Her words were like lashes against my spine and I straightened angrily as I took in that crown and the fact that it was our only way out of this place. We had done what was asked of us here, learned what we needed to and now it was time for us to return to the war. We’d wasted enough time. And we weren’t going to linger here any longer.
“Fine,” I said, fixing the queen in my dark gaze. “We’ll fight for what is rightfully ours.”
Darcy straightened beside me, surprise flickering over her features for a moment as I turned to look at her with a challenge in my eyes and as she met my gaze, understanding registered in her, causing her lips to tilt up in a savage smile.
“Alright,” she agreed. “You asked for it.”
The queen smiled triumphantly as she waited to see which of us would emerge from this victorious, but I wasn’t going to wet my blade with the blood of my other half. She said only one could claim the crown? Fine. Because we had always been two halves of one whole and if she thought that her challenge would be all it took to divide us then she had judged us poorly.
I turned my gaze onto the queen, sidestepping towards my sister and holding out my hand for her to grasp.
Our power merged instantly and the queen sat up taller on her throne, her lips parting on a complaint that we didn’t allow her to utter as the power of our Phoenixes blended and a roaring inferno built between us.
Higher and higher the flames burned within my soul until I couldn’t hold them back anymore and they tore from my body with a force that almost knocked me from my feet, red and blue flames erupting form the very core of my being and colliding with the same power as it exploded from my twin too.
As the flames met, they merged, wings erupting from them far broader than any I’d ever conjured alone before and then the rest of the fire kept building until an entire Phoenix bird was born of the flames.
It looked almost like an eagle, though its face was still humanoid and resembled the two of us, and as it raced towards the queen she screamed in fright as though it could truly harm her.
It flew forward, wings beating so powerfully that my hair was blown back by the force of it as it soared towards the high roof of the throne room. My whole body buzzed with the strength of the power we were summoning, and my grip on Darcy’s hand tightened to the point of pain as we clung to each other and urged our flames on.
The Phoenix released a musical cry of victory as it dove from the sky like a hawk closing in on its prey, and the queen raised her sword as it dove on her.
An explosion rocked the foundation of the palace as they collided, the queen, the throne and the crown all consumed by the blast as Darcy and I were flung from our feet and sent crashing to the ground with the last of our power ebbing.
My gaze darkened as I hit the floor, consciousness dancing in and out so that the only thing I was certain of was the feel of my sister’s hand still locked in mine.
I wasn’t sure if I actually passed out or not, but as I peeled my eyes open and found Darcy’s uncertain gaze meeting mine where we lay on the cold stone floor, a smile lifted my lips. Because no matter what that outburst from us had caused, I knew that we still had each other and nothing could tear us apart, especially not some fucking crown.
Darcy returned my smile and I pushed myself up beside her, looking over to the now empty and blackened throne just as a metallic clang rang out from somewhere in the distance, the creak of hinges following it and making my skin prickle with awareness.
Darcy stood first, heaving me up with her and we strode forward, the silence in the wake of so much power pressing in on us as our footsteps echoed across the flagstones.
The queen was gone. I could feel it in my heart, I had no doubt that it was true and as we made it to the throne, I spotted the crown sitting in her place, the circle cut exactly in two and the stones set within it seeming to burn with the flames which had tried to destroy it.
I reached out tentatively, picking up the left side of the crown as Darcy took the right, the metal oddly cold despite the heat it had just survived.
“Many will fall for one to ascend.”
The words of the prophecy echoed through the air surrounding us and I laughed in the face of the stars.
“I already defied you once,” I called out to them, tightening my hold on my half of the crown. “So fuck your idea of fate.”
“We’ll make our own destiny,” Darcy agreed and we exchanged a dark smile before turning and heading out of the throne room, striding through the palace towards the golden gates which I knew in my heart would be standing open to let us leave.