Page 305 of The Edge of Darkness

The Dionachs took to the air, repeating Nivelle’s words to the masses.

Eyes widened. Expressions brightened. Morale was being forged anew. The energy was palpable as everyone tightened their formations.

I was grinning at Nivelle when she met my stare. The wicked little thing was just as fierce as I was. Niall had been right when he’d said she could give orders, and they would be obeyed.

Another pulse of power rippled next to me as the witch goddess turned her sights on who stood to the northeast, past Niall.

Shadows were climbing through the air now, cresting like a wave behind Skadi’s back.

“Sister,” Torin growled under her breath.

— NIALL —

The well of my power groaned, alerting me that there was still some of it left. Not much, but enough. Enough to finish this.

The reserves were falling into rank beside those who remained, and the hair-raising howls of Drastia’s wolves were echoing over the plains.

And Torin had returned—drawn to my surge of power. Her magic washed through the atmosphere as the last of the ashes drifted away, conjured for use in whatever spell she was casting.

I reached down and withdrew Death’s Whisper from where Auren had staked it in the ground. As I stared at Skadi from across the span of charred ground between us, I simply couldn’t help myself. I, too, lifted my arms out to my sides in a mocking gesture, and smiled.

At the sight of Niall’s taunt, Auren lit like a star, her power rolling off of her in waves of white light. She said something to Remic and Silas, then strode forward toward her mate, two orbs of light swirling to life in her hands.

The armies roared at the sight of her, banging their swords and shields. She had been reserving her power for the end—for the undoing. But if this next phase of battle didn’t draw Lyceius out of wherever he was stowing away like a coward, we were going to be facing a very tough decision.

Torin clenched her fists at her sides. “Commander,” she called out. It took me a moment to realize she was speaking to me. “Make sure Nivelle stays far away from my sister.”

Easier said than done, I thought to myself.

When I didn’t immediately respond out loud, the goddess turned her eyes on me. They were swirling in a fury, a blue so dark it reminded me of a raging summer storm. “Keep her safe,” she hissed, her otherworldly whisper punctuating the command.

I gave her a stern nod. “With my life.”

She, too, began her walk toward Niall.

Nivelle stepped up to my side, watching as the three unrivaled forces joined each other in the middle of the battlefield.

“She’s going to face Skadi . . .” There was an unease to Nivelle’s voice. Almost like fear.

“That’s a good thing . . . right?” I asked.

“Gods cannot kill one another. It’s divine law.”

“Then what are you worried about?”

“Just because they cannot destroy each other doesn’t mean they cannot strip one another of their power. If Skadi incapacitates Torin, the death spell won’t hold, and if she takes Torin’s power the way she took Erebus’s . . .” She didn’t have to say the rest. I knew what she was getting at.

I watched her concern grow more fierce, then dragged my gaze back to the goddess who now stood at Niall and Auren’s side.

Fuck. Maybe this wasn’t good.

I spun around, taking Nivelle with me.

Aremis, I needed Aremis⁠—

There. He was already pushing his way through the crowd toward us.

A pulse of power bounded through the plains, slamming into a shield that Torin and Auren both threw up simultaneously. Skadi’s shadow beings and the mob of Lyceius’s abominations were on the move. Skadi herself was stalking forward, and a knot formed in my chest at the sight.