Author/Uploaded by TurtleMe
THE BEGINNING AFTER THE END BOOK 10: RETRIBUTION TURTLEME CONTENTS Prologue 381. A Savior’s Burden 382. Just Out of Reach 383. Moving On 384. Winds of...
THE BEGINNING AFTER THE END BOOK 10: RETRIBUTION TURTLEME CONTENTS Prologue 381. A Savior’s Burden 382. Just Out of Reach 383. Moving On 384. Winds of Change 385. Purity 386. Surfaced Enmity 387. Long-Worn Shackles 388. Defending Vildorial 389. Light and Shadow 390. Apathy and Ecstasy 391. Defending Vildorial II 392. Sovereign’s Quarrel 393. Beneath Taegrin Caelum 394. What Makes Home 395. Preparations 396. Limitless 397. A Path Diverged 398. Descension 399. The Least of the Scythes 400. Choices Already Made 401. Highbloods in Low Places 402. A Bloodless Exchange 403. A Match for My Talents 404. A Battle of Words 405. Tell Him 406. Interruptions 407. Yet Another Step 408. The Best Choice 409. Taste of Magic 410. Good Humor 411. A Family Affair 412. The Lie You Believe 413. False Memories 414. School in Session 415. Through Smoke and Spirits 416. The Third Ruin 417. One of Mine 418. Shackles 419. Black Doors 420. Black Doors II 421. One Last Ruin 422. Through the Djinn’s Eyes 423. Unexpected Visitor 424. Changing the Narrative 425. Amends 426. Hoping 427. A Dream Yet to Happen Afterword Also by TurtleMe PROLOGUE ALICE LEYWIN Time slowed and the very air around me turned viscous as the asura’s spear so effortlessly passed through Ellie’s body. The asura’s heavy hand released me, and the screams that had gone mute behind the ringing in my ears exploded as I watched Ellie’s body crumple to the ground. I choked back sobs. “It’s okay, baby, it’s okay. I’m right here. I’ve got you, and I’m going to take away the pain, sweetheart, Ellie. I’m going to take care of you.” My hands pressed into the wound in Ellie’s side, ineffective in staunching the flow of blood that came out in spurts with each beat of her weakening heart. Mana rushed out of my core and through my channels, jumping from my hands to the deep wound as visible light, but I choked on the incantation in my panic, the magic flashing in and out. But Ellie was smiling. She was smiling, her eyes closed, her face tinted a light purple. She wasn’t breathing… My baby girl was dying. The asura’s killing intent was suffocating. It swelled just above me, and I knew what was going to happen. A sob shook my entire body, and the healing spell faltered again. I pictured Reynolds’s face, imagined him giving me that nonchalant smile and running his hands through my hair and along the back of my neck. His features shifted like wet clay, becoming Arthur’s. But even in my mind, in my memories, Arthur was covered in blood, his face half hidden and stained black and crimson as he dragged himself back to me from some distant deadly threat… My eyes refocused on Ellie. She looked so much like him, now, lying on the ground covered in her own life’s blood… I closed my eyes to the sight and waited for the spear to fall, for the asura to send Ellie and me to her brother and father… “Regis, help my sister.” My head snapped up. The purple light, I realized belatedly, was issuing from a shimmering portal that had come to life inside the portal frame. The words came from a figure silhouetted by the amethyst glow. I made out only his sharp features, bright hair, and golden eyes before he was moving. Something else came toward me…toward Ellie. Help my sister. What did those words mean? What could they possibly mean? A wisp of shadow and energy flew into Ellie’s body, but nothing happened, nothing changed. I nearly slapped myself. My hands pressed hard against Ellie’s side, and I began chanting again. There were other words—and fighting—but I pressed it out of my awareness, focusing entirely on the healing magic. The incantation spilled out of me, as did mana, filling the hole that pierced entirely through my baby girl. But there was something else, too. An emitter’s magic touched something intangible just beyond the reach of my awareness that no one had ever been able to explain to me before. Mana alone couldn’t heal wounds like Ellie’s, but my spells drew it in, encouraged it, showed it what I wanted. Like a guiding hand, the wisp of energy pulled my magic along, feeding it with this external power, strengthening it. I felt…strong, powerful in a way I could hardly remember anymore. Muscles and bones began to fuse, veins and nerves knit back together, then— The room spun wildly beneath my feet, sudden pain and confusion wiping all thought from my mind. I blinked hard against a sickening ringing in my ears and suppressed the bile creeping up the back of my throat. My skull ached. I looked around, trying to get my bearings; I was lying on my back at the foot of the benchlike stairs, beneath the edge of the dais. I could just see Ellie’s arm dangling off the side of it. The asura and the man with golden eyes clashed, their movements so fast I couldn’t follow. I tried to move, to stand, but my head swam dizzily and I nearly retched.