‘You’re wasting your time,’ the Eldest boomed. ‘And mine.’ Languidly, she flashed a fist into Ranjit’s jaw, and he tumbled towards the edge of the cliff. He tried to raise the Pendant again, but the Eldest stalked to him, seized his wrist and wrenched the jade from it with ridiculous ease.
‘You … fool!’ Contemptuously the Eldest brandished the Pendant. The creatures carved into the jade writhed with terrifying energy. Ranjit held up an arm to shield his eyes as a stronger and stronger light glowed in the heart of the jewel.
‘I won’t soil my hands on you any further,’ the Eldest hissed, and a sickly light began to swirl and gather within the jade. ‘I’ll have that spirit now …’
With a shriek Cassie flung herself on to the Eldest’s back, but was again knocked with a violent blow to the ground. The Eldest turned to give her a smirk, and held out a hand, the claw-fingers beckoning. ‘I’m waiting, Cassandra. Give me the Knife.’
A vision flashed across Cassie’s mind: Richard, torn apart by the Eldest and lying dead in the cavern on the mountain. Her friend. And then her friend Jake, handing her—
On her knees, Cassie bent forward, gasping for breath. Her fingers trembled as she reached into her shirt, and the Eldest gave a low scornful chuckle.
Cassie raised her eyes to the poison-green glow of her adversary’s.
‘You asked for this,’ Cassie growled.
The Eldest’s green eyes brightened, momentarily, with greedy anticipation.
Then Cassie whipped out the last vial of Tears and threw them hard at the hideous monster.
The shatter of glass echoed even above the noise of the waterfall. A rain of crystal exploded against the Eldest’s chest and she reeled backwards, clutching at her ribs in disbelief. As the pieces of broken vial tinkled to the rocky ground, the last of the Tears of the Few trickled down Katerina’s former body, hissing and steaming as if they were boiling volcanic spray.
The Eldest screamed, raking her chest with her claws. She recovered her balance at the lip of the cliff, drawing herself up with a howl of unearthly fury. Cassie staggered towards the Eldest, unable to tear her eyes away. She was in agony, and raged with maybe her first experience of real terror from Cassie and Ranjit’s onslaught. Her body was curling, twisting, writhing.
But not dying.
Cassie shut her eyes, desperate. If the Tears hadn’t killed her, there was nothing else for it. She didn’t dare glance, one final time, at Ranjit. Gritting her teeth, Cassie simply flew towards the Eldest. She snapped her monstrous head up just a fraction of an instant too late. Cassie cannoned into her, and taken by surprise, the Eldest gave a terrible scream.
Then together they plummeted over the edge of the cliff.
It seemed to happen in very slow motion. Cassie heard Ranjit’s shout of despair, but it was too late to worry, too late to think or regret.
The two of them were falling, clasped in a deadly embrace, her and the Eldest, twisting in the air. The Knife was in Cassie’s hand; she didn’t even have to remember it now. Because the Knife was her hand. The cats and snakes and mythical beings coiled and swarmed over her fingers, her palm, her wrist. It was part of her.
Cassie drew back her hand and the blade, and with one great jolt, she punched it hard into the ribs of Eldest.
A hideous, unearthly screech filled her ears, drowning the roar of the torrent. It seared her brain, filling it, but only for a lightning-instant.
Then they hit the roaring river below.
Cassie did, at least; the moment the Eldest touched the water, she imploded into dust, vaporised on the air.
Cassie fell through the remnants, through water, and into darkness.
The silence was blissful. Cassie felt the water’s current catch her as she drifted down, but there seemed no point in fighting it. She didn’t have the energy; stunned by the fall and the impact, by the final struggle, and by her wounds that were draining blood into the water around her, she was out of even spirit-energy.
This is it.
Her hair drifted across her face, and she opened her eyes and saw deepening green shadows. There was time to think, and to hope she’d drown soon … that it wouldn’t take too long …
But I did it, she remembered. I did it. The Eldest is dead. And Isabella and Ranjit and Jake are alive …
Oh but I wish…
Her own thoughts. No Estelle whispering inside her head, not any more. They were one, sinking into darkness together, down and down. At least she’d made the spirit happy at last …
Ranjit…I loved you…
I can’t fight any more.
I’m sorry.
There was still light, right above her. Gazing up to look at the last of it as she sank, Cassie saw a dark shape, and the pale wash of the sun rippled out in rings.
The light broadened, the rings widened. At its centre, the sunlight was stronger. Real light, not the otherworldly Few light she’d seen all too of much in that last ordeal. Good that it would be the last thing she saw. Cassie closed her eyes, smiling, and opened them again as the last bubbles of air trickled from her nose.
Parting her lips, Cassie started to take her last breath, taking in the cool, dark water—
And arms went round her. A powerful grip dragging her up and away from her death.
Ranjit!
But I’m dying. I’m dead.
Anyway, he loves me. He’s holding me while I die. He loves me…
Together, they exploded from the water.
Cassie gave a great gasp as Ranjit let her drop to the muddy bank. Air flooded her lungs in a great rush, and she rolled on to her side, coughing violently, choking and spitting. The Knife was still clutched in her palm as if soldered to her hand, but as she clawed at the mud, it unravelled itself from her flesh and she dropped it. Ranjit was holding her shoulders, hammering the flat of his hand into her back, and she vomited river water. She groaned, and he pulled her up and into his arms, gripping her head and cradling it against him, then kissing her face.