Page 126 of A Trial of War
A hot ball of pure hatred burned in my chest. I clenched Valencia in my grasp, helplessly waiting for Seamus’s chest to rise, praying he was still alive.
Time seemed to slow as the battlefield dimmed around us. Minaeve’s attention returned to the Labyrinth, and he grimaced, the shadows twisting around him like snakes writhing in pain.
“I’m sorry,” the Labyrinth called out. “Please consider my favor granted, Champion.”
I gasped in abject horror, realizing what she was about to do.
Minaeve bent forward and kissed him.
Not a gentle, fleeting brush of lips, but a crushing, all-consuming kiss. A kiss of death.
A low hum deepened into a vibrating buzz, as if invisible bands were being wound into a spring before snapping out of existence. The Labyrinth’s body stiffened, convulsed, and then sagged, its form shuddering as its ancient magic flowed into Minaeve.
The Labyrinth faded from existence as Minaeve absorbed every ounce of its essence, and with a sound like the snapping of a hundred brittle bones, the Labyrinth’s children staggered and fell around us. One by one, the monsters dissolved into nothing, leaving only a brush of shadows andsilence in their wake. The battlefield itself seemed to gasp, a moment of eerie quiet settling over the carnage.
“No… this can’t be—” Magnus growled, shifting from his bear form, trembling beside me.
“Daxton?”Skylar’s voice was shaky, and it damn near broke me.“What… What does this mean? What can we do?”
For once, I didn’t have an answer to help calm my mate.“Just hold on.”
I tried to step forward with Valencia raised, but something pushed against me. Minaeve’s presence was suffocating. Her power radiated outward in waves, throwing back anyone who dared approach. Around her, shadows twisted violently before collapsing in on themselves. Minaeve straightened, her presence towering over the battlefield as if the world had shrunk beneath her feet. Through the shadows, I could see the outline of the Heart of Valdor pulsing in her hands, glowing with an otherworldly light.
The power she commanded… My gods, it was terrifying.
Magnus growled low in his throat as a surge of desperation washed over me. Even with the Labyrinth and Seamus gone, even with his monsters erased from the battlefield, we couldn’t falter.
Not now.
My jaw clenched as I racked my brain for an alternative strategy. Gods, I wished I had Castor with me; he was the mastermind behind these types of schemes, not me.
The earth quaked beneath me as Minaeve’s shadows writhed, coiling around her like living serpents, feeding off the Labyrinth’s stolen power. Every step she took senttremors through the ground; every glance she cast seemed to bend the world to her will as she scanned the battlefield, a foul smile forming at the corner of her mouth.
And then it hit me.
There was one thing. One impossible, terrifying thing that could destroy her. I searched through our bond toward my mate, connecting my mind with hers.
“Skylar!”I called out.“You need to create the eternal flame.”
“Daxton, I—”
“You must, Spitfire.”
There was only one flame that could burn through Minaeve’s shadows. One spark that could consume the stolen life she harbored and leave nothing but ash in its wake. And my mate was the only one who could create it.
I exhaled slowly, steadying my resolve.“Skylar,”I called, my voice cutting through the clash of monsters and steel.“I’ll buy you time, but you have to summon it. You must wield the eternal flame.”
“I haven’t been able to hold it for—”
“I know you’re scared,”I cut in, reaching through our bond to comfort her.“But trust in yourself. Trust that you can do this.”
I felt the seed of doubt take root in her center, sensed the panic in her pulse like fires at her command.“Daxton… I… I can’t—”
“Yes, you can,”I said, forcing every ounce of my will and trust in her abilities into our bond.“I know you can, Spitfire.”
I reached out, erasing any seed of lingering doubt, solidifying that I believed in her. That I trusted her to do this.
“We’ll buy you time,”I said.“I’ll call our friends to help distract Minaeve. But you must swear to me you will not hesitate.”
