Page 197 of Sunsplitter

“Whatareyou?” the aedari rasped.

A valid question. Fi was still processing:notdead, claws on her fingers, blood matting her hair and crusting too much of her face. Butnot dead. Her eye felt weird. Cold settled around the socket, not the bite of Winter air, but the prickle of Void ether.

Antal stared at her. At her reconstructed eye. A long,hardstare, both relief and shock, as if he also couldn’t process what he saw in front of him.

Did his eyes seem… brighter? Crisper? Fi’s vision swayed—because her new eye was sharper, the old one straining to match it.

“Yes,” she said at last. “I’ll marry you. You useless, wonderful daeyari.”

She’d have him however he liked, a giant wedding with guests and dancing, a private ceremony with just the two of them. She’d have him right here, if they’d had the time, swift oaths and whatever vessels they could find to bind their energy to. Anything to tell him she’d stand at his side for as long as he stood at hers.

Fi barely got to savor his dumfounded expression, the ridiculous way his brows creased before—

“That’s what you were trying to say?” he shouted. “You absurd woman! You weredying.”

“I can’t die. I have to marry you first.”

“That’s not how… we’ll discuss this later.”

Fair. They still had an aedari to deal with.

The magician was incapacitated, but Fi was wary of getting close to those flickering energy wings. In the reprieve, the aedari had managed to lift a hand, shakily attempting to scribe a glyph across her chest as the wound seeped golden blood. Antal stood, ready to lunge at the rival immortal—

Fi grabbed his arm to stop him.

It was always humbling, seeing her enemy laid out on the ground. For Verne, it had felt like vindication. For Avroz, retribution. This aedari—Kressyalia—glared with fury-bright eyes, hunched like a cornered beast ready to fight whatever got too close.

Fi couldn’t blame her. She hated that part the most.

The way daeyari spoke of their immortal enemies, called them beasts and hung them by the ankles to drain their blood,Fi couldn’t blame the aedari for fighting tooth and talon. The way this magician had lost someone dear to her, a partner cut down in battle, Fi couldn’t blame her seeking vengeance. These immortals and their millennia-old war had seemed impossibly big at first, yet it all boiled down to such simple things: fighting for survival, fighting for those they loved.

And a common enemy who’d brought them here.

“Could we use her?” Fi hissed at Antal. “A witness against Avroz?”

Before, he’d stared at her in astonishment. Now he looked like she’d lost her mind. “No daeyari would trust the claims of an aedari. And against a council member?”

“We hurt her, Antal.”

“Itkilledour people.”

“Because Avroz led her here!” Fi raised her voice, shouting to the wounded aedari. “The daeyari you followed. Where did you run into him? Would you recognize him?”

The aedari returned a cruel, choking laugh.

“How does it feel, sold out by your fellow beast? We found him alone, near the Contested Planes. Naïve fool wasn’t even trying to hide his tracks.”

That didn’t sound like Avroz. Wasn’t he supposed to be an experienced aedari hunter? Beside Fi, Antal’s tail dropped to a low swish, equally perturbed.

“He hardly fought,” the aedari taunted. “Didn’t even notice when I put the marker on. As soon as he could, he ran. Led me straight here.” Her wings flared, lighting the clearing in golden fury. “I nearly had him, when that fucker cut his antler off and dropped it here. Close enough. I’ll still find your wretched nest on the Twilit Plane—”

She fell silent, feathered ears perked high.

Fi tensed at the snap of static on her tongue.

The aedari twisted, golden wings arced over herself in defense. A shadow darted past the barrier. Red energy flashed into the Shape of a sword, too fast for Fi or Antal to move.

Avroz buried the blade in the aedari’s neck.