Page 106 of The Huntmaster

The universe completely hollowed out.

Through the mate bond, a blinding, catastrophic shockwave of white-hot agony exploded into my mind, followed instantly by a terrifying, hollow drop as the life-force on the other side began to rapidly leak away. It felt as if my own chest had been scooped out with a rusted blade. A primal roar of pure, unbridled fury and despair tore from my lungs—a sound that shook the very dust from the crumbling stone ceiling.

Sila let out a high-pitched, triumphant shrill, her voice piercing the rumbling roar of the activated transmitter. "To the tunnels!" she shrieked, turning her back on the destruction as she rallied her remaining cowards. "Rally with me! Run!"

Before her feet could even clear the edge of the platform, the beast in me took absolute control.

With a vicious, fluid snap of my wrists, I drew the twin skymetal daggers at my thighs and unleashed them with everything I had left. They cut through the volatile white light of the beam like twin bolts of lightning. The first blade buried itself entirely into Sila’s shoulder blade with a sickening crunch of bone; the second sank deep into the small of her back.

She let out a wet, strangled scream, collapsing forward. But the dark magic or sheer, manic malice driving her corpse-like body kept her moving. Scrambling to her feet, she dragged herself into the dark recess of the eastern tunnels, limping heavily, looking utterly on death's door—but she was gone.

I didn't care about the hunt. I didn't care about the vengeance.

I was already on my knees, sliding across the blood-slicked grating to where Lyra lay.

"Lyra! Lyra, look at me!"

My hands were shaking—hands that had snapped steel and felled empires—trembling so violently I could barely function. I gathered her small, fragile body into my arms, pulling her against my chest as I desperately clamped my palm over the horrific, weeping gash across her throat. The hot, crimson tide of her life-force pumped against my fingers, staining my skin, soaking into the leather of my armour.

Her lips parted, a faint, bubbling gasp escaping her as her chest hitched. She tried to form a word, her beautiful dark eyes wide and searching mine through the blinding glare of the white beam.

"No, no, do not try to speak. Shh, my little star, look at me," I choked out, a terrifying, suffocating tightness gripping my throat as I began to rock her back and forth on the floor. I pressed my forehead against hers, my chest heaving. "Do not talk. Keep your eyes on me. It will be okay. By the Alu’un, I swear it will be okay. Hold on to me."

But I was a liar.

Through the bond, the brilliant, roaring golden warmth that had just been restored to us was beginning to sputter. It was dimming, cooling into a terrifying, icy grey as the distance between our souls began to widen. A tear, hot and thick, slipped from my eye and splattered onto her pale cheek, mixing with the soot and blood. I was crying. The great alpha of the forest was weeping, entirely powerless against the encroaching dark.

Kaelen...

Her voice drifted across the fading connection, impossibly faint, like a whisper carried on a dying wind. It was so weak it made my soul bleed. Kaelen, big... stupid... huntmaster. Don't... don't cry.

A broken, ragged sob caught in my chest. Even now. Even as the light slipped from her, she was trying to anchor me.

Look at me, Lyra, I begged through the bond, pouring every shred of my remaining spirit into her, trying to force my own life-force through the fraying connection to keep her heart beating. Do not leave me in the dark. Please. I only just found you.

I'm right here, she whispered back, and through the bond, I felt the phantom touch of her hand wiping at my tears—a ghostly, heartbreaking sensation. A tiny, tragic shadow of a smile touched the corners of her lips, a flicker of her dry, beautiful humour cutting through the agony. At least... I finally got... the last word... didn't I? I told you... I love you... first.

"You did," I wept openly, pressing my lips to her temple, my hand still uselessly trying to stem the flow of her blood. "You did, my star. You won. Just stay to gloat about it. Please."

The bond flickered violently, a cold wave of numbness washing over the connection as her physical body began to fail. In my mind, her voice grew desperate, clinging to me with the last of her strength.

Kaelen... promise me. Sky. He has... nobody. He's just a boy... who had to grow up... in the dark. Take him in. Teach him... how to see the trees. Make him vanguard. Do it... for me.

"I promise. I promise you, Lyra, he will be like a son. I will protect him with my life," I choked out, the words a sacred vow. "But you have to be there to raise him with me. You cannot make me a father and leave me alone."

From the edge of the platform, a heavy, dragging sound echoed over the machine's rumbling. I looked up through a blur of tears to see Toren. The massive warrior was leaning heavily against Tyler, using the human boy to keep himself upright. Toren’s mutilated forearm was clutched tightly against his chest, the tattered remains of his hand weeping silver-dark blood, his face a mask of pale exhaustion.

Toren looked down at Lyra, his fierce eyes softening with a profound, crushing sorrow. "Kaelen," he rumbled, his voice thick and strained as he tried to speak words of peace to calm the storm in my chest. "The path of the soul is... it is carved by the Alu'un. Let her mind be still. Do not drag her through the veil in agony. Let her find the quiet."

"No!" I roared, the sound ripping from my throat with such raw, unbridled fury that Tyler actually flinched backwards. I squeezed Lyra tighter against my chest, completely unhinged by the grief. "No! I will not let her go! Alu'un!" I screamed, turning my face toward the cavern ceiling, my voice battling the deafening thrum of the white beam. "Give her back to me! Give me my mate!"

I pressed my face into her hair, my body shaking with violent, agonising dry heaves. "I have waited endless cycles in the quiet dark! I have bled for this forest, I have guarded the roots, I have endured the lonely centuries! I will not lose her now! Not after only just finding her! Take me instead!"

I prayed and prayed, my mind fracturing into a thousand desperate, begging pieces as I roared into the blinding white light. "Take one of my hearts! Tear it from my chest and stitch it into hers! Take my blood, take my breath, take everything I am—just let her live!"

But the universe didn't care about my bargain.

Beneath my trembling hand, her heart fluttered once.