Page 3 of An Archer's Redemption

I staggered but shook off the shock and thrust the might of my magical reserves at her invading essence.

Fear’s tentacles recoiled as Irina’s angry screech echoed in my head.

“Resist me all you like. Your pitiful power is no match for my will. I will consume your mind and force you to watch as the world burns.”

A shaft of the rising sun glinted off the crown now pillowed in the snow. I snatched it up and slipped it onto my head. A wave of power swelled within my chest and drove me to my knees, but it bolstered my Light with immeasurable strength. I never knew the crown gave more than the seven Gifts, but now I understood it also magnified the innate power of the one who bore its weight.

My lips curled as I called out to my former pupil.

“No! You shall not have me like you did Isabel. I have not survived a thousand years only to lose myself to afailedsorceress. I loved you, Irina, but you will not have me now!” I clenched my eyes shut and began muttering a spell, each word stabbing into her invading tendrils. They writhed before me, flailing and thrashing.

When I completed my incantation, the spirit of Irina flinched as though burned, then fled my body and materialized as a spiritual vapor before me.

Hatred burned within her eyes.

“This is not over, Betrayer. The circle was broken, and I am free. When you are weakest, youwillbecome my Vessel, and this world will burn. I will see to that!”

“Irina!” I cried out, but her spirit turned and dissolved into the wind.

I tore the crown from my brow and hurled it to the frozen ground, its malicious intent and unyielding strength ebbingthe moment it was cast aside. Tears formed as I watched the apparition of my lost love fade, leaving me truly alone on the mountain peak, staring blankly at the wintery sky.

Chapter 2

Danai

“Irina, how have we come to this?” I muttered to myself as I wiped a tear from my eye, the first to fall in more years than I could count.

Our confrontation had left me shaken.

She’d turned on me so quickly. She’d born such anger and hatred.

She’d spewed her venom—towardme.

And yet, there was a part of me that would always love her. I knew it in the marrow of my bones. I could not see her face, hear her voice, recall the scent she so often wore, without longing to hold her in my arms. Irina consumed my thoughts for centuries, and no anger or bitterness could burn away such deep-rooted yearning.

That caused her words to sting ever more.

How could she think I’d turn against her? Me, a betrayer? I could never . . .

But did I?

I had spent years nursing her back to emotional health following the murder of her parents. I was her strength, her rock, and her shield. I saw the vulnerable girl she used to be in my mind, her rich, ebony hair flowing beyond her shoulders. I saw the quirk of her mouth when she was amused and the way her eyes widened when she laughed. I saw the tilt of her head when she sought answers to some riddle, and the twitch of her lips when she grew annoyed.

I don’t know if I recognized the feelings that drove me back then, but a thousand years of reflecting helped me realize how much I had fallen in love with her. Every night, for centuries, I dreamed of her return—her returnto me.

Mine was no quest. I had no delusions of grandeur or desires for power. I held no aims higher than to reclaim a woman’s touch, to see her eyes brighten when they fell upon me. My only desire was a life filled with her laughter and the joy of her companionship.

She’d become embittered following her parents’ deaths—as anyone might—but I still saw the young girl, the young woman, the one I loved, hidden beneath her gaze. She was there. I could bring her back, will her into daylight.

If only I had the chance, one moment, to show her the depth of my love . . .

I thought it would be easy.

But returning her to the world of life proved to be the work of many lifetimes.

The words created by her spell couldn’t be that hard to interpret, I thought; but the answer to their riddle eluded me. For centuries, they remained obscured, though etched in stone.

So, I invented the Children to help unravel the spell’s mysteries.

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