Patches of ice crunched under our feet as we climbed up Dragon Spine Mountain. The air grew thin, making breathing more difficult. The rocky terrain was challenging to traverse, and even the Wults, who were used to climbing, found the task harder than expected.
When we reached a flat outcropping, we stopped to catch our breath. I found a pair of snug leather gloves in my pack and put them on to get some relief from the cold.
“The summit is not far,” one of the elves said, pointing at the narrow trail that wound up the mountain.
“Aye,” Brodnik answered. “But it’s steeper than the trail we’ve been on. It won’t be an easy climb.”
I sat on a rock, chewing a mouthful of dried fruit as I scanned the rest of our group. Kull sat a distance away from me, his gaze a million miles away as he stared out over the precipice. We’d climbed so high that the clouds were now beneath us, stirring like an agitated soup about to reach their boiling point.
I wasn’t sure what he was thinking, but he must have felt lost without Bloodbane. The sword was more than just a weapon—it was a family heirloom. What would Grandamere do when she found out he’d lost it? Still, I had to give the guy credit. I’d almost had to part with my magic box, and I wasn’t sure how well I would’ve handled it. Yet he seemed to be dealing with the loss of Bloodbane appropriately. After losing his girl, his father, and now his sword, I supposed he was becoming used to losing the things he loved. But this time, he’d given the sword willingly to help a greater cause.
No matter how much heartache he’d caused me, I had to admit he’d proven himself a worthy person—a worthy king—whether he realized it or not. His people needed a leader like him. He’d not merely given away his sword, he’d sacrificed a piece of himself so that others could live. I wasn’t sure how many people would be willing to make the same sacrifice. In my eyes, he’d proven himself an honorable man.
We gathered our things after the meal and started up the trail. My feet grew numb with the cold, which I supposed I should have been grateful for as it helped mask the pain of the blisters forming.
The only one who spoke was Prince Terminus, who complained about his bound wrists. As the day wore on, even he grew quiet, leaving the sounds of our feet tromping over rocks and ice patches to break the silence. Several times, we scaled up one cliff only to traverse another.
The rocks were cold under my fingertips despite the gloves. The exertion, coupled with the thin air, made me lose my breath, and the sound of my own breathing was loud in my ears. Images of my couch back home kept plaguing me. What would I give to be curled up on the sofa under a soft blanket with a cup of hot cocoa in reach, Han in my lap and a book in my hand? I’d almost consider trading the mirror box for that one.
Going back home wouldn’t be so bad after all, I decided. In fact, I couldn’t wait.
Dusk descended, so the elves ignited their fey lanterns, lighting the world in an eerie blue glow. We scaled a cliff taller than all the rest, and as I pulled myself up and over the ledge, I noticed the others were huddled around something.
As I stepped closer, chills bristled my skin as the feel of dark magic caressed me. The group parted as I approached, and I focused on a cavern I’d seen before—the place where the bloodthorn had tried to make me take him when he’d held me captive in the forest.
I recoiled at the sight of the tall, gaping fissure, like a wound splitting the face of the mountain. Jagged rocks rimmed the edges of the opening, and fog slunk along the ground as it surrounded the cave. Approaching the entrance, I reached out with my magic and could sense Cyren’s blood ward blocking the entrance. Someone—most likely the bloodthorn—had recently used the fairies’ stone to pass through it.
Kull, Heidel, and Brodnik stood at the entrance. Brodnik began walking toward the cave’s mouth, but I stopped him.
“Don’t,” I said, “it’s protected with a blood ward.”
The elves also approached, as did the two fairies. Terminus looked with fear at the cave’s opening.
“What can you tell me of this place?” I asked him.
“Only that this is where the bloodthorn and spider beast first emerged. A portal exists inside this cavern, and without your help, the bloodthorn will not be able to use it to return to his realm.”
“Then how do we get past the ward?”
Terminus turned his gaze on me, his eyes dark under the light of the fey lanterns, making a shiver run down my spine. “We cannot. Only you can.”
