It was then that something inside me shifted, and I understood what Abraxas had been trying to teach me for so long. My magic was not a weapon as I had once been led to believe. It was a beacon, a ray of hope. It was light, and love, and faith—faith the world put in me. Now I had to become what I was always meant to be. Not queen nor ruler, but protector and guardian of Avalonia and its people.
I reached for my power, which I could see in the distance, far within the Dagger and burning brighter than a thousand stars. With my last bit of strength and an unshakable faith, I commanded it to return to me.
“Come!” I said and opened myself to it.
It was as if the floodgates released, and my magic rushed into me in a great tidal wave of unfettered power, washing over my whole body as it all returned. It was powerful and ancient, a great white light against which no darkness could stand. I pulled out the Dagger and stood up, my whole body glowing with an iridescent radiance as it healed itself.
Dragath’s eyes grew wide and he backed away. “No one has ever taken their magic back from the Dark Dagger.”
“There’s always a first time for everything, Dragath,” I said, flexing my fingers. My senses sharpened, my strength grew, and power roiled in my veins, waiting to be released. I faced the demon lord.
“No!” Dragath boomed as he flung out his arms and dark shadows speared toward me. “I will not allow you to bind me again, Firedrake.”
A searing pain filled my head as evil magic, dark and twisted, battered at my shield. I gritted my teeth, pushing his magic back. I lifted my hands and blazing white light shot toward Dragath, tearing at his defenses. Sweat formed on my brow as I pushed more magic toward him. Dragath’s dark power met mine, clawing at my magic like a ravening beast.
“Finish it, Aurora. This is what you were born to do,” Abraxas growled in my head. “Your magic is more powerful than his. No darkness can stand before the full light of the Dawnstar.”
My hands started to shake as I held Dragath back and gathered more magic.
“Once I kill you, I will kill your father as I always intended,” Dragath sneered.
His magic impaled me with a tremendous force. It tore through my shield and a blinding pain ripped through my body, bringing me to my knees.
Dragath’s voice filled my head and brought the pain crashing back. It slammed into me, knocking the breath out of my lungs. “It is a shame your mother isn’t here to see how useless her sacrifice was to save you. You are pathetic, Aurora Firedrake. You are no Dawnstar.”
An image of my mother flashed before my eyes. She’d believed I would save the world. She had faith in me long before I ever did. I had seen for myself how she gave her life to save mine. That kind of selfless love and faith could change the course of fate itself. My mother was still trapped in the Dagger; my work here was not done.
I had a destiny to fulfill.
I plummeted far down into my magic and drew on every last drop I could find within me. A great force of white light surged up, hard and fast, ripping out from the very depths of my power, raw and powerful—a primordial magic older than time itself. It waited for me to command it, to wield it as it should be wielded.
Dragath’s eyes widened as he felt the shift.
My body glowed brighter than ever before as I released all my magic on the demon lord.
Dragath screamed in terror. His eyes flashed dark with hatred as white light seared through his skin, tearing through flesh, bone, and magic, scorching him from the inside out. A ravenous, twisted evil fought the light, a soulless devouring pit of darkness, a horrific beast that wanted to consume the world. My head pounded and my mouth went dry as I held on with everything I had. My power tore through him, ripping and shredding away the darkness as the cavern lit up with a blinding light.
My magic exploded.
And the once-dreaded demon lord was reduced to a pile of ash. Obliterated from this world once and forever by the only power that could defeat him—the full light of the Dawnstar.
The dark cavern was still once more, and an eerie silence filled the space as we stared in disbelief at the remains of the demon lord.
Without Dragath, the portal closed. Tristan stood over the headless body of a monstrous creature.
The sound of crying startled me and my head whipped toward it.
Penelope was on the ground, Rafe’s head cradled in her lap. The wound on his chest was a deep hole over his heart. His eyes were closed.
Penelope looked up at me with a tear-streaked face. “I’m so sorry, Aurora. I could not save him.”
It was a moment out of my worst nightmare.
“No!” I rushed over and fell to my knees beside Rafe. Blood seeped out of the wound on his chest, and his face was pale, so pale. “No, no.”
Tears streaked down my face as I searched around with my magic to find a kernel of life to start the healing. It could not end like this. I could not lose him. I could feel Rafe’s life force flowing away. I caught on to it just in time and wrapped it in a cocoon of light. “Please, hold on,” I pleaded. “Rafe, hold on.”
From the corner of my mind’s eye I could sense a host of angry souls trying to push past the barrier, to pull him back, to take his place, but I held on with a force I didn’t know I had. I clutched onto the last spark of Rafe’s life. “Help me, please,
