circe when a sound rumbled through the pitch dark.
Roche stilled, straining her ears. The sound bled through the air faintly, muffled by walls nearby. But Roche recognised the bellow of a large group, and she certainly recognised the sound of clashing steel that followed. The ground trembled ever so slightly with the pounding of feet and falling bodies.
Roche's mind whirred as the unmistakable sounds of battle filtered through the air. The battle must have begun. And if she could hear it, she must be close. The portal must have deposited her somewhere in Moiris. She just needed to get out of the darkness and into the open plains where the queen currently was.
"Gwylluxi," Roche muttered, using a verbal incantation to minimise the strain on her overflowing reserves of inkblood. She wanted to save her strength for battle. Light bloomed in her hands, the same shade of green as Tigris' eyes. Roche cursed as the light cast upon her surroundings.
She was in a cellar of some kind. Thick grey stone walls surrounded her. They looked like they were glowing with radioactive mould in the greenish light. Roche scanned the ground, noting abandoned barrels and broken bottles littered across the icy ground. Her eyes caught on a weathered set of stairs in the corner of the cellar that looked moments away from crumbling. The unforgiving stone groaned and rumbled unhappily as Roche placed her foot on it, but thankfully it didn't crumble away.
Roche carefully darted up the stairs, freezing every time the castle trembled from the ensuing battle outside. Her nostrils tingled with the scent of rot just before she glimpsed weak, champagne coloured light up ahead. It came through a wooden trap door in thin beams, the wood heavily moulded and broken. It clearly hadn't been used or taken care of in a long time.
Roche had no qualms smashing through the door with her fist, eagerly climbing out of the cellar. Her mind was already racing with plans to find Tigris on the battlefield, on how to ward away the most uska possible. Her inkblood bubbled in her veins with her thoughts as she burst back to ground level...
...and promptly shouted in frustration.
Because the walls around her were made of ivy covered rock, stained and chipped with time. It looked like a precarious pile of pebbles that did little to shield her from the howling winds seeping through the many holes in the crumbling exterior. It wasn't the precarious, clearly weathered structure of the building that made Roche want to scream. It was the fact that she recognised the dark, aged stone from her scry.
"You've got to be kidding me," she grumbled as she spotted another set of curving stairs on their last legs. She sprinted up them, frustration billowing in her, "Of all the places... I could have gone anywhere in Moiris but here..."
The stairs let out onto a balcony. Roche scrambled onto it, swaying as stormy winds slammed into her body. The damp air sliced at her eyes, making her tear up, but not before she got a glimpse of the entire battlefield she stood over.
That's right, the entire battlefield.
Because Roche was on top of the thin, broken down tower she'd spotted in her scry. And looming over her head was the portal.
"You've got to be joking," Roche muttered, a headache pulsing behind her temples. She ducked as a fresh round of uska dove out of the portal. She swept them away with a breeze made of fire, sending them shrieking back into the portal.
This wasn't what she'd planned at all. She'd wanted to enter the battlefield from solid ground. She'd wanted to then find Tigris, defend her, kill Finn, and hightail the queen out of Moiris.
How was she supposed to do that twenty feet above the ground?
Roche sucked in a calming breath, scanning the many faces on the ground below her. None of them noticed her, too engrossed in their battles. The knights had coated their blades in flammable oil and had lit them, swinging their blades at the snarling uska. They kept up an impressive defense.
Roche narrowed her eyes. The knights were fighting normally. Had Finn not laid down the mind altering enchantment yet?
Roche glimpsed the sight of dark cloaks interspersed among the knights, and a smile spread across her face, hope rising within her.
The covens. They'd come. Based on the inkblood floating through the air, they were keeping Finn's enchantment at bay. There wasn't much they could do against the uska or the spirits that were currently weaving through the masses of knights dressed in regal grey with taunts and whispers from the land of the dead that made the knights go still. The distraction cost them their lives as the uska dove at them, shredding them.
Roche ripped her gaze away, mind whirring analytically as she shoved away her horror. The plan could still work. She could still protect Tigris.
