“The old kings fought for their right to control their kingdoms. Before they came together, the land had been only the territories. Then the kings wanted more land, more power, and created the kingdoms under the Obscurité and the Lumière.”
“Are we just going to let him blather on?” Slavik said as he came up to us. The other Underkings of the Maison realm were behind him, everyone who led the underground armies were now fighting on our side.
Members of the League, the Creed, and the Unkindness of Fire were there.
Each of the representatives who stood beside us listened to The Gray explain why he was doing this, even though he wasn’t really saying anything.
And throughout it all, I could only look at the woman in front of us.
Alura.
Our betrayer.
She had told The Gray that we were coming.
And now, we wouldn’t have the element of surprise.
“Why don’t you tell them, my dearest? Tell them exactly why you’re fighting at my side.”
“Gray,” she whispered.
He slapped her hard, and I took an involuntary step forward. Both Rhodes and Easton each grabbed an arm, holding me back.
“I think she should go out and kill him right now,” Slavik said. “It would make things easier.”
“Would it?” I whispered.
“Maybe. Now, why is she fighting? It seems that she knows that somebody here knows. So, why?” Slavik continued.
I looked over at Luken, who stared at me, Braelynn in dragon form behind him.
She knew just as I did, and I had to wonder if she had told him.
Luken gave me a tight nod, a knowing, pain-filled look, and relief spread over me.
He knew. His soulmate had told him exactly what we had learned, and I was grateful for that.
I hadn’t been able to find the words to tell my friend what I knew, but Braelynn had.
“He knows, Alura,” I shouted.
“What?” Alura gasped, as the others murmured around us, asking questions. But I wasn’t paying attention to them. No, I was looking at The Gray.
The Gray smiled and shook his head, but I had seen the look of surprise cross his face.
He hadn’t been expecting that. Good. He should underestimate us. That was how we were going to win this. He thought he knew everything and that he could win this without truly fighting.
He was wrong.
“The Gray is wrong,” Alura said, taking steps forward, her hands shaking.
I looked at her then, trying to understand why she had betrayed us. I just couldn’t figure it out.
“Why?” I asked. “Why would you do this?”
“I was born during the Fall. The one meant to watch over the Spirit Priestess when she came to us. I have watched others over time, but you were the first.”
“Are you going to tell your whole story now?” The Gray asked snidely. “Go for it. They’re going to want to kill you anyway.”
She raised her chin again. “I have always been the one out searching for you, Lyric. I am not a Spirit Wielder, but I was destined to find our Priestess. I’ve always been an Air Wielder. Like my son.” She looked at Luken then, and the gasp behind us told me that not everybody had figured it out.
She raised her hands, small bursts of Air punching through her palms. “I fell for a man, but not my soulmate. The man that I loved, the one I truly loved was killed at the hands of the man behind me.”
“He was in my way,” The Gray said, shrugging as if none of it mattered.
“I was born at the age of the Fall to protect you, Lyric. But I fell, too.” She looked at Luken then, her eyes pleading with her son.
“The Gray is not your father. He tells others that he is because that is who he wants to be. He wants you in his court, but that was never the case. Your father was a good man. Someone who died because of The Gray. And I was given in to his service because of a promise I made. A promise to keep you safe. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry for telling him everything. I’m sorry.” She looked at me then, and I could only stand there, my mind whirling with her revelations. Luken wasn’t The Gray’s son? Alura had betrayed us, but she had done so to save her child, not because she loved The Gray.
It didn’t make any sense, but it didn’t really matter. Because regardless, Alura had betrayed us, and we were still going to fight. This pause in the battle only gave enough time for our other armies to come around and get into position.
The battalion in front of us was vast and seemingly the whole of The Gray’s forces.
He didn’t know we had others.
This was our distraction, one we hadn’t counted on but would use to our advantage.
“I told you, Alura. I said I would keep him alive for my own uses. However, if you no longer want to go by our bargain, I understand.”
The Gray moved so fast that none of us had time to move or prepare. Except for the woman who danced on Air and had the grace and power we all underestimated.
The woman whose name meant elf peace.
The betrayer.
The mother.
The one none of us truly understood.
When The Gray shot out his shadow magic, filled to the brim with Spirit Wielding, and sent it straight towards Luken’s chest, I screamed. Fire erupted from Braelynn’s mouth, my best friend trying to singe the twisted Spirit Wielding coming her way.
But none of that was going to help.
The Gray planned to use his Spirit Wielding to take Luken’s soul.
I didn’t know what he could do with that soul, but whatever it was wouldn’t be good.
However, before I could use my own Spirit Wielding to try and negate his power, Alura moved. She threw herself in front of The Gray, stopping the Wielding from hitting Luken.
Tears filled my eyes as Alura’s mouth opened in a silent scream, and she leveled such a look of love and loss at her son. A child she had never been able to hold. One she had never been able to claim.
I knew I was the only person who could see what was happening beneath the surface. As Alura fell to her knees, the life fading out of her, I saw her soul.
It screamed in agony, but then The Gray held it in his fist and grinned.
When he squeezed, the soul splintered before melting into shadow.
Suddenly, I understood.
The Shadow realm and magic wasn’t a new form of Wielding. It was a bastardized form of Spirit Wielding.
He used the stolen souls of the enslaved to bolster his power.
He was a true Spirit Wielder, and yet…not.
Luken shouted, and The Gray simply grinned and shot both hands out to the sides, shadow and Spirit Wielding erupting from his palms.
The time of peace and quiet was over.
The battle had just begun.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Lyric
Luken’s sword whooshed, and I ducked out of the way before the blade bit into my flesh. It clanged against the sword of the Air Wielder wearing the enemy’s colors, and I rolled out of the way. I gave Luken and nod of thanks before pushing my hands into the ground, letting the Earth Wielding within me scuttle out a path before me. A wall of Earth shot up into the air, pillar after pillar, the sound deafening as I moved forward, slicing through the enemies in my way.
The Gray had struck first, sent shadow towards us after he killed Alura, using her soul to create more shadow magic.