Sera's POV
I have one second to decide.
Merge with my goddess-self and become powerful enough to fight, or stay human and watch everyone I care about die.
Azrael's army materializes from the storm clouds fifty divine soldiers in golden armor, weapons drawn. They form a circle around us, blocking every escape.
Choose! my goddess-self urges, hand still extended. Before it's too late!
I look at Caspian. He's shaking his head, terror in his eyes. Don't. Please. If you lose yourself
If I don't, you'll die, I interrupt. All of you will die. I can't let that happen.
I reach for the goddess's hand
Lyric tackles me sideways. Wait! There's another way!
We hit the ground hard. The goddess made of light flickers, looking annoyed.
What other way? I gasp.
Partial merge, Lyric says rapidly. Take some of her power, not all. Stay human but borrow divine strength. It's dangerous and painful, but
Azrael's voice booms across the clearing. Enough stalling, Seraphine! Come with me now, or I start killing your pets.
He points at Caspian. A soldier moves toward him, sword raised.
Stop! I scream, scrambling to my feet. Power erupts from me instinctively, throwing the soldier backward.
Azrael smiles. There's my fierce goddess. I've missed that fire.
I was never yours, I snarl.
You were promised to me for a thousand years, Azrael says coldly. Then you threw it all away for a mortal. A weak, pathetic, temporary creature. I'm here to correct that mistake.
Rage burns through me. The goddess-me steps beside me, no longer asking permission.
Let me help you destroy him, she whispers. Let me in. Just a little. Just enough to fight.
I look at her at myself. At who I used to be.
If I do this, will I lose my memories of them? I ask, nodding toward Caspian and Lyric.
The goddess hesitates. I don't know. Merging divine and mortal is... complicated. But I promise to try to keep them.
It's not good enough. But it's all I have.
Okay, I whisper. Just enough to fight. Nothing more.
The goddess smiles and touches my forehead.
Light explodes through me.
I feel her pouring into my body power and memories and knowledge flooding every cell. It doesn't hurt. It feels like waking up after a lifetime of being asleep.
I remember everything.
Three thousand years of existence. Every sunrise I ever painted. Every battle I ever fought. And most importantly I remember Konstantin.
The memory crashes over me like a wave.
Two hundred years ago, I'm walking through a forest, invisible to mortal eyes. But one mortal sees me anyway. A young sorcerer with wild dark hair and fearless green eyes.
You're real, he breathes. The goddess of dawn. I thought you were just a legend.
I am real, I say, amused. And you're either very brave or very stupid to address me without bowing.
He grins. Can't it be both?
We meet in secret for months. He teaches me what it means to be mortal joy, fear, hunger, exhaustion, hope. I teach him magic. We fall in love slowly, then all at once.
Run away with me, he says one night under stars. Leave the divine realm. Be with me.
They'll kill us, I warn.
Then we'll die together, Konstantin says simply. Better one day of freedom with you than eternity without.
So I say yes.
But the gods find out. Azrael leads the charge to punish me. The trial is brutal. Konstantin is dragged before the Divine Court, beaten, and humiliated.
Renounce him, Azrael orders. Return to me, and I'll spare his life.
I look at Konstantin's bloody face. At Azrael's cruel beauty. And I make my choice.
I would rather die mortal and free than live divine and enslaved to you.
The Court sentences me to death. But Konstantin has one final spell a binding that will protect me forever, powered by his bloodline's life force.
I love you, he whispers as the magic consumes him. Every generation of my family will protect you. You'll never be alone. I promise.
He dies in my arms.
The memory releases me. I'm back in the clearing, tears streaming down my face, but I'm different now. Stronger. Complete.
I look at Caspian and see Konstantin's features in his face the same green eyes, the same selfless determination, the same stupid nobility that makes him willing to die for someone he loves.
Seven generations. Seven Thorne men who all fell in love with me. Who all sacrificed everything?
And now I finally understand why.
No more, I say, my voice echoing with divine power. No more Thorne men dying for me.
I turn to face Azrael. Silver light blazes from my eyes. Power crackles around my body like lightning.
You want me? I say. Come and get me.
Azrael's smile widens. Finally. A worthy fight.
He raises his hand. The fifty soldiers advance.
