Conquering The Unbroken

Chapter 67

I don't know where to look first. Our army swarms towards the crown prince and Avalie over his shoulder, and I'm nearly lost in the fray. My body is tossed back and forth by the onrush, but it's not my own will that pulls be back out. It's a dark hand, covered in swirls of tattoos and golden rings over her thin fingers sprinkled with morning dew.

Renit is standing in front of his father. A physical blockade so Silas can secure Avalie.

Binx is lying on the ground, a pool of blood underneath him.

Hallie is uncertain what to do. She looks between her father and the king.

Standing in my eyeline, breaking me away from it all, is Dalis. Tears stain her eyes and her cold grip wraps tightly around my wrists. Binx. I can't meet her eye for I know what I've already done to rid her of the family she deserves. Mills is dead because of me. The last person she had, one she trusted to a fault.

I can't heal sword wounds. No one can.

Immortal bodies conquer the test of time, but Binx's hand wrapped around the steel blade sticking out from his abdomen will not see another light. The truth can't be reversed once it has already happened, no story rewritten. There is no changing this.

Silas grips onto Avalie's shoulders and tells her that it'll be all right. She's safe now. But it's not over yet. The king's army remains a threat. Not to mention he's still alive, standing in front of my witch of storm. I pivot towards Renit, but they're speaking in hushed tones, their faces contorted into pain after what they've experienced together. Circling each other with all the training they've mustered and survived.

Both of them have long lists. Renit's reaches the floor and curls around the courtyard, wrapping around the tree branches and cascading into the broken windows of the castle. He circles his father, boots sliding swiftly along the crumbled stone. Similar to when I brought it to nothing after believing there was nothing else I could do to prove my worth.

Celestine was alive then. None of this had come to light.

How the world was so different, and how everything has changed so quickly. At this point, death is a favorable outcome. And as Dalis drags me over to Binx, my feet don't fail. I've prepared myself for this moment, knowing in the back of my mind that he'd do whatever it took to ensure he didn't live to see another day after what he did. Sick and twisted redemption.

Binx doesn't long to be remembered for what he did at the king's side. Assisting in creating an army meant to take over the entire world is one thing. Stopping him in the end is another.

"Binx," Dalis croaks as she kneels at his side.

I stand over his body, the handle of the sword reaching my waist, and look from head to toe. His eyes are still open, and his head falls softly to his shoulder to look at his best friend. As if it takes all the effort in the world, the last bit of strength he has left, tears prick at the corners of his eyes when he smiles.

His hand lays flat against his stomach, his knee bent at an odd angle. An injury he won't come back from. I drop to my own knees for the fear of collapsing the longer I stand with this weight on my shoulders, and thread my shaken fingers through his. Dalis, on the other side, runs her hand down his face.

"It's all right," she promises through the tears. Even after everything, she can still smile with regard for someone's last moments. It occurs to me at this point that the smile isn't meant for Binx or for the oncoming death he's facing. The world is fluttering away with every passing second but there is one person she didn't receive the proper chance to say goodbye to. At the fault of no one other than the witch currently swearing at Renit for all his wrongdoings. Thrust on him by the accuser.

Dalis's last moments with Mills aren't recorded in history, nor memory. She doesn't have anything to look back on other than what was an informal goodbye and a promise to return at a later time. I'll see you later held more promise than a simple goodbye, for there is a moment in the future that they'll see each other again. Not in this world, but the next.

Making up for that, believing it to be her mistake, Dalis kneels at Binx's side and runs her fingers through his tight curls. They've grown over recent weeks, bushing out from his scalp.

Ever so slowly, as if the gods themselves are turning his head, Binx looks to me. His eyes have lost their light, his skin drains of its naturally golden color, and his lips are a pale shade. Like Dalis, I force myself to smile.

"You did it," I lie. "You saved us all."

The king still stands. Binx doesn't know that. The world is fading too fast. "I'm sorry," he whispers, hardly a sound. "Your life was never mine to take."

I shake my head and tighten my fingers around his. Binx's body doesn't—can't—convey a similar affection. "You have nothing to apologize for. I'm here now. Alive because of you. You can rest now, it's all right."

A shaken gasp leaves his throat and he looks from Dalis to me with all the strength he has left. Slowly, his breaths are losing the adrenaline he jumped off the castle with, and his eyes won't remain open for much longer. Dalis and I share a knowing look.

Binx's hand goes noticeably limp in my own.

Catching on, Dalis leans down and whispers in his ear, "You're a hero, Binx. We promise to never...never forget you." Her voice cracks and she closes her eyes to stall the tears beginning to fall.

One last breath. He heaves, his body arching, but it can't complete the rest. Binx takes his last breath staring at Dalis, his plum eyes draining of the beauty they held. Glassy and pale. His fingers turn chilled against my own and I run my hand over his one last time, bracing my shaking palms against my knees to stand. One more down.

The crippling feeling of death returns, slowly rising in my gut. Celestine died, and I felt a similar hollowness. My parents, innocent and lively, lost their souls. All the people I have lost, from this moment and the last, will never leave me. Covered up by vines similar to the ones trailing the castle, hiding secrets, will store that hollowness until someone else cuts it away.

Binx's body is crumbled and lonely against the chaos. I don't receive adequate time to mourn and allow my heart to break, then heal on its own over time. There's no chance for that, not until this is over and the world is restored. If it ever will be.

I turn towards Renit, ready to defend him, but find that both princes stand in front of their father, swords drawn and their stares hardened. I wonder why the king of Esaria isn't attacking, why his hands are clutched into fists and the sword at his belt isn't drawn. It's not because he plans to use his power to flee.

The titanium band on his wrist.

Whirling back to Binx, I find that others are looking at him too. The only reason we're all breathing, drinking in this blood-filled air, is at the hands of his sacrifice. Because of Binx, we're one step closer to winning this. We're one step closer to Silas's reign on the throne.