Kira and Zarich faced each other, circling around, glares locked. Her glowing eyes flickered, but Kira couldn't tell if they could move or just floated there. Flames rolled over the knuckle of one of Zarich's boney hands. The Wilders who took care of the remaining harpies formed a circle surrounding them. Some shouted for Kira's success, others stood ready to join the fight. Dragons landed on the farm land, their heads towering above the ring of Wilders. Kira tried to block them all out, focusing only on Zarich.
"Tell me one thing." Kira's hand flexed against the hilt of her sword. "Why?"
"Why what?" Zarich smiled with what little muscles and skin remained on Rodyn's face.
"Why hunt the Guardians? Why cause a plague that made humans turn on magic?"
Zarich laughed. "I'm flattered you think I was the one who caused the humans to fear magic. Alas, I cannot take credit for that one."
Kira stopped walking. A breeze swept through the farm, rattling the leaves. The cold air chilled Kira's spine, but she resisted the urge to shudder. Trembling would've looked too much like Kira was frightened. Confused, exhausted, angry—she was all of those things. Frightened wasn't on that list.
"What do you mean you didn't cause the plague? Humans thought magic was the cause and thus they hunted magic, leading the Wilders to go into—"
"Yes, I am well aware of the stories. I did live through that moment in history." Zarich outlined the muscle curving over her jaw bone. The tip of her phalange dug into the soft tissue. Muscles elongated and tugged with the movement of another smile. "There are many more evils in this world, Kira. I'm not even the tip of those mountains. To answer your other question, because I could."
Kira gritted her teeth. "Because you could? You killed the Guardians, hunted me and my family, possessed people for your own sick need to survive, all because you could?"
"Did you expect some deep meaning to why I am the way I am? Or maybe you wanted a grandiose explanation which could wrap life into a perfect bow for you? I like power, Kira. It feels good to know I'm a Goddess. To know I could break people with the snap of my fingers. You gave in to your darkness so you know how good it feels! You truly are naïve to the world, Kira. Life isn't simple and it doesn't always make sense. Why should anything I do have to make sense? I did it because I could do it. Because watching people cower before me made me tingle in places you couldn't understand. I lust for it the way you hunger for Addrick."
"You're evil." Kira spit at Zarich's feet.
She tilted her head back, cackling. Zarich's laughter rose like booming thunder, magic sparked at the tips of her bones. Moonlight spilled over her, shadows stretched from her form, reaching for Kira like a choking hand. Kira's feet twisted in the soil, the rocks ground under the souls of her boots. Sounds faded until Kira heard only her breaths and the chortles erupting from Zarich. Magic consumed her, but this time she kept it on the brink. Kira wouldn't allow it to take over her vision; she wouldn't allow the darkness to guide her, that's what Zarich wanted.
Her eyes moved around the circle of Wilders. If she lost control, if she faltered for a moment, they'd be easy prey for her power. That close to her and Zarich, they were in danger. Kira had to hold back, she had to. Addrick stepped through the ring of Wilders. Gray eyes stared at her, his blood stained cheeks puffing with his haggard breaths. Sweat and dirt and grime covered his tan skin, splotches of blood stretched over his tattered clothes. Even in his current state Kira still found him beautiful. Her eyebrows knitted together, tears dripped along her cheeks.
His hands stretched out from his sides, magic swirling at his fingers. Slowly, Addrick knelt. Strong fingers pressed into the soil, they drew a shape in the ground Kira couldn't see, his eyes still on her. The air shimmered, moving with narrow ripples passing in front of the Wilders. Kira smiled. Addrick recreated their training ground, protecting the Wilders from her.
She turned back to Zarich who watched Addrick as intently, the cackles fading into a growl. Kira lunged forward. The point of her sword aimed for Zarich's chest. Metal connected with bone, grinding as it slid through the rib cage. Kira frowned, pulling the sword back and lunging again. Same result in the stomach. One of Zarich's hands rose toward Kira. A shockwave exploded, pushing Kira back. Her elbow hit against a rock covered in grass, she groaned, pushing up on all fours to stare back at the evil she fought.
"Rodyn is dead, silly child. His body rots away before your very eyes, and you think you can hurt me with a sword?" Her fingers curled against the clothing hanging over the narrow frame of her body. They ripped the remaining cloth at the seams and dropped them to the ground.
There were no muscles, no skin, and no intestines. Beneath the cloth was nothing but Rodyn's skeletal frame. The crystal, glowing from the power which held Zarich's essence, hung inside what was once Rodyn's rib cage. It swung with Zarich's steps, hitting against bone with a soft clank. She raised one hand, tracing the ridges of each bone with a loving stroke. Kira gathered her feet under her and stood up. Both legs wobbled under her.
