Page 250 of A Kingdom of Wild and Power
And he stayed there. For a long, aching while. Listening to the slow, fragile rhythm of her breath.
‘You were always the purest and the bravest of us all,’ Kage said, his voice low, his forehead still resting against hers.
The great wolf whimpered, a fragile, broken sound.
Kage pulled back, just enough to look at her, to truly see her. The rise and fall of her chest had grown uneven, her breath shallow, her strength fading with every passing second. Those once-bright blue eyes struggled to remain open, flickering like dying stars.
‘Where will she go?’ he asked quietly, glancing towards Zagreus. But the god only shrugged, helpless, his silence louder than any answer.
And so they remained there together, the two of them, handsburied in white fur, offering what little comfort they could as the inevitable drew nearer.
‘I would have liked to have met her… up there,’ Zagreus said after a while, gesturing vaguely towards the darkness above, to the mortal world beyond their reach. ‘To have known her… as she was.’
Kage exhaled softly. ‘I’m sure she would have liked that too.’
The wolf let out a faint huff, as though agreeing.
And for a fleeting moment, both men smiled.
But Kage could feel it. The end, creeping closer.
She could not hold on much longer. And he would not ask her to.
‘You can go now, Wren,’ he whispered gently. ‘You can rest.’
Zagreus stiffened beside him, his mismatched eyes widening in alarm. ‘No…no, not yet—’
But Kage did not look at him.
His entire world had narrowed to the creature before him.
He leaned in, pressing a final kiss to her nose, his hand settling softly against her snout—a farewell that needed no grand speech, no hollow comfort. Just presence. Just love.
As Wren’s eyes finally slipped closed, her breath fading into stillness, Kage drew his hand back. Slowly, deliberately, he lifted two fingers to his forehead and bowed his head.
‘It was an honour to call you a friend, Wren Wynter,’ he said, voice steady despite the weight behind it. ‘May the shadows guide your way.’
And in the quiet that followed, she was gone.
The instant Mal Blackburn struck the soil of the Underworld, thunder unfurled across its cavernous skies, a low, rolling applause to her arrival. Her laughter rang out as the garments upon her body dissolved like mist, replaced by a long, obsidian gown that clung to her form with regal intent, as though the realm itself had crowned her.
She marked the drifting souls as she passed, their dim, wavering forms pausing in their endless wandering, drawn by the disturbance. They hovered in hushed bewilderment, as Mal carved her path through the Underworld with the certainty of one who already owned it, her steps echoing towards the distant castle.
It pleased her deeply to witness Persephone’s final moments of defiance, the goddess still clinging to the throne as though it might yet remember her.
When Mal flung the great doors open, their weight yielding with a thunderous groan, she savoured the sight before her: Persephone’s face, once composed, now unravelled into shock, into fear. Mal inhaled slowly, almost indulgently, and laughed again, as if she might gather that fear into her lungs and wear it upon her skin like the finest perfume.
‘I believe you are in my seat,’ Mal said, her voice velvet-smooth as she gestured towards the throne.
Persephone’s eyes flared, blazing with indignation. ‘How dare you—’ The fury faltered mid-breath. Her gaze sharpened, confusion creeping in. ‘Your eyes…why are they no longer purple?’
Mal chuckled, the sound low and knowing. ‘Because I am the God-Killer.’
Unease crossed Persephone’s features. ‘What does that mean?’
‘It means Mal Blackburn is fast asleep right now.’ She inclined her head once more towards the throne, impatience threading her tone. ‘And you are taking far too long to move.’
‘This is my throne!’ But the protest died as swiftly as it was born. From the very bones of the Underworld, chains erupted, coiling around her right wrist and wrenching her aside. Persephone cried out, shock splintering her composure, her eyes flying wide as a second set of chains snapped tight around her left.
