Page 137 of An Archer's Redemption

The rage fell from their faces.

Their heads lowered and stilled.

I drew my will into my Light and cast it into each of the seven, commanding them, Compelling them into action.

As one, they turned and encircled Irina.

Each spirit placed an ethereal hand on her body, and their energy flooded into her. The seven’s images dimmed, and Irina’s form grew brighter and brighter as they poured their essence into her.

When the spirits had faded to reflections of themselves, and Irina glowed so intensely it hurt to look upon her, each phantom released their touch and shattered before my eyes, sending specks of brilliant light in every direction.

Irina thrashed and screamed as her spirit was expelled from its mortal shell.

The body that fell to the floor transformed, its hair turned from black to silver, its skin wrinkling, until Larinda’s kind eyes looked up. She smiled as her Light faded and her own soul drifted into night.

Irina’s spirit, now ethereal, raged against its confinement, but the circle would not yield. Its lines blazed like the sun each time she tried to penetrate its borders.

I braced myself for the jolt I knew would come, then began the incantation my mother made me learn before I lost her in theWell. The words were foreign and meant nothing to me, but their invocation stirred ancient magic to life.

Irina’s spirit writhed as she fought my commands.

She darted around the circle, thrashed against its shield. She screamed every curse a thousand years of life had taught her.

Yet nothing would stop the unshakable force of my will.

As I uttered the final words, Irina’s spirit howled one final time and shattered into brilliant points of light.

When the chamber dimmed, nothing remained of the great Empress Irina.

I slumped to my knees and hung my head, exhausted.

One spirit, barely visible in her faded blue smock, floated to hover before me. I looked up, and we locked eyes.

As the wind whispers across a winter field, her voice drifted across my consciousness.

“Tell Keelan thank you for trying to save me. He is the best of us.”

Tiana’s form scattered, sparkled like shimmering snowflakes, then winked out.

I snatched up Irina’s ruined crown and ran to the end of the chamber where Atikus lay unmoving. Blood no longer leaked from the cut on his forehead, but it pooled beneath his neck.

There were even more cuts on his hands and face.

A trickle dribbled from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes stared into nothing.

“Atikus, look at me! Please, if you can hear me, open your eyes,” I begged.

Nothing.

“Atikus, don’t you die on me. You hear me, old man. Don’t you dare . . .” Tears streaked my dust-covered face, and a swell of panic threatened to overwhelm my senses.

But Atikus needed me.

This, I could do.

I steadied myself, then placed both palms above the Mage’s chest. Brilliant Light flared from my palms and flowed into Atikus. I found internal damage—so much damage—and broken ribs, one now piercing the Mage’s lung.

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