Chapter 140 – Into the Abyss

Chapter 140 – Into the Abyss


Trinity's POV

The silence after Morgana's scream was suffocating and shadows that had filled the cavern mere seconds ago receded like darkness itself was afraid. My chest ached, every gasp tasting like ash and fear and the air was heavy with unnatural quiet, too thick and too calculated.... this wasn't over.

Nasir's arm was tight around me, his body substantial in a way I'd once despised and now clung to like oxygen. His wolf resonated in sync with mine, golden heat seeping into my flesh and we both felt that hum under the earth, a beat that didn't fit here.

"She's gone" Nasir growled, his amber eyes scanning the burned-out cavern, but the set of his jaw told me that he didn't believe his own words.

"No" I panted "Not gone, she was afraid"

And it was that which gave me the worst shiver. Morgana, who had reveled in cruelty and blackness, had screamed not in defeat but in terror. Something greater lingered, something even she had not been afraid to face.".

The stones beneath my feet trembled, a muffled roar that crept the length of my spine and through the cracks in the floorboards, an oily darkness seeped up, heavier, thicker and living. It did not twist like Morgana's darkness. It pressed like a sea, bringing with it a cold that chewed at bone and marrow.

Nasir pushed me behind him, his wolf surging, golden fire churning down his arms "Stay back" he said.

The words roused something stubborn in me. Stay behind? After everything? After all the shame, the pain, and then struggling my way into my wolf, into power? No. My story wasn't going out behind someone's back, even his.

"No" I echoed bluntly, falling into step beside him "If it's coming for us, it's coming for both of us" i said.

He yanked his head towards me, amber eyes blazing with terror and defiance but before he could argue, the blackness formed itself fully, a figure taking shape within its depths which is not Morgana but something older and more ancient.

Its voice thundered like stone against stone "The vessel is fallen, and the bond remains. You think that you have triumphed" he said

Every fiber of me ached to run. Where? This was no flesh-and-blood creature, it was the void itself given shape.

"What are you?" My words trembled even as I tried to plant steel in them.

The creature laughed, the sound being empty and endless "The First Shadow, the hunger Morgana served and the end your kind fancies itself can outrun"

Nasir snarled, the wolf in his tone "Then we'll end you too"

The cave groaned in mockery of his promise and darkness charged forward and crashed into his wolf's golden blaze. The fight was on the earth, light and shadow spewing in blazing sparks. Nasir drew back, teeth gritted but stood fast.

And me? My wolf burst, pushing against my chest and crying to be unleashed. For so long I had fought to belong, to prove that I wasn't a wolfless girl who would be forgotten but now, gazing into the face of this emptiness, something in me spoke otherwise.

Not forgotten but chosen.

I stepped ahead, ignoring Nasir's growling warning. My palms churned with light and darkness with the taint of Morgana and the flame of my wolf, opposing yet balanced within me.

The void spat out a hiss "You carry my servant's taint"

"No" I retorted, power vibrating in my tone, even to me "I carry her mistakes and I'll use them to kill you" i said.

Nasir gazed at me then, shock furrowing the hard planes of his face. Pride too, though he'd never utter it aloud.

We danced in unison. His fire burned up, a blaze of gold and I dived my hands into the foaming black. Shadow screamed in combat with me, burning through my veins but the light within me countered, entwining until both clashed and were remolded.

The cave pulsed unnatural hues—gold and purple, fire and shadow blended. We had it for a moment and the abyss screamed, curling back from rents of light that tore its flesh.

It laughed once more, cold and low.

"You are bound" it whispered, its breath-like voice "Wolf to wolf, heart to heart. That will be your ruin" it said.

The darkness twisted, shooting out appendages that coiled around Nasir's neck and drew him from me. His roar tore the air as the emptiness drew him into the void opening spreading at the center of the cavern.

"Nasir!" My scream tore raw from my throat.

He fought, golden fire blazing but the tendrils swallowed the flames, feeding on them like kindling. His eyes found mine burning, desperate and filled with something I’d never seen before. Fear.

“Run!” he shouted.

But there was no running. Not when he was being ripped from me and not when the bond between us thrummed in panic, tearing my insides apart with every inch he was dragged closer to that void.

"Let him go!" My voice cracked, not just from command but from something inside, feral.

Light blazed from me, a blast that destroyed the earth and sent the shadows flying and I didn't even recognize the noise I was making, it wasn't human, it wasn't a wolf. It was all of that, all at once, a mate bond fulfilled in naked energy.

Nasir dropped to her knees, coughing the tendrils shying from light. Relief nearly knocked me to my knees as well but it never came.

The chasm reconstituted, larger, darker and the hollow yawn wider behind. Its laughter shook every corner of the cavern, then the words that froze me.

"Only sacrifice can seal me. One of you must give everything, body, soul and bond"

The air thinned, choking me as the sincerity in his tone seized my chest. One of us. Either Nasir or me.

His gaze snapped to mine, fear and resolve battling on his face and he knew just like I did and for a moment, the world stood still.

This was it, one of us would not be exiting this cave.

Nasir stumbled to his feet, his wolf furious in naked golden fury now "No, i won't let you" His voice carried the weight of determination like he'd already made up his mind for us both.

My own chest constricted "Don't you dare, Nasir and don't you take this away from me"

"This is not for you to take" His molten amber eyes met mine, entreating and commanding all at once "I took years to make you believe you were nothing and i will not see your death be the acknowledgment of that lie" 

The hollow reverberated, growing hungering and rock melted air sucked down into its bottomless maw. Time was limited.

The tears burned my eyes, not of fear but of rage "If you get in that machine, I swear" My voice shook and my body trembled "I'll go with you. Do you understand?

The bond unleashed in torment like reprimanding us for the battle. His expression altered, pain etched into every aspect of his face and then, in a husky voice I'd never heard him speak in before, broken—he whispered, "I love you, Trinity."

Before I could answer and before I could stop it, he moved straight into nothingness.