RISEN || The Keepers of Astraela #2

2.3 || EMRYS

|| CHAPTER 2.3 ||
|| EMRYS ||

"YOU WANT ME TO RETURN to Earth? Already?"

Emrys knew his words were a mistake. He winced at Amaya's pointed stare, but before she could speak, Xielyn's soft voice interrupted.

"Amaya has informed me of your progress," she said. "You've done exceedingly well in strengthening control over your fire. You have the power to do what's needed to end the Darkness plaguing our lands."

To end Thana, he wanted to say.

Despite his simmering anger at the Celestials who had once fought to end him as well, the destruction of his creator was too tempting. After all Thana had put him through, she deserved to be cast into the depths of her own Hell. His flames danced in anticipation of her forced cremation. He craved the spilling of her blood.

It was fitting, ripping her apart without a choice after she had done the same to him. He had been promised eternal life with a woman he thought loved him—a life that would pull him away from his parents' orchard to a Celestial realm of pure happiness. He was not promised death after death and life after life of misery, torture, and persecution.

For a moment, he wondered if the gods had finally realized he was never the villain, but the victim.

"We need you to abolish the Corrupted." Amaya's words slammed his consciousness back into the dining hall.

Emrys crinkled his brow, the elation deflating from his chest. "You want me on... trash duty? I should be going after the source. We can kill those damned things all we want, but they'll multiply if we don't get rid of her—"

"You're getting ahead of yourself. The Corrupted not only flock to the living, but to their master... or, in this case, their master's lost puppet." Amaya drummed her fingers against the table. "Thana has a bounty on this girl's head. Evanescence is to be brought back to Hell alive."

Emrys furrowed his brow. The name was familiar to him, though he couldn't place where he'd heard it.

"They plan to recombine as one—and as we all know, bringing my sister to full strength makes our mission far more complicated."

Mulling over her words, Emrys took another long drink and swirled the burning liquid around his mouth until his cheeks went numb. Thana's other half had been a common topic in his training—her human form, hiding on Earth until she could safely return to her home. But until then, Amaya had never uttered her name.

Where had he heard it before?

Jolts of pain fired inside his brain to signal the active block over his memories. Whoever this woman was, however he recognized her name, Amaya wasn't allowing him to remember.

"Finding her would not only be the key to weakening Thana," Xielyn chimed in, "but also to unlocking your fullest potential. Your urn rests in her gasp. It is pertinent that you recover your ashes."

Amaya nodded. "She won't give them up without a fight... and that fight is just what we need to ensure that the goddess of death will never be whole again." She laced her fingers together and leaned forward, elbows propped against the table. "We need you to eliminate Eva Hayle."

Eva.

The name rang in his ears. Louder. Stronger.

Flashing memories came over him in quickening bursts. Red hair. Pale eyes. A smile so bright it lit up their Darkness-infested world. Musty books and bitter coffee swept in with her essence. He followed her form, fuzzy at the edges in the dreamlike trance as she stacked novels atop a massive circular desk.