Page 153 of Heavenly Bodies
Before the Star or Merissa had a chance to react, things from Elara’s own deepest nightmares flocked around her into the form of shadows. Winged things, angry things. They flew, pouring out of her of their own volition and into the already darkened evening sky through the gaping hole above them. The shadows spread, extinguishing every bit of lightthat seeped into the room so that they were left in gloom. Ariete took a step back.
‘Monsters are not born, they become,’ she said. Her voice did not sound like her own. It was distant, so distant. As though she were underwater. ‘I want you to see what you’ve made me. Know it was you who unleashed it.’
She brought her hands together, gritting her teeth as her broken wrist flared with pain. She closed her eyes as Enzo’s light mixed with her darkness inside, the humming intensifying as her very essence turned into duskglass.
Elara opened her eyes as the throbbing blend of powers rested between her hands.
She poured it into one palm as the other conjured a rope of shadow that slammed into Ariete, knocking him to the ground. Then she threw her injured wrist out, cursing, as long, wicked shards of duskglass flew from it. The dark blades sank into Ariete, pinning him to the floor as he screamed in agony.
He tried to summon his starlight—there was a flare of red, but then it sputtered and died out. The duskglass had worked, his power stifled.
Elara approached Ariete slowly. One step after another.
‘Who do you pray to, King of Stars?’
Ariete panted, gritting his teeth in pain.
She gave a smile, though she knew it was not a human smile. His red stare was filled with hatred as he lay pinned and panting. His glittering blood poured from the blades piercing his immortal skin.
‘I used to pray toyou.To all the Stars. Enzo did too. You never listened. Never once answered our pleas.’
She crouched down, yanking a slice of the duskglass out from where it pinned his thigh. He bellowed again.
‘You could try and pray to me. But I don’t think I’ll listen either.’
With a deep breath, she raised the slice above her head, aiming it for his heart.
She hesitated.
Coughed, as she felt a blade tear through her back.
Turned to look into Merissa’s green, determined eyes as the demi-Star pushed the duskglass dagger further into Elara’s back.
Looked to Ariete, whose surprise quickly turned to horror.
‘What have you done?’ he said to Merissa as Elara sank to the ground.
Elara’s trembling hands came to rest on the blade protruding from her chest.
‘Why?’ she whispered to Merissa.
Merissa knelt before her, the set of her mouth firm. ‘Remember who you are,’ she said, ‘and the world will remember it too.’
A ringing began to sound in Elara’s ears as a coldness swept over her. She slumped on to her front. The ringing became a word, repeated again and again.
RememberRememberRememberRemember
A deep understanding resounded through Elara as the phrase finally took hold, and she died.
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
‘This is your story, Elara.’
Elara could hear Merissa’s voice faintly as she swam through the darkness.
‘You are a queen, from a place long forgotten. You ruled the very heavens long before the Stars, with your soulmate. The Sun and the Moon, they called you. The very first soulmates in the world. Beloved by all, we would worship the Sun by day, basking in his rays and thanking him for making the crops grow and the flowers bloom. He could shine his rays to the depth of someone’s very soul, could heal and warm.
‘Under the cover of dark, we would pray to you. You wielded light in the darkness and cast illusions—you could walk through dreams, blessing or cursing them. You watched over lovers as you flew your dragun across the sky and blessed us under your silver light, allowing those who could not be together during the day to be together at night, keeping the rest of the world dreaming.