Kaian reached out once more, but she avoided his touch, afraid that if she allowed it, she might break in two.

‘I am asking you to choose me. Choose Evera. Choose your parents. Choose Eriobis and walk away from this.’

Sapphire looked to the barrier once more – his words ringing in her ears as her stomach churned.

‘I’m sorry,’ she muttered as she extended her hands towards the sky. ‘But I choose … myself.’

Lightning tore through the sky, meeting her open palm, and the prophecy began to unfold.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

The lightning directly struck her open palm, a palm already scarred, but she did not flinch. Instead, she summoned another strike. The storm responded quickly, a bolt meeting her other palm, and with a fluid movement, she shoved her hands forward and watched as the lightning slammed into the barrier.

She called upon the world to support her. And the world answered. She watched as the ground beneath her split in two, the force racing towards the barrier and slamming into it with a loud boom.

More lightning.

More fire.

More rain.

More destruction.

She did not control the magic, but she trusted it to guide her as she continued to be a vessel for the power that gave birth to a better world.

She heard only snatches of Evera and Kaian’s desperate screams as they begged her to stop. Their words were quickly carried away as she focused on the barrier.

She felt the surge of power as she lifted her hands towards the sky, and three different lightning bolts came at her call. With all her might, she released them towards the barrier. A blinding light followed. An ear-splitting groan filled the air, and she watched as the barrier rippled and split in two, collapsing – revealing a world unknown.

Sapphire collapsed to the ground. Blood dripped from her nose, and her hands shook.

Evera and Kaian ran to her, pulling her off the ground. They were trying to decide what to do when a loud, bone-chilling howl came from the Shattered Lands. They froze, staring at the forest ahead.

Sapphire stumbled backwards, suddenly unable to breathe.

She knew this place. The muted colours, the dying trees, and the large stone house that sat in the middle of it all.

She knew it because she had spent eighteen years there. She knew it because it had once been her home.

Witrotean was sprawled out before her, and she recognized every inch of its desolate landscape for as far as she could see. Ryvinika appeared from the shadows, a sickening smile spreading across her familiar features.

‘Hello, my child.’

No.

Sapphire’s knees buckled.

No. Not that voice. Not the voice that had taught her right from wrong, had taught her the Saints’ prayer. The voice that had bidden her goodnight for years, that had bestowed wisdom on her until Sapphire had disappeared.