CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

The army of bones held still as soil continued falling. They waited for orders.

They waited for me.

Their Queen.

"Protect what is mine. Destroy the crimson soldiers," I hissed, eather pounding into each word as my will poured into my army. "Destroy the crimson draken and those who came from the sea, then return to your rest."

All across the field and into the forest, the army swept forward, and dragons rose into the air, their bones creaking and grinding together. Their roars were deeper, more guttural, sending a wounded Diaval fleeing toward the eastern mountains.

The screams that came brought a smile to my face as I rose, essence crackling from my fingertips. Across the field, a wave of red was falling into the grass, littering the ground.

A flash of crimson-and-gold snagged my attention. My gaze shot to the ruins of the Temple. I caught a fleeting glimpse of Kolis's silhouette right before he slipped through the half-crumbling archway of the old Temple.

I walked forward, a burst of eather rushing through me as Diaval dove through the thick clouds, releasing a stream of fire that pounded the field, igniting everything in its path, killing both crimson and black soldiers alike.

Rage exploded in my gut. My vision narrowed on the draken , the realm fading into a red haze of fury. Instinct took over, and I inhaled, pulling eather from the realm. All across the field, tiny silvery dots appeared and pulsed. They raced toward me in a flash, joining the crackling essence gathering around my palm as I stepped forward. Thrusting out my hand, a spinning, crackling stream of silver-and-gold eather erupted from my palm. The raw Primal power slammed into the pretty-haired fucker's underside.

The funnel of fire evaporated, and Diaval let out a whine of pain. His wings flapped wildly, and the eather swept over his body before fading out. He veered sharply, his horned head swinging toward me. An outline appeared through the clouds, twice the size of Nektas , beginning to swirl and thin.

Diaval hovered in the air, letting out a roar that shook the trees.

Smirking, I lifted an arm and extended my middle finger. The wings of a bone dragon scattered the dark clouds.

Diaval twisted in midair, but the bone dragon was fast, tearing its claws into the draken's back. I only winced a little at his scream of pain. My attention shifted back to the Temple. I shadowstepped to the archway.

In the shadowy interior, a crimson god stood before me. He was tall and slender, with hair as blond as mine and eyes the color of citrine. He smiled at me, and it was like Kolis's. Fake. Cold.

"Who are you?" I asked.

The god bowed slightly. "Varus."

"Oh. You."

He straightened, the smile turning smug. "You've heard of me?"

"Barely."

Varus frowned.

I shot forward and gripped the god by the throat, then turned, throwing him through an opening between the pillars. His shout of surprise faded as he plummeted to the field below. The army of bones would take care of him.

Footsteps echoed through the entire Temple. Within seconds, the decaying halls were filled with Kolis's soldiers.

One smirked, withdrawing a dull white sword. "You shouldn't have come alone."

"She didn't," came a deep voice behind me, his fresh citrus scent sweeping over me.

I smiled, and the god's grin faded.

"Was that just Varus?" Ash asked, handing me one of his swords. "Being thrown out of here?"

"It was."

He chuckled, his hand grazing my hip as he stepped forward. I thought I smelled the faint scent of his blood, but it was passing. "I assume there's a reason you're here."

"Kolis." I looked to my right when the gods charged. "He's playing hide and seek. Are you injured?"

"Of course, the coward is. And no, I'm not injured," he said. "By the way, there are a whole lot of dead people doing a whole lot of killing out there."

"Good."

The soldiers surrounded us, and my grip tightened around my sword, the blade an extension of my will. Breathe in. They attacked at once. There was no time to think or feel fear in the chaos of blades. Hold . Blood sprayed the failing walls as I sliced through one god and then another. I fell into the madness, barely feeling the bone-shaking blows, my sword clashing with others. I no longer felt the echoes of death, or maybe it was just so constant that I had finally tuned it out. Breathe out. Back-to-back with me, Ash fought with deadly precision, his movements lethal. Hold . I cut down a god, cleaving his body in two, and stepped over the mess—

A blow connected with my jaw, knocking my head back. Stunned, I stumbled into one of the pillars. Tiny fissures appeared in the stone, and a metallic wetness filled my mouth.

