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Somehow Lyra managed to get them out of the water and back to the mountain in record time. Saltwater was still streaming off them both as they landed near the edge of the volcano. Dusk threw himself off her back and onto the stone below, nocking a soaked arrow onto his bow. He lifted it up, aiming towards Nedarya who held Lex in front of her, a knife to his throat. Her hair was no longer neat and tidy and her sword was gone. The small black tunic she wore had its sleeves removed and the crystalline gauntlets still adorned her arms. The hand holding the knife was hers, but the other gripping his arm looked to be made of the same crystalline material. Strangely it was fluid and flexible, like a real hand. Somehow she’d managed to replace the hand that had been lost to Tephyss and the eye.
Behind her stood several figures, all of which were cloaked in black and wearing the Ditanian colors except for a taller one near the front. It had only been a month since he’d seen Tara last, but she looked like a completely different person. Her face was haggard with dark circles under her eyes and her hair had begun to grow out, giving her head a strange lopsided look. The shirt she wore was tight fitting with long sleeves down to her wrists before they turned to black leather gloves. Dusk wondered if the burns on her hands had been healed by Nedarya or if they were left to heal on their own. Either way, one of her hands gripped the hilt of her sword sheathed on her back, the other held Lord d'Ronja in front of her by the scruff of his mantle.
“Let him go, Nedarya!” Dusk cried, aiming his arrow straight for her head. “I’m not afraid to kill you and all of your men!”
“Oh please,” she laughed, driving the dagger harder against Lex’s throat. “You don’t scare me. Although I will say, I’m impressed with your handiwork. He really should have died. I guess you were able to use the eye to save him after all then?”
“That’s right. And I can use it to kill all of you,” Dusk bluffed. “Thanks to you, Tephyss has awoken again. If you so much as scratch him, I’ll kill you where you stand.” His eyes fell on Tara. “Every last one of you.”
“Ah. So that’s the kind of game we’re going to play.” She sighed, looking mildly amused. “So be it then. The eye for your lover. Turn it over.”
“You’ve got no room to bargain here,” Lyra hissed, taking a step forward.
“No?” Nedarya flicked her free hand to the side, a long crystalline blade erupting from her arm in a flash. “I’ve had so much time to learn how this little jewel of mine works. Tiernan had entire rooms stuffed with magical tomes. I know more magic now than anyone in Udalara has for the past thousand years. The only reason either of you are still standing is because you have something I need. And you’re going to give it to me.”
Dusk glanced to Lex’s neck where the leather cord still hung, the small pouch tucked in his shirt with the stone still inside. All the power he had to get Lex back was in Nedarya’s hands, she just didn’t know it yet. He had to keep her talking to buy them some time so he could think.
“Why are you doing this Nedarya?” Dusk asked, seeing if she liked to talk like Tiernan had. “What’s the point of all this violence and destruction?”
“I’ve already told you,” she huffed, her grip on Lex tightening. “Do you really think a world full of slavery, forced marriages, and inequality really deserves to keep on going? I’m going to bring an end to it once and for all. Then, I intend to step back into death myself and join the rest of you. It’s really quite simple and straightforward.”
The soldiers behind her fidgeted, exchanging nervous glances with one another.
“Don’t you want to just end the war and have peace at last?” Dusk asked, egging her on. He thought if he could get her to admit her plans, her men might turn on her.
“Peace isn’t real. Happiness and peace are fleeting trifles. If I end this war there will just be another and then another after that. The cycle of sorrow and misery will continue forever just with different faces and different times.” She paused for a moment, letting the blade fall slack. “No. I want to put an end to it once and for all. I’ve known the true tranquility of death and I will give it to everyone whether they want it or not. Too many don’t deserve to live and those who do don’t deserve to suffer. That is my gift to this world. My calling.”
One of the soldiers took a step backward, his eyes wide. “You can’t mean that, General,” he said. “I thought we were fighting for peace in Ditania...”
“And so you are,” she replied, not looking back at him. “But you are laboring under the delusion that you can have both peace and life. That isn’t possible. So you’ll do your part and then reap your reward.”
