Page 105 of King of Fire and Flames

“Guess I’m fucked, then,” said Arrow. “Let’s find out for sure.” He lurched forward, stood on the tips of Melaya’s boots, and then shoved him off the dais, leaping after him with his sword raised.

Power surged around the mage, and a whooshing sound tore through the air at the same time blinding orange light exploded. I squeezed my eyes shut, opening them two heartbeats later.

Arrow was gone.

Heart pounding, I scanned the arena.

No sign of him.

Where in the hells was he?

Spying the sword on the ground where Arrow must have dropped it, I ran forward, snatching it up and turning toward Melaya as he walked back up the dais stairs toward Ari with slow, deliberate steps. She unsheathed a knife from the belt on her hip and bent her knees, ready to pounce on him.

“Sayeeda, wait!” Estella’s voice rang through the air. She strode across the arena with Nukala slumped in her arms, a knife sticking out of his heart and blood pouring from the wound.

The flames in Melaya’s eyes flared brighter. “Star Witch,” he shouted, his voice reverberating with fury and banked power. I closed my eyes for a moment, praying the death of his twin had diminished his strength, just as we’d hoped it would.

“I saved my brother from drowning. Blocked your magic. And yet, you undid it. How?”

“That’s my business, Mage. And I believe we are now even,” said the queen. “Your greed has caused the death of my only child. But unfortunately for you, I am not so easy to kill. You shouldn’t have left Nukala’s bathroom so soon. But you were too eager to hurry off and attempt to claim more power, and now you’ve paid the price. Your twin is dead, and all you have left without him is limited magic. So how will you choose to use it?”

Melaya’s black robes swirled as he shot forward, swooped Ari up, then blasted into the sky, tucking her under his arm. Then they disappeared.

“No,” I yelled at the same time Raiden howled like a wounded wolf.

Estella dropped Nukala, and his body crumpled on the dirt. She released a high-pitched scream, the sound as terrifying as a thousand banshees wailing at a funeral.

With her head back, mouth open wide, she raised her palms to the sky and crouched low, her entire body shaking. An answering drone reverberated from the planets above, growing louder and shriller, until the ground shook, and I thought my eardrums might explode.

The air in the arena pulsed as the stars embroidered on Estella’s black gown peeled away from the material and swirled in a spiraling mass into the celestial dome above. It changed color from sparkling silver to flat black, creating a strange void directly above us.

Bats, birds, and glowing insects spun through the sky, sucked into the black hole’s gravitational pull. I ground my teeth and did my best to keep my boots planted on the ground, my flesh crawling as though the force of the dark chasm pulled me toward its depths.

Wind whipped, tearing at my clothes and hair, and with horror, I watched my fingernails grow, as if every part of me yearned to merge with the cosmic void.

New screams of terror pierced the night as everyone in the arena experienced the same symptoms, nearly drowning out Estella’s chanting. She had the voice of a goddess, resonating with ancient, destructive power. The queen was a realm destroyer.

Just when my organs felt like they would burst through my skin, Melaya suddenly appeared in the sky again, his wings beating wildly against the void’s force.

Estella’s power had reeled him back like a fish caught on a hook.

The mage’s mouth tore open in a grimace of terror as he screamed and screamed, the Sayeeda hanging limp in his arms.

“Ari,” I yelled.

Estella stopped chanting, her eyes closed and hands moving in an elaborate pattern. Melaya cried out again, clawing desperately against the hungry void as a ball of light, the queen’s star magic, exploded on his left shoulder.

He released Ari, and as she tumbled down, the queen whipped her hand toward the ground, and a blanket of light appeared a few feet above it, glittering as if it was made of stars.

Ari landed on the protective barrier, rolled off and onto her feet, and then ran toward the exit. I’d never seen her move so fast, but she was wise to put as much distance between herself and Melaya as possible.

I looked up and watched the void swallow the tail of Melaya’s cloak—the rest of him had already disappeared inside it. Good fucking riddance, I thought, as Estella crumpled to the ground.

Stars flowed from the void, reversing their spiral and spreading across the sky. And the moment the night reabsorbed the cosmic hole, the droning sound stopped, silver pinpricks glittering serenely in the sky, and the unruly wind settling at last.

“Help the queen,” I said to anyone nearby who might respond. I couldn’t stay. I needed to find Arrow and Ari, make sure they were all right.

Ruhh appeared at my side and pointed at the group of fae gathering around Estella. “Don’t worry, Zali. I will oversee the queen’s treatment.”

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