Chapter Thirty-eight

O wen ran up to the castle gates and paused to see the massive hole blown through them. Behind them, in the city below, smoke rose in billowing waves of dread.

"He's turned his followers onto the city," Owen growled.

"Let the soldiers worry about that. Hurry," Liana urged, her body rapidly healing. They were up to the castle where the rest of their army stood guard. Zatar attacked from afar, a lone figure against hundreds. Owen set her on her feet, and she didn't wait to blast the demi-god with power.

He turned to face her, the dagger gripped in his right hand. Spells and arrows bounced uselessly off the shield at his back.

"You will not defeat me," he roared, then launched a ball of magic at her. She dodged out of the way instead of shielding in order to preserve her strength.

"I need to get that dagger back," she told Owen.

"We can't get close unless you can over-power him." He helped her stand from the ground. "If we surround him, he'll blast us away again."

"I should have knocked him out with the power in the dagger when I had the chance."

He spun her to the side as more magic launched at them. "Why didn't you?"

"He can still block against Jupiter's magic, just not as effectively. I figured I only had one shot to use it and I didn't want to waste it if Zatar blocked it."

Owen ran her back down toward the gates, drawing Zatar away from the castle. "He's too fast. He'll see me coming even if I run you up to him."

They dodged again. "We are almost equal in power. Maybe I can exhaust him."

"Then you would be equally as weak," he pointed out.

"Yes, but we have support. He is alone. I exhaust him enough that he can't defend against our soldiers. He'll be distracted, I stab him."

Owen dragged her out of the way yet again. "He must have used a lot of power with that blast at the meadow. We could keep him going like this too, dodging his attacks."

Liana nodded, glad he was coming around to her plan.

"I don't see any other options," he admitted.

That was all Liana needed. She built up a ball of magic. She created it with the intent of causing harm but didn't put a spell into it, so she'd reserve energy. All Zatar would feel is an angry ball of magic flying at him. It was no surprise when he blocked it easily. She kept them going while Owen yanked and pushed her around to avoid his return attacks.

"You can't dodge me forever, little queen!" Zatar yelled. Owen pulled them out of the way of one spell but right into the path of another. Liana blocked as much as she could, but they still flew backward. Landing with a scream when something cracked in her left arm, Liana forced herself to keep a shield up. Zatar kept up a steady stream of magic trying to barge through her defenses.

Liana shook Owen's shoulder, but the vampire was out. A quick zap had him gasping for breath.

"I don't think he's weakening. At least not quick enough," Owen pointed out, helping her to stand once more. He examined her arm and with a brutal efficiency yanked her shoulder back into place. Liana screamed behind her teeth, cursing the vampire but also thanking him.

A vicious roar rent through the air which pulled everyone's attention to him.

Zatar roared again and launched himself toward an impossible situation. The dagger floated away from him in jerky movements. Zatar reached out into the air grabbing at nothing. He charged forward, grasping for something no one else could see. His hand caught something then appeared to wrestle someone to the ground.

A deafening crack reached her ears, Owen tensing beside her before a body became visible in the demi-god's grip. Liana gasped, tears gathering instantly.

Zatar dropped the body to the ground unceremoniously to go after the floating dagger, far quicker than whoever held it. "That is my dagger, you thief! If Jupiter wants it back, he can pry it from my fingers himself!"

Heart breaking, Liana built her power with rage and revenge heady on her fingertips. She launched the beam at him, stopping the monster in his tracks.

Owen dropped to his knees beside her soundlessly.

Liana screamed, shoving all her magic out and drawing from the cuff and the earth itself. It didn't matter if she burned out her magic, she wouldn't need it anymore. Not even when she met with the gods in death. She wouldn't need her power for them to feel her wrath.

No one she saved was safe from the will of the gods.

Asher's lifeless body lay in the dirt not even a day after she'd saved him from the brink of death. They take and take, leaving only death and heartbreak behind. The gods didn't deserve their deference or worship. They deserved to be exiled from this earth where they couldn't hurt anyone else.

She'd show them what she thought of them as soon as she finally killed the evil they unleashed upon her home. Skin glowing golden once more, Liana directed a beam of magic at the demi-god. It hit his shield in a flash of white. She didn't let up on it, only added more and more power. Her magic responded eagerly, offering everything it had from the very depths of her soul while the cuff on her arm raged with the heat of power that would surely burn her arm clean off.

Zatar barely held her at bay. She felt him pushing against her, but it wasn't enough to make her budge. Liana felt the surge of power before he could release it. With a yell, she pulled all she had with a swiftness that would make a vampire jealous and launched the power into her beam to engulf the demi-god. His power exploded into her own before reflecting back on himself, an explosion to rival a canon blasted out from him.

Liana opened her eyes to muddy grass and the pungent scent of mud filling her nose. Her body felt weaker than ever, her muscles tight and stuck. Forcing her head up, she looked around for Zatar and found herself turned around. She spun around against her creaking joints to the most unreal scene. Zatar lay unconscious in the dirt while her soldiers grumbled and slowly climbed to their feet. That wasn't the odd bit though. She blinked to clear her eyes just in case. It was just as bizarre the first time she saw it even if she'd summoned objects countless times.

The dagger floated out of Zatar's hands. It shifted clumsily before lifting higher. Liana couldn't think. Her mind was like sludge, her magic nowhere to be felt inside her. The dagger paused then launched downward burying itself firmly in the demi-god's chest.

A body became visible in the next second.

Liana launched to her feet. "No!" she screamed in a panic already running.

Her father turned toward her. "Live, Liana," he called out to her, his hands stuck around the handle as it began to glow. He flinched, keeping his eyes on hers even as she kept running.

"No, please, Papa! Let go!" Tears blurred her vision, the ground meeting her feet by some chance of will. She called on her magic to shove him away but there wasn't anything left. Not even a smoking coal left of power.

"I'm so proud of you." His body went taught, his eyes going to the dagger. Liana stumbled to a stop when her father grunted then fell to the side, eyes open and lifeless.

"No!" she screamed. Closing the last bit of the space between them, she rolled him away from that monster and pressed a hand to his chest. Precious seconds passed as she waited for it to rise, to feel something beat beneath her hand. There was nothing.

Power suffocated her as two figures appeared.

"Leave!" Liana demanded of the gods. "Leave me alone!"

"I am so sorry, Liana," Juno whispered while she bent beside her son.

"Your father asked for my help. It is a father's job to protect their child," Jupiter informed her.

"Stop! Stop talking. Both of you! You've helped no one! This is all your fault." Liana jabbed a hard finger toward Juno. "It's your fault, and you left us to fix it all. They've all died because of you!"

Juno didn't hide her own tears. "I know." She placed her hand on her son's shoulder, and he turned to ash. Jupiter did the same to the dagger. Their power vanished along with their presence, leaving her to grieve over her father's body. Not far away, Owen held his brother to his chest, silent tears tracking down his cheeks.

Liana wondered how many more would mourn tonight once the final death toll was counted.

She collapsed over her father's chest, her own body weak and brutalized. She couldn't even feel relieved that Zatar was gone while her father's body was still warm beneath her. Closing her eyes, she let the darkness take her, feeling the phantom brush of her father's hand over her head one last time.