Chapter 30 THE SACRIFICE

Chapter 30 THE SACRIFICE
CHAPTER 030: THE SACRIFICE

I drop to my knees beside Kieran.

Blood spilled all over his hair. His breathing is shallow. The chains burn against his skin and I can smell his burning flesh.

"Let him go," I voice out.

The Hollow King tilts his head. "Surrender first."

"Thalira don't," Alaric says behind me.

I ignore him. "If I give myself to you willingly you'll let him live? You'll let all of them live?"

"You have my word."

"Your word means nothing," Zev barked.

The Hollow King's eyes flash. "Then watch what happens when I stop being patient."

He raises his hand. The chains moves and squeeze. Kieran's body arches off the ground and even unconscious he screams.

"Stop!" I shout. "Please just stop."

The chains loosen slightly and Kieran falls stiff.

"Ten seconds," the Hollow King says. "Nine. Eight."

My hands shake. The seed in my chest pulses hot.

"Thalira you can't do this," Cassian says.

"Seven. Six."

Morgana grabs my arm. "If you give yourself to him we both die anyway. The seeds will take over."

"Five. Four."

I look at Kieran's face. Even though he's covered in blood and bruises he still looks peaceful. Like he's just sleeping.

I can't let him die.

I can't let any of them die.

"Three. Two."

"Wait," I say.

The Hollow King smiles. "One."

"I'll do it. I'll surrender. Just let him go first."

"Thalira no," Alaric moves toward me but Corvus holds him back.

"Let me see him move. Let me see him wake up. Then you can have me."

The Hollow King considers this. "Very well."

He snaps his fingers. The chains dissolve.

Kieran gasps and his eyes fly open. They're unfocused and wild.

"Kieran," I whisper. "It's okay. You're okay."

His gaze finds mine. "Thalira what are you doing?"

"Saving you."

"Don't." His voice is hoarse. "Don't do this for me."

"Too late."

I stand and face the Hollow King. "I'm ready."

He moves toward me. His presence makes the air heavy.

"Hold out your hands," he commands.

I do. They're shaking so bad I can barely keep them steady.

He places his palms over mine. Ice shoots through my veins. The seed in my chest flares and I feel it spreading.

"No," Morgana gasps. "Thalira it's happening to me too."

I try to pull away but the Hollow King's grip is iron.

"You agreed to this daughter."

"You said you'd let them live."

"And I will." His smile is cruel. "I'll let them watch as you become mine."

The seed wraps around my heart it squeezed my heart which makes my vision blurs.

Through the bond I feel Morgana collapsing, I could feel her terror, feel her life slipping away.

"Stop," I choke out. "You're killing her."

"She's a collateral damage."

Suddenly a forceful rage surges through me. Not just mine. All four of them. Kieran's fury. Alaric's cold anger. Cassian's burning hatred. Zev's dark violence.

And something else. Something deeper.

A memory of the past that isn't mine.

FLASHBACK
I see a younger version of myself. Maybe six years old. Playing in a courtyard with a boy with ash blond hair and amber eyes.

Young Kieran.

We're laughing, we're happy and we're normal children.

Then the scene shifts.

We're suddenly older, maybe twelve and something is attacking. A creature made of shadow and teeth.

It's killing everyone. Guards. Servants. My friends.

Young Kieran tries to fight it off but he's too small and too weak.

The creature turns toward me.

Young Kieran throws himself in front of me and takes the hit meant for my chest.

I scream and reach for magic I don't understand.

Power surge through me.

My soul splits. Pieces of it tear away and form into shapes. Three boys. Alaric, Cassian and Zev.

But Kieran doesn't become a fragment. Instead my magic wraps around his dying body and binds his soul to mine and I use my life force to keep him alive.

The spell works. He gasps and sits up and I collapse all my body hurts. Everything is wrong.

I'm not whole anymore. I'm broken, splited and Kieran is bound to me forever. Cursed to stay by my side until one of us dies for real.

The memory ends.

I'm back in my body and back in the present.

The Hollow King is still holding my hands but something has changed. I feel different and stronger.

"You saw it," he says. "You remember what you did."

"I saved him." My voice doesn't sound like mine. "I split myself to save him."

"You cursed him." The Hollow King's grip tightens. "You took away his choice. Bound him to your broken soul. And now you've spent five lifetimes dragging him through death after death."

I look at Kieran. He's on his knees staring at me with devastation written across his face.

"You knew," I whisper. "You knew this whole time."

He doesn't deny it.

"How long?"

"Since the second life." His voice cracks. "I woke up and remembered everything. What you did. What it cost you."

Tears burn my eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you would have tried to break the bond. And breaking it would kill us both."

The Hollow King laughs. "How touching. The wolf stays loyal even knowing he's a prisoner."

"He's not a prisoner," I say.

"Isn't he?" The Hollow King pulls me closer. "He can't leave you. Can't love anyone else. Can't die even when he wants to. You took his free will the day you saved his life."

"That's not true."

"Then prove it." He releases my hands. "Break the bond. Set him free."

