Chapter 408 Malachai steps forward

Chapter 408: Chapter 408 Malachai steps forward

Talia’s POV

The air around Malachai shimmered with cold.

I could see it in the way the corrupted wolves nearest to him stood stiller, as if the warmth had been sucked from their bones. It reached me even from across the border, and I felt it settle into my chest like a stone.

"Do you feel that?" Kaelen whispered.

"I feel it," I said.

He walked to the border, and he stopped just on the other side. He looked at me, and he did not blink.

I looked back, and I did not flinch.

"The last Silvertongue," he said, and his voice was soft, but it carried across the distance like smoke.

"The last mistake you will make," I replied with a cold voice.

Malachai’s smile widened, and he tilted his head.

"Brave words," he said. "But bravery will not save you."

I took a step forward, and I stopped at the very edge of the border.

"I do not need saving," I replied. "I need justice."

Malachai laughed, and it was a cold sound that echoed across the dead land.

"Justice," he repeated. "There is no justice. There is only power, and I have more of it than you can imagine."

I did not back down. I looked him in the eyes. "You took my mother," I said. "You took my home, and you took fifteen years of my life."

Malachai shrugged. "I took what I wanted. That is what power is."

"You destroyed my people," I said. "You hunted them, you killed them, and you erased them from history."

Malachai nodded. "Yes, and I will do it again. Starting with you."

I felt the anger rise in my chest, and I whispered to myself. "Do not let him see it. Do not let him win."

My hands clenched at my sides, and my jaw tightened.

"Do not reply to that," I said to myself. "Do not give him the satisfaction."

I let out a slow breath. "You are afraid of us," I said. "That is why you hunt us, and that is why you destroy us. Because you know we are the only thing that can stop you."

Malachai’s smile twitched. It was small, and barely noticeable. But I saw it.

"I am not afraid of you," he said.

"Then why are you here?" I asked. "Why are you standing at this border with an army? If you were not afraid, you would have killed us already."

Malachai did not answer.

He took a step forward, and he was closer now. I could see the emptiness in his eyes, the way they swallowed the light and gave nothing back.

He was close enough now that I could see the cracks in his skin. The places where the power had eaten away at him.

"You think you can win," he said. "You think your little alliance can stop me."

He gestured to the army behind me.

"Look at them," he said. "They are afraid, they are weak, and they will run when the battle begins."

I shook my head. "They will not run. They will fight, and they will win."

Malachai laughed again. "You are a fool. A brave fool, but a fool nonetheless."

He leaned closer, and his voice dropped to a whisper.

"I will kill you," he said. "I will kill your mate, I will kill your mother, and I will kill everyone you love. And when I am done, I will erase your name from history."

I did not flinch, and I did not look away.

I knew that he was trying to scare me, and he was trying to make me doubt myself. But I had faced worse. I had survived worse.

"You can try," I said. "But you will fail."

Malachai stared at me for a long moment. Then he stepped back.

"We will see," he said.

He turned and walked back to his army, and he did not look back.

I watched him go, and I did not move until he disappeared into the mass of corrupted wolves.

The cold faded, and the air grew lighter. But I did not relax.

"He is gone," Kaelen said.

I shook my head. "For now,”

Then I turned and walked back to my army.

Kaelen took my hand. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I am fine," I said. "He is just a man. A man with too much power and too little soul."

Kaelen nodded. "He is afraid of you."

I looked at him. "How do you know?"

"Because he came to talk," Kaelen said. "If he was not afraid, he would have attacked already."

I nodded because I knew he was right. I took a breath, then I turned to face our army.

I looked at the army, and they were watching me, and waiting.

I raised my voice.

"He is afraid of us," I said. "He knows we are the only thing that can stop him, and he knows we are stronger than he is. And today, we will prove it."

The army roared, and the sound rolled across the valley and echoed off the mountains. The ground shook beneath my feet.

The roar did not stop. It grew louder, and grew stronger, until it became a promise.

I turned back to the Ashen Lands, and I looked at Malachai’s army.

The battle was finally here, and I was ready.