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his first thought was of Thea: fierce. Unflinching. His.
‘We don’t say those words again until we’re on the other side. Until we can say them Warsword to Warsword,’ he had told her, the warrior who had stolen his heart and soul, who had walked into the swirling mist of the Great Rite to face her fate and the Furies themselves.
The only thing that had stopped him wishing for his end was Thea, and the longing to see her again, as the Warsword she was always meant to be. For he knew in his bones that she would emerge victorious, Naarvian steel in hand, vows of vengeance on her tongue. And that she would come for him.
The thought was bittersweet, for she’d won the Great Rite and achieved what she’d always wanted, only to have lost something more precious when she emerged.
For him, the world would wait. And when he was safe at her side, they could watch the whole fucking thing go up in flames to be reborn anew.
Talemir nudged her. ‘He’s going to be alright, you know,’ he said. ‘He’s got the strength and courage of a thousand men.’ Thea didn’t need Talemir to tell her that. She knew exactly the kind of man Wilder Hawthorne was. She let her increased strength surge through her, awakening her storm magic. ‘You know what else he’s got?’ Talemir waited. ‘Me.’ Thea didn’t tear her eyes from the lone tower. ‘We’re coming for you, Wilder.’
‘Then the world will know that if they hurt him, I’ll burn them all to the ground.’
As blood dripped from Wilder’s swords, that brilliant white light flared again. At last, he tasted the storm on his lips, and looked up.
She broke away, panting. ‘I love you,’ she gasped, refusing to tear her eyes away from him. ‘I love you so much I can hardly breathe. I’ve wanted to say it for so long —’ Wilder gave a hoarse, broken laugh. ‘Tell me again later. Tell me when we’re safe.’ Thea kissed him again, desperate to show him that tempest he’d brought to life within her from the moment they’d met. ‘I’ll tell you every day until my last,’ she murmured.
‘You’re dead anyway,’ she promised. ‘But touch him again, I dare you.’
‘I am the storm,’ she told herself. She let her lightning rage, right alongside her heart, and she split the gods-damned tower in two.
Still clutching his swords, Wilder watched in awe and reverence as his love took on the world for him.
‘There’s no counting the ways I love you,
Thea’s heart nearly burst as he gazed upon her with nothing but love – pure, adoring love in his silver eyes. ‘No man could have you and not be consumed,’ he murmured.
“If there’s one thing that transcends time and distance and all else, it’s love”.’
Don’t let the world – don’t let anyone convince you that you’re not enough. Only you define your story. You and you alone. When they tell you what you’re not, when they tell you what you can’t do, remember: you are the storm, Elwren. You split the skies and flood the plains. You make the ground tremble beneath their boots. No one can fucking stop you.’
‘You asked me what I wanted?’ he rasped, thrusting into her slowly, deeply. ‘I want more than war stories and bloodshed. I want to build a life with you, Thea.’
Thea raised her blade and shouted her final words for all the world to hear. ‘If this is to be our final stand, let us make it worthy of legend!’
‘We are all daughters of darkness, Thea. We were born into a world of it, a place that would dictate the way in which we defend ourselves, the way we live our lives. No more. That world is no longer. And the next one will be what we make it.’
She was power incarnate, a tempest personified, a Warsword of the highest calibre, and gods, he loved her.
He turned back to Thea and cupped her jaw, forcing her eyes to meet his. ‘You can do this. You were forged with blood and steel, with lightning and thunder… You were made for this war, made to end it, and you will, for all of us. When I first saw you spying on the Warsword meeting atop the cliffs, I sensed it in you even then.’ Tears lined Thea’s eyes. ‘What?’ ‘Greatness,’ he told her.
‘There are few who can face themselves as well as their nightmares and emerge whole on the other side,’
He looked into her eyes, loving every flicker of that untamed storm within. ‘I always said you’d be the end of me,’ he told her, throat bobbing. ‘But I was wrong. You’re the beginning.’
