Page 65 of Ecliptic (Synodic Duet #2)

Rowen and I charged onto the battlefield. The stench of blood, death, and black ichor hit me like a brick wall, but there was no space for fear or hesitation.

I joined the battle where forest and desert elves alike fought for Luneth.

The contrast of the Wyn’s silver hair mixed with the gold armor of the Hara’dune warriors was luminous against the Voro-Kai.

It looked like the sun and moon had come together to fight an insidious darkness.

But with each passing second, the luminosity dimmed more and more as the Voro-Kai smothered out the light.

Only one hawk remained in the sky, pumping its broken wings to stay afloat. The other Sunshades were scattered upon the ground, never to take flight again. The cold bodies piling around me told me exactly how many souls the world eater used to take the great avians down. Too many. Far too many.

A Voro-Kai with Ever-burn arrows jutting from his face and chest charged by me. It grabbed a Viltarran soldier and slashed her throat open, diving its fangs into her neck.

My stomach twisted in dread as the battle raged on in chaos. There was no end in sight .

Suddenly, Indrasyl rumbled again, shaking every warrior and beast where they stood. A blast of Light shot skyward like a distress signal to the heavens, and a web of glowing roots illuminated the ground. The silver network spread across the soil like horizontal lightning.

Anywhere a Voro-Kai stood, hoof to root, they incinerated into smoke. Plumes of black dust erupted all around the field. It was as if the ground had become sanctified in holy Light, and Erovos’ darkness could not walk upon it.

Luneth was fighting back.

But it still wasn’t enough. The demons were catching on, avoiding the roots as they continued to scratch and claw and bite.

Suddenly, a light fell from the sky, piercing a Voro-Kai through the heart. The demon didn’t even have a chance to blink before it exploded into a fine mist.

Another light fell, and another, and soon, it was raining stars.

Indrasyl had called for help, and the Elder Spirits answered. The stars pierced through demon and after demon in a murderous meteor shower.

I wove through the chaos, whirling Mithrion in elliptical arcs that carved through the remaining Voro-Kai.

A familiar cry caught my attention, and my head whipped to see Dyani sprinting across the battlefield. Her blades glowed like captured starlight as she ran like an Olympian, pumping her arms and legs with dire urgency. I followed her line of sight to what—or who—she ran to.

Rayal was covered in a swarm of premature demons. They were small but quick and ferocious. They latched onto her arms and legs and crawled up her back, biting into her armor. She couldn’t shake them; for every one she pulled off, another took its place .

The fear on Dyani’s blood-stained face was palpable.

Claws and talons swiped at her, but she dodged every one, her eyes never wavering from her target.

She charged onto a fallen Voro-Kai and used it as leverage to launch herself toward Rayal.

In a series of impossible-to-see swipes, her blades danced over Rayal’s flesh, slaughtering the demons that clung to her.

Rayal collapsed, but Dyani caught her in her arms, not letting the queen fall to her knees.

Rayal’s golden eyes snapped to Dyani. Her face radiated with relief and something more than gratitude as she realized who’d caught her and kept her upright.

The fourth Sunshade plummeted to earth, shooting up bits of raw earth and rock.

I brought up my arm to shield my face, and when I lowered it, I saw a Voro-Kai encasing Callum’s head in his giant palm.

Its talons dug into the Viltarran warrior’s face and scalp.

Suddenly, a scrap of Ever-burn shot from deep within the trees and hit the Voro-Kai in the forearm.

The beast hissed and released Callum, giving Rowen’s friend the reprieve he needed to thrust his sword into the demon’s chest.

My eyes darted to the tree line where I saw a tuft of white. I squinted, making out Ven with a slingshot, hurling bits of Ever-burn into the skirmish. Sabra was beside him, guarding him in a protective stance.

How the hell did they get here?

I shouldn’t be surprised, but I would have to murder Ven later for sneaking into war-torn territory.

Suddenly, that iridescent ripple of light shot past my vision again, and I whirled around just in time to see a beast swiping at me.

I ducked under its arm and used the momentum to kick up and around its back, hooking my legs around its beefy neck.

I whirled around its head, bringing myself atop its shoulders.

And with its head between my thighs, I did a forward roll down its chest, forcing it to flip over me and fall on its back.

I landed in a crouch and plunged Mithrion into its heart.

