I lifted the dagger up, holding the metal between my fingers to show Via that I was backing down. Via had to do it. I would have done the same thing if it weren't for everything that I knew. Even with that knowledge, I was sweating profusely at the idea of cutting Daya open. Rather than hand her the knife and give her reason to think I was going to fight, I let the knife linger in the air in front of me. Her hand reached forward and yanked the dagger away, pointing it at me.

"Madam Daya, wake up," she said.

Daya took a few moments to stretch before her eyes caught onto the sight before her. With a wave of her hand, the fires in the room burned brighter and my treachery was on display. "Aumee. I wish I could say that I was surprised."

"If she knew what I knew, you wouldn't be breathing right now."

Daya laughed. "Perhaps." I felt Via's pressure on the dagger lessen as she realized what that meant for her. If Daya knew that Via would change her mind if she knew everything, then why was she holding me at the end of her weapon? Daya slid off of her bed, making her way over to the locked chest. It took her only moments to unlock it. The Baurpei seeped out of its confines, black sand piling onto the floor in front of us. Via had never seen the Baurpei, and I could feel her shaking behind me. "You look like a leaf in the wind, Via. Pull yourself together." Daya rubbed her chin and looked me over with slits for eyes. "Via, please check her bag."

Via rushed to do as she was ordered. She yanked out the heavy spellbook and handed it over to Daya. So that was it. "You're making a mistake, Daya. Deorcae only cares for himself."

"I could say the same about you, my dear." She wouldn't even look at me. She began leafing through the book as Deorcae crept closer to us. I put an arm up between it and Via. "I hate what you've done with your hair. It used to be so beautiful."

"Daya, please. You have to know that what you're doing is going to get thousands of people murdered!" I backed up a few steps, and felt Via's arms slip around me for comfort. "You need to leave, Vi."

"What is that thing?"

"Leave."

"Not without you." Via slipped the dagger into my hand, and yanked me towards the exit. Before we could escape to the hallway, I watched as Via did something truly foolish. She must have picked up the dagger that she had thrown at me earlier in the kitchen. She lifted it, and in a flash threw it in Daya's direction. I heard Daya scream, but neither of us stayed long enough to see whether it had hit her or not.

We sprinted through the halls, weaving our way around corners and over furniture. Via was always faster on her feet than I was, but she never let go of me. "I'm sorry," she panted, "I didn't think... what was that thing?"

"No time. Just run."

"Will you die if it catches you?"

"Run, Vi!"

She let out a sob as we ran, her nails digging into my skin. She was too soft. Too sweet. She had only learned to fight as a backup plan. She had never wanted my position or the darkness that came with it. That was why she never asked any questions. We broke free from the walls of the sanctuary and found ourselves in the courtyard. Runa looked down at us, asking if everything was okay, but as she descended from her tower, a heavy force shoved us both to the ground. The Baurpei whirled around us, a hollow scream piercing our ears as we held onto one another.

I heard shouts from all around, but they were faint. The Baurpei fell away, and I looked up to see Sidra focusing intensely on us. A thin, purple bubble formed atop of us, and the Baurpei crashed against it like waves against an ocean rock. It wanted me.

I brushed Via's tears from her face and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "It only wants me. That girl over there is your friend. Run to her okay? You betrayed Daya, and you need to leave." She nodded but only gripped my hand tighter. I looked through the shield, waiting for the Baurpei to leave us alone long enough that Via could run free.

Something swung through the whirling black sand, and Deorcae spun towards its new opponent. I watched as Fal taunted it, pulling it away from where we cowered. Via took off running, trying to cower behind Sidra. Daya appeared before her, her fingers wrapping around her throat and squeezing tightly. "How dare you betray me!" From the blood that coated her the cloth of her shoulder, it was evident that Via's blade had hit its target.

