Page 72 of Shadows Ascend (Remnant Archives #2)

T he Well engulfed us, my fate sealed with nothing but the sheer will that my little family would survive—I had no other choice.

Falling around us in a sparkling shimmer of white and gold dust, souls fluttered within the glow. Reaching out with a trembling hand, my brows raised at the sweet vibrancy of life’s essence humming against my skin.

There was no malice here.

Looking down at Riella, I could see her face scrunched tightly as she breathed shallowly against my protective hold. Bringing my hand back down, I smoothed over the wrinkles of fear, whispering gently, "It is safe for now, my little chickadee."

Riella peeked one eye open and then the other, her eyes widening at the same splendor around us that I had just admired.

"We are flying," she said in awe, peering downward and then squinting up into the light that fell on her upturned face. It shimmered on her bronze skin, a dancing glow that fell away just as quickly as it descended leaving not a trace of its touch until another cascaded upon her.

Riella’s nose wrinkled, "Can you hear them too?"

My lips thinned, wishing I had the ability to shield her from this innate power but I tilted my head to listen more intensely anyway. I shook my head, "I do not hear anything."

Riella squeezed her eyes shut. "So many voices, too many.” Her tiny voice wavered. “I cannot understand them."

Alarmed by her fear, I weaved the lilin to form small black muffs over her ears, shielding her effectively from the noise.

Immediate relief spread across my daughter’s face and she gave me an apologetic smile. "Thank you, maedere."

Nodding, I held her closer, whispering loudly against her cheek just as the lights began to speed up around us. "We are going faster. We must be prepared for what is to come."

Her body tensed and she looked quickly around. "But what about faedere?" Her voice held panic that she could not mask and I squeezed her reassuringly again.

Even though I felt anything but reassured.

"He is below, little one. Once we stop we will figure out how we can help him, okay?"

We both looked down simultaneously, seeing the tattered remains of Emon's shadow trailing behind us, like a defeated flag being dragged across the ground in retreat.

He had not returned to his fae form, and a small part of me cracked. But now was not the time to allow what ifs to control me, no matter how much the sight of the Sanguine ripping holes through his shadow being felt—like I had lost pieces of him that would never return.

I could just barely feel the whispers of our soulmate bond, the warmth of his love still glowing inside of me but it was wavering.

Flickering in and out, dull and lost, then roaring back to life vibrant and strong, his soul was fighting more than just healing.

It was clear he was fighting a battle much deeper, the presence of the Sanguine likely still sinking its hungry claws into him.

And—he was losing .

Swallowing hard, I cleared my anxious thoughts. They would do me no good. I needed to get us to safety first and I needed to figure out how to achieve the impossible goal ahead of us.

I had taken a gamble, a shortcut, one I was not entirely sure would work. Instincts telling me that traveling The Well not one step at a time but within its stream itself where all souls were harbored was the best route for our survival.

And if there was one thing that I was always able to achieve…it was my survival.

I just had to make sure the fae I loved and the world I was trying to save would survive with me this time…

something I had failed at in the past. The whispers of doubt cast a dark shadow across my heart, doubt that Emon’s light would normally chase away—but even while surrounded by the most transcendent light possible none of it compared to my shifter’s and it never would.

Nothing ever would.

Peering upwards, I hid the tears forming in my eyes from Riella. A small black circle above us expanded the further we traveled. The inner sanctum of The Well revealing itself to us at last. This was its end…but only the beginning for what was to come next.

"Prepare yourself," I called out to Riella right before we burst through a thin layer of water and landed with a splash in ankle deep depths. It seeped deep into my boots, sending a dark icy chill through my body.

Standing, I shifted Riella around to my back, her spear glinting in my periphery. I did not trust these dark waters I now stood in…more than one thing lingered beneath and its vibe wasn’t at all friendly.

"What is this place?" Riella whispered as we both watched the water ripple far beyond a never ending horizon. Above us stars shimmered in a pitch black midnight sky, its reflection a mirror image that if left undisturbed would show no difference on what was the sky or what was water.

