Dark Fae(39)

“No,” Gormley shouted, holding her hand to stay the Fomorii. “We will not fight your battle.” But not all listened.

The Fomorii ranks split, fighting one another. The Tuatha in the crowd swept into the battle, uncertainty obvious on their faces. Who did they fight?

Chaos and I we were at the center of it, our blades flashing bright and dark, as we slashed at one another.

“My sister was the only person I had, and she was stolen from me,” I said as our blades locked. We wrestled for control and I ended up shoving her backwards. Not a graceful, skilled move, but it worked.

Pressing my advantage, I leapt towards her, a wicked downward thrust from Carnwennan skidding off the edge of her sword. That was not a move I knew.

Carnwennan has a mind of its own and knows how to fight. Let it guide you.

“I tried to save her, but failed.” Tears prickled at the edge of my eyes. “But I won’t fail this time.”

Chaos’ eyes widened, then narrowed. “You cannot save your sister.”

“Watch me.”

I spun in a half circle, Carnwennan whistling through the air. Chaos tried to avoid the blow but I shifted my balance at the last second, turning the slash into a thrust that took her through the stomach. The move left me wide open.

The world around us disappeared. Chaos screamed, rage turning her face into a twisted mask. The black sword arced through the air, slicing deep into my side. Like a bomb going off, pain exploded through me.

Steady, Quinn. It is almost done.

Shaking, my hands gripped Carnwennan, my one palm over the stone that held Aednat’s soul. “Take her,” I whispered.

An image of Aednat flickered beside me for a moment. She smiled then disappeared. Finally, she had the satisfaction of watching me die.

A bright swirl of blue and green light erupted from the blade’s hilt and wrapped around Chaos.

“No, you can’t do this!” She screamed her defiance. The soul gem started to hum and dark tendrils of mist started to seep out of Ashling’s body.

Chaos continued to thrash, her desire to live strong, but even she couldn’t fight the pull of the gem.

“Ashling, fight. Fight for me!” I yelled, grabbing her hands while blood poured out of me. I couldn’t save us both.

Her nails dug into my fingers as she yanked me off balance. We tumbled to the side, Chaos ending up on top of me, pinning me to the ground.

“If I’m going to be trapped, then I am taking you with me.” She had her black sword in her hand, and I had nothing to block her with. In the back of my mind, I knew I could hit her with a blast of power, but I didn’t want to hurt Ashling anymore than I had already.

As the blade came down, I braced myself. “I love you Ash.”

She stopped in mid swing, a look of pain rippled across her face. “Quinn?” Beautiful, pristine green eyes widened as she slid off me, slumping into the sand, her body shuddering once, and then going still. My mind skittered away from the possibility of failure. Not this time, this time I would save her. Clutching my wound, I scrambled over to her.

I pulled Carnwennan out of her, the stone a deeper shade of green and blue, but otherwise unchanged. Chaos was trapped. “It’s going to be okay, Ash. Trust me,” I whispered.

My hand still had the etching of the Cauldron on it.

Don’s words came back to me. “If you use the Cauldron a second time, you will likely lose your life.”

“Likely?”

“Well, let’s just say that it will take everything you have and then keep on taking.”

Taking a deep breath, I lay it over Ashling’s wound, her blood warm; I was dead either way. The wound from Chaos’ sword was on fire. The pain was racing through me and making my heart thump erratically.

Warmth spread through me as I willed the Cauldron to heal her, pouring my powers from it into her. Her skin flushed pink and began to knit together, the clean slice from Carnwennan closing over in a thin, white line. I felt myself growing weaker by the moment.

But Ashling still wasn’t breathing. I used what Gormley had taught me, not to just try to use my powers, but to actually give them up. For Ashling, I would give it all up; it was the last thing I could do for her.

Everything I had went into those moments. First Card’s power was taken, then I felt my own power begin to be drawn from me.

“Come on Ash,” I whispered. Her body jerked and her chest rose, once, twice.

“She’s breathing!” I screamed, unable to believe that it was working, that I was able to heal her.

Gormley shuffled over to us. “There is only one problem.”

I lifted my eyes to hers, but didn’t take my hands from Ashling. The world around me was starting to tilt. The blood loss was too much.