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“If we can’t open the door, we can’t fix the cracks,” she mumbled as she painted, “and the world ends.”
“What?” I shook my head. “I don’t know what that means.”
She hummed the song from our childhood.
A long, jagged darkness pulsed in the far corner. It had grown since the last time I had been here and spread like cancer through the house. It breathed, and I felt the rush of its breath blow against my hair.
At the end of the hall, past the kitchen and the wall where we’d carved our initials, faint light crept from beneath a door. I turned from Gabby, needing to see what was behind that door. I stopped in front of it, my hand reaching for the knob, but paused, unease growing.
“You won’t like what’s behind that door.” Gabby appeared at my side. Her hair was still in braided pigtails, and she still wore the same shirt and overalls covered in paint. She smiled and held up her brush. “You have to open that door,” she said, pointing down the hall at the door covered in chains and locks larger than my hands.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Then the cracks grow.” She hummed.
As if they listened, another fissure split the wall near us, heading toward that damned door. It stopped right at the top of the doorframe, spreading in spider-like veins.
“What is that?” I pointed at the cracks.
“It wants out.”
“What does?”
“Me.” Her eyes turned red, and her hair darkened, her features bleeding into mine before scales replaced skin and talons replaced her short nails. The Ig’Morruthen grew, filling up the entire house, but could not break free.
I realized the cracks were from her shifting and trying to break free. Thick heavy wings spread and pressed against the ceiling. Her long mauling jaws opened, ember flames burning behind her tongue. I didn’t even think before opening the door and falling through. The door slammed shut just as flames lit the space where I had stood. A howling scream filled with despair and rage nearly shattered the house. My ass hit the floor, the cries of the beast reverberating through my head. She begged for her freedom.
I stood and spun, wanting to escape this room. Shock froze my feet to the ground. I was no longer in our house. Water seeped from the cave walls, and I heard a stream hissing nearby. A thunderous roar ruptured the sky, startling me so badly that I stumbled and nearly fell again. A yawning hole formed above me, exposing a swirling mass of purple and silver stars.
The sky shimmered, violet and blue wisps of magic swirling above. Stars and planets floated far closer than I’d ever seen them. A roar resonated in the cave, but this time, thousands of others answered it. My heart lurched, and I covered my ears, the sound deafening. As it faded, the beating of wings took its place, the beasts waking from their slumber and taking to the sky, finally free.
Worlds, so many worlds, I could see it all, and it terrified me. The barrier between our realm and the next had opened.
No.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kaden asked, appearing beside me.
“This isn’t real.”
“No, not yet, at least.”
“I’m dreaming,” I said and closed my eyes tightly, trying to will myself to wake up. “I’m dreaming.”
“Are you?” My eyes snapped open. Kaden’s head was tipped back, and I followed his gaze. Massively powerful creatures flew through the galaxy, curling around worlds and diving into them. “Or is it more?”
“What is this?” I demanded, pinning him in place with my glare.
Kaden grinned and nodded behind me. I looked over my shoulder, my stomach dropping. I moved so fast I didn’t think my feet even touched the floor, stopping at the large stone altar that erupted from the middle of the room. Flowers, yellow and spotted, clung to the sides, but what was on top filled me with panic.
Samkiel.
He lay there perfectly still, his skin a deep, ashen gray. His body was clothed in ancient sacral garb with his hands clasped across his chest, a chest that didn’t rise or fall.
I was at the stone slab in an instant, shaking him. Cold, he was so cold. I grabbed at his shoulders and arms, anything to make him wake up. A hot burning rage hit my gut, and the beast behind the door raged.
“What did you do!” I screamed at Kaden as he walked around the stone slab. His form was blurry from unshed tears, and if I had fangs, I would have bared them.
“What I promised.” He stopped on the other side, staring down at Samkiel’s remains. Kaden met my gaze, his eyes glowing crimson. Silhouetted figures formed behind him, walking in unison. It was an army, but that wasn’t what made me step back. It was the two figures that flanked him that sent terror shivering down my spine. They were as tall as Kaden, one just as muscular, the other a slender female shape but no less foreboding. Even with their features concealed in darkness, I felt the power radiating from them and knew without a doubt that whatever Kaden was, they were too. These were the three crowned figures from my last dream. “The last guardian is dead. No more protectors. No more peace. The end begins.”
