Soul of Ice (Chronicles of Dawn)

Chapter Thirty-Nine

“Stay back, princess!” Eli yelled from beside her, unsheathing his sword in an instant.

She’d seen what that thing was capable of years ago though. A fae wouldn’t stand a chance.

“No, don’t!” she called, but her warning came too late as Eli swung out, much too broadly, leaving his side vulnerable enough for Callen—for the dragon —to force his blade through a space between Eli’s chest plates, and into his ribcage. He reached to snap the fae’s neck without so much as a grunt of effort.

She gasped through the bone-chilling sound, his body dropping lifelessly at the dragon’s feet.

“I’ll confess, I thought you’d be happier to see me after all this time.” Callen tsked, crouching to pluck the blade from the male’s torso while nabbing some loose leather reins from the floors. “But now that it’s just the two of us…” Those scorching irises floated up. “You did miss me, right?”

Her foolish heart made her look at Eli, to ensure his wounds were at least survivable—they were, but that move cost her.

Thankfully, dragons weren’t unnaturally fast like the fae— unfortunately , they were faster than a mortal. Also faster than her affinity could tether to water and conjure a frozen spike in his direction.

He knocked into her, and the spear meant for him burst into the ceiling instead, raining ice on the impact. “I’ll take that as a no.”

The horses nearby rose to their hind legs, their anxious whinnies mixing with the sound of her struggles, and the painful cries of Ezra’s victims outside.

She wanted to scream for him, but what if her calls only made him falter? Made him slip up?

Forcing her against the sealed door with callous ease, he managed to get a few loops around her wrists before the shock of being in the same room as him diminished to pure survival instincts. She thrashed and kicked but it didn’t seem to matter. He was a wall of a male—a beast.

“Don’t make this harder than it has to be,” he gritted out, muscling through every strike.

She did, though, and when she brought her knee up again, this time between his legs, he couldn’t bite through that pain.

The brief recoil that followed his barked curse was all she needed to free a hand. Aiming it for his head, she searched for water, only for her body to retaliate once found. A stream of fire tore through her veins instead, and she muffled a scream as a flare filled the shadows between their faces, originating from the scar on her palm.

When she tried it again, she actually did cry out, the singe of her blood only reinforcing what seemed to be her new reality.

Her affinity for water wouldn’t work on him.

The scar formed a dim glow on the venomous smile peeling his lips back, mingling with the unholy flames of his eyes. “Serves you right,” he sneered, the dark hum of his voice drenching her skin in goosebumps.

His smile persisted throughout their scuffle, and she was such an idiot for thinking there was anything remotely human about the male in front of her. All she could see now was a bastard immortal, finding joy in another’s suffering.

Feeling the air on her exposed skin, Surina wriggled the rest of her thigh free from the fabrics of her skirts. Water may not work on him, but a blade to the chest would. Now she just needed to free her hand.

Noticing the shift of her body, his eyes blazed a path down, to the split in her dress, where her dagger was at the ready. “You’re just a walking armory tonight, aren’t you?”

Eiros make me deadly , she prayed to the God of War, and before the beast could lay a finger on her dagger, a torrent so spiteful, right on par with the ferocity of last night, stretched from all around her, funneling into the dragon with a mighty force. She didn’t even need the help of that power hiding deep inside. It sent him flying backwards, into a wooden structure that housed all the equestrian equipment.

So wind still worked. Good to know.

When he didn’t immediately get up, Surina resheathed the blade, booking it for the nearest saddled horse. Knowing the dragon was here for her and Ezra was the only reason she was able to leave Eli behind. He’d be safer without her.

Latching onto the tethers Ezra used to freeze the door over, Surina willed the ice to dissipate, and launched another force of wind into the entrance of the stables, strong enough to burst the doors wide open.

Barreling through the heavy screen of fog on horseback, she didn’t know which way was which, only that she needed to create distance.

Screams sounded all around her as she raced into a new nightmare, wind whipping at her hair and skin. A faint glow appeared just ahead. She squinted her eyes through the sting of tears, trying to make out the silhouette—

Her horse reared back unexpectedly, tossing her from the saddle. Surina gritted her teeth through the lance of pain that cracked into her shoulder on the impact. By the time she managed to climb to her feet, her horse was long gone.

“When does it end?” she groaned, her breaths uneven as she spun to face every strike of metal or shout dancing all around her, halting when those hovering orbs of vibrant sky-blue returned.

While clutching her injured shoulder, she winced through the withdrawal of her dagger, ushering in a sweeping ripple of air to clear the fog surrounding those lights, and she really fucking wished she hadn’t.

Her heart jumped to her throat.

A dragon with ivory scales, as pale and radiant as the moon above, was waiting for her. It studied her with a prowling interest. Smaller than the creature of flame, sure, but those teeth were no less lethal.

Quickly tethering to the fog, she pulled that curtain right back over it, and swiveled on her heels, launching into a sprint in the opposite direction.

Its roar thundered behind her, in front of her—all around her. Like its call was the wind itself.