He looked to the others, searching for support. Finding only nervous looks and sweaty brows, he ripped the pouch of dust off his belt and tossed it in her direction. It landed on the ground and burst open, the contents spilling across the stone.
“No. I signed up to help Ditania, not whatever this is.”
The others stared at Nedarya, waiting for her reaction.
“You can either die fighting to make that dream come true or you can die here and now. Which will it be?”
The soldier hesitated, then took a step backward. Nedarya threw up her hand, a crystal spear shooting from her gauntlet and running the man clean through. His eyes went wide and he reached up, touching the stone that stuck out of his chest, as if he was unconvinced it was really there. He sank to his knees and Nedarya summoned the crystal back, melding it into her gauntlet.
“Does anyone else share similar ideas with this fool?” she asked, looking at the others.
Her words were met with silence and horrified stares.
“Good.” She reached out with her hand, drawing a simple sigil in the air with a glowing purple finger. “I have no use for you anymore.”
With a flick the man’s body flew over the edge of the volcano, catapulted by an unseen force before he could bleed out. He disappeared over the lip and into the darkness below. Dusk hoped silently that he fell unconscious before he hit the ground.
“Now Dusk,” Nedarya said calmly, turning her attention back to him as if nothing had transpired. “If you don’t want your plaything here to end up like that idiot, I suggest you hand the eye over to me now.”
“What do you need it for? Don’t you have enough power?”
“I’m growing impatient with all these questions. The eye is part of the heart. It can’t be whole until I have all the pieces. And I can’t call the moon back to Udalara without it being complete.”
“What do you mean, call the moon back?” Lyra interjected, taking a step forward. “It can’t come back.”
“Oh I assure you it can. And it will.”
Dusk didn’t like the way Nedarya smiled after saying those words. He saw Tara’s head sink lower behind her. She knew what was going on even if the rest of them didn’t.
“And you’re going to help her do this, Tara? After all our time together?” Dusk asked, letting his bow down, knowing he’d never get a shot off before Nedarya could react. “Months and months of traveling together and you turn on us the moment she shows up again.”
Tara was quiet, staring daggers at him.
“I can’t believe after all of that... after all the good we did, you’re just gonna stand by her while she burns the world to the ground. I thought you were better than that. I thought we were friends!”
Nedarya began to laugh. “This is astoundingly pathetic.” She grinned and pulled Lex in tighter. “Well Dusk, I’ve given you plenty of chances to hand over the eye. Obviously, wasting my time is more important to you than your lover’s life. Your decision is made.” She pulled the dagger away, replacing it with the razor sharp crystal spike erupting from the gauntlet. “I want to stare you in the eyes while the life seeps out of him. By the time he hits the ground you’ll be begging to join him and because you’ve wasted my time and patience,” she said, her voice lowering. “I’ll deny you that gift.”
She gave Lex a shove forward and pulled her arm back, ready to run him through. Dusk didn’t have time to pull his bow up again or do anything that might save him. He cried out as the crystal flashed in front of him. But instead of Lex lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, he saw Tara standing in front of Nedarya, her sword driving the crystal blade into the ground. Lex rushed to Dusk, wrapping his arms around him. Dusk noticed a small cut on the back of Lex’s neck where the blade had just managed to nick him. He pulled Lex back, searching for the pouch. It was gone.
“Tara,” Nedarya growled, eyeing the crystal that lay peeking out of the leather pouch on the ground behind Tara’s left foot. She knew she’d been tricked. “What are you doing?”
“I’ve had enough of this,” Tara hissed back, her muscles straining to keep the crystal blade at bay. “You’ve been wallowing in your own self pity so fucking long that you can’t even see how much worse than Tiernan you’ve become. He was a terrible man who killed and used people. But what are you now Nedarya? You’ve sacrificed countless lives, lied to all these soldiers, gave them addictive magic that will destroy them, and now you want to kill everyone else too, yourself included.” She paused, her head turning away for a split second. “I can’t watch you destroy yourself like this. You never should have come back. You’re a monster.”