As if that weren't enough, another dagger impaled itself in Daya's arm, and Via fell to the ground gasping for air. Ambrose sat atop the sanctuary wall, thin blades in his hand as he aimed another at Daya. She held her hand up, freezing the blades in the air. "Enough!"

Everything slowed down, and when my eyes blinked they fell shut so slowly I thought they wouldn't open in time to see what would happen next. Daya moved through the air with poise and grace. She wasn't fighting to walk through molasses the same way I felt. "Who tore the page from the book?" Daya eyed all of us except Via. "Fallon Ere," she began, sauntering towards him with a bloodthirsty smile, "it must be you. You're the only one who needs to return to his true form. Where did you put it?"

Fal didn't answer, and so Daya came to me, holding me by the hair on my head. I was moving like normal again. I held onto her hand, trying to ease the pain as hair was pulled from my scalp. "Tell me, or the girl's throat is slit."

Fallon began reaching for a bag at his hip, painfully slow, and as he did so Daya muttered something. I watched as he too moved at a normal speed once more. From the bag he pulled out a folded up slip of paper. Daya released me and snatched it from his open palm. As her eyes graced the writing on the page, a smile came to her lips. "Daya, you have what you want. Let us go," I shouted as I rose to my feet. The Baurpei's striking gaze turned to me, but he remained at his partner's side.

"Oh, little bird, you have much too big of a punishment coming for you." She raised her hand, her eyes rolling back into her head as she chanted in Old Deorcan.

I prepared for pain to make its way through my body, but instead heard Fal crying out. I looked to see him rising into the air, his body contorting in painful ways as he shifted between his cursed form and the man he once was. I watched as his black curls returned to his head and the rocks fell away from his skin. Just when I thought he would return to his true form, he fell to the ground with a heavy thud, horns jutting from his hair and his hand still thick with the hand that once was. "Why bother with that?"

Daya smiled. "Don't you understand, Aumee? The same spell I need to bring Deorcae back to his full strength is the same spell your precious little Fallon needed to break his curse. He didn't know that's the spell I needed. How could he?" Then why bother ripping out a page? Why bother not breaking his curse as soon as he found the right spell? "He tore that page out because it was the one thing that would stop him from going back to his weak," Daya closed her fist and Fal let out an agonizing scream, "pathetic," another twist and I watched as his face turned red with pain, "self." She moved to me now, gripping my face in her hand and digging her long nails into the soft flesh of my cheeks. "He let himself remain cursed so that he could help you." I tried to tear away from her iron grip but she only forced my face in the direction of the twins. "They could have been left out of this. You could have taken the book and run. You could have let them live their life in peace. Instead, they're here risking their lives. Just like Fallon, they are going to feel the consequences of your actions. They're going to feel the consequences of you failing to do the right thing."

"You're a madwoman."

She cackled, but dragged me over to where Via lay, touching her fingers tenderly to her throat. "You think I'm done? No, Aumee. I want to see you suffer for what you've done. You tried to kill me. The woman who raised you. Fed you. Clothed you. Protected you!" She pulled Via to her feet, and I watched as she too fell into normal time. Daya discarded me as if I were garbage, and held a knife up to Via's throat. "The same way you turned on me is the same way Via will suffer. Because of you. Because you were ready to kill someone who cared for you. Clearly, your heart lies elsewhere. And so you will watch as I cut her throat." She waved her hand, and I froze in time as I ran towards the two of them.

Via was screaming and kicking, rivers of tears streaming down her face as Via held her against her own body. Via closed her eyes, craning her head away as Daya rose the dagger to her throat and peeled it back against Via's dark skin with one motion. Blood spewed from her wound, hitting me in the face. I could hear her gurgle as Daya let her fall to the ground. Via's eyes met mine, her hands once again reaching to her throat just enough to feel the blood on her fingertips. I watched as her eyes grew distant and the blood soaked the dark earth.

