Eighty-Seven
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Samkiel
S o many symbols, ancient damned symbols that made my heart race.
No. I knew that language. It was the same language written on the cells
of Yejedin. Chains bore into the walls, pulling my wrists so tight I couldn’t move. I ground my teeth, knowing how futile it was.
“What is this?” I bellowed.
Elianna cocked her head. “I suppose they could be considered wards.
Your father made them for the terribly evil creatures that dared to defy the gods.” She laughed. “No, I’m joking. The language on the floor is a curse for the gods themselves. Unir made them to hold Primordials. They are unbreakable. Only the one who scribes them can break them, and I am not allowed to just yet.”
I pulled one more time, the muscles in my arms flexing to the point of pain before I stopped.
“You can try, but not even all that pretty muscle can break them.”
I cut a death glare at her before my eyes were drawn toward the far end of the council hall. The sight of them nearly ripped my heart out. I hadn’t noticed them because I hadn’t felt them.
Logan stood on one side, Imogen on the other, staring straight ahead with their arms folded over their chests. They wore battle gear, ready for war. It wasn’t the attire or their body language that alarmed me. It was the empty hollow ache I felt as I looked into their eyes and felt not a single spark of magic in or around them.
“What did you do?” The words left my lips, filled with a promise of death.
Elianna looked at them and shrugged. “The words of Ezalan, of course.
I always wondered why more gods didn’t use it and turn those pesky feelings off.”
My shoulders bunched as a breath of despair left me. “How could you do that to them? You know what it does, how it makes them feel.”
“It makes them feel nothing. All they know is to serve as they should have from the beginning of time. You, Unir, and the others wanted them to have feelings, completely ignoring their nature. They were made for war, Samkiel, and to war they will go.”
“I will end you for this, all of you,” I spat. I must have put more venom in my voice than I thought because the council members behind her stepped back.
“No. By the time we are through here, you will no longer be a threat, Samkiel. I knew we couldn’t fight you. Armies have tried and failed. The most powerful ruler in existence. The flesh-born son of Unir.” Elianna stared at the symbols on the floor, slowly walking from one side to the other. “Do you like these? We didn’t get a chance to use these on your father. I have been dying to try them out.”
“You,” I struggled to form the words. “You all betrayed him. Why?” I glared at every member of the council. Some met my eyes, and others avoided me completely.
“We didn’t betray him. We were never for him or you. Your council died with Rashearim and was replaced by half of The Order.”
“The Order?” I shook my head. “I’ve heard of no such thing.”
“Of course not. The Order predates you, but we don’t have time for a history lesson.” She waved her hand, and Jiraiya stepped forward.
Jiraiya untied a small shimmering bag, and I smelled the graysands before he even began to pour.
“Why do you need the sands if I am locked here?”
Elianna smiled, clasping her hands in front of her. “This will help seal you inside, so when all that light bursts from your body killing you, it will open the portal we need. It will probably rip open the sky too, but who knows?”
He placed the sand on the floor, moving counterclockwise. It sparked as it hit, flashing a vibrant purple and flowing toward the symbols. I strained against the restraints, tracking Jiraiya as he circled me.
“You’d let this happen to Imogen? Let them take her?” My voice sounded as hurt as I felt. “Why?”
“It’s not personal,” he said, refusing to meet my eyes.
“She cares about you,” I spat, glancing at Imogen. Her hollow gaze was unrelentingly empty. “You hurt her for what? What does Elianna have on you?”
His eyes met mine, not an ounce of sympathy in them. “It is for The Order. For our king. Imogen is not important.”
“She is important to her family. They all are.”
Jiraiya said nothing else, stepping back and walking to the council steps.
“Enough of the small talk. The Equinox approaches,” Leviathan said, glancing up.
Elianna smirked and looked up. I followed her line of sight, shocked to see the top of the council hall slowly spin. “We have waited a thousand years.”
Debris trickled down, the cool night air sweeping in. The white ceiling shimmered before splitting and folding in on itself, revealing the blood-red moon and galaxy above. “The Equinox was the start of you, and now it will be our liberation from you. Worlds aligned when you were born, they aligned when you destroyed Rashearim, and now they will align for your death.” Elianna’s eyes went molten blue, and the celestial markings burst to life, swirling over her skin. Every council member behind her followed her lead, the hall glowing blue. “Your rule was a failure indeed. But it is high time for another rule. Your reign has been over for a while, Samkiel. The realms have a true ruler now, and once this realm opens, you’ll see just how much of a failure you truly are.”