“Me?”
He nodded.
“Your Earth and Faythander magics are unique. This is the reason the bloodthorn sought you. He killed the mortals to power the stone, but it’s all for nothing without your magic. He seeks you still, inside the cave. You must go to him if you wish to stop him.”
Kull spoke up. “But won’t he try to kill her?”
“Yes. Unless Olive destroys him first.”
“Is it possible? Can he die?”
“I do not know.”
“We killed the beast in the unicorn forest,” Heidel said, “so he must be capable of some sort of death. Olive, I don’t like this. It is clearly a trap, and I can only imagine what the monster will do to you once you find him.”
“She will not go,” Kull said. “We will find a way for us all to go, or we will not enter at all.”
The fairy princess spoke up. “But what of our stone?” she asked. “The creature cannot cross through the portal without Olive’s help, but that does not mean that he won’t send the stone through.”
“Is it possible for him to do such a thing?” Kull asked.
I mulled it over. “Yes. Portals operate with a basic set of principles—one of them being that sending non-organic objects through them is much easier than sending a person through. If the bloodthorn is intent on seeing the stone in his own world, then he may be desperate enough to send it through without actually crossing through the portal himself.”
“Would he do that?” one of the elves asked.
“Yes,” Terminus answered. “He used the unicorn stone as a power source for a machine in his world. I am not sure of the details, but he seeks to use the fairies’ stone as well.”
“A machine?” I asked.
Terminus nodded. “Yes. It is used as a power source, but I know nothing more than that.”
“And that is why he took our stones?” the princess asked. “To power a machine?”
I couldn’t mistake the hostility in her voice.
He didn’t meet his sister’s gaze. “Yes.”
“Whatever the case,” I said, “he cannot be allowed to take the stone from our world. I have to cross through the shield and stop him.”
Kull shook his head. His fisted hands looked empty without Bloodbane. “Olive, no. We will find another way.”
“Given time, perhaps we could find another way, but it will most likely be too late, and then we’ll have failed. I can’t live with that. I can’t live with myself knowing I had the chance to save the fairies and I didn’t take it. Living with regret is a hard thing to do.”
I knew my words would be difficult for him to hear, and I knew I hurt him when I said it, because the pain in his eyes was so intense I could no longer meet his gaze.
“I should go,” I whispered before turning to face the cave’s entrance.
A flurry of emotions welled inside me—hope, fear, confusion. What would I find once I entered the cave?
Magic prickled my skin as I walked through the shield. Kull said something as I stepped to the other side, but as I crossed, his words were too muffled to make out. I turned around to face the shield, expecting to see my companions on the opposite side, instead, I found only a glowing blue wall of magic.
I was alone.
With the light coming from the wall and crystals glowing along the path, the cave was better lit than I had expected. I walked with my hands curled into fists, my heart fluttering in my chest.
After escaping the bloodthorn in the forest, I’d sworn never to be imprisoned again, yet that was what I feared would happen once I found him. It couldn’t happen again. No matter how sporadic and unwieldy my magic had become, I called it to the surface, ready at a moment’s notice to be unleashed. I would not become his prisoner again.
He would never again have power over me.
The path sloped downward. I clenched and unclenched my hands as sweat beaded in my palms. Stay calm. Control your magic. He won’t have power over you again.
Reluctantly, I walked forward. The fear I experienced was so potent I found it hard to breathe.
I rounded a corner and entered an open chamber. The room wasn’t large, although a wall jutted out and obscured my view of the entire space. A portal glistened blue and silver, replacing the entire back wall. Bursts of light sparkled, casting light in shimmering waves like reflections in water. I’d never seen a portal as large as this one.
Entering the room, my footsteps echoed as I descended a set of broad, stone steps and then rounded the corner. The rest of the room came into view.
