Page 25 of Duskbound (Esprithean Trilogy #2)

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Darkness stretched in every direction, but this time it was different. Not the suffocating nothingness of before, but something alive. Shadows writhed and twisted around me, their whispers growing louder, more insistent. They spoke of power lying just beyond, waiting to be claimed.

In the distance, two images shimmered like mirages. On one side, I saw Ravenfell, its people wasting away as the essence drained from their land. Vexa cradling a lifeless Effie. Lael collapsed in the street. Even Aether's golden eyes had gone dull, his shadows fading as the drought consumed everything.

On the other side, Sídhe blazed with stolen vitality. The Guard gathered at the border, Laryk at their head, preparing for war. They didn't understand what they were doing—that their prosperity came at the cost of an entire realm. That they were destroying everything.

The shadows coiled around my ankles, sliding up my legs with seductive grace. We can give you the power to stop this , they seemed to whisper. To save them all.

I could feel it—that impossible strength hovering just out of reach. All I had to do was let go. Stop fighting. Let the darkness consume everything I was, everything I'd built myself to be. My web, my memories, my will—all of it would dissolve into shadow.

We can show you how , the shadows purred, wrapping around my waist now, my ribs, my throat. You've only touched the surface of what you could become.

The images shifted. I saw myself wielding shadows like they were extensions of my body, tearing holes between realms, commanding armies of darkness. I could force peace through sheer power. I could make them all stop fighting, stop killing each other. No more lies, no more theft of essence, no more death.

But something deeper than my bones knew the cost. I would lose everything—not just memories, but the very essence of who I was, transformed into something unrecognizable. I would become like the Void itself. Endless. Hungry. Absolute.

The shadow-version of myself turned to look at me with eyes like the endless dark. Not cruel, not kind—simply rid of everything that made me me . No trace of the girl who'd grown up in Ma's apothecary. No remnant of the fighter Laryk had seen potential in. Nothing left of the person who'd found something worth fighting for in this dying realm.

You've always been meant for this , the shadows whispered. Why else would we call to you so strongly?

They were right. I'd felt it from the beginning—that pull, that sense of recognition. The shadows had never felt foreign, never felt wrong. They felt like coming home.

Just let go.

I closed my eyes, feeling the darkness press against my skin, seeping into my pores, trying to merge with my essence. One simple choice. Sacrifice everything I was to become something powerful enough to save everyone.

The power sang through my blood, promising everything I'd ever wanted. An end to the war. An end to suffering. An end to having to choose sides.

All I had to do was stop being Fia.

The shadows pressed closer, wrapping around my throat like a lover's caress. It would be so easy. Just one moment of surrender and all of this—the pain, the choices, the weight of two realms—would dissolve into pure power.

The visions shifted again. I saw myself standing between armies, my mere presence enough to make them lower their weapons. I saw essence flowing freely through Umbrathia once more, saw children playing in gardens that had sprung back to life. I saw Sídhe's people learning to live without stolen power, adapting, growing stronger on their own.

You could end it all , the shadows promised. Right now.

My web gave one last desperate pulse against my spine as the darkness began to seep into it, beginning to transform its pearlescent strands into something darker. The pain was exquisite—like being unmade and remade all at once.

I felt myself starting to fade, my memories becoming liquid, slipping through my fingers like water. Ma's smile. Laryk's emerald eyes. Aether's golden gaze in the firelight. They began to blur, to lose meaning.

Let go , the shadows sang. Let go let go let go ? —

"It's not about surviving."

The words cut through the darkness like a blade, sharp and familiar. Aether's voice.

"It's about choosing to keep fighting even when everything inside you wants to give in."

The shadows hissed, tightening their grip, but the words had already taken root. Fighting. Not surrendering. Not letting go. Fighting .

The shadows writhed, their whispers turning sharp, desperate. You're making a mistake. Think of what you could become. Think of what you could save.

The visions flickered faster now—Ravenfell restored, Sídhe at peace, both realms thriving under my absolute power. But beneath those promises, something darker pulsed. A hunger that would never be satisfied. An emptiness that would consume everything, even after there was nothing left of me to give.

You cannot fight what you are meant to be , they hissed. You cannot deny your true nature.

But Aether's words echoed through me again. Fighting. Fighting against the temptation to take the easy path. Against losing myself to power that promised everything but would cost more. Because it was a lie. This was the test. The Void wasn’t offering me power, it was trying to consume me.

The shadows pressed harder, trying to force their way deeper into my essence. My web sparked against my spine, no longer yielding to their invasion. Each tendril of darkness that tried to corrupt it was met with fierce resistance.

You're weak , the shadows snarled. You could be infinite.

"I'd rather be myself," I whispered, and felt the truth of it burn through my veins.

The darkness recoiled, but only for a moment. It surged back stronger, determined to break me. But now I understood—this was the real test. Not whether I could survive the Void, but whether I could survive it without losing myself.

I held onto that truth as the shadows raged around me, as they tried to tear me apart, as they showed me every horror that would come from my refusal. I held on, and I fought.

I slammed into the dead grass, every muscle screaming in agony. The ground felt wrong beneath my fingers—brittle and sharp as I clawed my way forward through the darkness. My arms trembled as I pushed myself up, willing my legs to work, to run, to get away from the shadows still reaching for me .

I ran. For hours, maybe days—time had no meaning here. My throat was raw from screaming, though no sound emerged. Just endless silence and darkness stretching in every direction. My legs burned, my lungs ached, but I kept moving. Had to keep moving.

Something solid caught my foot and I pitched forward, landing hard. My hands found fabric, then flesh—a body. Ice shot through my veins as I tried to make out who it was in the darkness. A wet, gurgling cough broke the silence.