She just had to find her first.
Roche scanned the battlefield, grinning when she saw an empty square of grass and mulch filled with a swarm of uska that disappeared under a flash of steel that wasn't flaming. Tigris was a whirlwind, years of battle prowess coming to light. The queen dodged and slashed, a tornado of steel and fire as bright as her hair. She sliced into the uska with ease, her features set in concentration. Roche could have sworn Tigris' green eyes glowed as they narrowed, glancing at her warriors with the calculation of a war general. Her eyes flicked up towards the portal and then back to the battlefield. She only had moments to look around before she was engaged with another uskoi.
Roche already knew who the queen was looking for. She closed her eyes, sending her inkblood out in waves that settled amongst every square inch of the battlefield. She ignored the heart rending cries of the dying and sorted through the net of the librarians' enchantments, searching for the telltale malicious signature of Finn.
It didn't take long. His inkblood was loud, demanding to be seen and felt. It radiated with a putrid, rotten aura that made Roche's skin prickle like she'd been slapped. She sucked in a breath, fighting back a wave of revulsion as she honed in on the sensation and opened her eyes.
Finn was standing directly beneath the portal. He had a single sword in his hand, made of pure inkblood. He didn't use it. He didn't even move. He simply peered out at the battle, his brow wrinkling with concentration. He glanced at the uska and the spirits, spitting out a command every so often.
Roche bit her lip, mind racing as her analysis drew to an end. Based on the amount of carnage and Finn's confusion, the battle hadn't been in progress for very long. She'd arrived at the beginning. Soon, Finn would realise that the librarians were thwarting his enchantment. There was no telling what he would do next.
Which meant that Roche needed to strike first.
She rolled her shoulders back and quickly adjusted her stance so that the howling winds wouldn't blow her right over the edge of the tower. She sucked in a breath, letting her inkblood roil and rise to the surface. When she opened her eyes, she knew they were dark with inkblood with not a hint of white to be seen. She lifted a finger, pointing it at the traitor prince with all the surety of death himself.
"Ocwelan!" she incanted. Her inkblood pooled in her throat, strengthening the command. Her words surged, cresting over the sounds of battle. Finn turned, his brow wrinkling with confusion. His eyes met hers, and sudden understanding dawned over him as an inkblood arrow of death hurtled for his head.
The prince tucked and dodged, the arrow slamming into the ground he'd been standing on. An explosion rocked the entire battlefield, sending plumes of dust shooting into the sky, so high that it nearly reached the portal.
Roche narrowed her eyes, trying to peer through the flying debris as the battle halted for a moment, the dead and undead turning to stare at the site of the explosion and then at the inkblood who had caused it. Roche felt the press of their gazes and was very glad that she was twenty feet in the air and far away from the stab happy knights.
She glanced around, forcing the dust to settle with a wave of her hand. Finn was no longer standing there.
Where was he?
She was ready to try locating him again when a sound caught her attention. It was barely audible above the din of battle, one scream out of many. But another joined it, a quick burst before going silent. Roche watched in horror as the cloaked librarians began to crumple under the attacks of the diving uska.
She didn't hesitate. "Fyra!"
Rings of fire appeared around the remaining librarians. It lasted for a moment before another enchantment pressed against her in a choking rush, beating out the flames. Roche gritted her teeth. She turned to the librarians nearest to Tigris, filling her throat with inkblood. Her voice carried over the entire battlefield, so deafening that she barely made out the word she roared.
"MORD!"
The uska went still. Those at the furthest reaches of the battle paused for a moment before continuing their attacks. Most, however, stiffened and snarled. The knights pulled back warily, their blades lifted. They glanced between Roche's distant figure and the uskoi they fought, confused.
Then the uska began to crumble to ashes, dead and returned to the portal.
"No!" another voice bellowed. Finn had hidden himself in the thickest of the fight, his blade of inkblood slicing into the knights nearest to him. Blood tinged his chocolate curls pink. His face was contorted with dangerous fury. He glared at Roche, lifting his hand. "Antwel!"
