Still and oppressive, the evening was only broken by the rustling of leaves in the far-off wind. But before them in the clearing, however, there was nothing calm.
Lyra felt her heart pounding in her breast, her grasp clenching around the dagger's hilt, while Maeve, Kiera's sister, came forward, her presence suffocating turned before them.
The shadows that hung from her like a second skin seemed to darken by the minute; they were a living expansion of the evil within her.
Kieran was frozen, his eyes wide open in a shocked and terrified mix. Now standing before him as an emissary of the darkness was his sister, the one he had assumed to have been lost to it.
Maeve's body destroyed everything he had ever thought about himself, his past, and what he had fought for.
And Kieran hissing, his voice scratchy, "Maeve, what have you become?"
Maeve's lips curled up in a smile, but there was no warmth behind it.
"I have become exactly what you feared, Kieran." I'm now here to finish what you started.
Lyra stood by him, rigid, her head reeling. She could feel the pressure of it all, the heavy sensation of Maeve's presence. The darkness surrounding them grew more intense, stifling the breath from the air.
It was more than the lurking evil that disturbed her. It was what Kieran was as he watched his sister now, a woman he had once loved and let go to the darkness. It was the face of that very darkness now epitomized in the lady standing before him.
You don't have to do this, Maeve," he said in a low whisper that sounded like his voice was carrying water. But anguish dripped off his words as he whispered those words out.
"I might yet save you," he continued. I can save you.
Maeve laughed at that, and her laughter seemed hollow, cavernous enough that it made Lyra shiver. And save me? You can't even save yourself, Kieran. You betrayed me, betrayed everybody. Now it's your turn to pay the price.
Her heart breaking for Kieran, Lyra stepped forward, but she could in no way let him fall prey to the same despair that swallowed Maeve whole.
Inside of herself, she knew that she could no longer do this alone.
Lyra spoke softly but firmly, "We won't let you take him." Her eyes brimming with steel determination; she looked at Kieran.
"We'll fight side by side. We've always fought side by side."
Kieran turned to her, his eyes scanning hers for a glimpse of comfort. Always with the intent of protecting her, he felt the weight of his past bearing down on him and his shame deep enough to drag him back into the shadows.
He wanted to say, wanted to open his mouth and say the words. But there was nothing but a lump in his throat. Kieran was afraid that if they battled each other, Maeve was too strong now, and it would already be too late.
But then something in him snapped off. His baby, Maeve, was his sister, his blood, his family. He would not let her turn this. this beast.
Not when it was still possible to fight for what he cared about would he let the darkness consume him once more.
"Your sister is Meena." I will not let you wreck all that we have gained, either."
Kieran said, his voice building to a force that astonished him. "You don't get to decide what I become.".
Though it had come through Maeve's eyes, it was gone as fast as it had arrived, so maybe it was hunger or pain.
She came forward, hands waving out like dark energy tendrils swirling out in all directions. "And so would you with your choice."
Long before Lyra could say a word, a jag of energy flared up, formless, between them.
Maeve's shadows shot toward them, and Kieran instinctively turned to cover Lyra. Lyra stood her ground, though her magic was already churning inside her.
Stay close, she muttered to Kieran, her voice strong.
Her light magic flaring around her like a shield, she raised her hand.The two forces collided in a light meeting shadow in a massive release of power that knocked both back as if sledgehammers had swung.
Chaos ruled for just one second. Kieran fought into the shadows, listening to Maeve with his blade, an arc of metal that blurred.
Lyra, rising every moment stronger in power, fought with him too. There was an unspoken bond joining them that marked them as such an element that no step matched but one.
But the shadows did not forgive.
They seemed to grow stronger with every breath of time that went by. The darkness that swallowed Maeve all those years before now seemed part of her very self. She could not even tell what was within her now.As Kieran's sword swished across the air, Maeve's shadows proved more prompt than ever, thrusting him backward with each stroke he attempted to land.
She danced between every one of his swings and laughed at him whenever the blow fell short.You still think you can rescue me? She spoke in a voice as cold as ice, full of venom. One catches you, Kieran. You never really understood the moves I had to make to survive. This is my world now. This is who I was supposed to be all along.
Lyra could feel his aches. Each time he glanced at Maeve, she saw the regret in his eyes, the self-doubt paralyzing him. Too late, in the end; he had attempted to save her from the dark that had taken her, but it didn't matter."Kieran," she said, her voice harsh with longing.
"Unless she isn't the same girl, let her," Kieran said. This is no longer your sister."
Kieran felt the war within him fight as he looked at her; his hand upon his sword became tighter. To have to fight Maeve was agony, perhaps to lose her forever.
However, there was much to risk, and he could not allow it to ruin him."Knowing," he whispered in irritation, still my sister. I must try with all my might.
Maeve's shadowy body shot forward suddenly, a wave of darkness crashing upon them. Lyra's light magic burst into life, but she could feel the at once of it, the bounds of her capacity. She could only keep so much back.
"Stay back!" Kieran yelled, pushing Lyra behind him. Still, she rejected being pushed aside.
"Definitely not, she growled. "We battle side by side.".
Stepping forward again, her light magic combined in a brilliant flash with Kieran's sword that sent Maeve's 45 shadows running away.
The two forces clashed once more, with light resisting against dark in a frantic fight for mastery. Maeve staggered back, stunned by the power of their joint magic.But it wasn't over. Not yet.
Do you see now?"Maeve whispered, her eyes shining with menacing energy. "Give up. Darkness is inevitable." Maeve released one final, crippling wave of blackness, and Lyra or Kieran didn't have time to react before she sent them both flying back.
As everything went black, Lyra saw in the split second before darkness claimed her Kieran's outstretched hand reaching for her.Everywhere silence lay on Lyra's waking. The world around her was unnaturally still. She knew Kieran was beside her, but his hand felt cold and his breath short.She whispered, almost inaudibly, 'Kieran?'
There was no reply. Maeve's assault had cast its impacts on him, her, and everything they had fought for in shadows.
She attempted to sit up, her vision spinning; her heart beat rapidly. Panic shot down her throat. Where was Maeve? What happened?
And why was everything slipping out of control, too?
Her answer was distinct, tiny, and far.
"You are too late."
She turned, and her breath stuck in her throat.
Standing over at the far edge of the clearing, she stood there triumphant with a twisted grin. It was the shadow in her eye that had intensified; it moved outward like consuming fire.
"In a voice whose finality sent Lyra quaking to the very core, Maeve announced, "It is done."
"The darkness wins."
Lyra saw reality right then and there as well.
Just the beginning of the whole process.