I stood from my crouch, spinning in a slow circle to see the Wyn, Viltarran, and Hara’dune soldiers shouting in victory. Standing among them, to my relief, was Takoda, Nepta, and Alvar.

One by one, the Voro-Kai were defeated. Whether by earth, sky, or blade, they were ejected from this land forever.

Cheers erupted as the battle slowly ceased and the earth and heavens calmed.

Erovos was seemingly unbothered as his brood perished in front of him. The world eater smiled as our eyes locked across the field.

Rowen was suddenly beside me, and I squeezed his hand, telling him to stay.

I was exhausted, depleted, and worn, but I stepped forward, my gaze never wavering from the world eater’s burning eyes.

“Erovos!” I yelled, flicking demon blood off my blade. “Let it all come down to me and you.”

His razor-sharp smile widened as we met in the center of the field. “Very well, little light. Let us end this once and for all.”

I charged at Erovos, winding Mithrion into a killing blow. The world eater vibrated and warped the air around him, causing my strike to miss. I swirled around and plunged again, but my weapon only cut through trails of mist.

“You think you can defeat me?” he asked in a humored laugh that chilled my bones. “Your armies, weapons, and Light are useless against me.”

He was right. Even with our armies and Ever-burn blades, there was no defeating a black hole that could absorb the life and light out of everything. He dodged my attacks again and again. I couldn’t get my hands on him. It was like trying to grab smoke and nail it down.

“I grow tired of this,” Erovos said, billowing in shrouds of darkness. His chalky-white hands pulled back his hood, revealing his bony head. Then, his palms shot forward as he blasted me with harvested power, knocking Mithrion out of my grasp.

Rowen shouted my name across the battlefield, rushing toward me alongside a fleet of warriors.

Erovos raised his arms and unleashed a sonic wave, halting everyone mid-run.

They looked paused in place, but as I peered closer, I realized they were moving imperceptibly slow.

It was as if the black hole before me had curved the fabric of time, causing them to exist on a different frequency.

The war cry etched on Rowen’s face twisted my gut.

He was frozen mid-lunge, looking like a charging statue.

His broad shoulders and thighs rippled with raw power as the veins in his neck bulged.

His sweat-plastered hair and short beard framed his ferocious eyes that were locked on me.

His sword was raised in the air, ready to murder.

Takoda, Alvar, Dyani, everyone, was caught in Erovos’ grip of time. They would never get to me. I was truly alone.

My gaze darted back to Erovos. “Retreat, or I will drain every last one of them dry,” he said matter-of-factly, gesturing to my soul flame and the field of warriors. “Even if it takes all night.”

“I will never surrender to you,” I seethed as my fingertips pulsated with energy.

He hurled another blast of dark energy, but I pulled up a shield of Light at the last second. My arm juddered from the hit, but my defense held firm.

Erovos slammed into my shield again. This time, the impact was so vicious that I bit down on my tongue, and blood welled in my mouth.

My heels dug into the earth as he hit me with a barrage of blows.

I gritted my teeth. Every muscle in my body burned and trembled as I held up my shield.

The hits came faster and more frequently until it was a straight torrent of power.

I cried out in exhaustion, begging for relief.

Strength of will was the only thing keeping me going, but my energy was draining by the second.

Erovos was purposely wearing me down, waiting until I was too tired to lift even the smallest tendrils of myself against him. And despite my best efforts, my shield began to lower.

He finally stopped, offering me a brief reprieve, and we made eye contact through my silvery shield. “Let me have you, little light. Surrender, and I will spare your friends.”

I was repulsed and sickened, but he was impossible to overcome. And I had tried everything else. I would have to let him in.

“Fine,” I said with a deep breath of acceptance, and I dropped my shield.

I braced myself, but nothing could have prepared me for his obliterating slam. It was too fast and painful, and I lost sense of who I was.

Erovos grabbed me by the neck and lifted me into the air.

I scratched at his hands as my legs jerked beneath me.

Tendrils of darkness erupted from Erovos’ back and raised around him like spider legs.

The black threads curved over his shoulders, towards me, and I watched in horror as they pierced through my body.

I screamed in agony; the blinding pain nearly making me black out.

Was he suffocating or draining me? I couldn’t tell, but I knew my time was well and truly up .

His hand lowered from my neck, but I remained suspended, held up in the air by his tenebrous arms. Erovos’ power flowed into me like a poisonous IV, and I realized he wasn’t killing me. He was turning me.