At that point, she didn’t know where she was running, only that some inexplainable instinct took over, like invisible will-o’-wisps, urging her to follow—to meet her fate. Whatever fate lie ahead would be better than the one at her back, so she obeyed it.

Freezing hands gripped at her through the haze, and she swiveled to plunge the dagger into the center of whoever detained her, flinching through the tearing affliction in her shoulder.

It sank into her target without much resistance. Or maybe it was the adrenaline that just made it seem that way.

A distinct growl of displeasure ensued, and her body leeched of all feeling as she glanced between blue-green irises and the blood that belonged to them now staining her hands.

“ Ezra! ” She reached for the hilt to pry it from his chest, but before her hand could grab on, he shoved her, knocking her to the ground and jerking the blade free in one sweep of his arm.

He pivoted in place, turning to catch a body that lunged through the air. The dastardly snarl that followed his roll with the attacker made her stomach clench. It didn’t take Ezra any time at all to get the upper hand, though, forcing the dagger in with enough speed and strength to pierce the dark plates of his armor.

Then, Ezra’s head snapped up, violence stitched into the lines of his brows. “You’re supposed to be gone!” he barked, his wound already sealing itself.

No comment on how she’d stabbed him in the chest? Just a hair away from him lying on the cold earth at her feet?

“ He’s here,” was all her trembling lips could form.

An unforgiving heat seared her palm then, just as earlier, but this time it felt like something was digging around— hunting through her blood with molten claws. A light poured from the sun scar, illuminating the disbelief on Ezra’s cruel features.

“ No. ” He shook his head, a ghastly acknowledgment brewing in his widened eyes. “That can’t be.”

A deafening, skin-crawling gnarl rumbled from the shroud. That sound was a haunting memory, never letting her forget the beast she knew in her heart would return, she just chose not to believe it.

Then, through no power of theirs, winds swirled outwards, shredding their curtain of concealment.

And there, apart from the remaining intruders, awaited Callen, in his true form—a midnight creature of flame. Flecks of ember drifted from his blackened scales, like wood in a hearth. The flare of his nostrils gave off a puff of air, kicking up dirt with a cloud of smog.

They were surrounded, regardless of direction. So either they could face down twelve remaining fae, or a fire dragon—and while she couldn’t see it, she knew there was another dragon lurking somewhere.

Ezra brought his lips to her temple, masking his next words. “When I move, run as fast as you can to the forest. Run until you can’t anymore. I’ll handle the fae. The beast can’t use the skies with all the ballistae, and it can’t traverse the woods in that form. He’ll have to shift back to follow you on foot. I’ll get to him before he can get to you.”

That might work if the dragon only wanted Surina, but he didn’t. She was a prize of convenience and that’s all. Ezra was the one who killed Emryn. Ezra would be their revenge.

She looked to her king—color was drained from his already fair skin, having used more magic in one night than she’d ever witnessed him use in her lifetime. Plus, the dagger he’d taken to the chest. With his speed, he could easily make it out alive. He was only staying for her.

“I’m not leaving you again.” Because she knew what leaving him would mean this time.

“Don’t do this to me, Surina. I need you to say that you will run.” Ezra shook her arm when he spoke, a glossiness filling those beseeching eyes as their choices dwindled with the first step of a fae in their direction.

“Not without you,” she reaffirmed, following the drag of Callen’s claws as they raked closer.

“Gods-dammit,” he snapped, going rigid with anticipation. “Where the fuck are Kian’s men?”

She would have seconded that question, if not for the jarring gnash of teeth Callen presented to one of the fae who drew a sword from his back.

This was it. The last meager moments before absolute chaos. “If we survive this, I want you to stop me, like you did last night.”

“What are you—”

“Just promise me you will.”

He nodded, not needing to say it, because he already had , by placing this ring on her finger. He would always be there when she needed him. She could feel it in her heart or soul, or whatever it was that bound their fates together. And just like the endless serpent of fate, another slithered into her mind, cracking the door open before she could even knock, as if it was expecting her.

“My magic doesn’t always work on him.” She sucked in air as power swelled from their surroundings.

“I’ll take the beast. You just hold them off as long as you can. And Surina,” he whispered, the soft glide of his finger along the back of her hand breaking her stare-down with the dragon. “Don’t hold back this time.”

Surina kept his gaze, the static now trailing her skin as it had last night, but instead of fighting it, she let it take over. “I won’t.”

Really, all it wanted was for her to accept its wicked invitation, and now, with their backs against the wall, and death clawing at their ankles, it didn’t feel so wicked anymore.

It felt like salvation.

As the tethers to the elements offered themselves up, she connected with the security of the solid earth first, hoping it would ground her before the worst of it came. Like the rocks on the shore standing strong through rattling tides.

It bent to her will in a matter of seconds, trembling with bridled obedience, and so she connected with more. The winds were next, then the water in the air, the trees in the forest—it all washed over her, until that rush of power filled every pore of her body, numbing her flesh to the onslaught of winds and the dreaded sounds of Ezra clashing with the fire beast. Even the faint pulses at her necklace were drowned out.

