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sixty-four

Anara

T hylas kicks the coal to the ground, extinguishing the fire-mirror between them. He lashes out his power, causing every flame to extinguish, except those that he wields and shields in place. He doesn’t want Carnaxa to come to his aid. Tears prickle in my eyes at the love he still has for her. Thylas struggles for control. The darkness inside his heart is growing, and the magic of Atlas and Khaysus is slowly taking control.

Ereon’s body lies behind Carnaxa and my heart breaks as I recall his once tan face full of love for me, now pale and without life. Tears prickle in my eyes at the thought of him gone and how much I’ve witnessed between Thylas and Carnaxa. They may still have a chance. I let my flames go, battling the shield Atlas has resurrected around himself.

Kya, my ancestor, was one of Khaysus’ first creations and so we share the same flames, but I still have something Atlas doesn’t. A gift Kya gave us. The pure gift of a u?ji tu?ru? — a soul offering — something that can only be given willingly.

“Thylas!” I yell at him. “Use your magic from Carnaxa.”

He looks at his hands and slowly, the light of another spins around him. Her light. The delicate blue dances across his body and through the room. It’s small — nothing like the power she wields — but maybe it can be enough. Thylas hurls the water toward Atlas and his shield wavers, glistening orange and yellow. I put my hands down, my flames dying with the motion. I’m so tired.

Water sprays against Atlas’ shield, the resulting mist touches my face with droplets that hold the love Thylas has for his princess. His dream. His noh? . The name he lovingly calls her, and the one that grazes his wrist.

I once had a dream. A dream of a life filled with the smiles of my first love and our children. A dream of freedom at the base of the volcano that gives our people life. I’ve had it before — but there is never enough time. True love is not something you ever have enough of .

Thylas’ water sputters and fades, and he falls to his knees. He clutches his chest and screams in pain at the inner battle that riots within.

“Too late to fight it now, boy,” Atlas says, lowering his flames. “And you” — he motions his head towards me — “that’s enough. Stop right now. I’ll let you live. I’ll even let you stay here with him, be his whore just as you were Ereon’s.”

“Anara ... run,” Thylas says, gasping for breath as he falls to the hard floor.

“This will go easier ... if you just stop fighting it.” Atlas walks towards him. He leans down beside him, and I call what little of magic I still have left. He whispers something, and Thylas’ fist meets his face, halting his words.

Thylas stands on wobbling legs. “I will fight you until the end.” He throws his arms up, and rain falls upon everything in its reach. “If I have to die because of it, I will. Anara — run!”

I ball my hands into fists. “No!” I won’t.

I’m the one who set all of this in motion. I brought an innocent woman here, maybe not by my hand, but I manipulated the one who did. I could have told him the truth, let myself perish. I didn’t want to lose hope that I would see home again. I just wanted to see home before my final breath. I’ve walked this land for so many lifetimes and yet ... I’ve never seen a love as pure as the one I’ve witnessed these last few moons. The love Carnaxa has for her men. Now, she’ll be alone. No. This. This is my last gift.

I draw on the last dredges of strength I have inside of me, letting it mingle with my blood and the light of the last life I have left. Holding up my hands, I let the water cascade over me, but it’s not the water I want to feel but the fire. With a flick of my wrist, I ignite the rain that falls with the last of Thylas’ magic. The drops quickly fall to the ground as cinders, crackling and popping as they land on the damp ground.

I look at Atlas, who snarls. “Don’t ...” He lashes out a whip of fire. I dodge it.

Thylas’ power fades and the drops stop falling. Atlas looks to Thylas, who succumbs to exhaustion and falls once again to the floor.

Atlas smiles at me. “You can kill this body, but I’ve already performed the pyu ningpi . He drank the blood and I said the words. It’s just a matter of time.”

I smile back at Atlas and look down at Thylas, probing for the flicker of what I need to find. Atlas’ power blooms throughout the room, covering us all in menacing shadows. The flames around us wage, but fortunately, I’ve never feared the fire.

Finally, I find a glimmer of his strength. The rippled strand that Carnaxa somehow revived in him, it’s tip still barely shining against the black from the neni . A piece of his soul, the only fragment I’ll be able to save, but it’s the most important. She won’t give up on him, and he’ll still be able to have a piece of himself.

I cling to the ripple with all my might, feeling its gentle vibrations, and then I unleash my swirling flames around it, coating the strand with protection.

My chest glows, and I know that this is the last time. The last life I have to give, and I’ll give it to save him.

Thylas stirs from where he lays. “Anara? What are you doing?” He tries to get up, but falls once again to the floor clutching his heart and his eyes turn bleak. Atlas’ cruel ritual will be completed soon, and he knows it from the unwavering smirk of victory strewn across his face. Thylas will be lost, but one day — one day — because she will save him, he can deliver my message.

“Tell Ereon ...” I say, my voice wavers. Each word feels like a shard of glass. My chest tightens from the weight of the magic coiling inside of me. “Tell him ... it wasn’t all fake. Tell him that I loved him, just not how he deserved to be loved. And tell him … I’m sorry.”

With those final words, the dam inside of me breaks. My magic erupts, an inferno of crimson light that scorches the air, casting everything in a glow of red. My lips curl into a bittersweet smile, knowing that this — this last piece of myself — might help save this world.

I lock eyes with Atlas as my magic digs into his flesh. His scream tears through the silence and I let my power and my soul burrow into him like claws — carving through him. Bright red droplets spray the polished floor upon which he stands. His own wicked power lashes to meet mine, but it’s useless. His body can’t fight a u?ji tu?ru? . The gift that Kya gave to us, only to be used once. My soul’s offering: a power to take away all the lives I could have in the future to make things right once more, now, in this life.

Atlas’ expression shifts from fury to horror as understanding of what I’ve done dawns on him. His eyes widen and his skin begins to whisk away like charred parchment. His screams pierce the air with raw agony. His burned skin flakes away to reveal the bones underneath. A pain he wished on so many in his kingdom simply because of his own misdeeds. How fitting this is to be his end.

The world around me begins to blur and my body begins to feel weightless. Untethered … numb. The magic has taken all that I am. I think of the people who I've come to know as friends, those I protect now. Ereon, who wanted nothing but to know love. Carnaxa, whose only crime was being born to a goddess. Thylas and his desire to do what is right, but burdened by the blood in his veins. All of them deserve to have so much more than the hand they have been dealt.

I’ve lived many lives. I’ve known love and loss. I’ve made friends and enemies. And now … I’ll make sure that this life fully means something.

I let my eyes drift close as Atlas’ remains fade into the background. I can hear someone screaming my name in the distance. My arms fall to my side, but I don’t feel any pain when my body crumbles to the ground.

Warmth envelops me and I smile one last time, knowing that soon I’ll be home.