A figure appears, and I knew Zerra would come. She flickers above the ark, but she’s different now. Covered in cracks that snake over her skin. I swallow hard as she stares at me. But there is no rage left in her eyes, only defeat. I wonder what she’s thinking. Does she also regret the things she did?

We watch one another as her head droops to one side and her shoulders curve. In her gaze I see the understanding that she knows her time is over. Neither of us wanted this.

My magic filters into the ark, and then Zerra starts to crumble into dust—first her head, then her shoulders, then her torso and legs. Slowly, she puffs apart, sparkling silver particles being carried off by the wind. Finally, the ark shatters, pieces of glowing virulence skidding across the snow.

A moment later, the sky fills with white lightning. It glows so brightly that I have to shield my eyes. Nadir clings to me as it flashes, crackling and popping across the horizon.

“She’s dying,” I say as we watch the light turn to every color of the rainbow, cycling through reds and blues and purples and greens and all the colors. I can’t help but mourn the woman Zerra was before her life as a god twisted her into the thing she became.

When the sky returns to normal, darkness settles over us as the wind blows gently, whistling off the distant peaks.

“It’s done,” I whisper. “It’s over.”

The quiet is so loud that my ears ring. I wait, wondering what comes next as I look at Nadir. We both search around us and I’m not exactly sure what I’m waiting for, but I was expecting something to happen.

“What now?” I whisper, and Nadir shakes his head.

Suddenly, the world melts away, and we’re both falling.

A moment later we land on hard marble somewhere with warm light beaming in through high windows. I look up, my breath stalling in my chest.

We’re back in the Evanescence.

The Empyrium stands in the middle of the room, flickering with its many faces, their hands folded in front of them, watching us.

“Welcome back, Lor,” they say. “Thank you.”

CHAPTER 73

Istumble to my feet, using Nadir for support and scan our surroundings, noting we’re in the same room I visited last time. Soft sunlight streams from the high windows, and the air is still with the nothingness of this place.

“Thank you for what?” I ask, wiping sticky, sweat-soaked strands of hair out of my eyes.

“For killing Zerra,” the Empyrium says. I share a look with Nadir and then back.

“I don’t . . . understand.”

“We could not kill her ourselves,” the Empyrium says. “You were the only one with the power to do so.”

“I . . . What?”