I stood at the edge of Kafali. I had never been so close to Kafali, and the idea of turning it red with blood made my stomach turn. I had already sent word to the sanctuary for Daya to meet me here, and I knew she would. I wasn't the only one who needed closure. Daya had been forced to let me go because of my deal with Deorcae and I could feel it in my bones that she wanted to have one last word with me. If she didn't, did she really win the fight?

The Mouth of Kafali was beautiful. The waterfall tumbled out of a small hole in the back of the cave, and it rushed down into the small lake that soon waned into a river. Before that moment, the closest I had ever come to the water was when I first met Sander Ere. Even that was from a distance, closer to the second waterfall. Closer to Lower Arden. Here, I was at the origin of it all.

Upper Arden was beautiful, and I tried not to look too closely at the colorful buildings that rose stories high with little to no damage. There were no ruins there, I noticed. The guards were forced to hide in alleyways or in the homes of families. They were forced onto rooftops or behind small statues. If even one guard was easily seen, the whole thing would go to waste. So I kept my eyes down. That was the only way I could stay calm. If I didn't know that something or someone was out of place, I could focus on the part I had to play.

I knelt down and reached my hand into the cool waters. A voice floated in from over my shoulder. "How does it feel to be ruining something so pure?"

Daya. I didn't turn to look her in the eyes. I would betray myself. If I looked at her, I would feel too many things much too quickly. If I looked at her, I would want to shove a sword through her throat and her heart and her eyes. So I placed my other hand in the water. "You tell me. You seem to have much more experience. You should know how it feels by now."

Daya's heels clicked on the tiled path around the lake. She came to stand beside me. "I disagree. I know how it feels to be building up something pure. The Waystland isn't what's pure. I thought you, if anyone, could see that." She paused for a moment. I couldn't look at her. Not yet. "Rapists, murderers, thieves. We deceive ourselves by calling this land of ours pure and good. You deceive yourself that way, Aumee. What's pure is complete chaos and discord. The best we can do is be honest about what we are."

Despite the cool water on my hands, I could feel a fire igniting in my core. Honesty. What would she know about honesty? Nothing. She couldn't even know how to tell good from bad. I rose to my feet, inhaling deeply, trying to cool the fire. "I wasn't talking about the Wayst." I looked straight in her eyes. She was calm and collected, which only angered me more. "I'm talking about all of the girls you've tainted. Every murderer and thief and liar. I'm talking about every life you have taken."

"You mean Via?"

Hearing her name roll off of her dark purple lips made me lunge for her. I reached for her throat, and as she tried to evade me we fell into the waters of Kafali. Our heads were on the deeper end of the shore so her head was entirely submerged while I could feel the surface of the water hitting the crown of my head. I gripped onto her neck tightly, keeping my eyes open so I could watch as she tried to pull my hands away from her throat. Her facade didn't break, though. I tightened my grip but a smile spread across her face, and I threw myself off of her. I gasped for air as I came to the surface. She did the same, her fingers touching the skin on her throat.

"Oh, Aumee, I know you can do better than that. I know you want to do better than that." She crawled over towards me, the water lapping against our bodies and soaked clothes. I had my scarf pulled down so she wouldn't suspect me, and I wanted so badly to blame black sand on my actions rather than her. Rather than myself.

"I'm not killing you."

"Why not?" Her eyes looked deeply into my own, and her malicious look was replaced with a pitiful one as if on cue. Her bottom lip pouted and she poked my nose with a jeweled finger. "Oh, do you wish you weren't a murderer? Do you think you can fight what you truly are?" Tears sprung into my eyes and I hated myself for being so easily hurt. Her face hardened. "Give it up, Aumee. You're no hero. You're a murderer. You're no better than me. If none of this had ever happened... if you were still loyal to me and Via was in your shoes, you would have killed her on the spot."

"You're wrong."

"You would have found pleasure in slitting her throat open the same way I did--!"

My hand gripped a rock under the water and as she spoke I swung it towards her face, nailing her in the cheekbone. She let out a scream and I took a few steps back into the center of the lake. The lake wasn't deep enough for me to swim, and even when I stood in the center of it all, the water only reached below my knees. Daya slammed her hand down into the water before rising to her full height once more.

"Why did you call me here," she screamed as she waded through the water to meet me. She stopped a few inches away from where I stood. "Why bother bringing me all the way here if you can't even finish the job?"

Deorcae wasn't out yet, and he wouldn't be brought out even with what I was about to do next. But I did it anyway. I fell to my knees and lowered my head into my hands. "I just want to know why," I said. The waterfall was beginning to roar in my ears and I could hardly hear what I was saying. "I want to know why you killed her and I want to know why you did this to me!" I looked up to her, tears streaking down my face. This was not part of the plan, but as she stood over me I could feel my mind going crazy with questions that I feared would never be answered.