Ash spun with a snarl, shooting forward. He caught the fist and shattered each bone with one squeeze. The god howled, dropping to his knees.

"That wasn't nice." I pushed forward, spitting out a mouthful of blood as I drove the sword through the god's throat.

Ash released him, letting him fall back, then turned toward me, his features hard.

"I'm okay," I said at once, stretching out my jaw to ease the throbbing there. When I turned to kick a god back into the sword Ash held, I saw that the side of his tunic was torn, and the ragged edges were soaked, darkening the material. Two gods raced at us, weapons raised, and concern immediately flooded me. "You lied! You are injured."

"I didn't lie, liessa ." With a swift turn, he struck with both swords, cutting down the gods simultaneously. "I was injured. Briefly."

"You bled," I growled, spinning toward a goddess in crimson. I ducked beneath her swinging blade, feeling the rush of air signaling the narrow miss. Rising behind her, I caught her loose, dark hair and jerked her head back, plunging my sword through her back. Shimmery blood sprayed the faded walls. "How did it happen?"

"I was distracted." His sword sliced through leather and bone as I dropped to my hands and knees to avoid the sweep of a sword. "By a certain wife who decided to go onto the battlefield."

Pressing my lips together, I rocked back on my knees and kicked out, sweeping the god's legs out from under him. "Sorry."

"Uh-huh." He bowed, driving his sword down through the chest of the god I'd knocked down. Thick lashes lifted. Eyes streaked with silver met mine. "The next time you do something like that,"—he yanked the blade free—"I'm going to spank you."

My skin flushing hotly, I spun, shoving the sword back. A strangled grunt told me my aim was on point. "Was that supposed to be a threat of punishment?" I darted to the side, slamming my elbow into a crimson god's stomach. "If so,"—my blade pierced armor and tissue—"it's getting the absolute opposite response."

"I know." His voice was a sensual growl as he turned, throwing a shadowstone sword. It caught a god in the head. "I can taste your arousal, liessa ."

I started to respond when I spotted Kolis at the end of the hall, ducking under another archway. Another dozen crimson-garbed gods poured out.

"This is getting really annoying," I muttered. I had no idea what game he was playing, but I was also so very done with him.

As I slid under a wild swing, I pictured Thierran in my mind and summoned him. I trusted that he would keep a low profile until we had Kolis cornered.

Ash and I carved a path through the Temple hall, leaving a grotesque carpet of bodies behind. More soldiers loomed ahead, just another wave crashing toward us. But we were the rock that would break them apart.

As we neared the archway, the air crackled around us. I spun, letting out a shout of warning.

Kolis materialized directly behind Ash, descending on him in a heartbeat.

Ash spun, pulling his sword back and plunging it deep into Kolis's chest. The impact knocked the Primal of Death back several feet before he caught himself.

Looking down at the sword's hilt, he laughed and grasped it.

I pushed forward, and Ash flew toward him, slamming his fist into Kolis's jaw. I didn't make it very far. An arm snagged me around the waist as Kolis staggered and then steadied himself. He pulled the sword free. The blade shattered, and he vanished again. Suddenly, I was moving through the air—

I smacked into a wall with enough force that my spine would've broken if I'd been mortal. Still, my immediate concern was the lives I carried within me as I fell forward. Primal or not, the impact had rattled every part of me and stunned me for several seconds.

Ash's head cut toward me when I landed on one hand and my knees. I looked up through several loose curls to see Ash coming for me.

The air behind him warped, and Kolis appeared again.

"Behind you!" I screamed.

Kolis's lips curved up, and Ash turned. The true Primal of Death was on him in a heartbeat, gripping the front of Ash's tunic and baring his fangs. I shoved up off my hand, desperate to intervene.

"Oh, look," Kolis spat. "The bitch is already on her knees."

A roar left Ash, shaking the ruins as he jerked forward, bashing his head into Kolis's. I started to rise, but a boot connected with my jaw, knocking my head back sharply. Pain shot down my spine, and the muscles along my neck protested. The sound of fists connecting with flesh echoed through the Temple.

A hand clamped down on my throat, lifting me roughly to my feet and then off them.

Varus stared up at me, his once smooth complexion torn open across his cheeks. "Payback's a bitch," he snarled.