“You’re right,” Nedarya muttered. “I never should have come back. But just like every other thing that’s happened in my life, I didn’t get a choice!” She shoved Tara back, brandishing the crystal blade in front of her. “And now I’m going to make sure that never happens again. I will destroy this entire world if that’s what it takes to quell this rage inside me.”
“You and I both know that you don’t have that kind of power.”
“Watch me.”
Without warning Nedarya sprang forward, swinging the crystal blade with all her might. Tara parried the blow, stepping to the side to stay clear of the second spike that erupted from Nedarya’s off hand. Lord d'Ronja skidded to a halt next to Lex and Dusk, released when Tara defended them.
“We need to go,” Dusk said, looking up at Lyra. “Now.”
“Quickly!” she insisted, holding out an arm.
The three of them scrambled up her body, taking seats behind her spikes on the back of her neck. Dusk didn’t know how well she’d be able to fly with all three of them and her recent injuries, but they didn’t have any other choice. This was their only chance for survival.
Lyra turned away from the fight, leaving Tara and Nedarya locked in battle. Breaking into a run she hurtled towards the edge of the plateau and threw herself over. Her wings filled with air immediately and she turned to the east, heading for the mainland. Something inside Dusk twinged as he looked back.
“We can’t leave Tara behind,” Dusk yelled over the rush of the wind. “Please go back!”
“She made her choice,” Lyra’s voice echoed through his mind. “Besides, I can’t carry all of you.”
“She’s the only reason we’re still alive! We have to try!”
Silence.
“Please Lyra. She doesn’t deserve to die up there.”
There was a pause before she banked back towards the mountain. “Hold on, this is going to be a little rough.” Dusk heard Lyra’s voice in his head again, but knew she was also reaching out to Tara. “Jump off the mountain and we’ll catch you!” she shouted as she strained against the wind.
Dusk hoped there was an answer, but he could hear nothing over the sound of the wind. Lyra continued to head for the mountain. They flew just below the edge of the cliff to stay out of sight, avoiding Nedarya’s wrath at all costs. Dusk kept his eyes turned upwards, hoping to see Tara coming off the edge at any moment. A few seconds passed and he began to think that maybe Nedarya had struck her down, putting an end to her mutiny. But just as he was sure it was too late, he saw Tara’s large form come hurtling over the side of the mountain into the open air before plummeting toward the jungle far below.
Lyra banked again and went into a dive, folding her wings in at her sides. They spend towards Tara, all of them holding on with all of their might against the rush of wind and the sinking sensation in their stomachs. Dusk could see she was injured, her right leg trailing blood in the air as she fell. The jungle was rushing up toward them fast and Dusk didn’t know if they were going to make it. But at the last moment Lyra’s claws managed to wrap around Tara before she flared out her wings and shot out across the sea, Tara’s sword continuing down and crashing into the trees below.
Dusk looked back to make sure the other two were still holding on. Lex looked almost invigorated by the aerial acrobatics, but Lord d'Ronja had taken on an unsettling shade of green that was in stark contrast to Lyra’s scales. Lyra continued to pump her wings harder and harder, but no matter how much she flapped, they didn’t seem to be able to gain any more altitude. He knew, after the battle earlier that morning, her previous injuries, and the extra weight, they wouldn't be able to stay airborne for very long. He just hoped they’d make it to the mainland first.
Lyra didn’t head straight for Birchwood where more troops were inevitably waiting even though it was closest. Instead she turned further southeast, aiming for a patch of beach some miles from the town. It seemed like an impossible distance, but she continued to push, somehow keeping them in the sky. Dusk could feel her begin to breathe heavily under his thighs as the beach came closer. She began to descend, unable to slow her speed and keep them aloft at the same time. They were mere seconds away when Dusk realized she had Tara clutched in her front claws, the ones that she’d need to land. The water was their only hope.
“Jump!” he yelled to Lex and his father.
Lex grabbed his father by the shirt and pulled him off as he and Dusk went over. The water rushed up as the three of them plunged into the ocean, cold water shocking their senses.