Chapter 80 The Ascendant of Witches
Amara’s POV
The ground was exploding with red-glow fractures as the battlefield shook. Although there were screams from both men and animals, Lilith's laughing was the loudest. It was piercing, untamed, and insane.
I stared at her, frozen in place. Her eyes were burning with fire and emptiness at the same time, and her skin was stretched thin, with black veins crawling across it. Her body was no longer entirely human.
"You're not understanding, are you?" Above the shouts of battle, Lilith's voice resonated. "I put everything into it. I sliced out the final fragment of me. For the Hollow Witch to fully consume me, my soul has been burned to ash.
I let out a gasp. "You... you sacrificed your soul?"
A ruthless sneer curled her lips. Indeed. I am more than just Lilith now. I am the Witch. I never die. Power is me.
Rowan took a step forward, his sword quivering in his hands. "You are now nothing more than a puppet—you are not power!"
Lilith tipped her head back and laughed once more, a strange light illuminating her body. "No, wolf. You haven't seen it yet. I'm not a puppet. This is what I decided on. I accepted her as a part of myself. I am one with her. We are unstoppable when we work together.
Kian said in a hoarse, horrified voice. "You ruined yourself to win a war?"
Lilith looked at him abruptly. "Destroyed? No. Set free. This body, the regulations, and the boundaries always bound me. I have none now. With her arms held wide, she was surrounded by shadows that resembled ravenous snakes.
My stomach twisted as my chest constricted. Nothing remained of the girl she had been. Not a shred of humanity or mercy.
I shook my voice and said, "You're lying." "Lilith is still inside you somewhere. You can battle her.
She stopped laughing and fixed her icy, vacant eyes on me. "No, Amara. Lilith has left. And you will be shortly as well.
As the ground trembled more violently, more shadow monsters emerged from the crevices, their jaws snapping with hunger and their eyes burning crimson.
Hold the line, Rowan yelled. The warriors charged ahead to confront the creatures.
But I continued to stare at her. My adversary. My mirror.
For the first time, she appeared to me as the Witch herself, not Lilith. The Witch also lacked mercy, a soul, and chains.
Suddenly, the mark on my arm became so hot that I let out a cry and fell to my knees. Golden light poured out of the mark in dazzling splits, and fire raced beneath my skin.
The faint sound of Rowan's voice reached me. "Amara! What is going on?
With his hand hovering close to my shoulder but not daring to touch, Kian knelt next to me. "Her mark—it's responding."
I gripped my arm, gasping for air, my eyes racing. Like molten fire, the light travelled through my veins. Something ancient was stirring within me, rising like an unstoppable tide, and my heart was beating faster.
"That's the mark," I said. "The goddess is responding."
Lilith smiled more broadly. She is, of course. You were always hers, little vessel. The Hollow Witch was tied to me, too. This is destiny.
"No." I pushed the word out of my quivering mouth. "This is a decision. I didn't request this.
However, Lilith growled, "You were selected." "Selected as the key." My soul burns with shadow, yours with brightness. We will work together to complete the task at hand.
A voice that wasn't mine abruptly reverberated in my mind as the fire inside of me increased:
"There will be a demand for sacrifice."
I went cold. The ghosts. The goddess. They had previously warned me. The voice was sharper, clearer, and louder now.
"Sacrifice?" I said out loud.
"What do you mean?" With frenzied eyes, Rowan knelt before me and demanded.
Once more, the voice echoed in my bones. "One must sacrifice all to stop her. Shadows against light. One person for another.
My eyes hurt with tears. One person for another. Was that me?
Kian's eyes became wide, as if he could feel it too. "Don't listen to them, Amara. We'll figure something other out.
Lilith's chuckle broke the tension. "Don't you hear it?" The reality. You'll have to die to stop me. And I'll see to it that you do.
Black fire swirled in her hand as she raised her hand.
My brand burned hotter and brighter than before. Light flew from me into the air as I yelled, colliding with her dark flame. With a roar, the light and shadow collided as the ground parted between us.
The entire battlefield paused to observe as the two forces engaged in aerial combat, with golden fire and black smoke.
Lilith's voice shook the air with rage as she aimed right at me.
"I own your soul!"