There were only a few seconds to consider how strong the once-entombed god was before I was suddenly flying into the darkness.

In those brief seconds of weightlessness, I wasn't thinking about myself or Ash. I was thinking about our children. I managed to twist my body so my upper back and shoulders took the brunt of the impact, a heartbeat before I crashed into the floor with enough force to knock the air from my lungs and crack the stone beneath me.

Fuck.

That hurt.

A lot.

A wall suddenly exploded, and Ash and Kolis came through it, sending chunks of stone flying in every direction. By the grace of the Fates, only the smallest pelted me as Ash and Kolis rose toward the pitched ceiling.

They were both in their Primal forms, a blur of shadows and crimson, clashing with the force of colliding stars and exchanging blows with their fists and eather .

An uncomfortable sense of déjà vu swept through me as they fought, and pain swept up and down the length of my body in waves.

"You still think you can defeat me, nephew?" Kolis's laugh carried the scent of stale lilacs when he threw Ash to the floor. "I am true Death."

Ash landed in a crouch, his pure silver gaze briefly meeting mine. I willed my stupid legs and arms to move. The pain was quickly fading, but all I managed to do was the lamest thing ever. I gave Ash a thumbs-up.

"There is no Primal more infinite than true Death," Kolis boasted, crimson-streaked darkness spinning around him. "Nothing more certain and inevitable than I. There is no bond I cannot break, no magic I cannot undo, or life I cannot take."

A low growl came from Ash. He rose, nearly solid wings appearing from the mist gathering around him. "You are and have always been nothing."

Kolis looked down. "I was going to keep you alive, chained at the foot of my throne until I released her from her misery. Oh, how I looked so forward to it. Seeing every pain I inflicted on her mirrored in your features." Crimson throbbed in the air, and the scent of death filled the chamber. "But I see now that I will just have to settle for your death and her endless suffering."

Ash sneered. "Are you done talking, for fuck's sake?"

A hiss slithered from Kolis, and the mist around him whipped out, spreading across the length of the chamber and billowing against the ceiling. "It is you who will become nothing," Kolis seethed, his gaze shooting to me. "And so shall…" He trailed off as his head cocked. "I see your soul. I see…" He inhaled sharply with a shout of rage. "I see their souls!"

Oh, fuck.

Ash flew off the floor, sending a blast of eather into Kolis.

The true Primal of Death flew back, stopping in midair. "She's pregnant!" His laugh was coarse—and crazed. "She will get to have children?"

Panic threatened to explode through me, but I fought it back. The pain finally retracted, giving me control over my body. I sat up. My hands were empty. I had no idea where I'd dropped the sword.

"I will carve them from her womb and feed them to my dakkais ," he swore.

"The fuck you will." Ash crashed into Kolis with the force of a tempest.

"No. Better yet, she will birth them." He grabbed Ash's cheeks, his voice filling with a sinister glee. "And I will raise them as mine. They will be my gift to Sotoria —"

Ash's head snapped forward, and he tore into Kolis's throat.

Kolis laughed, grabbed Ash by the hair, and tossed him aside.

I gathered my legs under me just as Varus hopped over the half-standing wall. Eather tinged in red sparked from his fingertips. He smirked.

"Kolis says I cannot kill you." Varus raised his hands. "But he did say I could hurt—"

The pillars behind Varus exploded under the strength of a black-and-gray-spiked tail.

Nektas .

His tail rushed across the floor, ramming into Varus. The god shrieked—actually shrieked —going airborne. My gaze tracked him as he flew across the Temple and out another opening.

I laughed.

Pushing through any lingering pain, I leapt to my feet, watching Ash and Kolis crash into the floor toward the back of the Temple, causing the entire structure to tremble. I started toward them, beginning to summon Thierran again—

I sucked in a sharp breath and felt a wrenching motion deep in my chest.

I froze. It was the same as I'd felt before, but not quite so intense. The sensation flowed through me, and the sky beyond the Temple lit up with silvery fireworks.

A Primal had fallen.

From the back of the chamber, Kolis roared in anger. It hadn't been one of ours.

Phanos .

