Daughter of Dusk

A rush of elation hits me as Soren comes bursting through the trees.

His eyes light up as they meet mine. “Luna! Thank God.”

He runs to me and pulls me into a quick but tight embrace as I find safety in his ice-blue eyes again, a feeling I know I’ll never take for granted.

“What happened to you?” I ask. “I lost you.”

“The twins, they got me. But I managed to get out of there once the darkness lifted. Was that you?” He asks, catching his breath.

“Mmhmm.” I glance at my hands. “But I’m not sure how.”

As I look closer at him, I notice a purple bruise starting to form on the side of his face. The sight angers me for a split second before my eyes zero in on the object in his right hand.

Nox’s knife.

“Where are the twins?” I ask.

As if on cue, Nox and Melinoe come through the trees, the anger and disbelief in their eyes impossible to ignore.

“You have something of mine,” Nox starts as he steps closer.

Soren doesn’t say anything, only tightening his grip on the hilt.

Nox frowns. “Wait, you shouldn’t be able to hold that. Only I can.”

“That’s not true,” I retort. “You know anyone who shares your blood can hold it.”

Realization filters over Nox’s dark eyes. “That’s impossible.”

“Is it?” Soren asks. “Your mother was my mother, too.”

Melinoe blinks several times before narrowing her eyes as her shadowy mace forms in her hands. “In that case, you’re both coming back to the Manor.” Her tone turns sickly sweet. “We should stick together, don’t you think? It’s either that or we kill you both, and I’d hate to be responsible for the death of a family member.”

Soren fixes his gaze on the twins. “Darius killed my father right in front of our mother! And now she’s gone too. If anyone is responsible for all this death, it’s him.”

Nox steps in front of Melinoe. “How dare you speak of Father in such a way. He’s the ruler of Zala. And you are living proof of Rhea’s betrayal.”

“I don’t care if he’s the ruler of Zala or not. No one has a right to kill anyone. Not Darius, and not either of you.”

“Have fun saying that in your grave then, little brother,” Melinoe says as she rushes at us.

I stand in front of Soren, holding my hands out, freezing her flickering weapon in place as she’s about to swing it, just like I did in the Manor. I still can’t determine how I’m able to do it, but the tingling in my fingertips is at least some indication I’m doing something right.

With a huff she lets the mace evaporate into thin air.

I think about my options. I could make the opaque mist I did before, but I’m almost certain I don’t have enough energy to fill the whole clearing. And depending on where they’re standing, it might not work. It’s too risky. And besides, it wouldn’t give us much time anyway – certainly not enough for me to create a portal to Kera.

The best course of action is to deal with them first.

I make a shield just before a beam of darkness from Nox can hit us, glancing at Soren. “Are you ready?”

He nods, determination in his eyes. “Yeah. We can do this.”

The attack from Nox stops as I lower my shield.

This will work. It has to. It will be over before we know it.

Melinoe begins her rush towards us again as Nox concentrates his energy and a black circle forms on the ground where Soren and I stand.

He follows my lead and jumps away in the nick of time before the sharp black rock-like spikes come through the darkness.

Melinoe dives at me before I can react to her, knocking me to the ground and onto my back with a thud. Soren moves to help me, but he can’t get close before Nox starts throwing wave after wave of shadows at Soren, preventing him from coming closer.

It’s okay, I can get out of this.

I manifest a clear shield in my hands as Melinoe attacks, the black, fire-like attacks creating a loud whoosh sound with every blow.

Blaire’s teachings from Kera come back to me, and I realize I’m falling back on my defensive abilities.

I’ve got to find an opening to attack back. But how?

Suddenly, a semi-solid idea forms in my mind.

Beams of light expand from my palms as I lower my shield, and the rays being in such close proximity to her attacks cause the black fire to evaporate into ash.

She stops as her eyes widen at her hands, before looking at me. “What was that? What did you do?”

“I’m the Daughter of Dusk, and I wield Aether.” I compress the light energy together in my palms, just as I did with the shadows. “Darkness . . . and Light.”

I release the ball of light energy with a bang, and it sends her flying backwards, knocking her out.

I bring my attention to Nox and Soren, who are locked tightly in their battle on the other side of the clearing. Soren has him pushed back and cornered against a tree, holding the knife up in defence, but I know Nox has a backup plan; he always does.

Without another thought, I run over to them.

The black circle forms around Soren again, but he’s too enveloped in the moment to notice. I grab his hand, quickly pulling him away before a beam of shadows shoots out of the ground and high into the sky, evaporating once it gets too high.

Nox looks between us with a dark glare, but before can even say anything, I send a wave of darkness toward him, sending him backwards. Soren rushes at him again, pushing him against another tree as he holds the blade to Nox’s neck.

I cover my mouth as my eyes widen.

“Go on, do it,” Nox pushes. “You want revenge for our mother, don’t you? You want to prove her death wasn’t in vain.”

I catch a glimpse of Soren’s face, darkness consuming his icy eyes for a split second, before he clenches his teeth, shaking his head. “No. I’m not a killer.”

He places his hands on Nox’s forehead and focuses for a few seconds before Nox’s eyes flutter shut and he falls to the ground. It’s the very same thing Nox did to him back in the Manor – a sleep technique if I remember right.

He turns to me, his expression a mixture of shock and bewilderment as he blinks several times.

“You know the sleep technique too?”

“Huh?” He shakes his head out of his daze, his expression softening. “Oh, yeah, I do. Mother taught me.”

His eyes well with tears at the mention of Rhea as the knife falls to the ground. I pull him towards me into a tight embrace. It seems that every time we hug, we get closer and closer. But this is different. We’ve been connected before, but now it really feels like we’re one – mind, body, and soul.

As I lose myself to the sensation of his arms around me, a realization hits me.

We did it. We can go now, to start our new life. Nothing is going to stop us now.

He gives me a gentle kiss before pulling me back into the hug. I’d be entirely content to stay like this forever if we could, his strength around me, the goodness in his heart pushing away the darkness in mine.

“Ready to see Enas?”

He nods against my shoulder. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

We pull away from each other, but he still holds my waist as I rest my hands on his chest.

I see him look over my shoulder as a sudden ripple of unease hits me. It’s as though the darkest night has descended over us, my nerves standing on end. The most intense trepidation I’ve ever felt pulses through my body, waking a parasite in the back of my mind.

His eyes widen as a flash of anger crosses his features.

“Soren?”

Without a word, he pushes me to the side, and time slows to a near halt.

I turn as shards of darkness mixed with purple specks sail toward him. Before I’m able to react, before I’m even able to do anything to stop it . . .

The darkness hits him square in the chest.