The shadow is pointed right at them.
I’m on my knees, rapt, as the shadow lunges forward towards Altair’s troops. It plows through them and suddenly the air is filled with nightmarish screaming and helpless, pained cries. The Fae archers target the mass of smoke, but the arrows slip right through it without harm. I watch as the Fae soldiers try to strike it with their swords, but it’s like trying to catch smoke.
The shadow moves on, leaving a mass of twisted bodies and blood in its wake. My breath is trapped in my chest as I watch. “Oh, god,” I breathe, fear lancing through me.
I hear Maaz step to my side. I glance up at her as she stares coldly down at me. “Your god doesn’t live here.”
Over Alnembra’s plains I see Altair bank back towards the battlefield. I can’t make out his expression as he flies towards the shadow that is Sadal Melik. I don’t want to see, I think desperately. I don’t want to see the man I love torn to shreds while I stand helplessly on the sidelines. But I don’t close my eyes. I strain them wide, fingers digging painfully into the ground as my heart pounds rapidly. I will watch. I’ll watch it all. And I’ll remember.
Altair closes in on Sadal, claws outstretched. I jump to my feet, breathing fast as the shadow coils around his winged body. Altair writhes, his wings twisted at odd angles as he struggles to get away from the Dark God. But Sadal’s dark cloud slams into Altair over and over again. I see bright red blood drip from the sky and onto the corpse-littered earth.
Altair screams, a bellow of pain so raw and helpless that I can’t help the tear that slips down my cheek. I clench my hands together, pinching my skin. I draw blood as Altair makes a break from Sadal’s shadow. But the shadow is on him in less than a second. I lose Altair in the darkness, and it’s even worse than seeing him in pain. Now, I can’t see him at all. He could be dead, and I wouldn’t know.
Sadal rumbles again and the sound echoes over the valley. Suddenly, I see Altair’s body flung out from the smoke. His fur is matted in blood, his blood, and his wings are twisted, looking painful and broken. He plummets to the earth and a scream lodges in my throat. I wheeze, unable to make a sound, as I watch him fall. His wings beat feebly and then he’s gone. His body disappears into a mass of dead and rotting demons.
Sadal hovers over him for a moment before making his way through the air towards us. I can’t drag my eyes away from Altair’s resting place. I pray, I hope, I demand, that Altair will crawl out of that pile of corpses. But I see no movement.
I feel the dark power of Sadal beside me as he changes back into the Fae form he wears. The battlefield is eerily quiet, the sound of clanging metal has faded. No more screams. No more berserker roars. Nothing. It’s over. I take a deep, uneven breath as I stare at the blood-soaked valley and plains of Alnembra. It was a massacre after Sadal became involved.
I glance towards him and he smiles at me, looking relaxed. I turn away, wondering if he even broke a sweat killing hundreds of Fae soldier singlehandedly. Maaz croons, her eyes wet with tears of joy at their first victory. My first loss. Such a great loss, that I don’t know if I really comprehend it yet. It doesn’t feel real. At any point, I might wake up in my room in Altair’s castle and all of this will have been a dream.
“Did you enjoy it, Verity?” Sadal asks, sidling up to me.
I slip my gaze towards him. When I see him, hands clasped behind his back, a smug smile, I know I will never stop fighting him. Without Altair, I may not have a reason to return to Alnembra, but I will never be a Bloodbane. Not in truth.
“You killed him,” I mutter, my eyes boring holes into his head.
Sadal shrugs. “It wasn’t as satisfying as I thought it would be. But it never really is.”
Before I can think, I feel a stinging pain in the palm of my hand. Sadal’s eyes are wide, one hand lifted to his cheek. I see red blossoming on his fair skin, my hand only inches from it. I hiss, tears spilling from my eyes. I draw my hand back to strike him again, blood rushing in my ears. But the surprise has faded, and Sadal’s hand snakes out and snatches my wrist before I can land another blow.
He laughs, tossing his head back. Sadal squeezes my wrist and I yelp as the bones grind together. “You can stop fighting, Verity,” he purrs. “There’s no use now. I’m all you have left in this world.”
“Bastard,” I growl, tasting salt as my tears spill into my open, grimacing mouth.
Sadal’s hand slips around my waist and he tugs me to him. Before I can stop him, his lips are pressed on mine in a rough kiss. It’s the first time he’s touched me like this since the night I betrayed Altair. I recoil from him, every cell in my body screaming to get away. But he holds me fast. Where once I felt pleasure, now there’s only pain and fear.
He pulls back, teeth tugging at my lip. I feel hot blood drip from my lip when the bite ends, and I stare at him fearfully. His own lips are coated in my blood and his eyes are as black as pitch. His mouth twists into an unnaturally wide smile and suddenly my vision goes black.
An instant later, I hear the voices hundreds of Bloodbane witches. I vomit when I open my eyes and see