"Skuedo!" Roche countered, a glowing dome appearing around the towering to ward off the torrential wind Finn shot her way. She grinned back triumphantly, but her victory was short lived. A shrill, earsplitting shriek dragged her attention away from Finn's fury and towards the portal. The air stilled, as if the earth itself was drawing in a steadying breath.
Then all of the uska Roche had commanded to die rushed out of the portal in a flood.
Roche snarled in frustration, waving a hand towards the knights and librarians, springing up as many fires as she could without burning anyone. But it was no use. There were simply too many uska.
The creatures lunged for the librarians, mowing them down with ease.
The inkblood in the air began to thin.
The knights at the edge of the battle went rigid. Even from afar, Roche could see their eyes glazing over, a cunning smile flashing across their features that was reminiscent of Finn. They turned towards the queen, who gazed back at them in horror.
Shit. Roche needed something bigger to take them off guard. She slammed her hands into the crumbling rock of the castle, forcing her inkblood through the cracks, It seeped in, flooding towards the mulchy earth. She fed the enchantment with as much inkblood as she could reasonably spare. Lightning flashed across the sky as Roche sucked in a breath and stomped.
The world shook like it'd been placed inside a snowglobe. Uska, spirits, and knights alike shrieked. Bodies tumbled to the side, the enchanted knights thrown to the ground as well. Roche crouched, clinging to the groaning tower beneath her feet. While everyone was distracted, she swept one hand towards the enchanted knights.
"Ipai eleuma!"
Her inkblood shot across the field in an invisible wave. She heard Finn roar furiously as the enchantment slammed into the knights, and the bloodlust in their eyes faded. They blinked as their minds cleared, stumbling away from the queen in horror.
Roche vaguely registered Finn scrambling to undo her earthquake enchantment and gather control over the uska again. She knew she only had a few moments.
All of her enchantments were temporary fixes. The only way to get rid of the uska and spirits for good was to close the damn portal. And to keep it closed, Finn needed to die.
As the world steadied, she peered at the head of chocolate curls frantically shooting inkblood into the earth. His face was dripping with sweat. He spun around, haphazardly throwing inkblood into the battlefield, most of it swinging wide and away from the knights and splattering into the trees instead.
He was tiring. And that was making him act rashly.
That meant he would be easier to kill.
Roche's inkblood came to her fingertips with ease. She pointed at him silently, not giving him the chance to flee or dodge.
Hyunid.
The incantation slammed into his back. His green eyes flared open for a moment before rolling back into his head. He collapsed, snoring despite the battle going on around him. The uska and spirits closest to him spun around, shock colouring their deathly features. They moved to swarm him, but Roche was ready.
"Fyra! Mord!"
Fire sprang up as the uska around him disintegrated. Thunder boomed, drowning out the shrieks of the spirits as they edges away from the flames. The stormy clouds churned overhead as Roche stared at Finn's prone and abandoned body. A numbness crept over her as she lifted her hand.
Now or never.
"Oc-"
A hand smacked into her shield, and her focus faltered. Roche glanced at Finn, confirming that he was still unconscious and unprotected before running to the edge of the tower. A familiar face greeted her, a face blanched with uncharacteristic panic. Ivie grappled with the edge of the tower, scrabbling for purchase when Roche's shield kept repelling her away.
"Let me up!" the knight gasped.
Roche relented, pulling back her shield. Her throat went dry as Ivie hauled herself up onto the open balcony, her face gleaming with sweat. Roche glanced down, realising that the knight had scaled the walls of the crumbling tower on her own.
Ivie heaved for breath, lifting her eyes to meet Roche's. Roche steeled herself, her eyes latched onto her friend's sword. She expected many responses. Perhaps shouting. A violent fight. A tearful demand to know why Roche had inkblood.
But she certainly didn't expect Ivie to nod with cool acceptance, her eyes flickering back to the queen fighting her way over to Finn's sprawled body, highlighted by a ring of fire.
"So that's what she meant," Ivie murmured. Before Roche could press, the knight rolled her shoulders back determinedly, "Alright. You're an inkblood. I'm a life that can be sacrificed. Let's close the portal."
