Chapter 63
The scream that rang out from Lyv's mouth after she watched Bence drop to his knees was accompanied by a shockwave of power that echoed around them, aflood of magic in the form of white and black shadows that curled around her before shooting outward in all directions. She couldn't stop it, could barely take a breath between every crest of those waves that washed over everyone around her.
One by one, the oskurreia and khorzir vanished in either an explosion of ash or, for the lucky ones, who bolted into alleyways between buildings, trying to get away from her as soon as they could. She took out more than had escaped, though.
For Guinevere, her conduit power was no match for Lyv, who now had complete and utter control over her light and dark magic. The former queen's onyx eyes were wide with fear and rage. She absolutely loathed that Lyv was more powerful than her, even after her transformation.
Because she was.
And it was glorious to see her cowering.
Even Corliss, who stood strong against the violent assault, was staring at Lyv. Her eyes were wide, like she was having a difficult time understanding how she had mastered both her light and dark magic enough to control them both at the same time. Like she knew she vastly underestimated the niece she thought she had control over.
Just as quickly as it began, Lyv's scream came to an abrupt stop, though its echos continued throughout the city. The carts, tables, and chairs that had been left out were destroyed, scattered about in scraps. Cracks had formed in almost all of the shops and houses that surrounded them. Some were even pushed off their foundations and seemingly lopsided with roofs caving in on themselves.
Those of who were left were only her family and the two guardsmen, Corliss, and Guinevere. All of them, including the latter two, had blood dripping from their ears and had been pushed back against the crumbling buildings that surrounded them. Their eyes were all the same – wide with fright and wonder at the magic Lyv had just displayed, especially since no one had ever seen it before.
Lyv's shadows wrapped tightly around herself and she didn't have to see her reflection to know her eyes were glowing white embers in their sockets.
When she finally spoke, her voice was deathly quiet. "I asked this question to Guinevere the day she attacked Asturia and killed someone very dear to me," Lyv began as she stepped forward toward where Corliss and Guinevere were just pushing themselves up to their feet. "You have ruined everything you have ever touched, taken away anything you could from me, and what was it all for? Both of you want revenge against my mother, is that it? For taking away someone who would never be yours and for locking you up after killing thousands upon thousands of people?"
She didn't wait for an answer, though. She couldn't.
Couldn't stop herself from throwing shard of magic at the two of them made of shadows that could still do some significant damage should they hit their targets.
Corliss quickly dodged it and appeared just a foot to the left, but Guinevere, still coming in to the knowledge of all she could do, wasn't fast enough. The shadowed shard plunged into her stomach, pinning her to the building after the blow threw her back against it.
Just the smell of her blood, of the conduit magic within it, made the bloodlust Lyv had felt before under the darkness's control come back to her. It made her pause, fists clenching, trying to control that darkness that was singing now, crying out for her to take more, more, more.
But she was stronger, so much stronger than Corliss thought she was.
Another step and another two magic shards flew. Again, Corliss dodged, but Guinevere was impaled this time through the chest. The first of the shards disappeared and the hole it left was slowly stitched back together.
"What happens when your conduit dies?" Lyv questioned as she continued her advance. "Does something happen to you as well? You know, since they are a part of you in a sense. Do you feel everything? What happens if one of these shards goes straight through that head of hers? Will you die, too?"
She was just a few feet away from the two of them then. Corliss still didn't make a move while Guinevere screamed in rage and pain...until she shifted her eyes to another who had come up behind Lyv, wrapping his hand gently around her wrist.
"Lyv, we have to go," Jai told her softly, though his steely eyes were locked on the two in front of them.
Lyv all but punched him when she yanked her arm from his grasp. "No! I refuse to surrender Escarral. I refuse to let her have it again, even though she will rule over nothing but ash and decay. It is not hers!"
But the look he gave her then...well, it would have broken her had her rage not been feeding every bit of her it could. "We have to get everyone we love out of here before that happens. We have to give Bence peace and comfort for...for the time we have left with him."
And at that, Corliss began to smile. "No, you will not, Crown Prince."
It happened as it did that night when Lyv found her way into her dungeon in Asturia, the night when Corliss had put the stone in her arm, the one that now glowed brighter than ever before beneath her skin. The rumble so deep within the earth beneath their feet that grew and grew until it began taking down buildings, creating cracks in the ground that swallowed buildings and bodies whole.
Lyv found her fear breaking through her rage as a crack then formed right between her and Jai. He yelled out, now gripping both of her arms, and yanked her forward into his chest. The ground disappeared beneath her boots, but Jai held her strong and steady, easily yanking her up and out of harm's way.
The ground continued to quake and groan and Lyv lost hold of the magic that pinned Guinevere against the wall. Whenever the last shard disappeared, Guinevere dropped her knees, clutching at her blood-stained chest with both hands.
All she wanted to do was jump the distance of the fissure, take them both out for good while she was still so close...
"Lyv, let's go!" Jai yelled then.
And when she looked up at him, his eyes weren't on her anymore, but rather on the wide expanse of a rumbling, flashing cloud of darkness that was advancing on the city from the north.
