He would not fail again.
Blasted by the rain, Inara watched Alijah closely. He had taken an extended blink, but now he looked back at her with some focus behind his eyes.
“Inara,” he uttered, saying her name as if it was the first time.
A smile dared to push at her cheeks. “Alijah?” she questioned delicately. “Is that you?” More tears ran down her face. “You did it. You walked through, you changed the bond.”
Alijah’s expression didn’t change. Instead of replying, he raised one hand and cupped her cheek, his gaze boring into her. “It’s like… I can breathe again,” he whispered. “I’ve missed you.”
Inara didn’t know what to say, her emotions battling with the rage and love she felt towards him. She put her hand over his and offered a warm smile. “I’ve missed you too,” she finally replied.
Multiple roars echoed across the skies, adding to the thunder. He knows! Athis warned. Malliath knows something is wrong! He’s coming!
Inara’s eyes flitted from the dark sky to her brother. “We don’t have long. We need to get inside.”
“I’m so… sorry,” Alijah said, remaining where he lay.
“There will be time for that,” Inara told him with a great deal of urgency in her voice. She heaved him from the floor and took some of his weight. “We need to go, now. Malliath knows you’ve altered your bond.”
Alijah didn’t move, halting their departure from the platform. “There’s so much… I want to say. But there are no words… that can undo what I’ve done.”
“We need to go!” Inara insisted, sparing a brief glance at the sky.
He turned his head up to look her in the eyes, his expression that of a contented man. “There’s only one thing… I have left to give.”
Inara finally stopped trying to drag him towards the archway. “What are you talking about?” she asked.
“I’m sorry,” Alijah repeated.
Then, in an explosion of action, he slipped his hand from hers and found the finger with the Hastion gem. A strong tug snapped the bones, rendering her entire hand useless with agony. In the same moment, he pulled the ring free, shoved Inara back, and yanked the Crissalith blade free from his chest. The gem in his possession, he had only to hold out his hand and Inara was swept away with the crystal dagger.
The platform greeted her with its unyielding embrace before she skidded across the wet stone. She heard the Crissalith clatter beside her, not far from where her father still lay. She fought against the new variety of pain and sat up to find others around her now. Her mother was crouching beside Nathaniel while Vighon and Asher stood sentinel in the rain, the four of them staring out across the open space.
The realisation of what was really happening came all too late to the Guardian. “No!” she cried, seeing Alijah’s plan laid bare. “He didn’t change their bond!”
Alijah paused by the very edge of the platform and turned back to face them all. “He would have me be a monster!” he yelled over the storm, his grim determination stealing his features. “I won’t let him hurt anyone else!”
Inara scrambled to her feet but it was too late and Alijah was too far away. Without taking his eyes away, he stepped off the edge.
“NO!” Inara screamed, her hand reaching out to grab him in a spell, but without the Hastion gem to combat the Crissalith beside her, she was powerless. She kicked the blade away, sending it careering off the platform. In its absence, Athis’s voice returned to her with clarity.
Malliath’s going to save him! he warned.
Through Athis’s mind, she could see the black dragon swooping low to catch Alijah, thereby saving both of their lives. A moment existed between Inara and Athis, a moment so profound and urgent that only feelings were capable of crossing their bond.
Athis knew he could stop Malliath from reaching Alijah before he crashed into the rocks. Stopping him would ensure Alijah’s death and bring an end to the overwhelming threat of Malliath. But everything in Inara wanted to save her brother, her desperate need providing Athis with a choice.
Saving Alijah, however, meant saving Malliath. That in itself put the entire realm at risk. Without the Crissalith, Alijah would be subsumed by the dragon once more and they might never get the opportunity to separate them again.
There was, it seemed, only one way to end it all: they had to honour Alijah’s sacrifice.
It broke Inara’s heart but, for the sake of the realm and, perhaps, any kind of redemption for her brother, she said the words anyway. Stop him.
Athis continued on his flight path, his wings tucked in to let him spear down at just the right angle. Only seconds had gone by since Alijah began his final journey, but his moment between life and death was about to come to an end. It was only then, a heartbeat from impact, that Inara saw the true calamity of what was about to happen.
Athis hadn’t told her how he was going to stop Malliath…
“No.” The protest could hardly be heard as she broke into the fastest run her injured hip would allow.
Athis intercepted Malliath head to head, ramming into the behemoth from the side with all the weight of his fall behind him. The pair were immediately taken from their differing flight paths and set on a new one together.
It all happened at the same time.
Alijah met his sudden end on the rocks as Athis and Malliath slammed into the mountain side. Alijah’s instantaneous death crossed his bond with Malliath and stopped the dragon’s heart, their reign and companionship having reached its inevitable and tragic end.
On her hands and knees, Inara had watched it all.
