Till Death Do Us Part

26. The Last Goodbyes

The whole way back to her room Skylar was in a daze. The words of the Spirit, or goddess or whatever it was, still rang in her ears. That was it, a way out. The solution they were all striving for. The means to counter the Blighted Land's dark magic. She had no reservations; she knew it had to be done. But she hated the thought that she would have to hide something from Gawyn. There was no way she could tell him everything. He would try to stop her, and they wouldn't get another chance.

She was so consumed with her thoughts that she jumped when the door to her bedroom opened before she touched the handle.

"Sky!" Gawyn stopped short of bumping into her. His dark hair was messed up from sleeping. "Where have you been?"

Skylar raised her clenched hand and opened it slowly, showing a big, sparkling yellow gem. "I think I found a way to stop the Blighted Lands."

***

"Are you certain this will work?" Gawyn asked. They were again in the war room, and Skylar retold her encounter with the mysterious light force. The yellow gem was laid at the centre of the table, and everyone was eyeing it suspiciously.

"Certain? Not really. But we don't have any alternative, do we?" Skylar replied, crossing her arms.

"I do not like that we're betting on something so incalculable," the General sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

"But Skylar is right," Colart said. "We don't have any other choice. And everything she said makes sense. If the Blighted Lands aim to drain our lands of magic, it is in the best interest of this being to help us stop them. If we lose, it loses too."

"So, how does it work?" Aurora asked, wrinkling her nose. "You just waved this thing in the air, and boom! The Blighted Lands retreat?"

"Well, not exactly. The gem is a kind of anchor, I think. It allows the Spirit to focus on channelling the power in one place."

"Huh, interesting," Aurora mused, looking at the stone.

"What about other noble houses?" Gawyn asked, turning to her.

She folded her hands on her round belly. "I haven't received any answer, as we suspected. They won't raise a finger to help us. They will just bid their time and see who will get out of this conflict as a winner. Then, they will undoubtedly show their support for the victors."

"So, we can only count on the army we have here," Gawyn said. He turned to Dun, who was standing stiffly at the door.

"What's the scouts' report? Do we have any numbers yet?"

"From what they managed to see, the army is indeed gathering there. Mostly infantry in dark armours. The last estimates were over two thousand. But the reinforcements are still incoming. And there are also... other things there...."

"What other things?" the General asked impatiently.

"Monsters, sir. We don't have a name for them all yet. Some were always assaulting our borders – Blood Vultures, Shadow Shifters, the Dark Crawlers. But the scouts also spotted some winged ones."

"That's just great," Gawyn sighed and looked back at Skylar. "How much time do you need to use this... power?"

"They must be on our land. We need to lure them in and hold them long enough to release the magic that is flowing under the surface."

"We'll need at least three battalions there," said Gawyn moving the figures on the table.

"But that's over half of our forces!" Skylar protested. "And the Queen is marching with her own four battalions. You will be severely outnumbered at the front!"