Chapter 255

Lyra’s POV

Before Thorne could even ask me about the cure, or comment about it, the ground beneath our feet was suddenly shaking.

Everywhere also turned freezing cold, and a sudden wave of mist rolled all over the ground, making my heart begin to pound. There was only one reason for there to be mist like that. Several shouts of panic erupted from the courtyard.

All of a sudden, all the nauseating pain and weakness I felt vanished immediately as I rushed out to the courtyard in the center of the large space fronting the packhouse building.

Azythar stood in the center of the mist, hovering slightly above the ground with dark energy swirling around his hands. His hollowed soldiers and ravagers poured in behind him in a swarm, and the ones who were here before joined them.

Red-hot fury snapped inside my chest.

He did this, I thought to myself, my teeth grinding together so hard my jaw ached. He poisoned Kade. He killed Riven. He came here to take everything from me, and he thinks he will just walk away with my life and the powers the Goddess had gifted me.

After several months of hiding behind hollowed and ravagers, the fucking cowardly bastard has come here.

I didn’t stop to make a plan—I mean, with the definition of evil and greed standing on my lands, what time did I have… I didn’t ask Qamar to handle anything, and I didn’t listen to Thorne as he shouted my name.

I knew I could not wait another second. I knew if I stayed back to think about strategy, Kade would die while I was busy drawing lines on a map. I had to end this right here, right now, even if it cost me my own life.

I sprinted straight down the steps, letting out a scream of rage as golden light exploded from both of my hands.

The blast tore through the first line of his soldiers, turning them to dust instantly because of how angry I was. I had channeled all of that fury into it, and Goddess knew there was more where that came from. Azythar’s eyes widened in slight surprise as I came at him like a wild animal. He raised a wall of black smoke to block me, but I didn’t even mind it. I knew that was one of his old and repeated tactics to temporarily disorient me, but instead of slowing down and trying to decipher what was what, I dove right through the mist, slashing my silver dagger toward his throat.

He jumped back, his feet hitting the ground as he threw a blade of dark energy at my chest.

I threw myself to the side, rolling across the floor and coming back up on my feet without stopping. I fought blindly, fueled entirely by the burning anger in my veins. Sure, it was foolish, but I also could not think of anything other than ending this bastard once and for all. Every time he tried to use his dark spells to push me back, I hit him with unpredictable bursts of white fire. My reckless attacks were so fast that he barely had time to raise his shields.

Even I was shocked at myself.

After that, everything went quiet.

Both armies slowly stopped fighting, stepping back toward the walls. Everyone understood what was happening. If Azythar killed me, my people would lose their Luna and have no choice but to fall. But if I killed Azythar, his entire army of hollowed monsters would collapse with him.

The whole war had come down to just the two of us in the middle of this courtyard.

“You fight like someone with nothing left to lose,” Azythar mocked, coughing up black blood as my light scorched the side of his face. “Did you get my little gift from SilverClaw? Your precious Alpha mate is rotting in his bed right now.”

Hearing his voice talk about Kade made my blood boil completely over.

“I will tear your soul apart!” I yelled, stepping forward with tears of pure rage burning my eyes. “You will never touch anyone I love ever again!”

I gathered every single drop of magic left in my body, ignoring the sharp, pulling pain in my lower stomach. Blinding light burst from my chest, lighting up the entire sky and freezing Azythar right where he stood. He screamed as the holy light pinned his limbs to the ground, burning away the dark mist surrounding him.

“Your amulet,” I heard Arcanum say in my head.

I was confused, but there was no time to ask questions. I just lunged forward, grabbing the amulet hanging around my neck.

Instead of cutting his throat, I pressed the glowing amulet straight against his forehead, and I wasn’t sure why. It just felt like it was the right thing to do… like it was where the amulet directed me to.

“Free your kind. And trap his soul in it,” Arcanum said.

I did just as he instructed, opening up my mind completely, reaching into him with the full force of my spirit.

“No!” Azythar shrieked, his eyes turning wide with pure terror as he realized what I was doing. He hadn’t expected me to know about that or be strong enough to do it, from what I could deduce.

I pulled with all my strength, ripping his soul straight out of his body. The dark smoke twisted and screamed in the air before being sucked entirely into the amulet. The crystal flashed bright blue, then snapped shut, Azythar’s empty body collapsing onto the ground.