If Zarich couldn't be stabbed, how could Kira stop her? Her eyes fell on the crystal. A chain held it around the spinal column, catching on one of the vertebrae before it looped back in front. She looked to her sword before dropping it into the grass. It would be useless. There were no muscles to cut, no skin to slash, and even the crystal was protected within the boney cage. She needed to destroy the crystal and sever the magic link keeping Rodyn animated. Her eyes drifted to the decrepit home Zarich once called home, wondering for a moment if Zarich's real body was inside. Options played before her, but none resolved her problem with absolution. Destroy the house, destroy Zarich's body. Destroy the crystal, destroy the magic.
"May the God's give me strength," Kira whispered. Her hand grabbed the Guardian symbol hanging from her neck. "Mother, give me strength. Guardians give . . . that's it. Addrick, if your cat-like ears hear this, stay with me, and see my plan."
She didn't look to Addrick. Both arms reached to the sky, Kira's fingers stretched upward, her body naturally bowing backwards. Moonlight haloed her skin, illuminating the insides of her fingernail tips. Thunder rolled overhead, clouds glazed with the same glow of the moon billowed from the black of the sky. They twisted and spun, squirming like serpents in the soil. First they looped in a circled, then swirled into the interlocking spirals. Fire burned at the center of one spiral, the flames erupted into fissures.
Kira turned her attention away from the magic spilling in the air. Zarich slapped her hands together, launching a wave of magic toward Kira. Kira gritted her teeth, bracing for the attack. It flew at her in a stream of pulsating green, but it never reached her. It hit against an invisible dome curving around Kira. Zarich screamed, sending more attacks which met with the same fate. The younger Wilder smiled, glancing around her. Wilders, still in the circle, joined hands, magic coiling around their arms in golden vines.
Sabina had stepped through the Wilder ring, standing at an angel from both Kira and Addrick. Their positions formed a triangle, with Zarich at the center.
"I heard ye, Kira. Sabina, follow us," Addrick shouted.
They both raised their arms. Above Addrick a pool of water bubbled and spilled from an invisible hole at the center of the spiral. Over Sabina, green vines wrapped in a crown, whirling and twisting.
Kira looked back to Zarich. "You wanted the power of the Guardians, Zarich. Now you have it."
Rays of red, green, and blue beamed down on the three Guardians. Warmth swarmed around Kira, spilling from tired muscles still angry from her battle with the harpies. She didn't know what to expect from combining the powers of the Guardians, but she thought about the stumps back in Osarwin. The symbol of the Guardians once meant something. Their power once revered by Wilders, and nearly annihilated by Zarich, was the one thing Kira could count on. It seemed strange, putting faith in something she still knew little of, but when weapons failed her, magic found a way.
Kira lowered one of her hands. It turned to hold the palm up, the beam of red light sketched the lines webbing through her flesh. Veins in her wrist, spreading up and into her arm, glowed from within. Her heart raced. Exhilaration spread through her body until Kira laughed. Addrick and Sabina's laughter's fused with hers. For the first time she understood how the Guardians could've sealed Calandria away if they'd done so. The beats of Addrick's heart united with her own, breaths spilling from Sabina's lips became the air exhaling from Kira and Addrick's lungs—the three unified to become a single entity joined in the throngs of magic. Kira's gaze lifted from her hand.
No longer did she see the skeleton frame of Rodyn, there wasn't a crystal hanging through bone, there was Zarich. Kira wasn't sure if it was Zarich as she once was or as she always had been. Standing before her was a woman of sheer beauty. Round eyes, colored a vibrant blue, stared at Kira from beneath strands of white hair curling in ringlets around Zarich's face. Her skin glittered with tiny rainbows, sparkling with the light saturating the farmland. Thin lips parted, wrinkles teased her fear as her eyes widened. She backed away until she hit against an invisible wall standing between Addrick and Sabina. Colors danced from her touch, the lone sign of the wall.
"M-mercy, G-guardians." A stutter tangled Zarich's words.
"Mercy?" When Kira spoke, so did Addrick and Sabina. "Where was your mercy when you killed your first Guardian? Where was this mercy when you slaughtered the innocent for your desire for power? What happened to your mercy when your fairy kind begged you to stop your slaughter?"
Kira wasn't sure where the knowledge of Zarich's past came from. Images of life in Calandria flashed through her mind like she'd lived it. A young fairy girl, no older than Addrick, floated from the petals of a flower. In the shadows she watched a Wilder tribe work with Guardians to solve a drought in their land. Kira felt the hunger of the fairy, the desire for the magic secreting from the Guardians fingers. One by one, Guardians fell at the hands of the fairy. The first one gave her strength to take form of a Wilder. She moved through the ranks of the Wilders without their knowledge.
"You killed our people. Their blood coursed through your veins. Where was your mercy then?" Kira's voice continued to mold into one with Sabina and Addrick.
"I didn't know . . ." Zarich's voice trembled, her hands shaking.
"Foolish lies. The day of judgment is here. We are the Gods you sought. Our voices carry the weight of the dead, the hope of the living, the guidance of the wise, and the exuberance of the youth. Your fate has been determined, your end has come. We rule as one, or we rule as none."