Corliss was kneeling down in front of Guinevere, who had managed to heal her own injuries, and yet still had the nerve to look up at Lyv and Jai with an even brighter smile. She stood then, violently dragging Guinevere up with her, making her cry out.
"Thanks to your adoptive mother's efforts, say goodbye to your beloved Escarral...and its king, my sweet niece," her aunt laughed.
And disappeared in a rush of shadows.
Lyv screamed again, trying to get out of Jai's hold, but his hands were iron around her. "We need to go after them!" she spat at him. "We need to..."
"We need to go. Now, Lyv," he told her, his face close to hers as he lifted his hands to hers. "We're not going to make it on horseback or even on Roshan and Erly."
The wind picked up, howling between the crumbled buildings, and another earthquake rattled the whole of the capital city.
"I don't want to leave," she choked out as tears welled in her eyes and immediately started falling. "I can't watch this. I can't watch everything I love here disappear..."
"I know," he nodded, trying to buy them time but knowing there would never be enough. "I know, princess. But we have to take care of the people, we have to take care of Bence..."
Just the sound of his name, even though he was just a few dozen feet away surrounded by their family and still alive, had Lyv sobbing as she buried her face against Jai's chest.
The sound of the coming onslaught of shadows and plunging darkness was getting louder and louder.
"Get us to the western shoreline, Lyv," Jai told her, kissing the top of her head as she squeezed her eyes closed. "Do it now."
And so, she did.
Lyv used her own shadows to wrap around all of them – the dragons, those who were left alive in the street, and herself and Jai. Roshan and Erly were the first, their roars abruptly cutting off as they disappeared. They took the guardsmen, Camilla, and Soren next. Then Mik and Allel, Gideon and Thia.
And finally, Bence. Lyv opened her eyes just a few moments before he disappeared to see that the poison had quickly spread up his forearm, blackening his skin. He gave her a pained yet optimistic smile as his eyes shined with tears.
Lyv could feel her magic lessening as she focused on making sure everyone got to where they needed to be, tried to make sure that the ships were far enough away from the mainland before the darkness overtook it.
And Jai held her through it all.
Through every tremor that rocked the earth beneath them, every gust of wind that grew more violent and louder with the passing moments, every moment that passed and the darkness approached.
"Make sure everyone makes it safely on the ships, all right?" she told him. "You have to make sure everyone's off the mainland before..." Lyv pulled back so she could look up at him through blurry eyes and saw that he was crying, too. She tried to give him a watery smile, a quiet thank you through their bond...before his eyes widened when he realized what she was just about to do then. "And I'll meet you there. Promise."
The last thing she saw before Jai disappeared from her arms was his mouth opening to yell at her.
Lyv's chest heaved with every breath she took as she faced the palace that was glistening in the distance. Her childhood memories, her home was moments away from being destroyed.
The sound of the darkness devouring everything in sight raged around her as she watched every building all but explode in the distance before they were no more.
Second after second passed, building after building disappeared.
And finally, so did the palace itself, standing proud and strong and unwavering...before it came crashing down in a shower of glass and stone and metal.
Through blinding tears and gasping sobs, Princess Alyvia of Escarral, Heir of Asturia, and future Crown Princess of Dalcaine threw every bit of magic she could up into a ward that spread across the city and bowed back to the shoreline. It covered everyone who was still trying to get onto a ship and even those who were already on the water, but she didn't have to be there to see that most were far enough out of reach.
She didn't have to be there to know that the others, including Bence, had landed on the deck of her parents' ship that was still moored on the beach, that they took one look at the king and the poison that was quickly spreading and started yelling out orders.
She didn't have to be there to feel Jai's panic as he landed right next to the ship's wheel next to a raging captain who was shouting out commands to his sailors. When he did, it took him a moment to break free of his shock before he pushed himself up, letting out a choked scream as he called out Lyv's name.
But she was giving them time. Just enough for Alberich to pull the ship into the water, for the mermaid princess Serena to command her people to help get it out to sea as fast as they could.
It wasn't until Lyv knew that everyone was safe that she dropped her ward and allowed the darkness to engulf what was left of the capital city.
She was safe, though, cradled by her own shadows as they rushed her toward the western shore. She couldn't breathe. Not because they were suffocating her, but rather she was so choked up with her tears and she couldn't seem to hold in her overwhelming sorrow.
The next moment, Lyv's feet touched down on a ship's deck, but her legs wouldn't allow her to put any weight on them. She fell forward but was close enough to the railing that she was able to pull herself up, deaf to the surprised and relieved shouts from behind her, numb to those who had rushed up to her side to help her stand.
Because in that moment, everyone on every ship turned and watched as their land, their home of Escarral was swallowed completely by darkness.
***I can't tell you how much I absolutely loved this chapter! It was short and yet packed the punch I wanted.
And now, we only have 5 more. This book WILL be finished by the end of the month.
What are your thoughts? Comment and vote!
Happy reading!
- Ansley***