“Do you really think killing me and opening the realms will bring you peace?” I summoned every bit of strength I had and strained against the chains holding my arms. The metal groaned but held.
“Who needs peace when we will have power?” I had never known what a cruel, heartless wench Elianna was.
The doors opened, and everyone looked behind me. The Order knelt, bowing their heads. I struggled to turn my head to look over my shoulder.
Logan and Imogen stepped to each side, holding the doors wide. My heart shuddered in my chest, and time seemed to stop.
Cameron and Xavier.
Xavier’s eyes were glazed and hollow, the same as Imogen’s and Logan’s, seeking and looking past here, past worlds. Cameron’s gaze clashed with mine, but he looked away, unable to hold the connection. He focused on the shell that was Xavier. I no longer felt the bond that I had with The Hand. It felt as if the life had been sucked out of him, and I knew he had done something terrible for Xavier. I looked at each member of The Hand, my heart breaking tenfold. Their eyes do not meet mine, each of them standing at attention.
Soldiers, weapons of war, that’s all they are.
The words of the old gods whispered through my mind, and now I could feel the separation between us. Some bond had ruptured.
Vincent walked in, Camilla in his grasp. I could still sense him on some level. He didn’t meet my eyes, and why would he? He had betrayed his family, and he had betrayed me.
Camilla struggled in his grip but couldn’t break free from him as he strode into the hall. She stumbled, trying to keep up, and glared up at him, her hands bound with the celestial chains. Her eyes met mine and widened, her face dropping, seeing where I was and how I was chained. Vincent pulled her to the side, dragging her toward the council.
“Well, I have to say I am impressed. The Order can do something right.”
Kaden strode through the door, half his body covered in thick, heavy-plated armor. An assortment of horns with sharp points twisted back from his helmet. I had seen that armor before when I was a teen. I remembered the picture clearly. My father had damn near broken my fingers as he slammed the book closed and snatched it from me. I’d never seen the book again, but I remembered the words written beneath the image.
Dragonbane Armor.
It was made for him, meant to break and tear armies, every bit the beast the Irvikuva were. My heart sank, and that was the only coherent thought I had before lightning shot from his hands. It was the same color as Dianna’s flames. Power the same as mine, but oh so different bit and gnawed at my flesh.
I slumped forward and screamed, the sound echoing off the walls.
“Oh, he’s a screamer.” I heard Kaden say, circling me. “You are so fucking arrogant. You thought I would hide from you? From what? Fear?
Absolutely not. I knew I couldn’t be around you. You’d sense it, feel it, that good old family tie.”
Another blinding bolt slammed into me, the circle encasing me lighting up bright orange. I gritted my teeth, feeling true and unrelenting agony. I hadn’t experienced this type of pain in eons. Only a god could hurt another god this way. I gasped for air as the last wave subsided. My hands fisted in the cuffs as I tried to catch my breath.
The Order stood, watching and waiting silently.
“Tell me, brother, how does it feel to be chained and beaten?”
He kneeled in front of me as I panted from the pain still ricocheting
through my nervous system.
Not the only child of Unir…
A son…
Brother…
How had I not seen it before? The walk, the gait, the frame, and the face, all of it and everything was familiar. My heart aches because his features bore a resemblance to one person and one person only—my father.
Our father. He’d had so many lies, and he had damned the world, damned us all.
“No words? That’s a first. I want to say I am sorry I’m late. I got distracted.” Kaden sighed and stared at me. “That happens when spending time with Dianna, you know?”
My breathing stopped. The room stilled, and my blood pounded in my ears so loudly it nearly drowned everything out.
Dianna.
“Where. Is. She?” I snarled, the sound so primal the room shook, and the symbols encasing me vibrated. Everyone took notice. Even Kaden paused for a split second.
“I can smell her all over you.” His eyes glowed a shade brighter, a look of pure disgust gracing his cold features.
“What have you done with her?” I could not tell if I was yelling or not.
The fear I felt was all-consuming.
If he takes her, you’ll never see her again…
He will drag her back in pieces if he has to…
My heart stuttered, the ache in my body forgotten. If he had touched her, hurt her, killed— No! I killed the thought. Dianna was okay. She was okay. She was okay. She had to be because I could not live if she was not.
