Page 135 of Vardaesia
His words spoke to Alex in a way he couldn’t have imagined. Because it wasn’t his voice that echoed across her mind this time, nor was it Kaiden’s. Instead, she heard what Niyx had told her inside the Gate of Lost Souls.
‘You’ve already won. You just have to believe it.’
Feeling the strength of his declaration wash over her, Alex met Aven’s fervent gaze and spoke the first words she’d said since arriving in the clearing. “I thought we agreed that the time for talking was over.” His eyes narrowed as she continued, “You think you’ve already won? Then prove it. Finish what you tried to do thousands of years ago—and see if you can kill me for real this time.”
As if breaking her silence also broke whatever was holding him back, Aven snarled out, “Say hello to your precious Niyx for me.”
And then he lunged.
In a blur of movement, he came at her with his lethal blade raised. He was faster than any immortal Alex had encountered, his strength augmented by all the Meyarin hearts he had consumed, making him an impossible foe. She had known coming into this fight that no amount of training could have prepared her to defend against what he had become. Not even Roka, the better fighter of the two brothers, would be able to stand up to the force of Aven’s stolen power. And yet, here Alex was, meeting his blade with A’enara in a fiery clash of black and blue.
He had fought her enough—in the past and in the present— to no longer be shocked by her immortal reflexes. As such, after she blocked his blade, he didn’t pause before swinging again, then again, and again. On his fourth bone-jarring attack, Alex staggered back and was barely able to pivot sideways when his blade rushed forward again, resulting in her left forearm being sliced open.
With a cry of pain, Alex only just managed to block his next attack, seeing the gleeful expectation in his eyes. He thought, having been struck by Vae’varka, that she would only have moments before the Harbinger of Death flooded its poison through her veins. But as she managed to keep meeting him strike for strike, his eyes darkened, flicking more often than not to her arm that was freely gushing blood.
More than ever, Alex was glad her friends had never learned what the Tia Auran armour was capable of, D.C. especially. She’d seen Alex don it during the academy Lockdown, but she’d never knownwhyit was so important, since Alex hadn’t had the time to share. That meant Aven hadn’t been able to steal the knowledge from her mind, just as Signa hadn’t been able to glean it from the others.
“You should be dead by now,” Aven hissed at Alex as they continued circling each other around the clearing. Alreadyshe’d sustained more than just the cut on her forearm, but it was by far the worst of her wounds.
Panting, Alex replied, “It takes more than a little prick to stop me.”
The double meaning in her words was impossible for him to miss. And that might have been why, with a roar of outrage, he came at her with even greater fury.
Despite her cocky statement, Alex knew she was in trouble. While she was bleeding from multiple places, Aven didn’t have so much as a scratch on him. Meanwhile, she was struggling not to lose any limbs—or worse—as she blocked against his attacks, unable to offer her own in turn. He was too fast, too strong, too powerful.
But she’d also known he would be.
‘You got this?’—That was what Trell had mouthed to her before she’d left the academy grounds, because it was thanks to the female Shadow Walker that Alex’s plan had come together. Or at least, the first part of it.
On even footing, there was no way she could succeed against all that Aven now was. But she didn’t plan to fight him on even footing. And the next time she blocked his attack, instead of retreating again, she leaned forward and wrapped her free hand around his wrist, mentally calling for Soraya as she did so.
The wolf understood her role in this battle, and with a burst of light and dark, she appeared in the clearing, only to disappear again, taking Alex and Aven with her.
They came out at Graevale, with Aven stumbling from the unanticipated transportation. But he still managed to get his feet under him in time to meet Alex’s blow—the first offensive move she’d yet managed to offer. He gained ground quickly, even amid the distraction of the warfare happening all around them. It was just like when Alex had last been there, the city square at the base of the Obscuria filled with Shadow Walkers andDayriders who were battling Aven’s Claimed army of Meyarins and gifted humans. But along with the Medoran military and Wardens who were again on site to help the natives of Graevale, there were also Flips and Jarnocks, and a handful of the free Meyarins—all of the races allied against a common enemy.
As Alex battled Aven on the steps of the gothic cathedral, she saw Dayriders flashing here and there while calling down lightning, Shadow Walkers appearing and disappearing in surges of darkness, Jarnocks blowing their poisonous dart guns and knocking out anyone they managed to hit, be they Meyarin or Claimed human. The Wardens and Medoran militia were using swords and daggers coated in Hyroa blood along with their trusty Stabilisers, more often than not teaming up with the Flips, who Alex had never seen fight before, but now discovered were capable of summoning water and throwing it into the faces of their enemies, distracting them enough for others to take them down. On top of all that, the skies overhead were filled with veeyons battling draekons, fire meeting sludge, claws meeting teeth.
It was a frenzied mess, all of which Alex had no time to take in, since Aven was losing patience and becoming increasingly more hostile in his attacks.
He wanted her dead, and he wanted her deadnow.
But she wasn’t willing to yield. And when he came at her again, over and over, Alex called Soraya,over and over.
Together the three of them moved across the world, with Aven attacking Alex relentlessly as they were swept from location to location. After Graevale, Soraya delivered them to Maroo, where Alex fought Aven atop the massive open tree trunk where she and Bear had met the Jarnock leaders before being overrun by their numbers.
This time, those warriors were busy fighting Aven’s armies, who were swarming through the treetop city. But just like inGraevale, the Jarnocks were aided by the other mortal races. There were flashes of light, bursts of shadows, and floods of water, along with Stabiliser blasts and the ringing of steel. Through the canopy overhead, Alex could again hear the sounds of the veeyons at war with the draekons, their hideous screeching painful to her ears.
But all of that she only gave half a mind to, because Aven was unceasing in his assault, their displacement once again only giving her the chance for one brief offensive move that he still managed to block.
And then they were gone again, Soraya moving fast enough to avoid Aven’s blade as he swung at her this time. But the wolf was too smart for him, too swift, and relocated them to Nialas, disappearing again before his blade could meet its mark.
With his change of focus towards her wolf, Alex managed to get not one, but two swipes in before he had her on the defensive again, neither of her attacks causing him any damage. But he was beginning to look unsettled, especially when his gaze flicked for a second to take in the view from where Soraya had delivered them, inside the circular meeting room atop the underwater city’s highest pillar. The glass walls allowed for a bird’s-eye view out across the Atlantis-like city, and just like the other places they’d visited, with the exception of the draekons and veeyons, all the races were fighting in amongst the bubble-sphered domes, with Aven’s Meyarins having used theValispathto venture underwater.
“What you’ve managed is impressive,” Aven snarled, refocusing on Alex. “But no mortal will ever match the speed and skill of an immortal. Your allies will tire soon enough, and when they do—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Alex panted to interrupt, mentally calling Soraya again. “Save it for someone who cares.”
The rage in his eyes was terrifying to behold as he lunged at her again. She met Vae’varka once more, nearly buckling under the weight of his attack, only managing to remain standing because Soraya appeared and spirited them away, this time delivering them to the docks of Tryllin.
