Page 153 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Faythe didn’t know how many more times she could withstand the ruin’s furious power tearing through her body. This was her eleventh—or twelfth?—attempt.

She came around, cheek pressed to a cold, unforgiving surface, after having no choice but to reach back to the grip of darkness that offered reprieve. Just for a moment. Faythe knew Reylan would be feeling everything she was. His own pain collided with hers, and the agony was like nothing she’d endured before.

Her gaze took a minute to gain clarity when she managed to peel her lids open. She wasn’t where she expected to be. Usually, she would see blurred colors of amber and brown from the blazing fire in the quiet hut Marvellas had chained Reylan in, high in the sky caves. Then, when she found the will, Faythe would see Reylan, bare torso and sweat-slicked, but utterly silent despite his agony at her attempts to break the ruin embedded in his flesh.

This time, everything was dark. Peaceful. Faythe’s breath rippled over a shallow sheet of water, but she wasn’t cold. In fact, her body felt weightless and free.

“You can’t give up, Faythe.”

Her eyes peeled open fully at the echo of that voice.

Her shock clashed with horror.

Had she failed? Was she dead to be hearing the voice of a dear lost friend?

Faythe found the will to drag her arms and push herself up. Watching the droplets fall off her hair and distort her reflection, her eyes flooded with the emotion that slammed into her chest at seeing another’s face in the water, standing beside her.

“Caius?” she croaked, finally turning her head.

When she found him, a whole and clear picture of him, Faythe sobbed as he smiled in greeting. That warm, boyish smile that had always made her feel comforted, which she’d missed so much.

“Did I die?” she said, voice hoarse.

Faythe couldn’t take her eyes from him, afraid he would disappear in a blink, as she pushed herself up slowly to stand. The pain of challenging the ruin was just a memory in here.

“No. But you could. You have it in you to achieve what she wants, but you’re resisting.”

“I’m not,” Faythe defended, but even though she believed herself, there was a note of a lie settling in her gut.

“Your resistance isn’t conscious, but there’s a part of you still hoping there’s another way. To keep the ruin intact and save Reylan.”

Faythe swallowed painfully against the marble forming in her throat. “Is there a way?”

“I wish there was.”

Faythe’s head bowed in defeat. “If I do it, how am I any better than Marvellas if it condemns the world?”

“The choice you have is a heavy burden, but it is yours to make.”

“What should I do, Caius?” Faythe wept.

He came a step closer. Every piece of him was exactly like she remembered, and it tore her with gratitude and agony to see him here, in this void she could only think was a careful warning before death’s true claim.

“You heart hasn’t led you astray yet. Don’t doubt it now,” he said warmly.

Faythe dared to reach out a hand, and when she didn’t pass through his form, a whimper escaped her, and she fell into him with an embrace.

“I’m so sorry for what happened to you,” she whispered.

“You should know I was prepared for the fate that befell me,” he said. “I knew the chances of walking away from it weren’t high. But it’s different…knowing you’re going to die and being in the moment of dying. I don’t think any amount of time can truly prepare you for that fear.”

Faythe pulled back, a crushing weight of grief threatening to buckle her knees. “You should be here, Caius, not me.”

He huffed a laugh. “I don’t think I could have survived half the things you have since. I’m at peace, Faythe. I knew what I had to do then, and I have no regrets. You didn’t let me be forgotten.”

“Never.” She sniffed.

Caius reached his hand up to swipe away her falling tear. “Nik named an entire city after me. I didn’t know I meant that much to him.”

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