Debris rained down, and everyone but The Hand glanced nervously around the room. I was unaware I’d unleashed, but the circle that held me
bent and shook—one rune, then another burnt to dust, the seal containing me fracturing. Parts of the building had split beneath the pressure of my panic and rage. Long cracks split the walls, floor, and ceiling. Pieces of stone and dust crumbled to the ground. What I had thought was my world shifting at the thought of losing her was the building itself threatening to crumble.
Kaden met my eyes again, something that looked like surprise passing through them. “You really do love her, don’t you?”
I kept pushing against the power beneath my skin. My head throbbed, and then my body gave out. The runes were too strong. I collapsed forward, my body only held up by the chains and cuffs.
“You know, Vincent told me how close Logan got to the truth. He wasn’t wrong about the frequencies. The only difference was it was made so all of them could hear. The real trick is in the mirrors. Actually, any reflective surface if you know how to use it right. They fear you two together. Because of what she is. What you are.” He tilted his head toward the sky. “You’ve seen the chaos beneath her skin. She is a tool of destruction, and you would hold all of that within your palm. You two are two sides of the same coin. I thought I could keep her and, in doing so, keep her from you. I wanted to change what fate had deemed as yours. However, destiny has a sense of humor, it seems. A being made of pure light and one carved from darkness. How fucking poetic.”
Kaden shook his head, a sneer twisting his features. I knew he would do his best to kill me. Not only had he been ordered to and believed the fate of the realms rested on my death, but he wanted Dianna.
“The plan was simple. I get the book, you return, I take The Hand from you, and you die miserable and alone, just like Father. But no. She cared when no one else had. I tried to push her away, you know. I took others in front of her and gave her the leeway to do the same. It didn’t help, not for me, at least. She made me feel. She made you feel, too. Except she loved you, it seems.”
Kaden stood in one fluid motion, taking a step back. I saw the flicker of energy, same as mine, the same as our father’s. He watched it dance across his knuckles. I had a second to prepare before pure, raging energy shot through my entire being, and I jerked back so hard it felt as if my spine would break. I didn’t know how long it went on, but once the power
withdrew, I collapsed, hanging limply in my chains as tremors wracked my body.
“You get everything, the crown, the throne, her. Why do you deserve that when we did all the work? We remade the world for him. We slaughtered the Primordials, yet you get the name, the title, and the praise.
What makes you so godsdamn special?”
“Maybe,” I panted, “it’s because I am not a deranged prick.”
Kaden hit me with another bolt of energy, and my head snapped up, my insides boiling. He released me, and I sagged. Sweat slicked my skin and dripped from my hair, drenching every part of me. He roared, screaming his anger at me. He must have kept that anger buried for centuries. I tried to pull myself up, but between the binding circle and the energy he’d hit me with, I was weak. I needed time to heal and formulate a plan before he sent another blast through me. There had to be a way to get out of this, to save her, my family, and the world.
Kaden glanced down, running his hand over a dark bracelet on his wrist.
“I got a few gifts from Father. We all did. Most of them were made for war. It is easy to manipulate molecules and basic chemistry. We have the ability to disguise weapons as objects none would consider dangerous.
Especially the god-killing ones.” He flicked his wrist, and a golden spear formed in his hands. Runes encased the staff, so small they looked like raised edges. It rang with familiar power and pure energy, my every sense drawn to it when I recognized the source. Dianna’s scent coated the blade.
Kaden didn’t hesitate, plunging the spear into my body. I felt the blade ram through my center, but it didn’t hurt as I had imagined it would. He gripped my hair and wrenched my head back, whispering against my ear, “It’s time to open the realms, Brother, and welcome our family home.”
One twist in my gut, a key fit for a lock that unleashed the entire cosmos. He ripped the spear’s blade out of my midsection and stepped back, his mouth falling open in pure awe. Thunder cracked and bellowed, threatening to fracture the sky, only it was me breaking. Suddenly, the pain hit me, some force ripping my power out of me. My head snapped back so hard it should have broken my neck. Every ounce of my power and life force burst from my mouth, nostrils, and eyes in a laser-sharp beam of light.
It burrowed through the air and hit the sky, ripping the universe open.
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