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Do not fear the dark It was where we were born And it is where we all shall die
But it wasn’t only sadness I felt. No. What I felt was akin to waking from a dream, one that had thoroughly dug its claws into my mind, refusing to let go.
All I saw was the commander, and I could sense the cruel smile hiding beneath his helmet. I was being taken by the Knights of the Eternal Star— Chosen by the Hand of Death himself.
Perhaps it was time to loosen my restraint, to unleash the girl I’d long ago imprisoned. Fate might have brought me here, but from now on, I would be the one to choose my destiny.
Salendons were bred for one purpose only: to kill. Silas, the Water God, crafted them out of silt and the bones of the dead—of those unlucky sailors who had drowned beneath his waters. The god abandoned them once he learned they needed air in their lungs and could be easily drowned. It is said that he gifted them to Lorian.
A deep voice made of pure velvet and ice whispered into the shell of my ear, fiery breath tickling my flesh as the hair on the back of my neck rose in alarm. “And here I thought you might have actually listened.”
My voice came soft as I said, “In you, I recognized something I long ago believed I’d forgotten. In you, I saw who I used to be.”
“Don’t overthink everything. You might be surprised by how much you’d like being out of control. Being alive is chaos, and living in it is half the fun.”
I’d learned that day that sometimes we have to give away pieces of ourselves to others we love, even if it hurts at the time. Without sacrificing those parts, nothing new—and possibly wonderful—could grow in their stead.
Love was nothing if not sacrifice, and for him, I’d willingly give all of myself.
“You are what I imagine the sun to be like,” I whispered so softly I wasn’t sure she could hear the admission. “Fiery. Beautiful. Damning.”
“I wish you’d never come…because now I might have to watch you die. And that, I would regret for the rest of my days. However many I have left.”
“You’re magnificent, Kiara,” I murmured. “All of you.” I stared at her fists, at her right hand. She tracked the movement. “Don’t go all sappy on me now, commander.”
