Chapter 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

SELENE

S lowly, Emrys rose to his feet, blood and sweat dripping from his battered and emaciated form. The Shadow of Death met the High King in height as he stood motionless, my powers wrapping around him and pushing against the magic of Daemonium and Medies combined.

The sound of metal clashing and screeching of Raken meeting their demise filled the air as our Gods devoured them but I wouldn't look away from my Mate. Wouldn't stop eyeing every inch of him, making sure he was truly here.

That he was okay and this wasn't just another dream.

The dragons and our armies led by Ric and Siofra were just outside of the temple, fighting against the large army of Atrium. Reombarth's power of sound had silenced the cries of those dying as I snuck into the temple within the shadows and got as close as I could to the High King and Emrys without being detected.

But now their howls of death saturated the air and sang to my golden blood as I looked upon my Mate. Pride filled me because even with his form hollow, broken, and covered in gore—he was still the Prince of Bloodshed in all his glory.

Hands still bound, Emrys took a step backwards and looked down at me, his gaze scanning my body quickly to make sure I was safe. His eyes lit with a shadowy fire, the same one that blessed him as he studied me. I didn't need the Mating Bond flowing through our chests to know what that scalding look meant.

He wanted blood.

Thirsted for it just like I did. Smiling cruelly, I looked back at the King of Atrium as my claws extended and I let my Godly power tighten its hold on him.

Deep red eyes glared at me as the High King repeated a chant in a language I had never heard before as Haco, our King of Gods, landed behind the cursed king. Using one heated claw, I sliced the iron chain that held Emrys' wrists swiftly. I didn't have time to remove the cuffs completely but I could at least free his movements once more. The King of Gods' black scaly tail flicked impatiently as he reached out with taloned arms towards Durreos, fire building in his chest as he opened his giant maw filled with razor-sharp teeth.

His claws wrapped around the King for a second before a blindingly bright red light shot through the High King and onto Haco's clawed hand, burning his scales. He wasn't completely bound to the Crown of Daemonium, Emrys was still breathing by my side but even without the binding, Durreos still possessed too much power for Haco and I to continue restraining him.

Shrill screams were silenced as the Goddess Aither used her power of the winds to fan Haco's flames higher, burning through the remaining Raken within the temple. Ragnar and Samael stood side by side, the latter's shady scales blending into the dusk as shadows of darkness and light lashed out at the High King.

Evander and Kano landed next, their powers of water and lightning combining and infusing with my own as I held two hands, lit with fire, towards the Crown of Daemonium, trying to detach it from his head. Durreos kept chanting in that unknown language, his deep voice carrying throughout the chamber as the moon and sun remained suspended in the sky, time slowing to a sluggish pace.

Emrys still couldn't use his magic, the iron cuffs around his wrists blocking his powers as I lifted Durreos in the air with phantom hands. Sweat beaded upon my brow as the other nine Gods surrounded me, using their powers of all the elements to encase the High King of Atrium in our own tornado of might as Durreos shouted that same mantra over and over and over.

" Potentia of Infernum! Ignis of Infernum! Princeps of Infernum! Audire meus clamor!" Crimson light shot out from every orifice of the High King as twinges of pain worked their way up my entire body, causing my power to falter and shudder as I dropped to the floor.

The earth and temple shook as the other Gods of the Divine collapsed and twisted in agony as those red wisps of darkness sliced into their scales. Gloom overtook me, my eyelids fluttering shut as I tried to call from that well of magic within, but it wouldn't answer me. That pool of swirling colors writhed, pushing and pulling themselves to the surface with no release.

My body shuddered, trembling on the heated stone floor as golden teardrops of blood fell from my eyes. A scream tore from my throat, guttural and forceful as scalding agony lit up my spine, like someone was ripping it out.

"Selene!" Emrys roared and I snapped my eyes open, worried for his safety again despite being crumbled over in endless torment. His honey gaze bore into mine, tears lining his eyes as I shuddered over and over, the anguish never ending as Haco bellowed out in distress.

With one hand upon the crown and his other on a blackened dagger, the High King pulled Emrys towards him, never stopping his chant as I tried crawling to them, my power still flickering and not answering. My eyes kept closing without my permission, the frenzy of Infernum's might burning me from the inside out.

Time stayed suspended as bellows of agony echoed off the stone walls of the temple, causing debris to fall around us, crushing Reombarth's unmoving tail and Evander's twitching outstretched arms. Our hope was waning, my claws digging into the busted stones, golden blood pooling beneath me.

All nine Gods were down and writhing in pain around us in a circle, their scales glistening in the firelight as they cried out in misery so loudly that I couldn't hear our armies fighting outside of the temple any longer.

The Fates demanded a sacrifice of blood be made and so much blood had already been spilled. I didn't know how to appease their ravenous desire, didn't know how to stop fate from playing out before me.

I had all the powers of the Divine, the light of the moon writhing in my veins, but I'd never felt more powerless.

Deep tenebrous red and shadowy wisps leaked from the High King's bulking form as Emrys fought against his hold. The Crown of Daemonium was embedded within his skull, the onyx barbs crawling down his face, moonstone throbbing with fractured light.

