Eternal Sacrifice (Mortal Enchantment Book 4) (19 page)

Selene stopped and gasped with her hands over her mouth.

I struggled to get to my feet. When I finally managed, I pushed my way through the remaining rogues. Everyone stared up into the sky. I raised my eyes. High above us, the sword was buried within the mist. A crack about a foot long had sprung out of both sides with little shards of flickering light leaking down to the ground. Kalin burst out of the crowd and into my arms. I held her tight as her tears ran down the back of my neck.

It was over.

Kalin

We’d won the battle, but lost the war.

Excalibur was embedded within the mist, which had already started to crack. Sparkling bits of magic leaked from the growing hole. At some point, Valac had retreated along with the few rogues that survived. No one went after them. Why bother? There was nothing more to fight over. Within hours the mist would be no more, exposing Avalon to the rest of the mortal world. All the older elementals would soon begin to rapidly age as time caught up with them. Thousands would be dead within hours, including Orion, Marlena, and Britta.

But I wouldn’t let that happen. I’d save them all. It was just as the spirit of the akasha had told me. My blood was the key. I had accepted the truth after I’d left the temple. I was ready for the sacrifice. Saying goodbye to all my friends would be the toughest part. Saying goodbye to my mother would be excruciating. Without any other family, I was all she had left in this world. Where would she choose to live once I was gone? Would she ever recover after losing my father, and, soon, her only child?

And what about Rowan?

How was I supposed to say goodbye to him? I dug my fingers into his shirt. I wanted to soak in every last moment with him. Memorize the feel of his arms around me. The smell of his skin. The sound of his voice. Tears ran down my cheeks in streams. How would I make him understand what I had to do? He’d fought so hard to find another solution. Went all over our world in an attempt to save my life. Would he accept my sacrifice? Would he stand in my way? Would he move on?

I had so much to do in only a few short hours. My heart sank as I let go of Rowan. “I have to find my mother. She doesn’t know about any of this.” He appeared surprised, so I elaborated. “I didn’t want to tell her in the hopes that we’d find another way.”

With desperation in his eyes, he replied, “Maybe we still can.”

I caressed his cheek as I swallowed my tears. No matter how grim the circumstances, he never gave up on me. He’d always been my hero. “We both know it’s time to tell her.”

He wrapped his arms around me, burying his face in my shoulder. “I don’t know how to let you go.”

“This is what I have to do.” I leaned my head against his, closing my eyes. “I’m sorry. I hope you’ll one day understand.”

“There’s something I can do,” Merlin said, surprising us both. I hadn’t realized he was standing there. I thought we were alone.

“You told me you couldn’t stop it,” Rowan replied, releasing me from his hold.

“I can’t heal the mist.” Merlin met eyes with me. His tone was soft and full of grief. “But I can give you time to say your goodbyes.”

“How?” I asked.

“The mist was created using my magic and the blood of the akasha. The mist can absorb my power, and heal itself for a period of time.” Merlin glared up at the crack, growing larger as each minute passed. “You’ll have twelve hours at the most.”

As the sun rose in the sky, a rainbow-colored shimmer illuminated the mist. It was beautiful and powerful and otherworldly, all at the same time. Merlin had spent the last eighteen years in a frozen cage, and days afterwards would give his life so that we might have a few hours to say goodbye. It was a massive sacrifice for such a small period of time. But it meant the world to me. Now I would be able to properly say goodbye to the people I loved. I took his hands in mine. “Thank you.”

“Wait.” Rowan held up his hand as he tried to come to grips with what was happening. “What do you mean by absorb your power? Are you saying—?”

Merlin smiled weakly at Rowan. “Yes, I will also have to sacrifice myself.”

His skin paled. “I’m not going to just stand here and watch you both die.” He shook his head, refusing to accept what he’d heard.