"Lael?" My voice came out strangled. "Lael!"

He coughed again, the sound thick and wrong. Something in me snapped. I grabbed him under his arms, trying to drag him with me, but my strength was gone. Tears streamed down my face as I pulled harder, desperate to get him away from here.

"If you take him, you'll owe me a debt, dear child."

The voice thundered through the nothingness. Deep, guttural, and terrifying. It wasn't like the whispers from before. This was something else entirely.

"Everything has its price," the voice boomed louder, making the very darkness tremble.

"I felt you the moment you stepped into my realm." The voice seemed to press against my skin, making my ears ring. "You're not like them, you know. Not like the others. Not like him."

It felt like something yanked Lael from the darkness, but I held on tighter, my fingers digging into his arms.

"I passed your test!" I finally screamed, my voice breaking through the suffocating silence. The words tore from my throat, raw and desperate.

"Test?" The voice held something like amusement, though the sound made my skin crawl. "That was merely an introduction, dear child. The real question is—what would you sacrifice for him?"

My heart stopped.

I clutched Lael tighter as invisible forces tried to tear him away. I had just avoided the pull of the darkness—just escaped its grip on me, despite their temptations. I looked down at Lael, feeling the rise and fall of his chest—shallow, labored. He was a child, fighting in a war that had taken everything for him. I thought of his parents. Thought of how he longed to see life return to the realm.

I couldn’t let him wither into nothing in this place, consumed by darkness.

"Anything," I choked out.

"Dangerous words." The darkness seemed to pulse around us. "To offer such things to forces you don't understand."

"I don't care what it costs me." My voice cracked. "Just let me save him."

"And there it is." The voice grew heavier, pressing in from all sides. "The truth of you. So willing to bargain with darkness to save someone you barely know. It will suit you well for what's coming."

"Who? Suit me—what's coming?"

"Accept my bargain, dear child. Owe me a debt to be collected when I choose. And you may keep your precious charge."

My arms ached from holding onto Lael. Everything in me screamed that this was wrong—that making deals with ancient, unknowable things could only end in tragedy. But I couldn't let him go. Couldn't leave him here in this endless dark.

"I accept," I whispered.

"One last scene for you, dear. I think this is one you've been waiting to see, perhaps, for your entire life."

The darkness rippled, and suddenly Lael's weight vanished from my arms. My vision blurred, and I found myself under a starlit sky, flames roaring all around me. Through the inferno, I saw them—a couple locked in an embrace. The woman's hair was almost like mine. Unruly, and long, but darker, more blonde than white. The man who held her had skin nearly as gray as the smoke surrounding them, long black hair falling in intricate braids down his back. And shadows. Shadows around his eyes.

Their arms tightened around each other, golden bracelets hanging on both of their arms, reflecting the raging fire surrounding them. One last look—one last glance of understanding. A look I'd never shared with another person.

They clung to each other as the flames descended, consuming them.

And then they were erased from existence.

Reality snapped back to darkness, and I choked on phantom smoke, my lungs burning. Lael's weight returned to my arms.

"What was that?" I gasped. "Who were they?"

Silence answered.

"It's not like them to intervene. They must truly fear what awaits."

"Who?" I demanded. "What are you talking about?"

"I believe these belong to you now."

The words hit like a physical force. Darkness whipped around me, through me, into me—but this time it didn't try to consume. Power surged through my veins as I clutched Lael to my chest. Intoxicated. I was intoxicated—just as I had been on the lawn in Emeraal. Just as I had been when Aether touched me. But I fought through the sensation. I needed to get Lael the fuck out of here.

I shot upward through the nothingness, my feet leaving the bladed grass behind, Lael hanging in my arms. I wasn’t quite sure how I knew where I was going, but I did. Not in any conscious way, but it was more of a feeling, a magnetism from the shadows pulling me. The darkness melted around us like liquid night. And finally, I was there. I could see the hint of a gray sky beyond the dark mist. I slammed into it.

Breaching the barrier between Void and reality felt like flying through weighted water, the pressure pulling my frame, slowing me down. Finally, we burst into dulled air. And every murmur muted to nothing. The shadows didn't dissipate but rather coiled around me like a living cloak, dancing with my hair as it whipped wild and white against the gray sky.

My eyes scanned the crowd below, searching. Nobles in their finery, Council members, citizens of Ravenfell—all of them blurred together until I found what I was looking for. Aether. His golden eyes locked onto mine, then dropped to Lael's limp form. He was moving before I even landed, shouldering past nobles, cutting through the crowd.

Lael's breathing grew more labored, each shallow gasp tearing at something inside me. The shadows carried me down, my feet slamming into the earth. The crowd parted before me as I rushed forward.

"He needs help," I said as Aether reached me, my voice hoarse. The void burns on Lael's skin crawled up his neck in the twilight, spreading across him like smoke. My arms that wrapped around him were untouched by such markings.

"Please."

Aether moved without hesitation. That hard edge that normally permeated his entire presence seemed to crack as he helped support Lael's weight. I saw it then—the fear in his eyes as he looked at the boy he'd saved from Croyg.

"Get the medics." Aether's voice carried a desperation I'd never heard before. "Now!"

The shadows still curled around us, but I barely noticed them, barely registered the whispers from the crowd. All that mattered was the labored rise and fall of Lael's chest, and the way Aether's hands trembled slightly as he checked the boy's pulse.

As the medics rushed forward, I caught Aether's eye once more. The mask had fallen completely now, replaced by something raw.

“Behold,” Karis’s voice boomed from behind me, his feet crunching through the dead grass. “A Duskbound has emerged from the Void.”