Turning slowly, we both breathed shallowly looking at the endless nothingness, a complete void of darkness with just stars and water. There was no wind, no sound, no other being here. It was as if space and time paused.

"It is creation." I heard Emon's voice rumble next to me and my heart leapt into my chest at the sight of him, but my joy quickly turned to a frown. His fae form of his soul wraith was almost transparent.

"Shifter," I took a step towards him and then halted when he looked back at me confused. "Emon. What is happening?"

He growled and then shook his head. Muttering softly to himself before looking up at me with fear in his eyes. "I do not know…I am weak and I am forgetting." His eyes pleaded, "Are you real, please tell me you are real. This is not a dream I have been living in…"

Alarmed, I stepped forward, sloshing in the water, to touch his face but it only passed through him.

My hand snatched back, my eyes wide with panic.

Why could I not touch him? "Of course we are real.

Emon, what is happening, is it from the Sanguine?

Why are you fading away, why can I not touch you? "

He sighed heavily, "I think…I think. I have been compromised. I don't know…I don't know what is true anymore. It whispers. It whispers horrible things." His hands reached up cradling his head, his eyes closing in pain.

"Tell me what I need to do," I said brokenly.

His lips pressed into a grim line. "I’m sorry, Remnant. We tried. I tried. You know what you must do now."

"No." I stumbled back with Riella whimpering, clutching her arms around my shoulders. I knew she did not understand what Emon was asking of me but I did. Goddess, I did. He wanted me to take his soul just as Shea had taken my mother’s, his eternal life would be no more… our eternal life would never exist.

I threw back my head and screamed. My rage and anguish shaking the very stars above us. Why? Why go through all this for the result to be the same?

When my voice trailed off into the echoes of space, a tiny hand touched my face. "It's okay, maedere. We are the bravest of warriors," Riella whispered softly into my hair, her own tears falling across the exposed skin of my neck, her body trembling.

I knew she could feel my pain and so I drew it back, shoved it down deep inside, icing it over as I had once done in the past. When my eyes opened, I stood struck by the sight of what it meant to see a soul cry.

Waving in and out of existence, Emon's face was twisted in torment and misery, his hands tightening and releasing, knowing he could not touch me but wanting to all the same while his broken promises laid shattered at my feet.

It was up to me on whether I would keep the pieces to painfully cherish or leave them here in the dark cold waters.

With tears streaming down my face, I stepped forward towards my soulmate, the one love meant for me in this miserable existence of life. The only one that could ever break me so thoroughly but also build me so high that I transcended into a world beyond my understanding.

Holding my hand up and feeling like my chest was splitting into two, I raised my chin high while Riella sniffled into my hair. The words coming to me inherently, as if I had them all this time, knowing full well it was The Well that conjured up the memory. "Repeat after me."

Emon’s chest heaved, his eyes closing with a rattling breath he did not need. When he opened them again, they blazed as if they were gold once more. Fierce determination and loyalty nearly forcing me to stumble backward from its intensity while his hand raised to hover in front of mine.

Looking over my shoulder at Riella, he gave her a nod. "I love you, my cub."

"I love you too, faedere," she sniffed, her hand still giving me strength and warmth along my cheek.

Emon looked back to me expectantly. He didn't need to say the words, I could see it in his eyes and in our bond, and soon enough, he wouldn't just be tethered to me anymore, he would be a part of me.

If I died, so would he, and our love would cease to ever exist again. There would be no Eithne for us.

Exhaling slowly, the words trailed from my lips, unwavering.

There was no pause, no hesitation, I didn't need them—I would love Emon in pieces, I would love him in death, and I would love him even without an eternal life.

I would be undying—our Eithne would be what we make of it, not what was granted.

"Extremum vitae spiritum edere, to death I give my last breath . "

"Extremum vitae spiritum edere, to death I give my last breath , " he growled deeply, his eyes staring deep into my own. Then with a lopsided grin of triumph, he whispered, "It wasn't true. You are real, you are mine and I am yours, little umbra. Amor vincit omnia. "

Love conquers all.