Roche blanched instantly. "What?" she gasped, spinning around to peer out into the battlefield. Yep, Finn was still simply unconscious, not dead. Though that was subject to change with the knights creeping towards him hesitantly while warding off the uska. Roche cleared her throat, pinning Ivie with a stern look. "Finn's not dead yet, we can't close it-"
"He's nearly dead and in his state he won't be reopening the portal any time soon. I'm sure you or the queen will take care of him in a few moments. But if we don't close the portal now, then Tigris or some other knight is going to be up here soon," Ivie pointed out, folding her arms over her chest. There wasn't a hint of doubt or hesitance in the knight's eyes. She stared at Roche resolutely. "It has to be me."
"Don't be ridiculous," Roche insisted, her throat dry, "Look, I have to kill Finn. We'll talk about this-"
"The portal to the land of the dead is open!" Ivie pointed out, her gentle voice more forceful than Roche had ever heard her. The knight's fervor gave Roche pause as Ivie added, "There's nothing to stop Finn from walking back out of that portal once you kill him."
"As a spirit-"
"A lot of the spirits out there are causing plenty of damage. They may not have inkblood, but their realm provides them with powers of their own." Ivie pointed out, spinning Roche towards the battlefield, "See?"
And it was true. Roche realised, with no small amount of horror, that the spirits weren't just taunting and mocking the knights to distract them. They were chanting. And the words made the knights go still and pale, like their blood had been drained to their feet. A blue tinge had crept upon their lips when the uska granted them the mercy of death.
"I don't want to see what Finn will do with that power," Ivie stated simply when Roche fell silent at the sight, horror sluicing through her. The Ala gathered her bearings, dragging her gaze up to the knight.
"But you'll die, Ivie!"
Ivie smiled. "I know," she said kindly, her soft voice somehow still audible over the din of battle, "But the sacrifice cannot be you or the queen. You have much left to do together."
Tears flooded Roche's throat. "Tigris wouldn't agree," she replied, her voice thick. She glanced back at Finn, still unconscious. The knights were close to him now. It wouldn't be long until he died. If Ivie was right about her predictions, then that meant they'd have an entirely new kind of foe on their hands. She shook her head, forcing herself to meet the knight's gaze. "Tigris is destined to die today. She has told me that she will be the sacrifice."
Ivie merely arched a brow. "And are you going to let her?"
Roche squeezed her eyes shut. "No. Well-"
"We don't have time," Ivie interrupted gently. Her gloved hands clamped Roche's shoulders, giving them a shake. "We must do this quickly. Before the prince dies."
"But-"
"Roche," Ivie's voice softened and began to tremble. The hand on Roche's shoulder began to shake ever so slightly. "Please don't make this harder than it has to be. I have sworn to protect the queen to the death, and that is what I must do."
"And I have sworn to protect my friends," Roche fired back, "That includes you."
Ivie's smile turned sad. "You took the same oath as the knights, Ala. Your duty is to Tigris first."
The title made Roche blanch. "How did you-"
"I suspected that you used inkblood from the moment I heard you shout and my sword began to glow when we fought the Atrex," Ivie explained, her eyes twinkling, "When Tigris told me of a suspiciously familiar woman who had tried to save the king for her sake, I put the pieces together. I was only sure when Tigris began to talk to me and a few other knights a few days ago about the legalisation of inkblood."
The battle suddenly faded away. Roche's vision narrowed to Ivie's face as the knight grinned at her, clapping her shoulder.
"You... she..."
"You two have a lot left to live for," Ivie answered, squeezing Roche's shoulders, "And I've achieved all that I could have hoped for, all thanks to you. And I must pay back the debt I owe you. Goodbye, my friend. Thank you for this wonderful life."
The words stubbornly swirled around Roche's mind, refusing to make sense as Ivie launched herself at Roche, sending the Ala stumbling away. Ivie proceeded to quickly jog backwards, her eyes narrowing at the space above Roche's head.