"Everything I did for you was thrown away over what? What?" Daya towered over me, looking down on me with shame and malice. "Am I upsetting you?" She moved to touch my face and I couldn't pull away from her. "You failed, Aumee. And this is your punishment. I've only just had my way with you. Deorcae hasn't even started." She stepped out of my view and I watched with wide eyes as Deorcae appeared before me. His form was haphazard, and it crashed down on me.

I didn't fall into him the way I had previously. I didn't feel like I was being suffocated. It didn't feel like I was anything or anywhere. I was stuck watching my life and my burdens playing out before me. They flashed in front of my eyes fast, the colors and shapes disorienting me. I wasn't taking anything in. I wasn't learning anything new. I was just being refilled. It went on for what felt like forever.

The images eventually slowed down, and when they cleared I was still in the same spot I had been in. I felt the dirt under my palms and the cool air on my face. Everything was muffled again. I tried to focus on what was before me. I had to stay grounded. I had to. I didn't want to risk thinking about anything else for a second. If I did, there would be too many memories for me to handle.

Too many reminders of what I had done.

Of what I was.

Someone grabbed at my wrists and pulled me to my feet, but when I sat like a heavy weight, they wrapped their arms around my waist and lifted me into the air. As they did, I got a glimpse of everything. I could see Daya and Deorcae heading back into the sanctuary while everyone else fell back into regular time. Ambrose had disappeared from the wall, and Sidra was screaming at Rona to open the gate. Rona was sobbing, though. She looked at a limp body on the ground and cried into her hands. It drew my gaze to the person, and at the sight of it everything came flooding back.

I heard screams. I heard wailing that made my body shake and my mind rip open. I clawed at the arms that held me, my nails digging into rock and flesh. I beat on them, begging the person to let me go. It must have been Fal. The gate was swung open, and Sidra led Fal and I out. We met Ambrose in short order, but I couldn't stop screaming. Rona's tears had been silent for the most part, but mine were becoming more and more uncontrollable. I couldn't hear the voices of those around me over them, but I watched with blurry vision as they tried to quiet me down.

Faces caked in blood and dirt were running through my head. Not just ones that I had killed with my own hands, but ones that I had doomed to death. Runa would be next. She would be silenced by Daya for witnessing the murder of Via. After that, who knows who would be sent to their grave. They won. Daya had everything she needed to assist Deorcae. To assist Death himself.

I grabbed the arms that held me and kicked back at Fal's legs. He swung me with ease so that I was kicking nothing but air. I wanted down. I wanted a dagger. I wanted something. Anything. I don't know what for. To kill Daya? She had already won. There was nothing I could do to stop her now. I could kill myself, but what good would that do? One less soul for Deorcae to claim for himself, I thought bitterly.

I felt someone's hands on my face. I could feel a ring on their finger and I swat it away with anger. Daya.

I opened my eyes to see it wasn't Daya, but Sidra. She had but one simple band on her finger, and was pushing through my flailing legs to reach my face. When she finally had my face in between her hands, her eyes rolled back in her head and words escaped her lips. I couldn't hear anything over the sound of my heart thudding in my chest and the sobs that were getting caught in my throat.

I felt a heavy weight on myself. Not hard and bloody like the one from before. This one was soft, sweet, and welcoming. It fell on my fast, and my limbs hung at my sides like a ragdoll. I could feel my body being sat upon something, my head lolling forward. Then I was out.

⇼❂⇼

I was surrounded by corpses. Not shadows of sand, but lifeless bodies covered in a thick layer of blood. There was an odorous, metallic smell in the air that made me gag. I wasn't standing apart from them. They covered my feet so I couldn't move. When I bent down to move an arm from atop me, the hand attached to it snatched at my wrist. I let out a scream, but no sound came out. Hands began reaching out to me, grabbing me, their grip was like iron but the blood on their gray skin made it slip away.