High-pitched, mournful calls split the air in a song of death. It was the ceeren , crying out in anguish.

As wrong as it was, a smile crossed my lips. I lifted my head—

The space around me stirred as Ash's roar thundered. I spun, catching a brief glimpse of Kolis skidding across the ruined floor before my gaze locked with the pale blue eyes of a Revenant.

Callum smiled. "Miss me?"

I stepped to the side, fast but not fast enough. Air punched from my lungs in a fiery burst of pain.

Shadows peeled away from the sides of the Temple, rippling and racing across the floor. I looked down.

A bone dagger jutted out of me, the hilt reverberating from the impact of the thrust. The ungodly heat of the bone blade started to burn my flesh. I staggered back. "Were you aiming for my heart?"

"I was."

I lifted my gaze, and a metallic taste filled my mouth again. "Guess what?" I gritted out, grabbing the hilt. "You missed."

Callum sighed, shoulders slumping. "Shit."

Behind him, a violent, churning mass of shadows pulsed and throbbed. In the center, two silvery eyes glowed with feral rage.

"And you've really pissed off my husband." I smiled through the burn of pain. "Fucker."

Callum started to turn, but the shadows snaked out, slamming into him. Twin streams of smoky eather burst through his shoulders, throwing him back several feet behind me and into a hall. Another sliced through his stomach. Screaming, he flailed wildly as he was sucked into the air.

Jaw clenched, I yanked the bone dagger free. It hadn't been in there long. I would heal. At some point. "Gods," I hissed, taking a deep breath, then looked… I could no longer see Callum—well, I saw pieces of him falling and splattering off the floor, but I didn't think that counted.

He'd come back.

I started to turn but stopped. My eyes narrowed on the air distorting around Callum's remains. "What the—?"

But right now, that wasn't the biggest problem, nor was the pain in my chest.

Kolis had released Naberius .

The draken formed from crimson-and-black mist in a wave of scales and bared teeth. A meaty foreleg swept out, his talons as sharp as daggers.

"Watch out!" I screamed, but it was too late.

Naberius raked his talons across Ash's back, cutting through his wings. He stumbled, pain flashing across his features for the briefest moment when his wings evaporated in a shower of sparks. The scent of his blood ignited a fury in my chest, hotter and brighter than the flames of a thousand suns. The ceiling overhead suddenly shook. Something large and heavy had landed on the roof. A crack immediately appeared.

The ceiling peeled back, and Nektas descended into the chamber, sinking his forelegs into Naberius's back.

The other draken roared in agony as Nektas lifted, carrying Nab upward.

"Return to me!" Kolis shouted, brushing his hand over the cuff on his upper arm. "Now."

Naberius shuddered, turning into a shimmery red-and-silver mist as Kolis landed on the floor. Stone and debris slid across the floor when he stalked toward Ash.

"I will strip the flesh from your bones, nephew." Eather spun from his hands. "She will be cloaked in your skin—" His words ended in a shout of anger as Thierran appeared behind him like a hooded wraith, clasping the sides of Kolis's head.

Kolis's body bowed, and his arms went rigid. A low murmur came, like a whisper of wind rolling through the chamber. Thierran reached deep into Kolis's mind and took his worst fears, amplifying them. Behind the painted red wings, his eyes went wide. The mist around Kolis evaporated as Ash straightened, exhaling heavily and shaking off the pain. The eather slowed, and Kolis's mouth dropped open. His pupils dilated as the murmurs increased, feeding the waking nightmare.

"No," rasped Kolis. He began to tremble. Streaks of dampness cut through the red paint under his eyes. "No. I love you. I've always loved you."

"Sick fuck," Ash growled.

Thierran's gaze met mine. "You need to knock him out. Now."

"Gladly," I spat.

I extended my hand, palm upturned toward the sky, and drew upon the ancient power coursing through my veins. The air crackled with energy, every particle vibrating with the force of my will.

" Sotoria —no," Kolis begged— sobbed . "Please."

Eather crackled across my palm. I unleashed the bolt of pure power, a torrent of light so intense it seemed to tear the very fabric of the realm.