By then, the fae didn’t look so sure, and the thing that took hold of her preyed on their apprehension.

Lurching forward, the earth cracked under the force of her will , tearing a hole into the ground beneath four fae and swallowing them up. The fourth almost found his way out, but with a twitch of her finger, roots burst from the ground, latching onto the male’s legs to drag him back under. She could feel the vibrations of their screams through the earth, but their cries waned in the sounds of rolling thunder.

The remaining fae, each with their weapons drawn, still neared, as if death were a better alternative to failure.

More —she needed more. Trees crumpled and splintered as she took what was needed from the elements. That new wave of power morphed into a strange tingle at her fingertips. Fibers of lightning spun in the sky, collecting into one solid thread that tore into the earth just feet away. Dirt and debris erupted, separating her from the intruders. It touched down again, and again, keeping them all at bay.

A heat in her palm had her turning to face two beings in an elemental showdown. Fire and ice rose from their fury. While she’d taken a step back from control of her body, it still felt like her wants held some sway, and she knew she had to put an end to it.

That same tickle coiled her fingertips, and she understood now. The building pressure of the atmosphere—it was her . She was the winds and the storms. She was the earth and the tides.

She was everything but flame.

Because he stole it from her. He took what didn’t belong to him.

Angling her palm in the direction of the fire beast, the clouds glittered with a suspenseful array of light. Summery warmth trickled through her blood as she and the dragon locked stares.

A sharp crack through the night sounded and something funneled into her, knocking the wind from her lungs before she could even hit the ground. The echoes of gnashing teeth and snarls rang out as she moaned, choking for air and curling to grip where she’d been struck in her abdomen.

Her hand came up clean, but her body said otherwise. There should be blood—there should be a gaping wound where the pain was growing too cruel.

Cool hands slid through the knots of her hair, gently hoisting her head from the ground.

“It hurts,” she hissed between her teeth, that being now retreating to its hole in her mind, leaving her alone with the full force of the affliction.

“Surina… look at me…” Ezra’s words faded in and out with her consciousness. “Where does it hurt?”

Footsteps trudged close, and a snarl vibrated through Ezra as he shoved a ring of air outwards, sending the rushing fae back to buy a few more moments.

Nausea climbed its way up her spine in a heated sweat, and only her mind slipping away prevented it from coming out.

A blast of flurried wind tossed her back into consciousness long enough for her to see a faint glow forming on the side of his face. Her head rolled sideways, allowing an unhindered view of the spark of flame igniting within the mouth of the dark monster—aimed right at them.

Ezra threw his body over hers, conjuring a frosted sphere.

A sea of cascading fire toppled over them, immediately breaking the barrier he’d projected. Ezra tensed around her when the initial impact didn’t consume them, but whirled past, leaving them untouched by the scathing licks of endless, blazing ocean.

Ezra tilted his head, only enough to meet her gaze—blue-green eyes awash with awe beneath the blanket of light. A shiver coursed her spine at the vision of him. Or maybe it was how cold she was, even as the world around them burned away into ash and fire.

With one last tender stroke of his thumb against her cheek, his lips moved to say something she couldn’t hear before pressing a kiss to her fevered head. The rumbling giant withdrew the molten curtain, revealing itself, and what it left behind.

Apart from them, not one fae survived.

“ Ezra ,” she whimpered, a stinging tear mixed with sorrow and pain sliding down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

Sorry she couldn’t do more. Sorry to have wasted years pretending to hate him, when all she ever wanted was to know him—truly know him. Sorry that this was all the time they’d been allotted.

He shushed her, pressing a frigid palm to where she clutched her injury, abating some of the swelling with his magic. “This isn’t goodbye.” Despite his words, a grave defeat was etched into the weary lines of his face. His hand searched for something at her side. “Whatever bodies our souls may end up in next, rest assured, I will find you.” He brought her blood-stained fingers to his lips. “You are mine, Surina Fairlight. In this life and the next.”

She glanced down to where he lifted a red-hued blade that had been left behind by a fallen fae.

Crouched over her, Ezra faced the fire beast, provoking a malevolent growl.

Before either could make a move against one another, the ground trembled beneath them, breaking open for clusters of roots to surge from the cracks to twine Ezra’s wrists and throat. They cinched tight, lurching backwards to bend his spine in an unnatural curve, until it snapped .

If a heart could shatter, hers surely did. Turning to bits of glass in her veins as the blade fell from his grasp, and then him alongside it.

Surina’s agonizing cry pierced the air as she bit through the spreading pain in her abdomen to reach for him. Her fingers barely managed to brush his cheek before her hand was pulled away.

She was too weak to fight the arm that curled around her back—too weak to wrestle away the hand that pressed a cloth to her mouth.

Surina’s rage-induced scream poured into the potent fabric. Her head nodded several times as an artificial exhaustion saturated her lungs, and then her body next.

The last she saw were swirls of green lights before darkness reined her in.