The reality of it … explained so much about how he treated me. How he'd fought and yet held back. There had been times he could have killed me, or hurt me badly, and yet he'd always held back. I could argue it was part of the training they thought to foist on me, but I could see it for what it truly was.
Those few heartbeats where we floated through the ether took us inside the Eyrie. We went from the climate-controlled world of the humans to the snow-blasted mountains deep in the Himalayas.
I let Raven go and stepped to the side. Viv was in front of us, her eyes wide. "So you found a way to travel directly to a person? I thought that last was sheer coincidence."
I arched an eyebrow. "What's so hard about that?"
Raven moved off to the right, circling Viv. She didn't look at him. "It is not to be done. Spirit does not like to be used in such a way."
Both my eyebrows climbed. "No? Or perhaps you are just too weak, Viv."
We spoke like old friends making a re-acquaintance. If not for the tension in the air that rose higher and higher, I would have believed it.
"You don't really think you can kill me, do you?" Viv laughed softly. "I carry all five stones."
I nodded. "I know you do."
"You carry Earth and Spirit. And while you may be strong in them, it is nothing to what I can do." She held up one hand. "I hold the original elementals' lives here," the stones glittered on each finger. "Kneel before me, Lark, and I will make your death easy."
Peta leapt from my shoulder, shifting in midair. She landed between us. "Nothing Lark does is the easy way."
Ash tightened his hold on my shoulder. He was with me, and when we were together, I could do anything I set my mind to.
Another time I would have laughed, but not now, not here.
"This is between the two of us," I said. "I am the champion the true mother goddess has chosen."
"I AM THE MOTHER GODDESS!" Her scream echoed through the valley, sending a slow growing avalanche down the hillside behind her. We stood, staring at one another. For I knew that once the battle began, there would be no turning back. There would be no second chance at killing her. There would be no chance to find Matarrah in the flesh, of that much I was sure. But that didn't mean I couldn't find a way to her element.
I only had to push Viv to use it on me, and in my heart, I knew I would find Mattie waiting for me within it.
I put a hand to my hip and pulled my spear off its ties, spun it loosely, and then pointed the tip at her. "As an Ender of the Rim, protector of the realm, I find you guilty of murder, treason, willfully endangering the world of the elementals, and manipulation of the vilest kind. It is my right and duty to end your life as I see fit."
A low laugh rumbled from her. "Oh, please. You have no rights to my life."
"I have every right," I said. "And you will die."
I knew all too well the consequence of engaging her with the elements. We could end up destroying the world, and that could not happen.
That left me one option. To face her in physical combat.
The moment was now.
I leapt up into the air with my spear raised. Ash burst upward taking himself high above our heads, a screeching call leaving his beak.
A battle cry I answered with a scream of my own.
CHAPTER 24
Vivica, false mother goddess, and wreaker of havoc, sidestepped my spear thrust as I knew she would. I didn't slow my attack, though. Talan had been adept at using the weapon, but I had no doubt Vivica had never trained with anything other than her abilities. That was the truth of someone who thought they were too good, too strong: they didn't realize there was always someone out there stronger. Meaner.
Better.
I kicked out at her upper thigh, grazed her and brought the haft of my spear around, aiming for her belly. A snap of icy cold wind cut between us and swept me into the air. Peta howled and I sent her a calming thought. This was what I'd been banking on. That Viv would use the deadliest of the elements to end my life.
The only element I did not hold.
I didn't fight, but instead surrendered to the hammering of the wind as it drew itself out of my lungs. My eyes closed and the sound of Vivica laughing, Peta roaring, and Raven yelling, filled my ears.
Matarrah. Mattie. You were Talan's favorite. He sends his love. You are near this place. You are near here.
I am.
Her whispered reply was weak and I knew why. She was dying, as Frost had been dying. As Talan had died. As Olivisha and Realm had given up their lives before Vivica could get to them. I could see her in my mind's eye, lying on the snow, a blade just like the one that had dug into Frost's chest sticking out of her own.