Page 134 of Queen of Thorns
Rev
Idon’t have to seethe fight to know what just happened.
Everyone grows still. The battle pauses. Only the heavy breathing of the ancient beast remains filling the darkness. The light of the Ancient King has been snuffed out.
The Night Bringer howls in angry triumph.
“Who is next?” His voice rumbles. He tries to step forward, but his paw stops midair.
I continue forcing every ounce of my power into the spell, stitching itself around the Night Bringer. He didn’t notice its claws in his back. He was too distracted to realize that the magic grasping him wasn’t just from the Light King. It was from me, from the spell book.
His eyes flare. “What did you do?”
The Night Bringer throws his weight at the barrier in front of him. He pulls at the anchors of magic stuck into his back.
Kari, Ty and Aurora crawl up from a nearby ledge, watching the magical binding with awestruck wonder. They were too late to help. Now we just have to hope we had enough time. That we have enough power to complete the spell.
I roar in pain as the magic begins to rip from my grasp. “The Light King isn’t here to complete it. I don’t know if I can finish it.”
Caelynn pulls a glowing stone from her pocket and holds it out. “Together,” she says. Then she places her palm on my chest, hurling as much of her magic into me as possible.
The Night Bringer roars, sending stones raining down on us as he shakes the very foundation of the mountain. Kari and Ty throw their hands up, working the stone above to remain where it is. If he manages to bury us, we’ll never complete the spell.
“It’s almost done!” Caelynn yells.
“But we’re almost out of magic!” I yell back. The Night Bringer roars and claws at the spell. It’s not finished. The chains are not complete. I push my magic again but feel the end of it. My well is dry...
No. No, it can’t end like this. So close, so very close.
Then, another set of small hands land on my chest.
My eyes flash up to find the little human girl I saved all those months before holding me. She sends her magic into me.
My own magic, gifted to her, flashes into my body.
It’s stronger than I expected. The wave of renewed power explodes from the three of us, connecting us, drowning all three of us in light.
And when the wave recedes, the Night Bringer is silent.
The monstrous unmoving form of the Night Bring is muzzled and bound tightly in glowing white chains.
