Page 128 of A Trial of War
No. I refuse to fail!
I focused every facet of my power on the flames, connecting to the ancient power of Valdor beneath my feet. My heart thrummed in tune with the beat of the magic emerging from my soul.
The moment stretched on like an endless, terrifying loop. But ever so slightly, I felt the balance between us begin to shift. The shadows were starting to take root, feeding from the fear, through the pain and exhaustion of my people. The powers of the Labyrinth attacked the minds of those around us.
The battlefield blurred as I forced the flames back under my control. Screams, roars, and the clash of monsters were nothing compared to the pulsing heat at my fingertips.And yet, a grip tightened around my chest, and I couldn’t breathe as the shadows surged, and Minaeve drew closer.
A cry rang out from the skies as a flash of golden wings broke through the shadows, drawing the queen’s gaze.
“You!” she sneered, eyes glowing with a maddening rage.
Gilen dove toward Minaeve, wings splayed wide as his talons opened, preparing to tear her limb from limb.
“No! Gilen.”I reached out through the pack bond, binding me to him.“Don’t. She’s too strong!”
But before Gilen could answer me, an arrow made of shadow flew from Minaeve’s hands and pierced him straight through the chest.
“Gilen!” I screamed, my heart breaking.
“Go, Daxton!”Gilen rasped as the mighty roc crashed into the earth below in a mesh of feathers, dust, and blood.
Daxton?
I spun away from Gilen, my heart leaping into my throat as Daxton held Minaeve’s back pinned against his chest, his head bent forward with his lips pressed against hers… feeding her his power.
His magic exploded around them, ice flaring along their feet, holding them in place. Daxton was giving me an opening.Thiswas the strike I couldn’t hesitate to take.
But… But gods above, I couldn’t.
The eternal flame wasn’t only deadly to Minaeve. If I released it now, it would sear through her, yes, but Daxton… Daxton was entwined in her power. Every pulse of his magic, his very life force, was flowing into her.
He would be destroyed along with her.
My arms shook as the eternal flame burned in a bright arc, the fire writhing and snapping against the tension in my hands. My chest tightened. The pulse of my magic hammered against my bones, demanding release.I swallowed hard, shaking my head. The flames hissed at my hesitation, eager to burn, anxious to finish what it was crafted to do.
But I couldn’t.
I could not kill my mate.
Daxton’s voice echoed in my mind through our bond, fierce and commanding.“You must keep your promise, Spitfire. Do not hesitate.”
I exhaled, my voice trembling in the chaos.“I can’t, Daxton. Not like this.”
“You MUST!”
The battlefield seemed to freeze, and time came to a standstill. The shadows around Minaeve writhed as if they sensed my weakness, hungering for it as her power only grew from Daxton’s sacrifice. Every moment I faltered stole time he didn’t have to give, time countless others sacrificed to grant me this one chance to end this war.
Daxton tensed, the vibrant color fading from his face as Minaeve absorbed his life force. Fighting to hold the darkness at bay and pouring everything he had into these final seconds.
The ache pulsing through our bond ripped at my center with painful clarity: each willing heartbeat, each tremble of strength, each quiet goodbye he was trying not to let me feel slipped through.
I was standing on the edge of saving the world, and yet somehow, I was destroying my own.
“I will always find you, Spitfire.”His voice cracked open a wound too deep to name. My chest felt hollow, like the eternal flame had already burned through me instead.
“Do it!”he shouted into everyone's mind.
Slowly, I raised my hands. The eternal flame gathered between them, shaping itself into a bow and arrow, glowing with the promise I never wanted to keep. And all I could think was that when I let it fly, the world would be saved, yes… but mine would end.
