Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75457 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 377(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
I glance back across the crevice, and I’m horrified to see the horde of demons still flowing out.
Carrick conjures two double-bladed swords and slices through them like butter. They’re not smart or overly strong, but they are in multitudes with no end in sight.
Finley uses the lightning bolt to mow them down, keeping them off Amell who is so focused on battling Ariman he doesn’t even see them coming.
But Finley and Carrick won’t be able to hold all of them off. There are simply too many.
I can’t hesitate. I do as Maddox asks and bend distance to the opposite side of the crevice to help stem the flow of evil pouring from the rock. I settle in closer to Finley because even though the gods gifted her with immortality and she has some magical abilities, she’s the most vulnerable of our group. While she wields the bolt, it can only destroy, not protect. I throw power out alongside her, destroying demons as soon as they crawl over the crevice edge. Carrick slices and dices those that make it past us.
And then an idea strikes. I blast a swath through a new group of creatures emerging and then take the few seconds of respite to look around the upper edges of the cave.
There… a ledge. Perfect.
I turn to my twin, grip her hand tight, and bend distance with her to the ledge.
“Hey,” she yells in irritation as we land on the narrow outcropping of rock. “What are you doing?”
I don’t dare tell her I’m keeping her safe or potentially saving her life. Those are primary, but my secondary reason is nearly as important. “You’ve got the most powerful weapon. I need you at a high vantage point where you can see everything. You blast the demons if they get too close to any of us.”
She nods, doing exactly as I ask by blasting a group of demons slinking toward Amell.
I prepare to bend distance back down into the fray, but hesitate, turning to her. “And if you get a clear shot at Rune… take it.”
“Got it,” she replies, and that’s all I need to hear. I’m gone in an instant, appearing behind Amell. He’s swinging the mace at Ariman but the priest keeps blocking it with his spells. His magic is ancient and powerful, and I know the king of the Underworld well. He’d rather tear Ariman apart, not only for facilitating this entire thing but as payback for what he did to me for twenty-eight years.
I reach an imaginary hand inside of Ariman and quickly locate the deep well of magic he’s accumulated over millennia of practicing the dark arts. It pulses angrily at my touch, and his eyes widen with horror from my invasion.
Now you know how it feels, bastard.
I give a hard yank, one forceful rip, and it explodes from his body in a swirling mass of insidious power I hold in my palm.
Ariman shrieks and stumbles back from Amell, who frowns at his opponent, before glancing at me. I close my hand, snuffing out the ancient power as if squishing a bug.
“No!” Ariman screams in agony.
I turn to Amell. “Now you can do as you wish with him.”
Stepping back, I enclose the two immortals in a shielded dome so Amell can mete out justice in his own slow, torturous way. I can’t feel bad for the priest, though. He had it coming.
From above on her ledge, Finley points the bolt at the crevice and lays down a swath of fire that incinerates the creatures before they climb out. They shriek in fury as their cries evaporate into hisses of death. My sister is brilliant.
Carrick is easily dispatching the remaining demons, and I dare not look at Rune and Maddox yet. There’s one more thing I have to do now that my powers are back.
Though the distance isn’t but about thirty feet, I don’t waste time running, instead bending distance to the cages where the gods are being held. I hold my palms out close to the glowing edges and feel the tingle of the Blood Stone magic holding them in. I push closer, and it burns.
Fuck, that’s strong.
I shore up my resolve, push aside all doubts circulating around my ability to be a powerful deity, and I blast the cages with everything I have. It’s not easy like quashing Ariman’s power was, but I feel it tremble before me. I strain from the effort and remind myself the Blood Stone is indeed powerful, but I’m a god. More important, some of that power the gem holds is due to my sacrifice, which means it’s only strong because of my grace.
That last realization suffuses me with the confidence I need and I almost cry as I see the glow start to dissipate until it’s completely snuffed. There’s no magic left binding the gods, only the delicate scrolled bars of gold, which any one of them could easily break.