Page 136 of A Trial of Two Worlds
“You willneverlose me, Daxton,” I said, my heart shattering as I gazed into his eyes, knowing how much this decision was hurting him. “I’ll wait for you,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “At the crossing, when it’s time for you to join me… I’ll be there waiting for you.”
“I can’t,” Daxton screamed, his fists clenched so tightly they turned white. “You can’t ask this of me!”
“Daxton, you must!” I yelled, utilizing every facet of strength from my animal to keep my feet rooted in place. “You’re the prince who was promised to unite your people, and…you promised to look after mine.” My chest heaved as Daxton forced himself to meet my gaze. “You must keep your promise. You have to save them. Only you can.”
“Not withoutyouby my side, Skylar!” Daxton roared as his magic assaulted the barrier, blasting the three of them backward toward the passageway.
I gasped, my breath stilling in my chest at the force exerted against the veil of magic. The ricochet sent the three of them soaring across the opening.
Shaw and Castor collided while Daxton was thrown against the rocks on the far side. The volcanobegan to rumble. The pit of magma pooling in the vent beneath churned with the threat of an eruption.
We were out of time.
“Daxton,” I yelled in a panic as he struggled to rise. “Immortality would never grant us enough time together—” The walls of the magma chamber rumbled as rocks began tumbling into the rising pool beneath the ledge. The heat became unbearably thick. “I will always find you.”
I locked onto his stare, begging him to grant me this final gift of strength to do the impossible… To say goodbye.
“Daxton,” I cried as I gripped the stone.
Tears flowed down my cheeks as the magic swelled around me in a devastating vortex. My animal stirred inside my chest. Her soul and magic barreled into the stone with my own and unleashed the well of our power into the weapon that would require the ultimate price—our lives willingly given.
My pulse stuttered in an unnatural rhythm as the Heart of Valdor consumed every nerve, every fiber of my being. Snaring it inside the stone, stealing the breath from my lungs, and confining me to an inescapable fate.
“Daxton,” I whimpered as my life force began to fade.
Daxton’s eyes glistened as a stream of tears cascaded down his face. He dipped his head as his body convulsed with a combination of rage and sorrow that would obliterate the world if it were set free.
Lifting his gaze, Daxton said, “We will always find each other, every day, until none are left.”
My love for him transcended worlds and ignored the rules of time or distance that would tragically force us to part but never forget.
I would watch over him from afar until we reunited in the next life, where we would regain the time stolen from us.
My gaze drifted upward as a vortex of spiraling winds of flames and magic engulfed my world. Opening the floodgates of my power, I unleashed every droplet of strength and fragment of energy I held. My bones vibrated beneath my skin as a trickle of blood seeped from my nose and ears.
My animal rose from within, her soul’s song igniting a melody that carried the pains of my death. Spiriting them away and shouldering the burden of my final act in this living world.
“I love you,”Icalled out to Daxton.
I felt my mate’s scream, a raw and endless wail of sorrow. His grief wrapped around him like a suffocating ache, one that would never release its hold.
“I love you, Skylar,”he answered in a wounded roar.
Tears flowed down my cheeks as his final words echoed in my heart. Eternity would never be long enough with him.
I squeezed my eyes shut, a raw scream tearing from my throat like a burning inferno as the Heartconsumed every fragment of me. This was the ultimate sacrifice, what was required to unlock the magic to save our world.
My body grew cold despite the blistering heat from the volcano, until there was nothing. I could endure the physical agonies of my death. I’d faced it before, and once again, a strange sense of calm washed over me. It started at my feet a subtle tingling that crawled up my legs and arms, until it settled deep within my heart.
“Are you willing?”an unknown voice called out.
I dared to open my eyes against the sting of the blistering winds.
“Are you willing?”It asked again, the voice sounding ancient and strong.
I bent my head forward as my fingernails cracked against the force of my fingers digging into the stone. I clenched my jaw, grinding my teeth as the taste of blood coated my tongue. My animal’s presence surged inside me, flooding me with an unwavering courage that I desperately clung to.
Tilting my head back, I screamed into the chasm, “Yes!”
