Chapter Seventy-Two

Nesta faces off against Bellius in a brutal hand-to-hand combat on the mountainside as a storm rages around them. After Emerie and Gwyn successfully complete the Breaking, Nesta must hold Bellius off until dawn when her power returns. Disarmed and badly wounded, she finds the will to fight back, revealing her mate has trained her well.

Nesta battles Bellius on the snow-covered mountain as dawn approaches. Initially on the defensive, she is quickly disarmed of both shield and sword when Bellius exploits a moment of distraction caused by lightning. Bleeding and exhausted, with Bellius landing precise cuts across her arms, legs, and face, Nesta is driven against a boulder and knocked down. As Bellius discards his weapons to finish her with his bare hands, Nesta experiences a moment of clarity: her friends have made it through the Breaking, but she does not want to die. She wants to live well and happily. Rising on shaking legs despite her body's desperate pleas to surrender, she braces herself. When Bellius attacks with a powerful punch, Nesta blocks and drives her fist into his nose, breaking it. As he recoils in pain, she reveals that her mate trained her in combat.