Roche's eyes widened, realisation dawning on her. She rallied her inkblood and sent it hurtling towards the knight, trying to bind her in place.
Ivie had anticipated the move and made a running leap above the wave of incantation. The knight hurtled forward with all the agility and grace she was known to have. Her boot struck Roche's shield. Roche tried to disperse the enchantment, but it was too late.
The moment Ivie's boot connected with the inkblood dome, the enchantment repelled her, just as it had repelled Finn's enchantment. The knight went flying up into the sky. Roche screamed, unravelling her shield and throwing waves of inkblood towards the ascending knight.
Ivie smiled at the attempt and spread her arms out as she neared the portal, like an angel in a pre-Dark Ages painting ascending to the heavens. Roche's inkblood twined around her limbs, but it was no match for the tug of the portal.
Roche could have sworn she saw a tear slip down Ivie's cheek as her calm mask crumbled and the knight fell into the portal.
Roche was screaming so loud that she could barely hear the wails of the dead and dying around her anymore. She stared at the space Ivie had been, grief plowing into her. She threw whip after whip of inkblood towards the portal to reel back the knight, choking out a cry when her enchantments were merely absorbed into the rift in the sky.
Lightning blinded her as rain began to pour, mixing with the searing tears running down her face. Fresh cries that rose to a crescendo over the existing cacophony drew Roche's attention. She drew her tearful gaze back to the battle, numbness stealing away her devastation in a moment when she realised that the downpour was beginning to extinguish the flaming weapons and rings of fire around the librarians.
The uska shrieked eagerly, attacking with a new fervour. The enchantment began to creep across the outer edges of the battle, a new tide of knights fighting to get to Tigris.
To kill the queen.
Roche turned her gaze back to Finn, noting with horror that he was beginning to stir as fat droplets of rain rolled across his snowy cheeks.
She was running out of time.
She numbly realised that if she didn't act now, Ivie's sacrifice would be for naught.
With sorrow carving deep into her heart, Roche turned to the portal and lifted her hands. Her shield dissolved as she began to chant, rain slicking her face.
"Mon bideo llan keill evum eleuma ol xeo," Roche boomed, her voice rising. She repeated the words, feeding inkblood into the enchantment with a sweep of her arms. She felt ink coursing through her, connecting her to the sky as she arched towards the rift in her world. "Mon bideo llan keill evum eleuma ol xeo!"
She stomped, and a shudder coursed through the earth, so potent that all activity on the battlefield stilled. She barely noticed the press of a thousand eyes as the wind around her began to pick up and whirl. She cast her eyes up to the portal, ink filling her throat. Rain dripped into her eyes as she tilted her face back, throwing her arms up one last time.
"Mon bideo llan keill evum eleuma ol xeo!"
Ink jetted from her palms, straight towards the portal. She vaguely registered the screams of the loose spirits as she rose, the world a flurry of lightning and ink. Roche peered into the depths of hell, so close that she could stick her head into it.
Then she gripped the edges of the portal and yanked them together, her ink fueling the movement.
The air stilled.
The world went silent, like it was holding its breath.
Roche felt the fabric of her world shudder and strain for a moment, all sensation boiling down to her holding together the tear between two realms with her bare hands. Pain blasted through her, so viscerally that she went flying back. A flash of light blinded her as she flew through the air, her inkblood hastily wrapping around her as she crashed onto the rooftop of the crumbling tower of Moiris. Even with the added protection, the air flooded out of her upon impact. All she could do was stare up at the cloudy sky as she lay on her back, stunned, struggling to drag in air.
It took a few moments for her eyes to focus on the roiling clouds above her.
Just clouds.
The portal had been sealed.
A victorious and breathless laugh rattled out of her as she sat up, creeping to the edge of the balcony. She peered out at the stunned faces, both dead and alive. They stared at the space that the portal had been.
Then a triumphant howl sounded from the center of the battlefield. All eyes turned to the queen, her sword glowing and hair unbound. Tigris locked eyes with Roche despite the distance separating them. Roche could see the glint of her smile from afar.
