Trinity (38 page)

The sound of footsteps pounding
on the flagstones forced Kiana to tear her attention away from
Skaric.

Nidan skidded to a halt, turned
and slammed the massive doors shut. His chest heaved as he pressed
his back against them, bracing his legs. “There’s no bar!”

A tremor of foreboding rippled
through Kiana. “Nidan, what’s wrong?”

“
Berend! He’s
alive and he’s coming!”

Skaric was instantly alert and
visibly trembling.

Vali’s eyes had also widened.
He held his hands out. “Untie me!”

“
You must be
mad,” Nidan said.

The Wolf’s lips pressed
together into a thin line. “I can help you.” His tone was blunt yet
insistent.

Nidan shook his head. “You want
us dead.”

“
I want Skaric
alive at any cost.” Vali’s mouth quirked up into a malicious smile.
“Even if that means killing the war leader.”

There was no more time to argue
or act. The double doors crashed open, smashing into the unyielding
stone walls. Nidan was catapulted forwards into the room. His sword
clattered to the floor.

Berend was far larger than
Kiana remembered. The war leader’s face contorted with rage. His
teeth were barred; his skin was flushed red; the muscles in his
neck were rigid and veins pulsed visibly beside his eyes. His right
hand was curled around a sword that was longer and wider than
Nidan’s. His left hand was cradled in a bloody sling. Anger boiled
in his eyes. He stretched open his mouth and howled with rage.
Dread turned Kiana’s skin cold. Berend truly was fanatically
insane.

Vali positioned himself between
Berend and Skaric; fire sprang to life at his fingertips.
Awkwardly, he motioned with his bound hands, flinging the spell
forward. If it was meant to hit Berend it failed. Instead the fire
struck the stone floor, sizzling into nothingness.

“
Skaric, get
Kiana into the pathways!” Nidan didn’t take his eyes off Berend. He
tried to right himself but the war leader kicked him back down to
the ground.

Kiana hesitated. She couldn’t
leave Nidan to face Berend alone.

“
Go!” The
anxiety in Nidan’s voice spurred Kiana into action. There was
nothing she could do to help him. She ran to Skaric, who seemed
rooted to the spot. Berend marched into the room. Fire danced at
Vali’s fingertips a second time, and fresh blisters opened up on
his skin. The mage began to throw the spell forward. Berend was
faster. He closed the gap, raised his sword and struck. Vali’s
flames died instantly. His arms fell limply. Berend’s sword burst
through his chest. Kiana screamed. The war leader pulled his sword
free.

Everything shifted.

Chapter
Twenty-Six

Nidan was
alone with Berend. He snatched his sword up and scrambled to his
feet. The war leader stormed past him. Berend raised his sword and
swung it towards Skaric. Kiana’s oddly distant scream echoed
through the hall. The blow should have cut right through Skaric.
It
should
have
killed him, except he wasn’t physically there.

“
What magic is
this? You can’t hide from me forever, traitor!”

“
It’s Ysia’s
magic.” Nidan hoped his voice had sounded calm.

Berend swung round to face him.
“Liar!”

Nidan let out a bitter laugh.
“Look around you.” He gestured towards the painfully obvious echoes
of the pathways. “If you’re too blind to see that Ysia isn’t dead,
then you’re an idiot.”

Berend screamed and lunged at
Nidan. Nidan barely ducked the blow. He almost fell but managed to
spin away to the side. Berend was blind with fury; it would be
Nidan’s only advantage. He tightened his grip on the hilt, gritted
his teeth and lunged. His sword slashed through the air. It
screeched to a halt as it impacted against Berend’s blade. Nidan
ignored the ache in his arm. He rotated the blade away from
Berend’s sword, swept it around and sliced again. Berend blocked,
stepped in and used the full force of his body to knock Nidan off
balance. Nidan hopped into a stagger. His knee cracked as Berend’s
foot slammed into it. He saw a flash of steel before his eyes,
slicing him from shoulder to waist. White-hot pain was carved
across Nidan’s chest. He screamed. His body slammed into the hard
flagstones. Berend’s mocking laughter reverberated through his
mind. Throbbing darkness obscured his vision, robbing him of his
senses as he slowly slipped into oblivion.

