He shook his head as he dropped his hand from the sword. “They said they had no other choice. They did, in the end. Because it always comes down to choices. They chose to burn the love I felt for them from my heart. They chose to encapsulate what remained in shadow. They chose to let me suffer in a realm that only exists to contain the worst of all existence. And I did suffer, Sam. I don’t want you to think I didn’t. Maybe they thought it’d be a shock to the system. Maybe they thought it’d give them time to find a way to bring me back to the person they’d known.” He laughed bitterly. “But it didn’t. It made me more. And I knew, in the end, that I just had to bide my time. That one day I would return and face my destiny.”
He turned away from Ryan back toward me. He stopped just outside of the circle again. “You, Sam. You are my destiny. We are intertwined, you and I. Chosen by the gods. It’s really rather elegiac, don’t you think? There is a sense of fatalism to it. Was I always meant to be here, now, standing in front of you as I am? Do the gods dictate every single move I make? Has the ending already been written? Because if it has, Sam, if everything I have done in my life has led to this, has led to this moment, what am I to do with it? With this culmination? I feel as if I stand upon a precipice, and all it would take is one final step and—”
“Yeah,” I said. “Do it. You step right off that cliff, you asshole.”
He sighed. “You’re not listening.”
“Oh I am,” I said. “You’re monologuing, but I’m listening. And you know what I think about it? About this whole thing?”
“Tell me,” he breathed.
I leaned forward until I could feel the hum of the barrier just beyond my face. “I think you’re fucking crazy.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I think you’re fucking crazy,” I spat at him. “I think you’re just like everyone else who has come before you. Except no, that’s not quite right. You come with a godsdamn pedigree, all this extraneous bullshit. You’ve somehow got Ruv, and I’ll give you credit for that. You got Lady Tina. You’ve got thousands of people on your side, even though they don’t know they’re on your side. You’ve done all of this while remaining hidden in shadow. That’s just going to make your failure that much worse when it happens. Because mark my words: you will fail, Myrin. I will end you.” I glanced over his shoulder at Ruv. “You too. You shouldn’t have touched my cornerstone. You’re going to pay for that.” I felt a savage satisfaction at the way Ruv’s eyes widened. I looked back at Myrin, a nasty smile on my face. “I’ve got four dragons on my side and a need to kick your motherfucking ass.”
“Four? And what of the fifth?”
My smile widened. “What’s the plan? I’m in here, you’re out there. Hey, if you want to come in the circle with me, I’ll make room.” I took a step back, beckoning for Myrin to step inside. “We could see what happens when neither of us has our magic. Because no matter how strong you think you are, even you can’t fight dragon’s blood.”
“Or,” Myrin said, “I can ask Ruv to pull the sword from the Knight Commander’s chest and use it to cut off his head right in front of you.”
“Don’t you fucking touch him!” I roared, rushing forward and banging my hands on the barrier again.
Myrin laughed. “And that is the downfall of love. The way it ensnares you, holds you captive. You are wind and bluster, pounding your chest and inviting me inside, but the moment I threaten something you love, you descend into snarls and teeth. Can’t you see, Sam? It is a weakness. And that is the difference between you and I. You are shackled by it. And I am free.”
“You will never win,” I promised him. “Never.”
“I already have,” he said simply. “You have a choice, here. And you will make it quickly, as I grow weary of this back-and-forth. Either you submit to me or Ryan Foxheart will die here and now. His blood, Sam, will be on your hands, more than it already is. There is still a chance he could be saved as he is now, but he doesn’t have much time.”
“Fuck you.”
He shook his head, a frown on his face. “You have to know you’ve lost. Even now I can see your mind whirring about, scrambling for something, anything you could use to talk your way out of this, to live to fight another day. Sam. You. Are. Wrong. This is it. This is the end.”
“And what do you want me for?”
“You know,” he said, eyes flickering down to my chest.
And I did. Of course I did. “The consumption of magic.”
“It will hurt,” he said. “I cannot lie about that. But it will be over soon. I promise you, and unlike Morgan or Randall, I am a man of my word, Sam. I will break the circle. You will bow before me. And I will consume your magic. It will be swift, and once it is complete, I will let Ryan Foxheart go. However, if you step outside that circle and attempt anything, I promise you that I will do everything in my power to make sure Ryan Foxheart suffers. And you may be thinking that you could take me by surprise, but I will remind you that there are two of us and one of you. No matter how powerful you are, Sam, you cannot come for us both before I rip the life from the Knight Commander. His blood will spill and you will watch.”
“Why?” I asked, trying to stall for time, but for what, I didn’t know. “Why are you doing all this?”
Myrin’s eyes narrowed. “Really, Sam? That’s what you’re going with? After all you’ve said about villains and monologuing. I’m disappointed. That was shameful, even for you.”
I smiled weakly. “What can I say? I’ll try anything.”
“Make your choice now, apprentice. Your dragons cannot save you. Your friends aren’t here. Your beloved is at death’s door. Randall is hiding away in his castle of ice. And Morgan can’t be bothered to even know his apprentice is—”
“You always did try and speak for me,” a voice said mildly.
Myrin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He let it out slowly. When he opened his eyes again, they were alight with something I couldn’t quite make out, but it almost looked like fear.
“Brother,” he said quietly as he turned. “Quiet as a mouse, you are.”
Morgan of Shadows stood in the entryway, looking calm and relaxed, robes billowing slightly. I didn’t know how long he’d been standing there, but I knew he’d cataloged everything in the room in mere seconds. Ruv, standing near the fireplace and looking suddenly unsure. Ryan, skin slick with sweat, his breath rattling in his chest. Myself, standing in a circle of dragon’s blood, more furious than I’d ever been.
And Myrin, of course. He seemed to only have eyes for Myrin.
“You were distracted,” Morgan told him. “You tend to be when you’re fully involved in your work. That hasn’t changed.”
“Nostalgia,” Myrin said. “That’s what you’re going for?”
Morgan shrugged. “Merely an observation.”
“Morgan,” I said, voice cracking. “You gotta help Ryan. Please, you need to get him away from here.”
Morgan glanced at me over Myrin’s shoulder. “Are you all right?”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry about me. Please. Just help him. He can’t—”
“Why are you here?” Myrin asked, head cocked. “Why are there no others with you? And how did you know he was here?”
“Questions,” Morgan said, lips quirking the smallest amount. “You always did ask questions. If there were answers you didn’t know, it would frustrate you to no end. And you would doggedly pursue those answers until you were satisfied. How strange is it that after everything, these little pieces of you remain.”