The Ocean Siege | Vol.2, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

31.

Three inches. That was how far away Makaela's razor-sharp claws had been from his face. Three inches away from slicing through his skin. Three inches away from ending his life.

He remembered freezing underneath her hold, losing himself in her ebony eyes. They seemed to span forever like the bottomless pits in Nordor. He couldn't decipher the emotion beyond them. As far as he was concerned, there hadn't been any.

Nightlings weren't known for their compassion or empathy. They were killing machines with no moral compass. Wherever they went, they caused havoc and destruction. In his history classes as a child, he learned of how they used to terrorize magician and Ordinaire communities alike.

They had inspired the stories of vampires. They created nightmares for children at night. They were demons born in darkness.

And Makaela was one of them.

He still couldn't believe it. The thought of it seemed wrong. Makaela? A bloodthirsty monster? Had someone told him that a few weeks ago, he would've laughed in their face. She was no killer. Or so he thought.

When she had him under her grip, he thought he was going to die. He thought her claws were going to shred his face to confetti and her fangs were going to rip through his flesh. He had wanted to run, fight, and scream like a frightened child. All at the same time.

But he hadn't done any of those things. Fear had grabbed hold of him, constricting him like a boa. He had frozen, ensnared by the halfling demon on top of him. When he looked into her eyes, he accepted his fate.

He had already died once that day. What was another? And if he was going to die for real, it might as well have been from her.

He couldn't think of a more poetic ending.

Pathetic magician gets murdered by the only girl he ever loved—who turned out to be a murderous demon all along.

Talk about a happy ending.

Her face flashed through his head. When he first saw her walk through that room, his chest fluttered. He knew he'd be seeing her again, especially after the fight on the docks, but nothing could have prepared him for that moment. He wanted to smile, to laugh in relief that he could see her face again.

But he couldn't. Imogen and Remy were right; she wasn't the same girl who clung to his side when they were children. She wasn't the naïve, loud-mouth girl he saved from his father just a few weeks ago.

She wasn't the girl he had begun to fall in love with.

She may have looked the same, but the girl he knew was gone. The demon inside her had taken her soul. She was tainted by the darkness. He recognized the dark look that filled her eyes. Many of his housemates had the same look—fury, and anguish.

He never wanted that for her. Anger rippled through him whenever he thought about what had become of her. She was supposed to the Light. She was destined to brighten their world.

Now she was the darkness she once sought to destroy.

His jaw clenched as he ran behind Ajax and Siren, who were heading up the stairs to the palace's ground level. According to Ajax, Sirus was upstairs battling Thorian and a few Shades.

Sebastian's lip curled at the thought of his father.

All of this was his doing. All the death, destruction, and despair. All of it led back to him and that stupid prophecy and whatever deal he made with Mauvorin.

I'm going to make him pay.

Sebastian, Ajax, and Siren emerged from stairwell and into the hall.

"Holy mother of hammers," Ajax said.

Siren's shoulders slumped as she gawked at the scene before them.

Sebastian blinked twice, unsure if what he was seeing was real.

The corridor looked as if had been hit by a tsunami. Water dripped from the walls, most of which had been broken away like wet plaster. Thick chunks of marble littered the ground and the drenched courtyard nearby. Bodies belonging to Aegeon soldiers laid on the ground. Most of them were dead.

Sebastian frowned.

Siren slowly approached one of them, her hands trembling. She flipped him onto his back and gasped. It was the Aren, the guard who led Sebastian and his group to the palace two days before.

His eyes were closed. Hair was plastered to his wet face. Had it not been for the blood staining his armor and face, he could've appeared to be sleeping.

Siren covered her mouth, stifling her cries. "I grew up with him. He had just become one of the palace guards."

Ajax pulled her into a hug, and she sobbed into his chest. "I'm so sorry, Siren."

"My city...my home..." She sniffled, wiping her eyes. "It's all destroyed."

Sebastian stood at the base of the stairwell, his hands curled into fists. He stared at Aren's dead body, his lips twitching. He looked around at the other bodies. He thought about the wrecked city of Thania.

He was tired of people dying at the hands of his father.

"We need to get to the beach," Ajax said, his arms still wrapped around a crying Siren.

Sebastian nodded. He had no idea what was at the beach, but it was their only plan of action. All he knew was that they either needed to kill his father or find a way off the island. The portal wasn't an option, though, as the Order of the Black Lotus had taken control over them all.

He squeezed his eyes shut.

We need to end this.

He walked up to Siren, who was wiping the tears from her rosy cheeks. "We're going to avenge Aren. We're going to avenge all of the people who died tonight. It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, but I promise you we will make my father and the Shades pay for what they've done."

Siren lifted her head, her teary eyes meeting his. She swallowed hard and nodded. Sebastian placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I promise."

She wiped her nose with the back of her hand and sucked in a shaky breath.

"C'mon," Ajax said.  "Let's get moving."