She knelt in front of me and took hold of my chin. Her eyes softened up, but her mouth remained in a hard line. "I killed Via because she was the only way I could break your heart the way you broke mine, Aumee. You were like a daughter to me. I gave you so many chances to change your mind and you just... you spit on every single one. I am sorry for that. I truly am. But I will not apologize for what I have done to be where I am." As she spoke to me, I could feel my tears falling more and more, joining Kafali as they dripped down my face. "I would do it all over again if it meant achieving what I have achieved."

"You wanted me dead!" I pulled my face away from her hand and she fumed.

"I wanted you by my side! You are the one thing I wish went differently, Aumee, but you made all your own choices. I did everything I could to avoid killing you until there was nothing else I could do! You betrayed me one too many times--"

"So you would let him tell me to kill myself?" I gestured to the darkened sky. "You would let him drive me mad until I killed myself so you didn't have to?"

"Yes," she said with a blank stare. She stood. "Aumee, you made your decisions and I have made mine. It pains me to see you this way. I came here to speak with you and I've done just that." She turned her back towards me and I eased my hand over the stones in the water for one last surprise. I had hidden my dagger in the lake before she arrived, and as soon as my hand found it, I pulled it and tucked it up into my sleeve.

"I'm not done with you."

"That's a pity because I'm done with you, little bird. Kill yourself and find peace. That's your only option." She was headed for the shore, her back still facing me. I rose from the water and threw the dagger in her direction, watching as it found its mark just to the left of her spine. She let out an agonizing scream and fell to her knees.

"You little..." She searched for something at her chest when, in a sandstorm, Deorcae appeared at her side. "I'm sorry, my lord," she said in between gasps of air. She bowed deeply, and Deorcae yanked the dagger from her back. She cried out in pain, but choked it down as Deorcae stood above her. "I know you have better things to be doing."

"You said you could handle this," he growled. He looked the same way as he did in my head. Pale as moonlight with black shadows writhing on his skin. His eyes were the same inhuman bright white that caused my body to burn up as they landed on me. "You said you didn't need me to take care of your pesky, little bitch."

"I was wrong, my lord."

"Why am I not surprised..." he said. He was not shouting over the roar of the waterfall as it crashed just beside me. Yet it still sounded as if he were talking into my ear. Bumps rose from my skin as he started towards me. This was it.

Before he could take more than three steps, the guards all around the lake revealed themselves. Arrows came raining down on the pair, and while a few from the back managed to stick Deorcae or grace his skin, drawing thick black blood to the surface, many of them bounced off of the surrounding air. Daya had brought herself up onto one knee, and she held her hands around her as her eyes rolled back into her head. Words snaked from her lips, and the arrows that had been aimed at her and her god turned on their shooters.

Shouts erupted from all around, and I could see Deorcae snarling as his eyes settled on me.

I tried to move back to the opposite shore, and as I scrambled to safety guards flooded past me to meet their death. I tried to remind myself that they had known what they were sacrificing when they became guards of Arden, but even I knew the idea of fighting the Dark God had likely never crossed their minds. Still, they ran towards him with a vigor I hadn't expected of people so dispensable. None of them managed a hit, but they surrounded both Daya and Deorcae like a swarm.

I turned to see the storm that had been nearing Arden all afternoon was slowed down almost to a halt. Of course, it would be hard to bring in a storm when fighting off dozens of people. If there was any silver lining, it was that one. I came to the shore of the lake and searched for Fal and Ambrose. Sidra was hiding behind the waterfall in a small cavern as she prepared to complete the spell, while Ambrose was perched on a rooftop with several sharp blades. I looked up just as he threw one towards Daya, but even in the mess of the guards she saw it coming. She grabbed a hold of a guard's neck and lifted them to block herself from the weapon.

Her eyes landed on Ambrose and I felt my heart go into my throat as he leapt off the rooftop before where he sat exploded into rubble. He landed on a smaller rooftop, where he swung down into one of the open windows of the building. He was safe enough for now.

Where is he? I began searching the crowd for a head of dark curls and a black horn. I found neither. The guards were being thrown back into the water as they attempted to climb atop the invisible field Daya had created around them. I sank into the shadows, waiting to find Fal to pass over the sawl ripa. Deorcae tore through Daya's defense and with one swipe of his hand the guards before him fell to their knees and grasped at their throats. The black tattoos that danced on his skin slithered down the length of his arm and off his fingertips. They flowed through the air before finding the helmets of the guards, seeping into the holes. Deorcae laughed as the shadows returned to his skin. "You think a few little humans can stop me?" The guards stayed on their knees for a minute, but as they staggered to their feet I saw that they were turning to the unaffected guards around them. "I can bend their will as much as I want. I don't need to lay a hand on them for your brave people to perish."

The guards broke out into a frenzy as they attacked one another. I felt someone grab onto me in the shadows. I spun around to find Fal holding a finger to his lips. "I have the dagger, but I think I now how you can get closer to them both."

He led me through one of the buildings, and I listened as the guards below fought one another. As we ascended a staircase, I could see through a window that a few of them still attempted to reach Daya as she protected Deorcae from behind. Deorcae, on the other hand, was carefully searching the crowd for any sign of me.

