The day I knew was meant to be
The day I saw my life-to-be
But never could I have realised or seen
What was in store for me
Elodie thought she would die of pain. She couldn’t possibly go through such agony and survive. It was even worse than when she’d drunk Nicholas’ blood and remembered his agony – then she’d begged to be killed. This time there was no need to beg for it. The brain fury would kill her all by itself.
At first she could hear Nicholas’ screams, she could feel his hands holding hers, and the blood streaming out of her nose and mouth and ears, but after a while – an eternity – she could hear nothing, see nothing, feel nothing but pain. She was pain herself. No consciousness, no memories remained. She wasn’t screaming any more. She wasn’t moving. She lay with her eyes open but blind, burning inside.
And then it stopped. As suddenly as it had started, it stopped. The blackness began to blur and lighten as shapes and colours came into focus – and noises, a voice, Sean’s voice, calling Sarah’s name.
Sarah. Was she dead? Or had she managed to keep an ounce of life in her, as planned – so that the King of Shadows would die and Sarah would survive?
Elodie squeezed her eyes closed and opened them again. She dragged herself up and immediately she retched, bringing up bile and acid that burnt her throat and her mouth. Sean kept screaming. Where was he? She looked around, but turning her head was so painful she saw black again.
Eventually she managed. She saw him lying flat on the ground, trembling, still calling for Sarah. His face was turned towards the ravine, his eyes fixed on something . . . Elodie’s heart stopped as she followed Sean’s gaze. Nicholas and Sarah were walking on, hand in hand. Sarah was alive. She had succeeded. But what was she doing? Suddenly, Elodie sensed Nicholas’ thoughts in her mind, and she knew. Sarah was to be the bride of Shadows.
All of a sudden, Elodie saw an orange light dancing in front of them. Something seemed to take hold of her throat and tighten around it. A black-haired woman, with skin like dark honey and full red lips, materialised in front of them.
Martyna, she heard Nicholas whisper in her mind. And then she saw him throw something towards her, something small and white that landed on the grass beside her. She wanted to hold it, but her throat became too tight to breathe. Stars danced before her eyes, and then everything went black again.
Sarah was barely conscious as she saw Nicholas and Martyna hover on the edge of the chasm and then step in, holding hands. They were suspended over nothing for a few seconds, and then they fell, heads thrown upwards and arms distended, jerked apart and then thrown down by a terrible force.
A stream of blue lightning rose from the chasm – and then a cloud of earth and blue fire and melting soil. A new chimera, somewhere between a bull, a wolf and a bear, its shape changing in front of their eyes, appeared at last – until finally it took shape: Nicholas, bare-chested, black eyes shining like two pools of darkness, stag antlers rising from his head. And the woman beside him, raven’s-wing hair, her eyes as black as Nicholas’, dressed in what looked like a dark mist, a crown of scarlet flowers on her head. And then every noise was silenced, the earth stood still and the lightning ceased. The silhouettes of the people and cars and buildings seeping through from the human world vanished, and peace filled the land at last.