The bolt struck true, hitting Kolis in the chest. He let out an ear-splitting scream when the energy coursed through him, throwing Thierran back. The eather seared Kolis's flesh and bones, making him convulse. Blood poured from his mouth as he dropped to his knees and fell forward.

"He shut the fuck up." Ash kicked the Primal onto his back. "Finally."

"Does the wound still burn?" Ash asked, he and Attes carefully lifting a section of bone chain.

"Barely," I admitted, eyeing the back of Ash's shredded tunic. The jagged tears Naberius had delivered had stopped bleeding by the time we arrived in Oak Ambler.

"Get ready," Attes said with a hiss of pain. He looked as ragged as we did. His clothing was torn and bloodied, and it looked like a dakkai or draken had gotten ahold of his arm. The deep gouge in his flesh had closed but was still a bright pink. "He's starting to twitch."

My gaze went back to Kolis. Attes had stripped his chest bare. The trapped arm jerked.

Ash dropped his side of the chains over a very sensitive part of Kolis, drawing a snort from me. Both of them stepped back. Faint smoke had begun rising from the chains resting against flesh. Attes handed Ash a sharpened bone with one end wrapped in a thick cloth.

Really should've considered wearing gloves.

Kolis came awake all at once. The name he bellowed rattled over the cavernous walls. Sotoria .

Gods.

I unsheathed the bone dagger from my thigh.

His wild gaze darted around, landing on Ash and then me, his chest rising fast beneath the chains. "What in the…?" His head fell back against the slab of mineral and stone. A look of relief skittered across his face. " Sotoria wasn't… It wasn't real."

He smiled.

The fucker smiled , and it was real, transforming his too-perfect features beneath the streaked wings painted on his face.

Gods .

I snapped forward, dragging the bone over Kolis's left wrist as Ash sliced into his right. Blue-tinted blood spilled over his flesh, spreading down his wide-stretched arms. The relief quickly vanished when Kolis's surroundings finally sank in.

He cursed, hurling various insults in both the mortal tongue and the ancient Primal language. We ignored him, slashing the arteries running up both legs. Blood was quickly pooling on the floor under him—

"I will fuck your corpses," Kolis raged.

The blood wasn't draining from Kolis quickly enough, in my opinion.

Ash raised a brow and moved away, reaching for the bone chains. "I'm not sure what is more perverse," Ash remarked, moving toward the bone chains. "The necrophilia or the incest."

"Do we have to pick one?" I asked.

Ash laughed.

"You aren't doing shit," I said to Kolis, kneeling over him. He glared at Ash as if he could will him into nonexistence. "You will be right here. If you do wake up at some point, I imagine you will fall into madness before you lose consciousness again."

"Fall into madness." Attes huffed. "I think that's already water under the bridge."

I smiled. "Years will pass. Centuries. You will be forgotten." I leaned to the side so my face was in front of his. He still stared at Ash. "And Sotoria ?"

His eyes finally shot to mine, burning with unholy hatred.

"She will be free of you," I said. "She will never have to fear you again."

" So'lis will be reborn," he seethed, blood and spit trailing down his chin. The sheen of red bone beneath his flesh was visible. "Mark my words. The Fates will decree it. They will reset the balance, and nothing—absolutely nothing—in this realm or beyond will stop me from having her. I will rise again as the Bringer of Death and Destruction."

I stilled.

Ash yanked the bone chains tighter, pinning Kolis onto his back. "If that day comes, we'll be waiting."

I shook my head, rising so I stood over his legs.

Kolis snarled, his fangs snapping at the air, his gaze dropping to the bone dagger and then lifting to mine. "Do it. I dare you, Seraphena ."

I laughed, and high above us, thunder rolled. "You don't have to dare me."

Attes tossed another section of chain over Kolis's groin, drawing out a hiss of pain. "My bad," he said. "They slipped."

Kicking his head back against the stone, Kolis laughed. "I'm going to beat those babes from your stomach and dine on—"

Ash moved fast. He slammed his fist through Kolis's throat, tearing tendons and shattering bones in one wet, crunchy-sounding punch. "As my wife just said, you aren't doing shit."

Eather flared weakly around Kolis's form as his mouth moved wordlessly.

"What?" I leaned over, curving a hand around my ear. "I can't hear you."