Leaves rustled, and Marcus appeared out of the thick brush in his mortal form. Blood stained his face and clothes. As soon as he saw the sword, he smashed his fist into the nearest tree trunk. “No,” he growled.

I made my way over, putting my hand on his shoulder. “It will all be okay soon.”

His eyes were wild as he yelled, “Things will never be okay ever again.”

I put my hand over my chest, sensing his agony. “That’s not what I meant.”

Marcus pushed me away, putting distance between us. “I’m sorry, Kalin.” Tears ran down his cheeks. “I was trying to get him to drop the sword. I hadn’t expected it to thrust out of his hand. I—”

“What are you talking about?” Rowan asked, as a tear ran down his cheek.

“This is all my fault,” Marcus replied in barely a whisper.

“You can’t blame yourself,” Rowan said, eyes rounded. “I won’t let you carry that burden.”

“Hours ago, I held Ariel in my arms as she died. I watched
my wife
take her last breath.” He barely managed to get the words out as he struggled to hold himself together. “She gave her life to save Kalin. And now, Kalin’s going to die because of me.” He motioned toward the battlefield filled with decomposing bodies. “All the fighting we’ve done. All the death and destruction. It was all for nothing,” he shouted. “Even if we won, we lost everything that mattered.”

Rowan attempted to reach out to him, but he held his hand up. Marcus strode over and put his arms around me. “I’m sorry I failed you.”

“No, you didn’t.” I whispered in his ear. He’d fought hard. I didn’t hold him responsible for what happened. It was a fluke at best. There was no reason for him to apologize.

Marcus wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. Without saying another word, he trudged back into the thick forest. He was heading in the direction of the fire court. Selene was about to go after him when Rowan asked, “Where are you going?”

“He shouldn’t be alone right now.” She lowered her gaze to the ground. “Even if he doesn’t know it, he needs a friend.”

“You barely know him,” he argued.

Her arms hung loosely at her sides as she let out an exhausted breath. “You’re right, Rowan. I haven’t spent much time with him. But I care about him. He means something to me. And even though I know I don’t deserve him, he’s my friend.”

“Go,” he said, waving his hand in dismissal. There was no fight left in him.

The corner of her lip rose. Then she ran after him. Selene and Rowan had a lot that needed to be said. I hoped after I was gone that they’d find a way to be friends. In the short time I’d known her, she'd turned out to be one of the bravest elementals I’d ever known. And she showed me that it was possible for people to change. Marcus was a big part of that. I prayed they’d all lean on each other for support once I was gone.

Merlin approached Rowan. “This is where I must say goodbye.”

“Does it have to be right now?” he asked, in a panicked tone. “We never even had a chance to talk.”

He glared up at the expanding hole. “Every minute I wait will leave you one less with Kalin.” Merlin clasped his hand around his biceps. “I want to give you this gift. I only wish I could do more.”

Rowan put his arms around him. “I don’t know what to say.”

Merlin pulled back. “I want you to know there hasn’t been a second in your life that you were alone. I’ve always been by your side. Through all the challenges and despair, you managed to defy the odds. I am in awe of the leader that you’ve become. I am a proud father.” He made his way over to the mist, pressing his hands into the hazy glow. Looking over his shoulder, he said, “I love you, Son.”

“I love you too, Dad,” Rowan replied, sniffling.

Merlin smiled as he slowly faded away. It only took a few moments before he was fully absorbed. There was a rumble, and Excalibur slid out of the opening and landed at Rowan’s feet. I took a glimpse at the tear. Magic no longer drizzled down from the hole. The crack had been sealed, but the scarred remnants was still visible. What he’d done wouldn’t solve the problem, but he had given us some time.

I glanced at Rowan as he picked up the sword. Dumbfounded was the only word that would explain the look on his face. “Did that just happen? Is he really gone?”

I bit my lip and nodded. “I’m sorry.”

“I wouldn’t speak to him. I didn’t believe him. I pushed him away,” he rambled. “And now he’s gone.”

