Soleil smirked; she had gotten what she wanted. I had let my emotions get the better of me. My grief, my rage—it was the very fuel for her corruption. The blinding white light of my vengeance faltered, flickering as if doused by a bucket of ice water.
The dark flames that had been recoiling from my purity now surged forward with renewed hunger, drawn to the open wound of my pain.
They wrapped around my limbs, my torso my fiery wings, in thick, oily bands. It was a cold that burned, a numbness that sought to seep into my soul and extinguish my spirit from the inside out. I struggled against them, but they tightened like vice grips, feeding on my anguish.
This was the same thing that happened in the Phoenix Realm. I could feel the dark flames trying to get to my spirit so they could abso