Officer Gardener knelt in the room, trembling, his officer’s uniform tattered and covered in mud and dried blood. His face was so pale I barely recognized him. Cuts mangled the officer’s body, some of them still oozing blood. The bloodthorn stood over him, a knife pressed to the officer’s throat. What had the bloodthorn done to the man?
“Stop,” the monster said, “and approach slowly.”
My heart pounding wildly, I took a cautious step forward. “What do you want with him?” I asked, nodding toward the officer.
“His life,” the beast answered, “in exchange for yours.”
Balling my fists, I felt my magic at the ready, almost overpowering me.
“Choose,” the bloodthorn said. “His life or yours. I’ve seen his mind. He will be missed by those he calls family. They love him still—they need him. Will you take him from them?”
“You would be the one to kill him, not me. His blood will not be on my hands.”
“Choose!” the bloodthorn said, his voice rising. “His life or yours?”
The bloodthorn’s knife tip pressed harder into Officer Gardener’s neck, breaking the skin. Officer Gardener winced. In his eyes, I saw desperation—his hope for a future with his ex-wife and daughter, his pain at having lost them, the love he had for them no matter what came between them. What would his death mean to his wife, to his daughter? He had people who cared and loved him, who depended on him. Who was I to take that life from them? Who did I have that would miss me? Did anyone need me the way his family needed him?
“Stop,” I said. “Don’t kill him.”
The bloodthorn’s inhuman eyes met mine. “You swear to give me your life?”
“Let him go first, then I will do what I must.”
My magic throbbed so intensely it hurt to keep it in. If I could only get Officer Gardener away from the bloodthorn, then maybe I would have a chance to attack the monster.
The bloodthorn pulled the fairies’ starstone from his cloak, its radiant red facets refracting the light from the portal, making glimmering beams dance around the room. He placed the stone on the floor beside his feet and then pulled a chain from his cloak.
Bile rose in my throat as I stared at the shimmering metal links.
“If I let him go, you will be under my power. Your life will be mine. Do you understand?”
I flexed my fingers. Sweat beaded on the back of my neck. How could this be happening again? Hadn’t I sworn never again to be imprisoned? But as I looked at Officer Gardener’s pleading eyes, I knew the choice had been taken from me.
“I understand.”
The bloodthorn pushed the man away.
Officer Gardener got to his feet, stumbled, and then stood. He gave me a fleeting glance, a silent thank you, before running from the room.
The bloodthorn lunged for me, so fast I barely had time to react. The magical chains loomed closer, clanking, ready to bind my wrists and take my powers, when magic formed in my fists. Its warmth enveloped me, then ignited in a blinding white fire that engulfed me, the monster, and the entire room. I fell back, my vision awash in wisps of amber and blue, like fire—a beautiful fire that burned with such intensity it couldn’t be controlled.
My magic is fire.
The bloodthorn’s hoarse, inhuman scream came as if from miles away.
My body floated weightless, supported by my magic. As the magical field touched the portal, reality seemed to bend and twist, turning inside out. The bloodthorn was there, too, wrapped in my magic. I felt his presence, though I knew he could not touch me. The fairies’ starstone was also there with us. Could I get to it?
I tried to move but found I had no control over my body. Together, the bloodthorn, the starstone, and I floated through the portal into a void, where something waited for us.
No. Someone.
I’d felt her presence before. Oxygen escaped my lungs. I gasped, but found no air to breathe. Every ounce of magic I’d held inside disappeared, and soon, the void disappeared with it. I hit the ground.
The cavern came back into view as my head throbbed where it hit the floor. Sitting up, I searched the room and found what remained of the bloodthorn. He lay in a burned, bloody heap smeared across the floor nearby, and the stench of burnt flesh filled the cave. Bits of the horse skull face remained intact, and if it weren’t for that, I was certain I wouldn’t have been able to identify him.
My hand flew to my mouth. Had my magic done that to him? If it was capable of such horrible mutilation, what else was my magic capable of? What else was I capable of?