I don't run. Don't hide. I plant my feet and call on every bit of power the goddess-me gave me.
Dawn light erupts from my body in a massive wave. It washes over the soldiers, and they scream, shielding their eyes. Divine beings can't look directly at true dawn it burns them.
I create weapons from pure light a sword in one hand, a shield in the other. The knowledge of how to use them flows through me like muscle memory.
Protect Caspian, I tell Lyric without looking away from Azrael.
On it, Lyric says, pulling Caspian back.
Azrael and I circle each other. He's wielding a blade made of darkness the opposite of my light.
You can't win, he says. You're only half-merged. I'm full divine power.
Maybe, I reply. But I have something you don't.
What's that?
Something worth fighting for.
I attack.
We collide in an explosion of light and shadow. The force of it creates shockwaves that flatten trees. We fight with speed and strength beyond mortal comprehension his darkness against my dawn, his cruelty against my hope.
He's stronger. More experienced. But I'm faster, fueled by desperation and love.
I land a hit that opens a cut on his perfect face. He looks shocked.
Impossible, he hisses.
You always underestimated me, I say. That's why I left you.
I press my advantage, driving him back. For a moment, I think I might actually win.
Then he smiles. You fight well. But you're protecting too many weaknesses.
He snaps his fingers.
Ten soldiers break off and rush toward Caspian and Lyric.
No! I turn to defend them, which is exactly what Azrael wanted.
His blade catches me across the ribs. Pain explodes through me. I fall to one knee, blood pouring from the wound.
Sera! Caspian screams.
Azrael stands over me, triumphant. Did you really think you could defeat me? I am vengeance incarnate. I am eternal.
He raises his blade for the killing blow.
And Caspian throws himself between us.
The blade meant for me pierces his chest instead.
Time stops.
I watch Caspian's eyes go wide with shock. Watch blood bloom across his shirt. Watch him fall.
No, I whisper. No, no, no
Something breaks inside me. Not just my heart. Something deeper. Fundamental.
The goddess-me, the partial merge, the careful balance it all shatters.
My divine self doesn't merge slowly this time. She floods into me completely, overwhelming my mortal consciousness, consuming everything human.
Power explodes from my body in a column of pure light that reaches the clouds. The storm breaks apart. The divine soldiers are thrown back like leaves.
When the light fades, I'm not half-goddess anymore.
I'm fully divine.
The Goddess of Dawn stands in my place, silver eyes blazing, crown of sunlight appearing on my head, power radiating from every pore.
I look down at Caspian bleeding on the ground, and something in my divine mind recognizes him. Knows him. Loves him.
But it's distant. Faded. Like remembering a dream.
Caspian, I say, and my voice sounds wrong. Too echoing. Too powerful. Not quite human anymore.
His eyes find mine. He's dying. I can see it.
Sera, he gasps. You're... you're beautiful. Like the first time I saw you. When I was sixteen.
Tears stream down my face the last human response I have.
I'm sorry, I whisper. I'm so sorry.
Don't be, he says, smiling even as blood fills his mouth. I got to see you... one more time. The real you. It was worth it.
His eyes close.
And I feel his life force flickering out.
The goddess in me knows I can save him. I have the power to heal mortal wounds. But it would cost me everything all my divine power, all my returned memories, everything I just reclaimed.
I would have to give up being a goddess to save one mortal man.
Azrael watches with cruel interest. Fascinating. The choice that started all of this, repeated. What will you choose this time, Seraphine? Your power or your pet?
I look at Caspian dying. At lyric crying beside him. At the divine army waiting to see what I'll do.
And I make my choice.
I place my hands on Caspian's chest and pour every bit of divine power I have into him.
Light flows from me into his body. I feel my godhood draining away. Feel my memories starting to fade again. Feel my power burning out like a candle.
But Caspian's wound closes. His breathing steadies. His eyes flutter open.
Sera? he whispers, confused. What did you
The last of my power leaves me. I collapse beside him, completely mortal again, memories already slipping away like water through my fingers.
The last thing I hear before darkness takes me is Azrael's furious scream:
No! You chose him again! You stupid, foolish
And Lyric's shocked voice: She gave it all up. She chose mortality. She chose love.
Then nothing.
When I wake up, I won't remember any of this.
The cycle begins again.