Garden of Embers: Beneath Devouring Eyes #2

Chapter 19, Final Part

Daedalus tumbled from the black tower and through the stars.

Or so it seemed as he flew for the very first time. Around him, sparks flickered and burned out in the frozen wind. Each micro-explosion shredded the already-flimsy promenia wings he had managed to create and threatened to shred his concentration with them.

Only the sensation of his brother's warm blood bubbling against his hand kept him focused. He could not fail. Domi needed help, and help lay far below, down where clivias and Blended fled the falling tower. And so, he flew through dying particles in a desperately-controlled glide, clutching his twin and his cousin with hands and promenia alike.

Until the final thinning particles holding him and his precious burdens aloft dissolved.

Screaming, he plummeted.

Snow-covered rocks rushed to meet him. Daedalus squeezed his eyes closed as despairing acceptance sank into him. He was about to die, and Domi and Lyra with him. There was nothing more he could do to stop it.

He hoped it would not hurt.

The silvery whine of promenia surrounded him, and something slammed the breath from his lungs as pressure enfolded him. "I've got you."

Daedalus's eyes flew open. Valens met his gaze, face stony. It was not anger, but concentration. Air and arms alike gripped Daedalus's body and steadied Domi and Lyra in his hold with the soft, high hum of flight promenia. Another thrum wove with the first, the deep, tooth-rattling reverberation of a worldholder crafting new promenia from air, dust, and water vapor. Yet these freshly-minted particles flared and fizzled out the instant they were born, spilling a thinning curtain of phosphorescent sparks into the night.

No one but Valens could manage such fine-tuned control. But even an expert could not hold back the inevitable forever.

"Valens," Domi whimpered, not lifting his head from Daedalus's shoulder. "Your promenia--"

"I know," their aedificans said, voice grim over the sound of the wind whipping around them. They were near the ground but approaching too quickly. His hands tightened around Daedalus as the last of the sparks winked out. "Bend your knees."

Snow and rock seemed to heave up to meet them as the air cradling them fell apart. Valens made contact with the ground first, grunting in Daedalus's ear as he managed several running steps before momentum overtook him. He tripped and collapsed with a curse, throwing Lyra and the twins free.

Ice and stone battered Daedalus as he hit the snow and rolled. His breath crushed from his chest as Domi, with a choked scream, slid more than tumbled into him.

For a long moment, Daedalus could only stare, dazed, upward at the sky.

Above the crumbling black tower, the Trellis blazed incandescent white, spitting sparks in every direction. A crimson corona of heat rippled around the failing lattice and faded as the sparks cooled. Died.

Darkness descended over the night-side, lit only by stars and the trio of watching Eyes.

Daedalus's lashes fluttered. The sparks had been beautiful in their own way. Who knew that the death of magic could look so sublime? But this velvet darkness, this silence as the last of the humming faded, carried its own beauty. It held liberation within it. Possibility. Rest.

He closed his eyes, sighing. Reached out and patted Domi's back where his twin rested, motionless, against him.

"We did it," he muttered.

Domi nodded against his shoulder. "Yeah."

Snow crunched with uneven footsteps. Somewhere, Valens cursed. Then pain stung in Daedalus's cheek, and he squinted up at his aedificans. "You slapped me," he accused thickly.