Don't Let Go (Third Book to the Other Side)

Chapter Thirty (The Lord of the Sky)

Wow I really hate this. Sorry for making you guys wait. And there's going to be more after this chapter, I promise.

~•~

There wasn't any time to think. There wasn't any time to plan or rationalize or calm the unsteady, rapid beating of my heart. All that existed were actions and reactions and the pure, terrifyingly savage instincts that exploded the second the King raised his hands, sending barbed blasts of energy hurtling my way. I clutched onto my own source of magic, battering his attacks away as I struggled to keep myself under control.

The monster inside of me woke as the adrenaline of the battle filled my veins. It begged to be released the second it sensed the first drop of blood, a hit he managed to glance off of my arm. I knew that the instant I gave in to it, there would be no going back. The Tenebrie inside would consume me, and there would be nothing left of the dwindling substance that was my inherent goodness. I would be a monster lost to fear and panic.

But regardless of the risks, I gathered my energy, sending it into the storm raging above our heads and bringing it crashing back down on the King. As rain pelted my vision, I was unable to tell if I was wounding him at all, but it didn't matter. The only thing I could afford to focus on was the next attack. Time passed in bursts, each second more detrimental than the last. One wrong move, and it was over. I was painfully aware of everything that was riding on each moment passing on in the blink of an eye. Thousands would die if I couldn't get this right. Thousands more would never know what freedom tasted like.

And if I couldn't get through this, I couldn't ever see Alexander again. Even if he hated me for everything I had done and everything I had become, I'd do anything to see his gorgeous smile just one more time.

The battle was almost like a dance, every movement carefully calibrated, and the song was the clanging of our blades. Frustration rose in the back of my throat, threatening to break free, as he managed to slice at my skin while I couldn't get anything back at him. His energy stung every time it weathered through my shields and found a place against my skin.

It was strange, fighting against somebody I had trained alongside, somebody I had known for a good portion of my life. Even as I predicted every move he would make and prepared my defenses for every spell he could throw at me, he seemed to have a good sense of the things I was capable of. At least, the things I would have been capable of before I had died. Now, there was nothing standing in my way. I had everything left to fight for, and nothing left to lose.

The scythe felt solid in my hands. Burning, but solid. And solid meant real. It was the only thing I could place my trust in, the only thing that wouldn't fail me. I let my energy thrum through it as I blocked and parried and struck, letting it guide me through the battle. He returned each of my strikes with his own, but I could feel him, slowly growing more and more desperate. His strikes turned sloppy, a far cry from the precision he was known for.

"What are you fighting me for, Thomas?" he demanded as he stepped out of the way of the curved, moon-shaped blade of my weapon just in time. His drenched clothes made his movements heavy and unbalanced, but to his credit, it didn't slow him much. He adapted, just as I had. "I'm the one who helped you. I showed you how to embrace the Tenebrie side of you. Do you really think your precious little friends are going to feel the same way?"

I ignored his words and the pain flaring through my body with every hit he landed, losing myself in the fury of the attack. It would have been so easy to surrender myself to the animal inside, to the energy threatening to corrupt me. Between dodging the strikes of his sword and dancing away from the energy he hurtled my way, the desire slowly grew stronger and stronger, whispering in my ear, begging me to latch onto it. I could feel the creature, clawing at my insides. Every part of me knew that if I didn't embrace it, I didn't stand a chance.