A light flickered over the monster. The blurry image of a woman took shape, although it was difficult to make out the details of her face. Her form wavered, as if she were a ghost, and her eyes reflected a reddish glow—the look of a predator.
My spine tingled with an uncontrollable fear. “Theht?” I whispered.
Yes, her answer came—not out loud, but spoken in my head, I am one who has traveled many worlds, walked the seas of discord and harmony, found peace, but brought death. I am the one who will return—the one sought after by many.
“I don’t understand. What—what happened?”
This creature attempted to summon me, but he could not complete his task, for you defeated him before the spell was complete. The fae creatures’ stone no longer has any value to me now, for once it is used as a conduit, it can no longer be used for that purpose again. You may take the stone as your reward for destroying a mighty foe.”
“Me? Take it?” Glancing at the smoldering remains, I saw the gemstone lying in a pool of blood. I stood slowly, feeling dizzy, but managed to walk to the stone and pick it up carefully, surprised to discover it pristine and perfectly intact.
You have come far, Deathbringer. I suspect that soon it will be time for you to fulfill the prophecy that will ensure my return to your world.
The prophecy. I’d tried so hard to forget about it, but it never seemed to go away. I decided to feign ignorance.
“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about.”
Her laugh made a shiver run down my spine.
Marked by death from the beginning—she will come in flame and ash, wielding the fire gifted to her of her fathers. She will cross worlds and mend the rift. She will bring death to the unbelievers, life to those marked by the ancient one. Her life will bring death, for she is the Deathbringer.
Do you not believe it speaks of you?
“No. I’ve never believed the prophecy speaks of me. I would never do those things—I would never willingly bring death.”
But you will. It is only a matter of time. Prophecies never go unfulfilled, for then they would cease to be prophecies. Have you never been told of such things?
Fan’twar had told me that in almost the exact same words, but I didn’t want to admit it to her. Placing the stone in my bag, I felt the remains of my magic filling me, knowing it would never be close to enough to defeat an ancient goddess. What power did I have against Theht?
I backed away slowly, but when I looked up, her visage stood only inches from my face. A phantom hand grabbed my arm tightly, and I screamed out, but the sound got lost somewhere as my vision faded into darkness.
Once again I floated, weightless, into the inky darkness of the void, although this time at least I could breathe. Pinpricks of light appeared, one after the other, until I realized they were stars.
Look below, Theht’s voice said.
I did as she said and found Earth spinning beneath my feet. From this distance I could see weather patterns crisscrossing the planet—puffy white clouds that formed spirals and flickered with occasional lightning bursts. As the world spun, the clouds cleared and a landform came into view. I focused on the exposed expanse of desert that seemed to stretch in all directions, and before I knew it, I was no longer floating but standing on the sand.
Although it was night, I had no trouble seeing the world around me. The stars were just as bright here as they had been when I was floating. Sand dunes created by the wind currents rose and fell in all directions, though the air was so still I felt I could hear the faint groan of the planet as it rotated around the sun. I marveled at the beauty of life that surrounded me here in the desert, from the tiniest insects to the snakes and cougars. Farther on—from the plains and jungles where elephants and lions called home, to the whales in the sea—I felt life surrounding me in each direction I turned.
Here, Theht said, is where you will fulfill the prophecy. Look.
A flash of blinding light cut across the sky—a meteor—close to our planet, yet somehow I knew we were safe from its impact.
I watched myself reach toward the meteor, my arm moving without thought, my magic building inside me just as it had when I’d killed the bloodthorn. Uncontrolled, my magic released. The magic connected with the meteor, altering its trajectory until it spun straight for Earth. Dread filled me as the ball of light descended on our planet.
The world ignited in a blinding white fire as the celestial body exploded on impact.
And I was responsible.
I had done it. Somewhere deep inside me, I felt reality sink in. The prophecy was true. It was no longer a matter of if, but when. My magic had already acted on its own accord several times—to save Kull, to kill the bloodthorn. The events were already set in motion.
I would destroy the world.
I am the Deathbringer.