*

Skaric heard the distant clang
of steel on steel; it was like listening through muddy water. Kiana
clung to his arm, trembling so hard it made his own body quiver; at
least, that’s what he wanted to believe. Her face was ashen as she
stared at Nidan. Skaric couldn’t look at the fighting or spare the
time to consider a clumsy attempt at comforting Kiana. Gently, he
pulled away from her grip and knelt down on the ice-cold
pathway.

Vali was barely breathing.
Blood oozed from his wound. Although it dripped onto the pathways,
it didn’t pool there. Skaric’s shoulders shook as he clumsily
untied Vali’s hand; he would not let his friend die a prisoner.

“
Is… this…
what… Ysia… really… wants?” Vali said.

Skaric nodded. “I think
so.”

Kiana crouched down, her hands
loosely clenched. “Yes. It is what she wants.”

“
Why?” Skaric
hated that his voice was reduced to a strangled whisper. “Why did
you defend me?”

Vali smiled
weakly. “Told… you. I… take…
my
… orders… from… Adalric.” He placed
his hand over Skaric’s. “Go… home.”

“
To die?”
Kiana said. Her cheeks reddened.

Vali’s smile faded. “Maybe…
maybe not.” His hand dropped to the ground. “He… would have…
believed you.” His body shuddered and then became deathly
still.

Skaric felt numb as the light
of Vali’s soul pulled away from his body. For a moment, the nyxus’
soul lingered in front of them, staring at Skaric. Then it was
tugged away by the inevitable pull of the vortex.

Skaric brushed
his forearm across his eyes and then pushed Vali off the pathway.
Emptiness gnawed at his gut as Vali’s body was swallowed up by the
void.
This isn’t the time to
grieve
.

Skaric stood up. “What now?” He
sniffed back tears.

Kiana turned her back on him to
stare at the silver birdcage that held Miale’s mind. “I’ll invite
Miale in.” It sounded so easy.

Skaric placed
his hand lightly on her shoulder. “Nidan was right… Miale’s mind
will be strong. You might…” He inhaled slowly. “Kiana,
I
might lose you.” He
blinked hard.

Kiana span round, her eyes
suddenly alive with light.

Skaric took hold of her upper
arms. “I don’t want to lose you.” It was the truth. Simply,
obviously, the truth. His chest tightened.

“
We have to do
this, Skaric.” Kiana’s voice was barely audible.

“
I know.”
Skaric leant his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “Just
promise me you’ll hold on.”

Kiana touched her fingertips to
his lips. “I promise.” She turned away from Skaric. She was visibly
shaking as she stepped towards the birdcage.

The bird looked at her with
eyes that held a millennium of sadness. Kiana stepped forward and
placed her fingers on the delicate latch. For a moment she
hesitated and glanced back at Skaric. He sank his teeth into his
lower lip and nodded. With a single movement, Kiana flicked the
latch, allowing the door to swing open. She held her hand out. The
bird hopped onto it, her wings beating powerfully against the pull
of the golden vortex. Pinpricks of blood welled up where the bird’s
desperate claws pierced her hand. Skaric stepped forward.

“
Stay back.”
The authority in Kiana’s tone halted Skaric. He watched helplessly
as Kiana drew the bird to her breast and embraced it. It fought
against her, claws and beak tearing at her in a frightened frenzy.
“Join with your soul.”

Skaric was
almost blinded as the light of Miale’s soul intensified tenfold.
Instinctively he covered his eyes with his arms and flinched away
from the light. Kiana’s body crumpled and fell. Skaric caught her,
holding her in his arms as he dropped to his knees. She looked
lifeless and her expression was serenely blank. Skaric blinked back
tears and then bent his head so that his lips brushed her ear.
“
Fight
! You
promised me you’d hold on. So
fight
!”

He’d turned
his back on his father. He’d lost Vali. Nidan would probably be
killed. He
wasn’t
going to lose Kiana too.

He forced his
gaze away from Kiana’s face so that he could look at the double
aura that surrounded her. Her soul seemed so much weaker than
before, or perhaps Miale’s looked much stronger.
That’s a good thing.
Skaric wasn’t sure he believed it.

