Night of Nyx (The Nightfall Chronicles 2.5) Read Online Free Page A
Author: Karpov Kinrade
marble angel that still stands watch over Danika's grave is covered in vines. Zorin kneels before the marker, laying a hand on the angel as he closes his eyes, a single tear escaping down his cheek.
When he looks up, Danika is standing before him, glimmering in white light, dressed in the gown she wore on their wedding day. Her dark hair, long and lustrous, falls around her shoulders. She smiles in the way that is only for him.
"Hello, Andriy. I did not think you would ever come home."
The sound of her voice almost breaks him. He draws closer to her but knows he cannot touch this ghost of memory. "You are not real," he says to her.
She smiles. "I live within you, as I always have. I am real enough."
"You should not have died. It should have been me," he tells her. All these years he has tried to live a life she would be proud of, but it should have been her to live this life.
"What was meant to be has been. We cannot change that. You are meant to be here, my love. You have a destiny beyond ours."
"I would give it all up to have you in my arms one more night," he says honestly.
She kneels before him and lays her ghostly hands on his. He cannot feel her physically, but something shifts in him. "And I would give my life again and again to save yours. I chose my path. You must choose yours."
Her eyes are luminous, dark seas that pull him in. "I think I have found the one who can fulfill our dreams of equality for all. But am I doing the right thing? She will lose everything to be who we need her to be. How can I ask that of her?"
Danika smiles gently. "How can you take the choice away from her? Did she not choose this path, just as you have? Does she not control her own destiny?"
Zorin nods once.
Danika rises and he stands with her. "Why have you come, my love?" she asks.
"To become someone I once was." He pauses. "And to see you. You have always been my North Star."
He follows the memory of his wife into their old home. The foundation of the villa has stood the test of time, but the interior has turned to rubbish. It is dark, dank, full of mold and mildew. It smells of dead things long since rotted, but as Danika moves through the space ahead of him, the scene changes and he sees it as it was. Full of life.
Pots of herbs and flowers appear as she twirls through the halls. The stone is remade into something beautiful. The gargoyles that stand guard have their cracks vanish. And as they move into the hall, it fills with people dancing and laughing and eating and drinking. This is the night of their wedding.
The night Danika became a Nephilim.
"Should I have let you die that night in my arms? Would that have been an easier way for you to go?" he asks her as they walk through more memories.
She turns to him, smiling. "No. Every moment I had with you after our wedding was a miracle. We stole our days and nights after that, but I was not meant long for this world. I knew that from the beginning. I died to save you, and to save this world. That was my sacrifice. Yours was to lose me and still continue on our path. And you have done that."
She leaves the room, entering a secret passage behind a book case.
The memories fade and Zorin is once again standing in the ruins of a life remembered.
He follows her through the passage and down the steep winding stairs to a room he thought he'd never enter again.
But tonight he must.
He finds the trunk where he left it, and works the code to unlock it. Within is armor black as night, armor the world would recognize. He pulls it out and begins to dress in it as Danika watches.
"Can you be that person again, my love?"
"I must," he says as he slips his mask on. "Nyx is needed one last time."
CHAPTER 4
King Varian of the House of Ravens commands the respect of the world… but somehow has failed to command the respect of his eldest son. A frustration that does not sit well on the powerful man's shoulders.
They sit around a large stone table at a villa in
When he looks up, Danika is standing before him, glimmering in white light, dressed in the gown she wore on their wedding day. Her dark hair, long and lustrous, falls around her shoulders. She smiles in the way that is only for him.
"Hello, Andriy. I did not think you would ever come home."
The sound of her voice almost breaks him. He draws closer to her but knows he cannot touch this ghost of memory. "You are not real," he says to her.
She smiles. "I live within you, as I always have. I am real enough."
"You should not have died. It should have been me," he tells her. All these years he has tried to live a life she would be proud of, but it should have been her to live this life.
"What was meant to be has been. We cannot change that. You are meant to be here, my love. You have a destiny beyond ours."
"I would give it all up to have you in my arms one more night," he says honestly.
She kneels before him and lays her ghostly hands on his. He cannot feel her physically, but something shifts in him. "And I would give my life again and again to save yours. I chose my path. You must choose yours."
Her eyes are luminous, dark seas that pull him in. "I think I have found the one who can fulfill our dreams of equality for all. But am I doing the right thing? She will lose everything to be who we need her to be. How can I ask that of her?"
Danika smiles gently. "How can you take the choice away from her? Did she not choose this path, just as you have? Does she not control her own destiny?"
Zorin nods once.
Danika rises and he stands with her. "Why have you come, my love?" she asks.
"To become someone I once was." He pauses. "And to see you. You have always been my North Star."
He follows the memory of his wife into their old home. The foundation of the villa has stood the test of time, but the interior has turned to rubbish. It is dark, dank, full of mold and mildew. It smells of dead things long since rotted, but as Danika moves through the space ahead of him, the scene changes and he sees it as it was. Full of life.
Pots of herbs and flowers appear as she twirls through the halls. The stone is remade into something beautiful. The gargoyles that stand guard have their cracks vanish. And as they move into the hall, it fills with people dancing and laughing and eating and drinking. This is the night of their wedding.
The night Danika became a Nephilim.
"Should I have let you die that night in my arms? Would that have been an easier way for you to go?" he asks her as they walk through more memories.
She turns to him, smiling. "No. Every moment I had with you after our wedding was a miracle. We stole our days and nights after that, but I was not meant long for this world. I knew that from the beginning. I died to save you, and to save this world. That was my sacrifice. Yours was to lose me and still continue on our path. And you have done that."
She leaves the room, entering a secret passage behind a book case.
The memories fade and Zorin is once again standing in the ruins of a life remembered.
He follows her through the passage and down the steep winding stairs to a room he thought he'd never enter again.
But tonight he must.
He finds the trunk where he left it, and works the code to unlock it. Within is armor black as night, armor the world would recognize. He pulls it out and begins to dress in it as Danika watches.
"Can you be that person again, my love?"
"I must," he says as he slips his mask on. "Nyx is needed one last time."
CHAPTER 4
King Varian of the House of Ravens commands the respect of the world… but somehow has failed to command the respect of his eldest son. A frustration that does not sit well on the powerful man's shoulders.
They sit around a large stone table at a villa in
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