I look at Kieran. "Is that what you want?"

He doesn't answer right away. When he finally speaks his voice is quiet.

"I don't know anymore."

Something inside me shatters.

"Fifty years," he continues. "Fifty years I've been tied to you. Watching you die. Waiting for you to come back. And every time I think this is it. This is the life where we get it right. But we never do."

"Kieran—"

"I'm tired Thalira." He looks at me and his eyes is teary. "I'm so tired of losing you."

The Hollow King's presence swells. "Then let me end your suffering wolf. Surrender her to me and I'll break the bond. You'll finally be free."

"Don't listen to him," Alaric shouts.

But Kieran isn't looking at Alaric. He's looking at me.

"If I say yes," he asks quietly. "If I let him take you. Will you forgive me?"

My breath stops. "Kieran no."

"Will you?"

"I won't have to because you're not going to do it."

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you." I take a step toward him. "You're not the kind of person who gives up. Not on me. Not on anyone."

"Maybe I should be."

The seed pulses. Pain surge through my chest and across the room Morgana cries out.

We're running out of time.

"The bond," I say desperately. "You said breaking it would kill us both. But what if we don't break it? What if we change it?"

Kieran frowns. "What are you talking about?"

"I split my soul once. Made three fragments. But you're not a fragment. You're something else. Something I bound to myself."

"So?"

"So maybe I can unbind you. Free you without breaking the connection."

The Hollow King's expression darkens. "That's impossible."

"Is it?" I look at Corvus. "Is it impossible?"

He's quiet for a long moment. "In theory no. But it would require immense power. More than you have right now."

"Then I'll find more."

"From where?" the Hollow King demands. "You're already dying. The seed has reached your heart. You have minutes at most."

He's right. I can feel it. My heartbeat is getting weaker.

Morgana is worse. She's on the ground gasping. Sofia is holding her but there's nothing anyone can do.

"There has to be a way," I say.

"There isn't." The Hollow King moves toward me. "You've lost daughter. Accept it."

"No."

"No?"

"I'm not giving up." I press my hand to my chest. "You want this body? You want this power? Then come and take it."

His eyes narrow. "What are you doing?"

I close my eyes and reach for the seed. Not to fight it but to embrace it this time because I'm no more backing down.

"Thalira don't," Zev says.

I ignore him. I pull the seed into myself and I let it spread faster and let it consume me.

Everyone is shouting but I can't hear them. I can only feel the ice racing through my body.

It reaches my heart and wrap around it. This should kill me but it didn't.

Because I'm not trying to survive. I'm trying to take control.

The seed is a piece of the Hollow King's power. Which means it's connected to him. And if it's connected to him then I can use it as a bridge.

I push my consciousness through the seed. Through the connection. Straight into the Hollow King's mind.

He realizes too late what I'm doing.

"No!" he roars.

But I'm already inside.

His mind is vast. Ancient. Filled with memories going through millennia. I see worlds burning. Souls screaming. Civilizations falling.

And I see her. My mother, she is young, beautiful and standing beside the Hollow King with love in her eyes.

Then I see her leaving. Choosing mortality over eternity. Choosing humanity over power.

Choosing me over him.

He's been trying to get her back ever since. Trying to recreate her through me. Trying to force me to make the same choice she did.

But I'm not her.

And I'm not making any choice he wants me to make.

I grab his power. Rip it from the source.

He screams.

Before anything could happen, I somehow get myself back in my body and the seed disappear.

Across the room the same thing happens to Morgana. Her seed crumbles.

We're free.

But I'm not done.

I turn that stolen power on the bond with Kieran. The chains that have held him for fifty years.

"Thalira what are you doing?" Kieran's voice sounds distant.

"Setting you free."

The chains glow bright. Then crack and shatter.

Kieran gasps. His eyes go wide.

For the first time in five decades he's not bound to me.

He's free.

The Hollow King collapses. His form flickers. He's still here but not here.

"What did you do?" he rasps.

"I took your power. I used it against you. And freed the person I cursed." I look down at him. "That's what you get for underestimating me, father."

He tries to speak but dissolves into smoke before he could speak.

The room fell silent.

Then Kieran speaks. His voice is flat.

"I can't feel you anymore."

I turn to face him. "I know."

"The bond is really gone."

"Yes."

He stands. Looks at his hands like he doesn't recognize them. "I'm free."

"You are."

Everyone waits, wondering what will happens next.

Kieran meets my eyes. "So what now?"

Before I can answer he vanishes.

"Where did he go?" Sofia demands.

Zev closes his eyes, searching for Kieran. He opens them with confusion written across his face.

"I don't know. I can't sense him anywhere."

Alaric's expression hardens. "Because he's not bonded to her anymore. We can't track him."

My chest feels hollow. "He left."

"Can you blame him?" Cassian asks quietly. "You just cut him loose after fifty years. That's got to mess with his head."

I sink to the ground. "I thought I was saving him."

"You did save him," Morgana says. She's weak but alive. "You gave him his life back."

"Then why does it feel like I just lost him?"