He pushed up against me. "Never!"
Then vines rose from the ground, pulling me off of him like a puppet being controlled by its master. I struggled against them, but that only made them tighter.
Talon jumped to his feet, now fully in Beast form, and lunged toward me, teeth bared, as he clamped down on my neck. The vines held me down as his poison dripped into me. I could feel it burn through my blood and a scream tore out of me, my body shaking from pain and sickness.
He ran a sharpened nail over my face lightly. "It's not too late. I can show you how to fight the poison. We can still be together. You and I, forever. Rulers of the world as is our right."
I bit at his claws and he yanked them away with a growl. "You choose death, then. Over unfathomable power."
No. I chose life. I didn't need him, I realized. I never needed him. I could fight this without his help. I went inward, seeking out the venom attacking me and sent in the light of my magic, my power, to push it away. I felt it leaving my body as he raised a claw over me ready to strike down.
"So be it," he said, letting his claw fall.
I pushed my body forward with all my magic, all my strength, all my massive amount of untapped power, and ripped through the vines. Bringing my own claw forward I tore at his neck, ripping it open as he fell back.
He collapsed, holding his bleeding neck as it healed.
I had to take advantage of the moment while he was injured. I flew over to his staff.
"No!" He yelled. "No!"
With a loud roar I knocked the Orb off his staff and it crashed to the stone floor, cracking into shards. Blue magic leaked through the cracks, dissipating in the wind. As it did, the Emzara he'd controlled regained their own will. They were free.
"You no longer have an army, Talon. It's just you and me now."
"I still have much I can teach you," he said. "I'm the only one who knows the secrets of your powers."
He sprouted wings and flew into the sky. I matched him in speed, grabbing his wing and pulling down. "You have nothing left to teach me, Talon. You never did. The answers were in me all along. You kept them from me. You are the reason my abilities stalled." I could see it all, then. How his meditations and guidance kept me blocked from my core. How it was his interference that kept me stunted and unable to reach the full potential of my power. He blinded me, locked me out of my gifts. But now I was free.
I'd never needed him.
He'd needed me.
He screamed as I tore at his wing. He slashed at me with a razor sharp talon and I dodged him.
"Give up, Talon. You can't win."
He smiled. "Oh Rose, I don't have to win. I just have to make sure you lose."
Screams from below pulled my attention to the ground. The earth erupted in vines and trees. Children, mothers, families were being choked alive with Talon's power as Talon wriggled out of my grasp.
"You will lose everything and I will regain my strength, Rose. I will still have my vengeance! It's not over!"
I had to choose. Save the people below, or capture Talon. No. There was another choice. I would end this.
Using everything in me, I shot up toward Talon. Extending my claws, I grabbed him around the throat and tore him open, flesh splaying open under my paws. He died instantly, and as he did, all his power evaporated. The vines receded. Trees disappeared.
His bloody, ripped body fell from the sky, crashing to the ground as I landed softly next to him, my claws dripping with crimson, my body glowing silver.
A stunned silence swept the Forgotten City.
I searched the crowd for the face that mattered most to me.
Derek.
He looked proud.
The fighting stopped the moment Talon died. There weren't as many dead as I'd feared, but still many wounded when Talon pitted them against their own kind. Against each other.
A surge of bloodlust washed over me and I raised my head and howled.
Nephilim and Emzara moved aside as the Twilight Queen, now free, walked through the crowd.
I waited. Still. Unafraid.
The Queen bowed to me and I watched, stunned, as everyone in the Forgotten City also bowed.
"You have become The Gray Watcher," the Queen said, still on her knees. "Protector of the Nephilim. Bringer of Peace."
The chanting started low, in whispers, but grew, as they all called for The Gray Watcher.
I shifted easily back into my human form, my body now covered in a dress of gray and white fur, my skin still glowing a pale silver. I knew I'd never struggle to shift in and out of form again. I was one with my animal guides.
I sent a trail of golden light from my hands and swirled it around Seraphina. I needed to see her true heart before I did what I knew I must.
I took a step to her. "Rise, Queen Seraphina. Your people need you. Your people need their Twilight Queen. I have seen into your heart, and though you have been led by fear, you still hold to goodness, to rightness, to justice at your core. Find that truth in you again and you will be a great leader of your kind."