Arcemis's Arc

Chapter 14 of 16

The gate would not close. Arcemis held his gold light against the dark mouth in the throne room floor. Beside him the six guardians strained, their power fading. Rhademus and Vaphos were gone into the abyss. But the underworld still breathed cold through the open seam, and it pulled at everyone in the room. Arcemis knew the truth now. Amira could only wake once this door was sealed. Their strength alone could not do it. "Not on our watch." Master Archadious stepped through the broken doors. Arcemis's adopted father moved slow, leaning on nothing, his eyes calm as still water. He had raised Arcemis, taught him the blade, then revealed a hidden power that once drove Rhademus from the temple. Now he pressed his palm flat toward the gate. White light rose from his hand. Behind him came Cade, the elf oracle who had first named the seven guardians. Cade's pale face was tight with pain. "I saw this," he said. "I saw it fail without more." He raised both arms. Light poured from him too, threading into Archadious's blaze. The gate shuddered and shrank an inch. Still it fought. The floor cracked wider. Arcemis felt his light guttering like a spent candle. "It isn't enough," he shouted. Then warmth filled the room. The cold retreated. Goddess Gaia walked from the shattered wall, her bare feet leaving green shoots on the black stone. Golden eyes swept the gate. Her voice reached Arcemis like wind through old trees. "You held the line, my Guardian. Now let me close what mortals opened." She laid her hand beside Archadious's. Their light joined Cade's, joined Arcemis's gold, joined the frost and water and wind of the guardians. The seam screamed. Runes flared along its stone frame, then dimmed. The dark mouth folded shut. Green fire winked out. The floor sealed smooth, and the cold was gone. Silence. Arcemis dropped his sword arm. The gate was closed. He turned to Gaia. "Amira?" "The shadow has no source now," Gaia said. "Go to her." Arcemis ran. He did not stop until he reached the Temple of Gaia, where Amira lay in her sleep of stone. Her chest rose and fell, but her eyes stayed shut. He knelt beside her. He took her hand. It was warm now, not cold. He leaned down and kissed her. Her eyelids fluttered. Green eyes opened and found his face. A slow smile touched her lips. "You came back," Amira whispered. "You promised." "It's over," Arcemis said. "Both of them are gone. The door is shut." She sat up and pressed her forehead to his. "Then take me home. Wherever that is." Arcemis held her. The war was won. But he had no home to bring her to, no roof, no land, no name for the life she wanted. The old ache from long ago returned, sharper now. He had a promise to keep, and nowhere yet to keep it.