ARIA POV
The ground gave way under my feet.
When I jumped back, a huge crack in the ground let out a wave of cold darkness that made my teeth chatter. There was no ssing around with the Void Walker boss now that he was here.
"Everyone get back!" I yelled at my friends. But my voice got lost in the terrible sound of the world falling apart.
The sky got dark over us. Not dark at night, but empty black. It looked like the stars and moon had been removed with a big eraser. The strange purple glow around the Void Walker as he ca out of the crack in the ground was the only source of light.
He looked like a man, but wrong. His edges kept changing, like he was made of smoke that couldn’t decide what shape it wanted to be. His eyes were holes in his face that showed nothing but darkness.
"So," he said, and his voice ca from everywhere at once. "You’re the little gods who think they can stop ."
I felt our combined power stirring inside . Since the triplets and I had combined into one being, I could feel their strength mixing with mine. But even with all that power, this thing scared .
"We won’t let you destroy everything," I said, trying to sound braver than I felt.
He laughed. The sound made the air itself crack. "Destroy? Child, I’m not here to destroy. I’m here to restart. To wipe the slate clean and begin again."
"Sa thing," Kael’s voice said through . I could feel him in our shared awareness, ready to fight.
"Is it?" the Void Walker asked. "Tell , little Luna, how many have died because of your choices? How many worlds have suffered because you chose to play god?"
His words hit like a punch to the gut. He was right. Since we’d beco this new being, we’d made choices that affected millions of lives. So of those choices had gone wrong.
"Don’t listen to him," Jaxon whispered in my mind. "He’s trying to ss with your head."
But worry was already creeping in. What if we were the real monsters? What if the Void Walker was right to want to start over?
"I can see it in your eyes," the Void Walker said, moving closer. "You’re starting to understand. You’ve beco too strong. Too dangerous. You need to be stopped."
"We’re not the enemy here," I said, but my voice shook.
"Aren’t you? You combined four souls into one. You beca a god without asking permission. You changed the rules of reality itself. And now you’re surprised that soone wants to fix your mistakes?"
Around us, the cracks in the ground were spreading. I could see other dinsions through the holes—strange worlds with different colors and impossible shapes. The Void Walker was tearing holes between worlds.
"You’re destroying the barriers between worlds," I said. "People will die."
"So will," he agreed. "But everyone dies eventually. I’m just speeding up the process so we can start fresh."
"That’s not your choice to make!"
"Isn’t it? You made the choice to beco gods. I’m making the choice to unmake you."
He raised his hand, and the darkness around him burst outward. I threw up a shield of light, but his power was amazing. The darkness pressed against my shield like a living thing trying to get in.
"You can’t fight and protect everyone at the sa ti," he said. "So what will it be? Save yourself, or save them?"
I looked around at my friends—Ember, Zara, Theron, Morgana, Seraphina, Oberyn. They were all counting on . Behind them, I could see mbers of every magical species we’d gathered to fight. Werewolves, vampires, witches, dragons, and more. They’d all co because they trusted us.
"I choose both," I said.
I split our minds four ways. Part of stayed to fight the Void Walker. Part of went to Ember and the others to protect them. Part of reached out to fix the cracks in reality. And part of spread across the battlefield to shield everyone I could.
The Void Walker’s eyes widened. "Impossible. No being can split their power like that."
"We’re not just one being," I said. "We’re four who decided to beco one. That makes us stronger than you think."
I attacked with everything I had. Light spilled from in waves, pushing back his darkness. For a mont, I thought I was winning.
Then he smiled.
"You still don’t understand," he said. "I’m not trying to beat you. I’m trying to wake you up."
"What?"
"This isn’t real, Aria. None of this is real. You’re still in the rger. You’re still becoming one being. And you’re thinking all of this."
The world around flickered. For just a second, I saw sothing else—a bright room where three boys were screaming in pain while I poured my life into them.
"No," I whispered.
"Yes," the Void Walker said. "You’re dying, little Luna. And you’re taking them with you. The combination is killing all of you. This battle, this power, these friends—it’s all a fantasy your mind made to avoid the truth."
"You’re lying."
"Am I? Look closer. Look at your friends. Really look at them."
I turned to look at Ember. Her face was flickering between her normal look and sothing else. Sothing that looked like Kael’s face.
"They’re not real," the Void Walker said. "They’re pieces of the kids’ mories mixed with your own. You’re all dying, and your brains are creating this elaborate story to avoid facing it."
"That’s impossible."
"Is it? You felt the rger begin. You felt yourself vanishing. What if you never finished it? What if you’re all stuck in between, dying slowly while your brains create fantasies?"
I felt sick. What if he was right? What if everything since the rger had been a dream?
"The only way to know for sure," the Void Walker said, "is to wake up. Let help you. Let end this dream and show you the truth."
"And if you’re wrong? If this is real?"
"Then you’ll have saved everyone by stopping the rger before it kills you all."
I looked around at the battlefield. At my friends. At the world we were trying to save. Was any of it real?
"I need to think," I said.
"You don’t have ti," the Void Walker said. "Look."
He pointed behind . I turned and saw the worst thing possible.
The triplets were standing there, but they looked wrong. Faded. Like they were disappearing.
"The rger is failing," the Void Walker said. "They’re dying because you’re trying to hold onto this dream. You have to choose, Aria. Wake up and save them, or stay in the dream and watch them die."
"I—"
"Choose now," he said. "Before it’s too late."
I looked at Kael, Jaxon, and Lucien. They were reaching out to , but I couldn’t hear their words anymore. They were fading fast.
"Please," I whispered. "Don’t make choose."
"You already chose," the Void Walker said. "When you chose to save them with the rger. Now choose again. Dream or reality. Fantasy or truth. Life or death."
I closed my eyes. When I opened them, everything had changed.
I was back in the bright room. The children were screaming. And I was dying.
But the Void Walker was still there, smiling.
"Welco back," he said. "Now the real fun begins."
Reviews
All reviews (0)