When we came to a stop, we were bent low on the rooftop of the building where Ambrose sat hunched over two dead bodies. "We take their armor. Fal can distract him with a decoy dagger while we trade on and off in the crowd." We'll have to fight more people that way, but we won't be noticed as quickly."

"You two are brilliant sometimes." I began pulling off the top layers of my robes and sliding into the easiest parts of the armor, making sure to cover my face before sliding the silver helmet overtop my head. The lip of the rooftop offered little protection from Deorcae's view of us below, so Fal had to help Ambrose and I make sure that everything was good enough to run out. "Someone should have sent word for the second wave of guards by now. Should we wait for them?"

"We should. That way we can blend in with the incoming ones rather than have to find our way into the crowd." Ambrose nodded and pulled the dagger out from the bag at his waist. "This is the real dagger," he whispered as he pointed out a small red band around the hilt of the blade. "Fal will have one without the band. Keep that in mind."

I nodded. Footsteps could be heart running towards the lake, and I chanced a peek over the wall to see that the second wave of guards was coming in. "Time to move."

We all rushed down the stairs of the building to join the masses, but just before I could leave Fal grabbed my arm. His eyes were shining as he looked down at me, but I knew that he could only see my eyes as the helmet circled around the outside of my head and my scarf was wrapped around the lower part of my face. "Aumee, if anything goes wrong--"

"I know, Fal." I reached up and poked at his chest. "I'll see you when this is over."

"When it's over."

With that, I dove into the crowd of incoming men and women and tried to blend in as they all circled the other guards. Ambrose stayed close to my side, and we steeled ourselves for Deorcae and Daya's next move. The arrival of backup angered them both. They worked back to back to tear weapons from the hands of their owners and send them flying through the bodies of others. In a fluid motion, the two rose up a whole section of guards from the water and sent them reeling into another section.

Fal appeared from behind them as they focused their attention on the fallen and incoming guards. Shit, I thought, He would have had the perfect shot. Fal came up from behind, and rather than aim for Deorcae, he threw his body into Daya's. They fell into the water and out of my sight. "Go," I shouted to Ambrose. He took off through the mass of bodies and I did the same.

I shoved guards out of my way, my hand resting on the hilt of my sword in preparation for coming up against a guard that had been turned or for cutting Daya open. When I came to the center I could see Fal landing throws on Daya, her bloodied face sinking beneath the water as Deorcae was forced to pay attention to the guards. His eyebrows were knitted close together in concentration as he spoke in his dead language and twisted his fingers in unnatural directions to enchant those around him. Ambrose came in hot from his left side, only for Deorcae to spin gracefully and avoid the stabbing. Ambrose slid through the water and crashed into me.

I tore the sawl ripa from his hand but hid it from Deorcae's view. Deorcae lifted Ambrose up by his collar and threw his body into the wall of the cave. I let out a shout, and Deorcae's eyes turned to me. I scrambled to my feet, the bone hilt ready in my hand. Deorcae didn't have the time to raise a finger before Fal crashed head first into him, his horn piercing the dark god's ribcage. Fal was thrown off of Deorcae, and the dark god rose to his full height, his white eyes now blazing. The eyes trained on the sawl ripa, and the scream that escaped his mouth next made me cover my ears. The cave around us rumbled, and the guards all paused in fear of it coming crashing down on everyone in a matter of seconds.

"I'm through with all of this!" He rose his arms and I watched as they shook with a weight I couldn't see. Daya pushed herself to her hands and knees, but kept her eyes on her god as he chanted. Black sand and wind whirled around us.

I had been through this before. Deorcae wanted me dead but here I was, in his face, holding the one thing that could kill him. I stood my ground and locked eyes with him. If he wanted to be through with this, he would have to deal with me first.

The sand didn't transport me to another plane or world or dreamscape the way it had so many times before. No, I could still feel the cool water of Kafali around my feet, and when I looked down I could see the red blood of all the fallen guards dying the pure water a wretched color. Daya was still nearby, now standing on her feet, although unsteady, as the wind and sand spun in circles around us.

I was trapped.

Deorcae didn't look away from the sawl ripa. He knew how close to death he was once more.

"Give me the dagger."

"Never." The hilt of the sawl ripa felt smooth against my sweaty palm, and I adjusted it without taking my eyes off of Deorcae. He stood opposite me, the walls of black sand around us whipping at his black robes and Daya's braided hair.

His voice was low and slow. "You found my dagger."

"Your dagger? It seems to be in my possession at the moment."

"Aren't you clever?" His lip twitched as he slunk further away from me. While he had successfully separated me from everyone else and given himself a moment to recover, he had also given his magic something to focus all of its strength on. If he tore his attention away from the tornado of sand around us, it would all come crashing down and he would once again be surrounded. "Where did you find it?"

"A friend of a friend of a friend."

"That won't work on me."

I smiled and poised it as if I were going to throw it at him. He flinched, his body tensing as it prepared to be struck. "Then why are you so scared of it?"