Then again, neither was Braelynn.
I had met so many on this journey that were now either gone or apart from us, their paths tangling with mine in a twisted way that nearly sent me over the edge in a frenzy of frustration and worry.
“I can see your brow furrowing,” Easton whispered. “Tell me your troubles.”
“I’m just thinking about Drake. And everyone else we’ve met. Even the new Unkindness of Fire, or the small groups of people who came together because of a common purpose and have now bowed before me. How am I supposed to use their promises to defeat The Gray when it could mean their lives? What have I done to deserve this?”
“You have fought and bled on the battlefield. You died once, nearly died again. And yet, you still ask this question?”
“I’ve only done things others have. I have all these powers, yet they don’t seem to be enough when pitted against someone who doesn’t follow any rule known to man or Maison.”
“You have the crystals within you. They shattered, and their power drained and broke because of what our realm did before you even stepped foot into it. You will save them. You will save us all.”
“That kind of pressure doesn’t help,” I said honestly.
“I know. That’s why I try not to say things like that too often. But it’s still the truth. And I will be by your side helping you, no matter what. The Gray may not follow any set rules, but there has to be some type of code or magical rules he does follow. He can’t bend and break every law out there and remain whole.”
“I’m not sure that’s the case anymore.” I leaned into Easton for a bit, my eyes drooping as he ran his hand down my back. Braelynn purred in my lap. I could almost pretend that this was all a dream. That we were sitting at home and living a pleasant and soothing life. An existence where we weren’t scared to leave our homes or scared of what was coming.
That wasn’t really the truth, was it?
For the moment, I could pretend that we were safe.
My eyes had just drifted shut when a shout came from behind us. Easton and I were on our feet in an instant, Braelynn right by my side, growing into the size of a panther, her wings back as if ready to attack.
She growled, and I looked up to see Luken coming towards us, his sword covered in black blood, a gash on his side.
“Negs,” he growled out.
One word, and horror filled me.
The Negs. They had been working for Lore, now they were working for The Gray. Though, in essence, they always had been, hadn’t they?
“Everybody stick together!” I shouted.
Easton smashed his mouth to mine, a quick kiss that spoke of all the things we couldn’t say. In an instant, we were fighting, back to back, the Negs coming at us with such intensity that I almost stood there in silence, just staring at them. I had never seen so many in one place before. They kept spilling out of the trees as if there were an endless supply, all waiting to tear us limb from limb. They were the absence of magic, the lack of life and light.
They were the result of a fractured realm.
And they were controlled by chaos himself.
Dozens poured out of the tree line as Teagan and Wyn and Rhodes came to our sides, each ready to Wield. I didn’t think it would be enough.
Not with how many we were facing.
Suddenly, there was no more time to think. The Neg closest to me jumped on top of me. I pushed out my Air Wielding, and it slammed into him, but he kept coming. I let out a curse.
“These are stronger than the last ones,” Rhodes called out, echoing my thoughts.
“That means Lyric’s Wielding won’t be as effective,” Easton added.
“I can see that,” I said, slamming my Fire Wielding into the next Neg, but it wasn’t good enough. I had to use more and more power, and my energy reserves were already drained from having to use so much against the chimeras earlier.
There was no time to think, no chance for us to shout out directions to help each other.
We were all fighting as hard as we could, but it didn’t look like it was going to be enough. The closest Neg bit into my calf, and I screamed. Easton’s gaze shot towards me, and I yelled, trying to warn him, but it was too late. Another Neg jumped on him, clawing at his shoulder. He punched it with his Earth Wielding, burying the Neg in the ground before slowly staggering to his feet, blood pouring from his wound. I limped away from my now-dead Neg, cursing all the while. Easton had been distracted because of me; because I wasn’t fast enough.
I shot out more Water Wielding, and then Earth Wielding, taking out another Neg, and then another. Blood poured from my wound, and I saw that the others were bleeding and screaming all around me.
There had to be at least sixty Negs around us, and they were far stronger than I had ever seen before. Far stronger than us, even with us fighting as a unit.
Energy pulsed within me, and I started shaking, punching a Neg in the face using my Fire Wielding as it came closer.
I didn’t recognize this energy. It was new to me, foreign.
The dark and the light crystal reached out to me as one, yanking me to something. But I didn’t know what.
It spiked energy within me, pulled at my skin, my muscles, and my ligaments as if trying to escape. I didn’t understand how or why.
The crystals within me slid through my body as if trying to merge, attempting to do something. I really didn’t understand it.
Then I reached out towards the next Neg, and some power that wasn’t mine seeped out of my skin, drawing blood.
I could hear Wyn’s shocked gasp from beside me as I fell to my knees, blood pouring out of my pores as the crystals’ magic tried to escape, attempted to attack the Negs.
I dug my fingers into the ground, the soil rich and intoxicating as I pulled at my Earth Wielding. The water particles in the air attached to my Water Wielding, the same with my Air magic. Fire leapt at my skin, singeing the blood the crystals had awakened and making it hiss.
I could hear my friends screaming my name, but I couldn’t focus. Instead, I pulsated along some phantom edge of agony and bliss as the crystals burst from within me, moving just a short distance. I threw my head back, power erupting from my eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. Everywhere. Then there were screams, the Negs’ bellows as they burned to ash, falling dead at our feet.
I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think.
I fell onto my side, felt the others coming near me, and then Easton’s hands on my shoulder. He screamed my name with his face pressed to mine.
“What?” I asked, my throat dry and feeling as if it had been rubbed raw by sandpaper.
“What the hell was that?” he asked, holding me close. His hands and his chest were covered in blood, but I didn’t think it was all his. No, some of it was mine.
I looked down at myself and saw that I was coated in red—the lifeblood that had seeped out through my skin.
“The crystals wanted to help.”
“Never again,” he snapped. “You are never doing that again.”
“You would have died.”
“Then we fucking die. You do not get to do that. Ever again.”
I looked up at the others. They were all shaking, their eyes wide with fear—fear for me, or fear of me, I wasn’t sure.
“Never do that again,” Wyn said, running her Water Wielding down my face. I didn’t know how she was doing it with such ease. When I looked at her eyes, I saw the strain there. She was in pain, yes, but she was also learning how to use her new Wielding. Water slowly cascaded over my face, washing the blood away.