One hand stood out from the rest. It wasn't cold and lifeless, but rich like the earth with perfect nails and a golden bracelet around its wrist. When my gaze followed the length of the arm, I met eyes with Via. Tears streaked down her face, leaving marks amidst the dirt and blood. It looked like she was trying to talk, but nothing came out.

I fell to the ground behind me, and began thrashing as the corpses consumed me. They encased me like a grave, and I fell deep into them, the blood drenching my skin and eeking into my mouth. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't see. I could only feel the weight of corpses as they piled onto me, reaching to me for something. What did they want with me? I had nothing. I tried to call out. "Leave me alone!" Nothing. It only angered them more.

Groans escaped from their bloody mouths, morphing into screams. I felt the hands pull back from me, and I reached up to cover my ears. With the hands gone, I dropped down through the air, the scream from my throat joining the chorus of wailing. I fell into a dune of sand and tumbled down to the foot of it. When I looked up to where I had fallen from, the writhing corpses and bodies were replaced with rolling storm clouds that darkened the sky. Lighting laced itself through the air, striking the sand around the desert I was in. Fires burned off in the distance, and when I looked to one I felt myself being pulled closer to it.

My body dashed through the desert, landing in front of the raging fire. It was a Waystation. People ran about, some on fire and some wielding weapons. Purple and black mist drifted from their eyes as they buried their weapons into the bodies of others. I scrambled back as a group of large men started towards me. A cackling filled the air, and the men froze in place.

"How pathetic," the voice said as it approached from behind me. I turned to see a man with pale, white skin. Black tattoos inked his body and his scalp, taking on the form of creatures and fires and murders. The tattoos shifted as he stood staring at me. "You failed much more easily that I had thought you would."

I knew who it was without asking. His eyes were the same glowing white as the Baurpei's. His eyes held the same hunger and desire. Deorcae. "You're not real."

He laughed again, kneeling down beside me. "I am very much real. Thanks to you. Tell me, Aumee, was it love for your sister or for the cursed monster that made you weak? You stood a real chance against Daya. You were her weakest spot. Why do you think you walked out of Arden alive?" He moved to touch me but I pulled away from him.

He was right. Daya's love for me, no matter how small, was what had kept me alive for so long. If I hadn't spared Via she wouldn't have stopped me from killing Daya. If I didn't care for Fal, I wouldn't have let him make that bargain with the twins. But if I had just handed the book over I would be in the same spot. "You would have won no matter what and you know it."

Deorcae smiled at that. "You're right." He rose to his feet and gestured to everything around us. "What do you think of this?"

"Of what?"

"The future of the Wayst. Your home." He looked to the sky with open arms and inhaled deeply. "You can smell the blood in the air. I love it."

Everything shifted. We were on the edge of a cliff, overlooking all of the Wayst in extreme detail. Me feet were just at the edge of the rock, and pebbles fell down into the great chasm beneath. We were standing over Arden, now empty and dead. I could see groups tearing each other apart, taking whatever they wanted. I could see the bodies of Fal and Sidra and Ambrose. Graying. Bloodied. Decaying. Being pecked apart by giant birds.

"Where am I?"

"You're long dead. Like I said, burdens like yours have a tendency to destroy one's need for life rather quickly." I felt his cold hands resting on my shoulders as he came to stand behind me. "A person as dark and terrible as you? They would fair rather well in this kind of environment." He came to whisper in my ear. "A little selfishness goes a long way."

"Why show me all of this?"

"So you can see your failure."

I turned to look at him, my heart burning as I clenched and unclenched my fists. "Why else?"

"I want you dead, Aumee." His sharp smile disappeared. "I want you deep in the sands of the Wayst. I want you forgotten. I want you erased." He grabbed my face in the same way Daya had so many times before. "I don't need anyone stepping on my toes anymore."

With that, he pushed me backwards. I fell back into the chasm, watching as the white figure at the top dissipated into a black mist of sand. I fell back into the dark before landing atop the corpses and carcasses once more. I was back where I had started.