"Attack!" the queen ordered her forces, stabbing her sword into one of the petrified uska before her. When the beast didn't reappear, the other knights roared boisterously, attacking with new vigor. Roche laughed, watching the uska and spirits shriek and squeal, racing around the battlefield in sudden terror.
Now all that was left to deal with was Finn.
Roche could tell that Tigris had the same thought. The queen was stabbing and slashing with her glowing weapon, her eyes scanning the field for her brother. Roche spun around, arms lifted and ready to cast a spotlight on the soon defeated prince.
She froze when she realised that Finn had been roused by one of his panicked uska. The amorphous blob of shadows and teeth hissed in its master's ears with an update. Finn's face grew redder and redder, his cold eyes flicking to the sky.
A furious bellow escaped him, drawing the attention of all the knights. Roche felt his inkblood stir the air.
Her breath lodged in her throat. With his diminished strength, there was no way he could reopen the portal, but he could cause enough chaos to turn the battle around. Roche couldn't let that happen.
She threw her inkblood at him, burning the uska around him for a mile. The traitor prince spun around, his furious eyes latching onto her. He threw out his arms, desperation bright in his eyes. He threw a lance of inkblood straight towards the tower, the enchantment reeking of malice.
Roche batted it away easily, sending the whip of inkblood careening for the forest. She was the Ala. He wasn't going to kill her that easily.
Roche's ink wrapped around him, locking around his limbs and lips. Finn writhed, screaming The knights nearest to him recoiled in confusion, their swords levelled and raised. Their eyes flickered back to Roche nervously as Finn tried to wriggle free, screeching enchantments that Roche locked him away with by trapping him in a bubble of inkblood so thick that it reflected his enchantments back at him.
Roche clutched the crumbling edge of the balcony, locking eyes with Finn as her inkblood crept over his mouth, silencing him for good.
Finn nonverbally thrust a weak bolt of inkblood out, inkblood that immediately veered towards the forest without any aim. He was weak.
He had lost.
Roche expected to feel some kind of triumph or victory at the fact, but she only felt weary. She held up her hand, recalling the moment long ago when she'd hesitated to kill him.
The carnage on the battlefield made it impossible to doubt her decision now.
Goodbye, Finn, Roche called out with her inkblood. Finn locked eyes with her as she formed an inked arrow of death. She waited for begging, pleading, or some tide of rage in response from the drained prince.
But it never came.
Instead, Finn cast his gaze towards Tigris. Unease seized Roche's heart as she realised that Finn's eyes didn't look disappointed.
He looked gleeful.
She followed his gaze, her heart freezing in her chest. Several thoughts clicked in her mind as Orpheus stumbled out of the trees behind Tigris, covered in blood with blank eyes.
Finn hadn't grown aimless with his inkblood when Roche had begun restraining him.
He'd made one, last calculated enchantment. The same one he had cast over the knights.
The one to warp minds.
And he'd sent it into the forest, to a person who Roche and Tigris wouldn't see coming.
All of the inkblood in Roche's body condensed to her hands. Her scream was distant in her own mind as she sent it all hurtling towards her queen.
But it was too late.
Tigris spun around at the stir in the air behind her, sword lofted triumphantly and ready to skewer one of the dead.
And she faltered when she saw an exuberant, young, and very alive face before her with a blade dripping with fresh blood and something darker. The queen's lips curved, with a gasp or question of some kind, her sword lowering a fraction.
Roche bellowed as Tigris' body jerked, Orpheus' sword plunging deep into her chest.
A/N: The end.
Just kidding! I am never going to get tired of that joke mwahaha.
Happy 2024 everyone! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of the year :D Apologies for the wait, I wanted to make sure that this chapter was everything that it was meant to be. It's still not the best, and I'll probably return to edit this later on, but hopefully it was worth the wait! :D
We are almost done the book :O ! Just five more chapters and then the epilogue. Thank you to everyone who's still here after nearly 200 chapters, I hope you're enjoying the story :D I hope you all have an amazing 2024!
As always, happy reading!