His eyes turned, becoming black pools. My body immediately went cold, and the nape of my neck tingled. The nothingness of his eyes swirled around a pinprick of red . Blood not yet spilled. And in that burning crimson, I saw…

Sucking in a breath, I jerked back. Ash's gaze flew to mine as he shook the gore from his hand. " Liessa ?"

I blinked, my heart pounding. "It's okay." I swallowed hard, glancing at the second dagger Ash had gifted me that I clutched tightly, and then I looked over my shoulder to where Attes stood, his hand tight around the shaft of a bone spear. "You partial to that spear?"

Attes's head cocked, his eyebrows furrowing. "Not exactly."

"Good, because I'm going to need this dagger," I said, turning back to Kolis. "I'm not going to waste it on you. It's too pretty." I held it between us, wanting him to see it—wanting him to remember it. "Besides, if you do come back? And she is reborn?"

Kolis went still.

"I will place this dagger in her hand myself," I whispered. "And it will be she who drives it through your heart."

Leaning back, I held his gaze as I sheathed the dagger. Without taking my eyes from Kolis, I extended my hand.

Attes walked the spear to me. I took it and rose, adjusting my grip on the leather band down the center. My muscles trembled with the need to drive it through Kolis's heart and into the blood-soaked stone below him, but…

I raised my eyes to where Ash stood on Kolis's other side.

But the pain Kolis had caused me was nothing compared to what he had done to Ash.

Taking a deep, cleansing breath, I handed the spear to Ash.

His gaze dropped to the weapon and then returned to mine. "You sure?"

I nodded.

He froze for a moment, his chest still, and then he reached across Kolis's prone body and clasped the nape of my neck. His fingers curled into the braid there to guide my mouth to his. The kiss was fierce and hard, an expression of both savage gratitude and a promise that he would show me just how thankful he was later as he took the weapon from me.

He slowly lifted his mouth and pressed his forehead to mine. "I love you, liessa ."

"I love you," I whispered.

His hand slipped from my braid, and I stepped back. I could feel Kolis's unwavering stare on me now, full of hatred. I didn't look at him. He wasn't worth it. When Ash turned back to Kolis, he didn't speak. Again, he wasn't worth it. Ash folded his left hand under his right and lifted the spear. A heartbeat passed. That was all.

Ash sank to one knee and plunged the spear into Kolis's chest. Ribs cracked and gave way. I exhaled roughly as the spear struck true. Kolis jerked, his fingers clawing into the stone beneath him.

I looked at Kolis's face, and hairs rose all over my body. Our eyes met. His mouth stretched wide in a silent roar. A bright, ruby glow rippled over his body, sparking and sputtering against the floor and then quickly retracting. His skin thinned and vanished, revealing the churning, crimson-streaked black vines etched into the bones beneath.

The air stilled.

The realm went silent.

Kolis's…presence eased away from me.

"Here we go," Attes murmured.

Ash's head bowed as the spear hit stone and then sank into it. The impact was a shockwave, shaking the floor and rattling the damp-looking walls. A stale-lilac-smelling wind blew the wisps of hair back from my face. Dust and dirt fell from the ceiling, and red-and-black eather erupted from where the spear had been plunged deep into Kolis's chest. Streams of essence snaked out, filling the air with a thousand screams. The twisted mass of energy streaked to the north and south, then to the east and west, slamming into the walls and crawling up them. I tensed, realizing his energy was…was seeking a way out. If that happened, the city would be leveled.

The eather rolled over the ceiling, and cracks appeared in the walls, the floor, and above us. The screams continued as the celastite in the walls held firm, serving two purposes: to keep the essence of the realms out and the Primal essence inside.

Eather pulsed, washing the space in a crimson glow. My boots sent loosened dirt and small stones scattering when I stepped back, watching the light fade into the fissures that had formed shapes. Circles with a vertical line through them.

The symbol of Death.

Nearly the same as the Mierel Crest.

Ash rose as the last of the eather seeped into the walls. He turned to me, but my gaze returned to Kolis.

The true Primal of Death was nothing but bone and empty flesh, already turning gray.

Ash returned to my side, taking my hand as I breathed in, and it felt like the first real breath I'd ever taken.