But then doubt set in. I was in the clear. Nyx’s soldiers had released me. The First Angel no longer believed me to be a traitor. Her suspicions had shifted to Damiel. My father would never risk his career, let alone risk his life, for Damiel Dragonsire. Quite the contrary. He’d be glad to see the angel he mistrusted above all others gone from this Earth. He probably shared Nyx’s belief that Damiel was guilty.
Well, I did not.
The blinding light began to fade. My eyes were returning to normal. I blinked, not understanding what I was seeing.
Nyx and her soldiers were gone. Storm Castle was gone. Damiel and I were back in the temple’s treasure room. And the Sapphire Tear still rested on its pedestal, unclaimed.
Faith stood in front of us. “I knew you had it in you,” she said to Damiel.
A crinkle formed between his eyes. “This was a test.” His voice was low, hard.
“A test of your character, yes,” replied Faith. “A test to see if you could look past all your suspicion, see past all the supposed evidence, to feel what is right.” A smile lit up her face. “And you passed. You are a worthy Immortal Heir.”
“Damiel is the Immortal Heir?” I asked.
“You are both heirs to the Immortal Legacy,” said Faith. “You are bearers of Immortal blood, descendants of the Immortals who once ruled the known universe. People of light and dark magic, of active and passive magic.” She braided her fingers together. “We have been waiting millennia for this day—the day the heirs seized their destiny and claimed these immortal artifacts.”
Damiel considered her closely. “You are not a simple fire bearer in this temple.”
Her smile widened. “No, I’m not.” Magic rippled across her body, and she began to glow.
“You are the guardian spirit,” I realized.
“Yes. Long have I waited to find a worthy heir to the Immortal Legacy, and now there are two.” She gestured toward the pedestal. “Take the Sapphire Tear, Damiel Dragonsire. Take it and claim your destiny.”
Damiel looked at the dagger for a long moment, then he stepped forward to take it. As his fingers closed around the hilt, a pleasant buzz rippled up my arm from the Diamond Tear in my hand.
“Now go, heirs to the Immortal Legacy,” said Faith. “Wield these immortal artifacts in battle. Use them to expel the Hive and save the people of this world.”
“And then?” I asked.
There was more to this than a single battle. I knew there was.
Faith smiled. “You shall see. Your journey has only just begun.”
23
Fusion
Damiel and I ran out of the Reliquary, through the throne room, and up the stairs to the foyer. Unlike in Faith’s illusion, the real Hive soldiers hadn’t yet broken through the temple gates. The doors shook, rattling violently with every hit. It sounded like the Hive was pounding against them with some kind of battering ram, supercharged with their collective magic spells.
“What are you doing in here!” shouted the blue lady, the Magic Eater who’d enthusiastically condemned us outside the temple before dragging us into town.
She was busily directing a group of Magic Eaters in their efforts to reenforce the gate.
“They stole the Sapphire Tear,” growled her friend, the red lady. “They broke into the Reliquary.”
Anger flashed in the blue lady’s eyes—but then she saw the Sapphire Tear was glowing in Damiel’s hand, and the Diamond Tear in mine.
“Those daggers only glow when wielded by the Immortal Heir,” she said in a hushed whisper.
The red lady’s wide eyes locked onto the two glowing daggers. She and her friend were frozen. Frozen by this reminder of the Immortals’ power—and their rekindled belief that those deities of the past were still watching over them, still helping them, even to this day.
“The Immortals sent you to us to save us,” said the blue lady, her voice reverent.
“We’ll do our best,” I replied, even though she’d planned to throw us onto the bonfire. I wasn’t going to let everyone here die because they had a few trigger-happy nuts living among them.
“How many enemy soldiers are there?” Damiel asked them, practical as always.
“Two hundred,” the red lady told him.
That was more than there had been in Faith’s illusion.
“There are twice as many soldiers here now compared to the force the Hive sent for their last raid on our temple,” the blue lady said. “And we barely managed to push them back that time. I hope you have a few tricks up your sleeves.”
“Always,” I said.
Magic flashed, and my wings appeared. White and shiny, the tips shimmering like the sun, they glowed as brightly as the daggers. Beside me, Damiel had let out his wings as well. The black feathers were as dark as a starless night. Looking at his wings felt like staring into the endless abyss.
The blue lady gaped at us. “This is the Immortals’ will,” she muttered.
“The prophecy is coming true. The Heirs have come to pave the way for the Immortals’ return.” The red lady looked at us, stars in her eyes. “You were chosen.” She bowed her head.
Wood groaned and cracked. The gates split open. Daggers raised, Damiel and I rushed forward to plug the stream of Hive soldiers pouring into the temple. The glow spread from the daggers we held, encasing our bodies. Smooth and silky, warm and comforting, I felt the dagger’s power connect to me and my magic.
But that wasn’t all. I could feel Damiel’s dagger too. And through it, Damiel himself. It was like everything had melted together—our magic and minds, our bodies and souls. I could no longer tell where I ended and Damiel or the daggers began. We were all one in that moment of perfect fusion and harmony. My mind was clear. Everything was clear. I knew what we needed to do. We all knew what we needed to do.
Our magic blended perfectly, combining with the daggers’ spell-breaking and teleporting powers. Together, we broke the bonds between the Hive soldiers. We turned them from one cohesive unit, into a bunch of disjointed parts and pieces. Then we opened up a portal and sent them far, far away—back to their own world.
But we didn’t stop there. Our magic dove deeper, disconnecting the Hive’s magic mirrors that linked their world to other worlds. Other worlds they would raid for treasures. We exiled the Hive, isolating them on their own world. So they could never hurt anyone ever again.
Every step of the way, I was so sure of what to do and how to do it. It felt like I was accessing a memory, yet I could not remember ever doing anything like this before.
It felt so different than Faith’s illusion. There, the magic had just happened. There hadn’t been this sense of peace, of purpose, like we were meant to do this.
Well, of course there hadn’t been anything deeper. That had been only an illusion. And this was more real than anything I’d ever done.
Our spell now complete, the Hive soldiers were gone. It was just us and the Magic Eaters now.
The glow faded from my body and the Diamond Tear. I sighed, still basking in those wonderful feelings of wielding the daggers, of connecting to them, to Damiel. I looked at him, for the first time truly seeing him. I’d seen into his soul, and he’d seen into mine.