Page 90 of Storm of Desire
A flush of terror flooded through her. Her lips felt numb. Time slowed as Roar turned and started toward her fallen husband. Balder had a foot planted on Haakon's throat, and her husband's arms were outflung, blood smearing the fingers she couldsee.
It was everything she'd everfeared.
Pain vanished. The world went away. Only the knife in Roar's hand remained, and the blood on her husband's twitchingfingers.
All she could hear was that ringing in her ears again, but this time it felt like it was coming from somewhere deep inside her, like someone had struck abell.
Or not aringing.
It was her soul screaming "No."
Heat filled her eyes as thedrekirose within her, choking her with rage. Árdís screamed. The manacle kept it chained within her, but it was forcing its way through her pores, shredding her soul inhalf....
The world turned green as Árdíssurrendered.
She tore free from her own skin, exploding into a spirit form of pure green light, her wings flapping madly and her maw opening. The weight of her fleshly body fellaway.
She was a spirit of pure vengeance and fury, a firestorm of passion andrage.
Raw Chaos magic turned the air into a miniature aurora borealis around her as Árdís rose above them all on wings of purelight.
From this height, she could see Haakon groaning as he rolled onto his side, and Balder gaped up at her. Relief flooded through her, but she could also see the blood on Haakon's nose and his flanks. Directly below her, her own body stood swaying, and Árdís blinked to see herself from theoutside.
What had shedone?
What wasthis?
"Roar!" Ylve cried a warning, and it rippled through the air on sound waves Árdís could almostsee.
Roar's eyes widened with surprise as Árdís dove toward him."He's mine!"sheyelled.
The air rushed past her as she opened her gapingmaw.
Roar screamed, hands flung up to protecthimself.
She barely had weight or form. She was merely a churning mass of pure Chaos, the magic fighting to tear free of the spirit form she'd bound it in. Somehow her teeth closed over his shoulder. She could feel them sinking into his flesh as he cried out, batting at her, his hands sweeping straight through the rest ofher.
Rage obliterated any thought she had. She was might and power and pure vengeance. She was immense and weightless andformless.
She wasDeath.
She flung Roar to and fro, her teeth ripping at his mortal flesh. Driving her claws through his unprotected belly, she tore himopen.
Something hissed through the air behind her, and Árdís turned gleaming eyes upon Ylve as the bitch ran at her mortal body with her sword inhand.
A single pounce and Árdís ripped her way through Ylve, tearing thedreki'sspirit free of her mortal body. Ylve collapsed, her body thrashing and jerking as Árdís's claws curled through her spirit form. Ylve's spirit opened its mouth to silently scream, but then she was fading, her form evaporating from between Árdís's claws likesmoke.
A heavy weight began to suck her back downagain.
She could feel her body dragging at her, lured by the proximity of her spirit. And though the rage still burned within her, she didn't know how to maintain her form, or keep herself burning through the Chaos magic that twined aroundher.
The world wentblack.
Árdís came back to herself, her body swaying, something hot and wet dripping from her nose as she slumped to herknees.
All threedrekilay on the ground around her. Balder kicked his heels in the shale as he drove himself back against one of the rocks, the whites of his eyesgleaming.
There was blood all over Roar's chest, and he made a wet sucking sound deep in his lungs as he scrambled to escapeher.