Kira stretched both arms toward Zarich. From the corner of her eyes she saw Sabina and Addrick mimicking her. Sabina's red hair shined like fire, blowing in a wind affecting none but the three. Even the nubs of Addrick's hair brightened as if it glowed. The invisible walls illuminated in the same colors of the Guardian, each wall reflecting one of the Guardians power. Faces appeared and vanished within the walls. At first Kira wasn't sure who they were until she saw the face of her mother in the wall behind Zarich. She smiled, blowing a kiss with one hand before fading.
"We rule as one, or we rule as none. May the Gods carry your soul to a better life." Kira clapped her hands, as did Addrick and Sabina. Thunder exploded overhead, lighting spiraled from the Guardian symbol in the sky. Bolts connected with Zarich, they wrapped around her arms and pulled them to stretch out to the side. Her screams resonated in the cracks of lightning. Flesh separated on her arms, brown blood dripped from the wounds, staining the ground at her feet. Her body lifted from the ground, lightning winding around her legs. More wounds opened. Flames rose from the depths of her gashes, distending her limbs, hiding flesh from sight. Kira heaved her hands apart, clapping them together. The flames exploded outward, the heat pulsed against Kira's face. A gale sized wind knocked her backwards.
Once again time became irrelevant to Kira. Movement refused to come despite Kira's urging. She lay on her side, knees pulled to her chest, arms covering her head. Something soft speckled her skin, falling from the sky like snow. Maybe it was snow. Kira couldn't open her eyes to see. Silence crowded the air surrounding her. A murmur of rushing waves thudded through the stillness. No. Not waves. Kira's ears cleared from the haze holding noise at bay. The murmurs were cheers. A celebration rose around her. Hands gripped her arms, tugging on them to bring her to her feet. Then they elevated her, forming a bed of fingers and palms under her.
Kira opened her eyes. Golden beams broke through the horizon, choking out the darkness into the soft blue of the morning sky. Soon it would blaze with the fire of the sun. She turned her head to look beneath her. Wilders carried her, their arms raised and cheers filling the sky. They traveled a short distance before lowering her back to the ground. Sabina and Addrick joined her from their own Wilder masses. The Wilders stepped back, forming a clearing for the three Guardians.
Addrick had tears in his eyes, dried blood streaked as they fell. Kira opened her mouth to ask if he was all right, but he grabbed her and pulled her into him first. His lips covered hers, hands held the mid of her back, keeping her pressed against his body. Muscles flexed with the force his touch. He drew away, keeping his forehead rested against hers.
"Are ye all right?"
She swallowed, trying to swallow away the dryness tickling the back of her throat. "Fine. You?"
"Aye. Exhausted but alive. I saw me parents behind ye. It's the first time I've seen them since . . ." He pulled away, wiping the tears from his eyes. One arm drew Sabine into him for a hug. Kira stepped away. His chin rested on Sabina's head, eyes closed, one hand stroking the tangled strands of once feathered hair.
"Ry . . ." Kira broke through the wall of Wilders, running toward Ry's last known location. Dougary knelt beside him, head bowed. Both hands rested on his knees, his chest heaving. Kira slid in beside him, saying nothing. Her hands touched Ry's arms. Dry blood covered his chin from the corners of his mouth, both eyes were closed. His skin was cold, submerged in ice. Her eyes drifted from his face to his chest. She felt like her heart stopped, waiting for the rise of his chest with a breath or the gasp of air from his lips.
"He is alive, but barely. I can give him no more magic," Dougary said. His voice was hoarse. Kira nodded, placing both hands on Ry's chest. "It is in the hands of the God's now."
"You can't, but I can."
"Kira, after what you just did you could—"
"I don't care." She interrupted him. "Trust myself, trust Addrick to know when to help, trust Sabina to join when she's needed. I have faith in my fellow Wilders. Faith in our powers and strength. Ry won't die on my watch. As the God's are my witness, he will not die."
She closed both eyes and leaned forward, keeping her hands to his chest. Ry's scent filled her nostrils, and the chill of his skin froze the pads of her fingers. Kira blew air into his ear, an act she knew he both loved and hated. Air brushing his ear lobes was a simple act that drove him wild no matter the feelings he had for her. If one thing would bring Ry back from the cusps of death, it was a woman's breath on his ear.
"Listen to me, Rylanne. Hear my words. You're my brother, a piece of my heart which will burn with the anger and pain of your death. I've been the one girl with whom you'd do anything for, but I've never asked a favor of you." A tear warmed her cheek, but she dared not remove her hands from his chest. Though she hadn't yet called her magic to her fingers, their contact with him was important. "For the first time in our lives together, I need you. Did you hear that, Rylanne? I, Kira Winstiel, need you."
Kira lifted her lips from his ear. Her back straightened, the weight of her body pressed her knees into the soil as she sat back on her heels. One breath, short and shallow, filtered through her lips. Energy pulsated through her arms, pooling at her fingertips, Ry's still form filled the dark pits of her closed eyes. A yellow aura swaddled him, glowing brighter until he was the aura.
Kira would heal him, she had to.