Chapter 202

The battlefield is chaotic, twisting, filled with shadows running around us, their weird motions somehow uniform, as if dancing to some unheard command. My heart pounds fast as I let loose another burst of energy into the chaos. The earth shakes under the force of my attack.

But it’s not enough.

The pack fights valiantly, their strength and resolve evident in every swing of a blade, and every clash of claws. Yet I can feel their doubt, their hesitation.

“She’s too unstable,” a voice whispers behind me.

“We’re following someone who could lose herself at any moment,” another mutters.

I clench my fists, the whispers cutting deeper than any blade.

“We don’t have time for this,” Piper snaps, her tone razor-sharp. Standing beside Warrick, she stares hot daggers at the doubters. “Aurora’s the only reason we’re still alive. If you can’t see that, you’re blind.”

“And what if she loses control?” a wolf responds, lacing his tone with a thread of fear. “What happens then?”

“I’ll tell you what happens,” Dane says, pushing to the front, his solid form and thick voice. “She saves us. Because that’s what she’s always done.”

The pack quiets, turning to look at both Dane and me.

“Enough,” I say, a firmness in my voice. “We don’t have the luxury of doubt. If we don’t stand together, we won’t stand at all.”

The battle thickens, and the forces of the Nameless suddenly change and start pressing in harder. We’re holding our own, yet it feels like barely. Each step forward becomes resistance, every victory overshadowed by another onrushing wave of the enemy.

“They’re endless,” Warrick mutters, breathing quickly.

“No,” Dane says, gaze fixed on the horizon. “They’re not endless. They’re anchored.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I ask him, turning.

Dane nods toward the shadows, his eyes narrowing. “The Nameless’s power isn’t infinite. He’s drawing it from somewhere, a focus point, an anchor.”

“Then we destroy it,” Piper says, determination hardening her voice.

“It’s not that simple,” Warrick counters, his tone sad. “If we destroy the anchor, it’ll trigger a surge of energy, a backlash that could kill whoever’s near it.”

A heavy silence falls over us, the weight of the revelation sinking in.

“Someone’s got to get close enough to destroy it,” I say, trying to sound steady, but inside my mind is racing. “But they won’t make it out in time.”

“Then who do we send?” Piper asks, her voice barely above a whisper.

We all but huddle together, lost in the impossibility of it. Fighting continues to rage around us, the clash of steel, cries of wounded, a reminder of what was at stake.

“I’ll go,” Warrick says suddenly, his tone resigned.

“No,” I snap, my heart clenched. “We’ll find another way.”

“There is no other way,” he says, his eyes locking with mine. “You know that as well as I do.”

I could not entertain the notion of anyone being taken away, or sent to their death. Before I can continue arguing, however, a commotion diverts our attention.

On the other side of the battlefield, someone marches purposefully towards the anchor. The air crackles around him, the shadows seeming to recoil in fear.

“Who is that?” Piper asks, her voice full of wonder and confusion.

A figure spins briefly, his face shining for a moment by the flickering light of the battlefield. It looks familiar but I can’t pinpoint where or who it is.

“Trajan?!” I call out, my voice breaking.

He stops halfway, not enough for me to see his face, and turns, his face composed, almost serene.

“Consider this my little sacrifice,” he calls out above the chaos of the battle.

And with that, before any of us can even move to stop him, he steps into the heart of the enemy’s forces, unwavering.

“Who are you, please no, no!” Dane screams, his voice hoarse from desperation.

But it’s too late. He was sucked into the dark; with every step farther he takes, the anchor’s ominous glow weakens.

This quietens the pack to dumbfounded silence, all the weight of what the person said heavy upon the atmosphere.

“He knew,” Piper says, in a mere whisper. “He knew what he was doing.”

I can feel my chest tightening, unable to wrap my head around this one thing. Whosoever it is, his sacrifice – it’s too much.

“We need to move,” Dane says, his voice cutting through the haze of shock. “If this works, the Nameless’s forces will weaken, but we’ll only have a small window to strike.”

I nod, forcing myself to focus. “Let’s finish this.”

“But who could that be?”

“Consider this my little sacrifice,” the voice says, disappearing into the darkness.

The pendant replayed the figure’s face for me like a vision and the figure fully turned to me then, and I saw his face illuminated in the soft glow of the anchor’s malevolent energy.

It’s Holden.

I am paralyzed, my breath choked in my throat. His dark eyes… those always weighted with secrets and with guilt… are shining with something foreign to me… peace.

“Holden, no!” I scream.

The pack surrounding us has stood silent and aghast as Holden pushes forward relentlessly, his body stark against bedlam. Blurring shadows make desperate attempts at clutching air for him yet he presses ahead, sure-footed and untouchable.

“Why would he do that?” Piper is muttering over the chaos of this battle.

“Because he wants to make it right,” Dane says back, his tone somber.

I shake my head, and my heart drums against my chest.

“He doesn’t need to do this. There’s supposed to be some other way!”

But it’s well.

As he reaches the anchor, a rough pulse of dark energy, the earth stirs beneath his feet. The shades grow wild, tree branches desperately, but he doesn’t give in.

“Holden!” I shriek again… the sting of tears burning my eyes. “You don’t have to prove anything. Come back!”

He turns once more.

“This is my choice, Aurora,” he says, steady as stone. “For my daughter. For the family I failed. For all of you.”

My throat clenches tight, words somewhere between a sob and a scream.

“Take care of them,” he says, his eyes locking with mine. “You’re stronger than you think. Stronger than I ever was.”

And then he steps forward, directly into the anchor’s aura.

The moment his hand touches the anchor, light explodes in a blinding surge of energy that ripples across the battlefield. Shadows scream and scream, their forms dissolving into nothingness as the anchor begins to collapse.

The backlash is instant. A wave of power bursts from the anchor, shredding everything in its path. Holden is at its center, his body glowed with the light of its destruction.

“Holden!” I screamed, falling onto my knees as the shockwave threw me back.

When the light fades, the anchor is gone. And so is he.

The battlefield grows still. The Nameless’s forces break, their cohesion shattered as they flee into the night. But victory hangs suspended in the air.

“He’s gone,” Piper says, voice shaking. Dane’s hand clamps on my shoulder, anchoring me. “He made his choice, Aurora. I never knew it was Holden, I thought it was Trajan that is back and with us now but still. We have to honor it by finishing this.”