I threw my arms around him, and we crumpled to the ground together. I held onto him, preparing to stay as long as he needed me to be there. The rest of the world faded away. And neither of us said another word.

There was no easy or right way to say goodbye to her. As I made my way through the portal, I thought about different ways I could tell her I was about to die. Nothing I’d come up with seemed to lessen the blow.

By the time I reached the air court castle, the landscape had been completely restored. The trees had been healed along with the burned grass. Mud piles were gone as well the abandoned weaponry. There was no evidence of a battle anywhere. I stepped inside the ballroom. All of the tables had been repaired, and the blood was removed. The wedding decorations were gone. The entire space had been fully renovated.

Whoever had done this must’ve worked tirelessly throughout the night.

As I was about to leave, my mother surprised me. She stepped out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a clean rag. She hadn’t realized I was here. A lump swelled in my throat. How was I ever going to get through this? “What are you doing down here?” I asked.

She startled. Then she ran over, and threw her arms around me. “I was so worried about you. When the attack started, the guards insisted I go to my room. They wouldn’t let me out.” She took my face in her hands as she seemed to be checking me for injuries. “When it was over, you were gone.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t think to get a message to you.” Everything happened so fast. I hadn’t even thought about it, which made me feel awful. “Rowan was really hurt, and he had to be taken to the fire court to be healed.”

“Is he all right?” she asked, her tone full of concern.

Rowan was falling apart. The father he never knew gave his life for us. And now he had to prepare for my death. But I couldn’t speak of that just yet. Instead, I answered only about his physical health. “Yes, he’s fine now.”

She cringed. “I heard what happened to Ariel. How is Marcus?”

“Pretty much how you’d expect.” There was only one word that came to my mind. “Broken.”

“Her parents are devastated. Ariel had sent them away after the fighting started.” She glanced at the spot where Ariel had died. “They got back here around the same time I did.”

I wasn’t sure how I was going to say it, but now was the time. “Mom, there’s something I have to tell you.”

Her forehead creased. “What is it, sweetheart?”

I tried to simplify what happened as much as possible. There was no need to fill in all the gory details. I told her what I thought she most needed to know. “After we took Rowan to the eternal flame, we decided to go after Valac. We thought he wouldn’t be expecting an attack so soon after Ariel’s death. We were wrong. There was a big fight and a lot of elementals died.”

She held her hand up to her lips. “Oh, no.”

I reached for a chair at a nearby table. “Would you sit down for a minute?”

“No,” she replied, firmly. “Whatever it is, tell me now.”

My chest tightened. “A sacred sword pierced the mist that protects Avalon. Once it’s gone, thousands of elementals will die. But there’s a way I can save them.”

“How?” she asked.

I took in a deep breath, and then slowly let it out as I prepared to say the words that would break her heart. “The blood of the akasha can seal the tear. All of my blood.”

Tears welled in her eyes. “Are you telling me you have to die to save the others?”

Unable to say any more, I nodded.

She pulled me into a tight embrace as the tears trickled down her cheeks. “I can’t let you do that.”

“You don’t have a choice,” I replied, battling the tears that threatened to release. I had to hold it together for her. “I wondered why I was given these powers. Why I was chosen, but now I know. This was my purpose.”

She released me, wiping her nose with the kitchen rag. “We can just leave. We’ll go hide away somewhere in the mortal world. Some place where they’d never find you.”

“I can’t run away.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “The world will end if the balance isn’t brought back to the elements. I have to do this.”

“I don’t care about the elements or anyone else for that matter.” She fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands. “All I care about is you.”

I’d never seen her lose it like this. My heart shattered into pieces as I watched her, knowing I was the cause. If I had any other choice, I would’ve taken it. There was none. My only comfort was knowing I was doing the right thing. Giving my life to save thousands was an easy choice to make. It might take her months, or maybe even years, but I had faith she’d realize that one day.