Page 67 of Ecliptic

“Why?” I wanted to scream, and maybe I did.The darkness was going to find me one day anyway. Why not just end it all now?

“Because I need you. I need you to choose to come back.”

Suddenly, Nepta’s words rang through me:You must choose which beast to nourish, the one who heals or the one who destroys.Her words made it sound like a choice.

But did I? Have a choice?

I could focus on all that was dying or dead, but neither of those scenarios anchored me in the present or allowed me to admire the beauty of the now.

The weight threatened to pull me under as glimpses of the dark cave and slumbering demons flashed before me. Dark figures twisted and churned in their cocoons, but I was one of them.No, I was all of them—a part of their hive mind.

Images of my face appeared over and over again in the shared mind, thousands of times and from every angle. Their mind focused on one task and one task only.

Find. Find. Find.

Take. Take. Take.

Ours. Ours. Ours.

The cave echoed with their chilling, sleeping chant. Their collective consciousness was searching for me. A whole sleeping army was seeing my face, dreaming of destroying any obstacle in their way to bite into my skin and tear through my flesh. I saw them lifting my limp, bloody body in their arms, reverently, as if delivering me like a precious offering to Erovos.

Once that mission was complete, they would have full reign to unleash their terror unto the world.

“Keira!” I heard Rowen and Takoda scream my name.

Instead of falling into the darkness, I pulled back, desperately searching until I found the vibrant thread of Alvar’s life. I waded through endless strands that conglomerated together like sticky spider webs. If I didn’t find it soon, the war captain would be lost to the hive mind.

I batted away at the thick ropes that caught on my limbs and slowed me down. When suddenly, in the sea of dark webbing, I saw a bright strand.

There it was! The thread of Alvar’s life. It was strong, resilient, and beautiful. But turning. And fast.

With a concentrated effort, I summoned a gentle blast of Light, incinerating the darkness within Alvar. I flushed out the blight that would have turned him into a Voro-Kai—a being that would hunt me to the ends of the earth.

Slowly, my vision returned, and my veins faded from black to silver, a familiar, comforting glow emanating from my body. I dropped his arm, our veins shimmering as we both blinked back to our bodies.

Rowen and Takoda sagged with relief, their tension melting away.

“You did it, star-touched,” Takoda said, awe etched on his long, slender face.

Rowen wrapped his hand around the base of my skull and pulled me in until our foreheads touched. His warmth and strength brought me back to my senses.

Alvar flexed his arm and rolled it at the socket, his eyes wide with wonder. “Thank you, he whispered, his hazy stare filled with gratitude. “I was wrong. You are no weakened mare. You are the Alcreon Daughter, and you have saved my life.”

I offered him a weak smile before I glanced up, realizing wehad attracted a crowd of worried villagers. Their faces were a mix of fear and relief, solidifying how real this war had become. So far, the Wyn elves had been shielded from the impending darkness. But now it had crossed through their front door.

Terror churned in my gut like acid. There was officially nowhere left to hide.

25

The Summit gathered at the Sacred Vale, each member in their usual chairs, including Alvar. He looked exhausted but determined, his arm cleared of the blight. Others who were not part of the Summit also joined. Everyone needed to be here for this, including Maddock. I’d gone to his cell and told him he could come if he kept a low profile. Nepta had called off his security detail since he helped bring water back to the village, but still, I didn’t want to push it.

Everyone gathered around the stone table, its smooth surface reflecting the anxious faces of those assembled. Among us was Dyani. Her nostrils flared, and her chest heaved beneath her jerkin, betraying the turmoil within.

I had just returned from where her brother was last seen, but during my time in the crevice, I hadn’t seen Demil. It pained me that I didn’t bring better news for her, for everyone. At least the roaring waterfalls had returned.

Once everyone settled, I took a deep breath and recounted the harrowing events of the last twenty-four hours. I explained how I’d fallen into Erovos’ trap and faced his new breed of demons. I described the earth-shaking tremor that had alloweda demon to slip through the crevice, attacking our scout party and nearly transforming our war captain into a Voro-Kai.

“While I battled the demons,” I continued, choking down the tremor in my voice. “I discovered a slumbering Voro-Kai army waiting to mature.”

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