Light erupted into existence
above Skaric’s head. Blinking, he looked up. In the darkness far
above him a silver ring rotated, bathing him in its light. Within
it, he could see a spiral of green that rotated in the opposite
direction.

The gods were watching, waiting
for their sister to return to them.

Tears flooded Skaric’s eyes,
but his awakened emotions felt as though they were curling up and
dying inside him.

Gritting his
teeth, Skaric forced his hands between Kiana and Miale’s souls.
Instantly he felt the bitter cold that gripped them and the
strength of Miale’s soul corroding his own. Self-preservation
screamed at Skaric to pull his hands away.
I can’t. Not now.
They had come too
far for him to give into cowardice. Skaric ground his teeth
together even harder and began to prise the souls apart.

Pain wracked Skaric’s body. He
didn’t stop. He couldn’t. Cold sweat covered him, making his
clothes cling to his body and his hair stick to his forehead. He
was trembling all over. Worse still, Kiana’s face showed no sign of
life. If it weren’t for the shallow rise and fall of her breast,
Skaric would have sworn she was dead.

He paused and
pulled his hands clear of Miale’s soul. Almost free, it fluttered
in the darkness like a golden flag blown in an invisible breeze.
But it wasn’t blowing towards the whirlpool; it was blowing upwards
towards Ysia and Pios.
She’s whole. Kiana
did it.

All Skaric had to do was finish
freeing Miale’s soul.

He hesitated. He felt weak. His
bones were chilled and he could barely move. It seemed unimportant
as he gazed at Kiana’s lifeless face.

“
I can’t have
done all this for nothing, Kiana. You
have
to
fight
.”

Skaric gripped
hold of Miale’s soul at the last point that joined it to Kiana’s.
He couldn’t let her down. He drew in a deep breath and allowed
himself to cry out in pain as he continued to wrench the two souls
apart.
Fight, Kiana! Please!

Pain ripped through him as he
tore Miale’s soul free. He collapsed over Kiana’s body, unable to
do anything except tremble and cry as he watched Miale’s soul fly
upwards. His mind told him the sight was beautiful and that he
should rejoice, but he was numb to it. With effort, he raised his
hand and stroked Kiana’s forehead. “Please fight.” Sobbing, he
clutched Kiana’s body in his arms.

*

“
Kiana!”

The warmth of a bed enveloped
Kiana’s body, pulling her into the embrace of the soft down
mattress. She didn’t open her eyes. She was deathly tired, and
whoever was trying to wake her up could wait.

“
Kiana!”

She felt a hand shaking her by
the shoulders. Kiana opened her eyelids a tiny crack to see the man
who was bothering her. Marcas laughed and batted the pillow away as
she tossed it at him half-heartedly.

“
Can’t you see
I’m sleeping?”

“
Not any
more!” Marcas took hold of Kiana’s hand and tugged her upright.
“Come on, you have to see the sunrise! It’s so beautiful this
morning.”

She frowned at him and then
glanced around her room. It was bathed in brilliant golden light.
Other than Marcas, she was alone. Where was Erynn? She allowed
Marcas to pull her out of bed. Kiana swung her feet onto the floor;
she wiggled her toes against the warm flagstones. She was only
wearing a simple white nightdress, but she felt no
embarrassment.

The tower was completely
silent. Kiana frowned, wondering why she couldn’t hear the distant
sound of her Guardians training or the chatter of the men standing
on her balcony.

Marcas led her into her
parlour. A fire blazed in the hearth, illuminating the banner of
the cup of knowledge that hung above. The flickering flames
highlighted the pure gold in the thread, making the cup appear more
dazzling than Kiana had ever seen it.

The doors to the balcony were
wide open, allowing a pleasant breeze to coil into the room. It
whispered around Kiana, playing with her hair, tugging her outside
and when she looked she had to raise her hand to shield her eyes.
She could see nothing but the intense golden glow of the
sunrise.

“
Come on!”
Marcas tugged her towards the balcony. His hand felt
cold.

Kiana resisted his touch.

“
What’s the
matter, Kia?”

A frown puckered Kiana’s brow
as she tilted her head to the side and looked outside. “I’m not
allowed.”