The High King's reddened eyes flared as he released his son and threw him back onto the ground harshly before spitting on him in disgust. Blood leaked from Emrys' nose where he had hit a stone, his scarred face bloodied. His sire hovered over him, seething with madness as he demanded, " Stay."

The command rang out through the temple, chaotic energy crackling around us as my Mate snarled.

"Noooooo," I moaned out, my entire body lit up with spasms but it was no use. He couldn't hear me over the cries of the Gods. And even if he did, he couldn't do anything but obey his father.

That tiny spark of hope within my chest had been snuffed out, my head lolling to the side as darkness pressed in. More bloody tears fell to the dirt, my mouth drying as the Warrior's Oath kept Emrys in place.

Durreos smirked with cocky arrogance at his son who had no choice but to heed his orders. " Potentia of Infernum. Ignis of Infernum." He raised the obsidian dagger once more, smoke billowing out from around him. "Princeps of Infernum. Audire meus clamor. "

Emrys wasn't trembling at the hands of a demon. He only bared his fangs, snarling as his own father held his life by a thread.

No. No. No. No. No.

I couldn't lose him.

I couldn't lose my Mate.

It was him or the world and I would choose him every fucking time .

It wasn't fury or rage building within me that kept me going, kept me fighting against the powers of hell itself. There was no hate in my heart, no animosity as I watched my soul's other half bend to corruption.

It was that light. Soft and glowing mixed with tendrils of shadows.

It was love.

So vivid and dazzling.

More pain racketed through me, all the way from my toes to my skull. It felt like being burned alive but I didn't stop moving towards my Mate.

Towards the light that kept me from the darkness.

"Potentia of Infernum." Emrys glared, his dark eyebrows furrowed but his hands stayed glued to his side. " Ignis of Infernum." I crawled closer, but I was still too far away to touch either of them. "Princeps of Infernum."

So fucking close.

My claws dug into the dirt, dragging my aching body forward. Magic still not heeding my command, I clasped a shattered stone, its sharp edges digging into my palm. I couldn't ignore the affliction, invisible talons shredding me from the inside out, as I raised my trembling arm. Lobbing the rock forward, it only made it to the High King's shin, falling soundlessly to the ground as he spoke the final words of the chant.

"Audire meus clamor."

A whimpering noise left Emrys' throat at my sobbing as my nails cracked against the stone. His golden eyes met mine again, so warm and comforting as he whispered, "I love you."

No.

No.

No.

"NO!" I roared as Emrys leaped from his position and tackled the High King to the bloody ground.

The black blade clattered to the floor as the agony within my bones ceased. My Mate held his father by his collar, obsidian Medies necklace clutched in his grasp as well. It all happened so quickly, too fast for any of us to react as Emrys snarled the same words Durreos had said to his mother before he sacrificed her. "Your life is mine to take," he snarled before ripping out the High King's throat, breaking the Warrior's Oath in the process.

Suddenly released from the magic, I leaped from the ground, feet crunching on the debris. Taking my Shadowblade, I went by instinct and drove it into the moonstone embedded in the Crown of Daemonium, but it didn't crack. It didn't even budge before Emrys shredded the High King's body in a rageful haze of revenge, sending the crown flying across the ruined floor.

Haco roared, his voice panicked and frenzied. "Destroy it!" The twin necklace to Radha's went soaring through the hazy air, the black obsidian stone so stark against the golden locket.

My Blade of Vita went flying next as Aither, the Goddess of Wind, directed the stone that encased the High King's stolen souls into the chaos. As the blade met its mark, shadowy wisps shot free, cloudy hands pushing past one another as the souls fled.

Moans of distress and agony, even some of satisfaction, sounded off as soul after soul left the broken stone. The repentance was hollowing, the prophecy of the Fates coming to fruition. The High King's blood of fire, the stolen shadowy soul of Emrys' mother Emberly, and the power he so badly wanted to gain only ended in sorrow.

The abducted souls' cries were overpowered as my Mate roared, searching for any remains to shred of his father's decaying form. A sacrifice of blood had been made, but that wasn't enough to appease the Fates and their precarious prophecy as Emrys keeled over, his roar of vengeance quickly changing to one of pain.

The High King's shredded remains disintegrated as Emrys dropped, his body convulsing beside the ashes. I couldn't stop fate from playing out, couldn't stop their tricky web of misery. His large scarred form continued to tremble as blood leaked from his nose and ears and ran in a river of misery along the ground.

His eyelids fluttered open, amber eyes rolling to the back of his skull as the price of the Warrior's Oath was paid. As quickly as the seizing came, it went. His body was completely motionless, not even one spasm of pain.

My hands were on him, opalescent pink magic glowing from my palms as I panted, "Emrys." That power kept flowing, my well burning bright with that depthless magic, but it was no use.

He had broken one of the most sacred oaths among the fae by killing his father and saving our world. My Mate's once strong body had given out, his heart no longer beating steadily in his scarred chest.

My magic sputtered, coldness taking the place of Emrys' warmth beneath my hands as angelic words whispered in the wind.

Two must become one beneath the darkened sun.

Before the realm is rendered undone.

Those two final lines of the prophecy sparked a kernel of hope within my chest. The Fates weren't finished yet, their poetic hymn vibrating through me.

But my Mate's once strong body had given out, his heart no longer beating in his scarred chest as our Mating Bond snapped and his soul left our realm.