Chapter 8: THE SECOND BETRAYAL

The cold steel of Kael’s sword bit into my side. The pain was sharp, but the shock was worse. My transformation into the shadow beast stopped instantly. The black scales on my skin melted away, leaving me human and bleeding on the forest floor.

I looked up at Kael. He was crying, but his grip on the sword was steady.

"Why?" I wheezed. Blood bubbled at the corner of my mouth. "I saved you. I chose you over my own revenge. And you stab me in the back again?"

"I’m saving you, Aria!" Kael shouted. His voice was full of agony. "The Shadow God is taking you over. If you finish that change, you’ll never come back. You’ll be a monster that eats everything, including me!"

"Maybe I want to be a monster!" I screamed, clutching the wound.

Seraphina’s laughter filled the air. She stood on the back of the bone-white dragon, looking down at us with pure delight. My father, the king, raised his scepter of teeth.

"How touching," the king boomed. "The hero kills the witch to save his soul. Kael Draven, you have proven your loyalty once more. Step aside so I can finish what you started."

Kael didn't move. He stood over me, his sword still pointed at my heart. But then, he turned the blade toward the dragon.

"I won't let her become a monster," Kael said to the king. "But I won't let you have her either. She is mine to guard. She is mine to judge."

"You fool," Seraphina hissed. "You’re both going to die."

The dragon opened its massive jaws. A stream of black fire erupted from its throat.

Kael grabbed me and rolled us behind a thick stone pillar that had fallen from the cave roof. The black fire hit the stone, melting it like wax. The heat was so intense it singed my hair.

"Aria, listen to me," Kael whispered, his face inches from mine. "I didn't hit anything vital. I just had to stop the change. If you stay in that shadow form too long, the God of Devouring will erase your memories. You’ll forget who I am. You’ll forget why you want revenge."

"I don't care about memories!" I barked. "I want them dead!"

"Then use your power," Kael said. He took my hand and pressed it against his chest, right over his heart. "Not the shadow’s power. Yours. The bond we shared… it’s still there. Use my light to balance your dark."

I felt the pulse of his heart. It was steady and warm. For a second, the cold hunger of the Abyss went quiet.

I looked at my hand. The gold spark of my soul was still there, flickering inside the black smoke of my veins. Kael was right. If I became a beast, I wouldn't be a queen. I would just be a weapon for the Shadow God.

"Fine," I whispered. "But if this doesn't work, I’ll kill you first."

I closed my eyes and pulled. I didn't drink Kael’s life this time. I invited his golden light to mix with my shadows.

It felt like ice and fire spinning together in my blood. A new kind of power woke up inside me. It wasn't light, and it wasn't dark. It was something new. Something gray.

I stood up. The bleeding in my side stopped. I walked out from behind the pillar, my eyes shifting between gold and violet.

The dragon lunged again, its claws reaching for me.

I didn't transform. I simply raised my hand.

"Silence," I said.

A wave of gray energy shot out from my palm. It hit the dragon in mid-air. The massive beast froze. The black ink in its eyes turned to gray stone. The creature let out a choked roar as its bone-white body began to crumble into dust.

"My dragon!" the king screamed. He tumbled from the creature's back, hitting the ground hard.

Seraphina jumped down, landing gracefully. She looked at me, her face pale with rage. "What is this? What did you do?"

"I found the balance, Seraphina," I said, walking toward her. Every step I took made the ground beneath her feet turn to ash. "You took my light. The abyss gave me darkness. Now, I have both. And you have nothing."

I raised my hand to end her. I could see the fear in her eyes. I could see the moment she realized she had lost.

But then, the king started to laugh. It was a wet, rattling sound. He stood up, coughing up black bile.

"You think you’ve won, Aria?" the king wheezed. He held up the scepter of teeth. "The ritual is already done. The Sun-Eater doesn't need me to wake it up. It only needs the blood of a Royal who has touched the Abyss."

He looked at my bleeding side. A single drop of my dark blood had fallen onto the red sigils on the floor.

The ground didn't just shake this time. It opened up into a giant, toothy maw.

A hand made of pure, white-hot flames reached out of the earth. It was as big as a house. It grabbed the king and crushed him instantly.

"Father!" Seraphina screamed.

The hand didn't stop. It reached for Seraphina next.

But then, it stopped and turned toward Kael. The flames grew brighter, and a voice like a thousand burning suns echoed through the forest.

"The Knight," the Sun-Eater roared. "The Knight carries the mark of the seal. He is the key."

The flame-hand snatched Kael before I could even blink.

"Aria!" Kael shouted as he was pulled toward the fiery pit.

I lunged for him, grabbing his hand. But the heat was melting my skin. The Sun-Eater was pulling him down into the core of the world.

"Let him go, Aria!" Seraphina screamed. She wasn't running away. She was running toward the pit, her eyes wide with a crazy light. "If he goes down, the sun will never rise again! We will all be gods in the dark!"

I looked at Kael. I looked at the fire.

And then, I saw something in the pit that made my heart stop.

There wasn't just one monster down there. There was a second Aria. A version of me that was still a child, chained to a pillar of fire.

"Help me," the child Aria whispered.

"Choose!" the Shadow God hissed in my ear. "Save the man who stabbed you, or save the innocent soul you lost in the dark!"

The pit began to close. I could only pull one of them.