Tears streamed endlessly down Ravenna's face. Her trembling hands never let go of the brilliant white blade buried deep inside Thorne's chest. The battlefield had fallen silent. Even the feral rogues surrounding them had stopped moving, as though the very air had frozen.
The blade was unlike any weapon Talon or Diana had ever seen. It was not forged from steel. Nor silver. Nor enchanted metal.
It was made entirely of pure white magic.
Its translucent blade glowed with a warm golden-white radiance, gentle enough to soothe yet powerful enough to force back the darkness surrounding Thorne. Ancient runes slowly appeared along its length, each one shining brighter than the last as Ravenna poured every remaining drop of her magic into it.
Thorne looked down at the weapon embedded in his ches
