Page 54 of The Magic of Eternity
Fischer spun around just as the blood started flying. “Thanks, K,” he grunted. Sweat was running down his face. It was clear he’d been wielding his power. A group of demon males suddenly fell to the ground, screaming in agony and holding their heads. Fish’s eyes turned blacker than night, and at the same time, black tears began running down the screaming demons’ faces.
By the stars, he just keeps getting scarier and scarier.This was probably going to give me nightmares.
‘Get it together,’Bagheera snapped, drawing me back.
I shuddered.‘You’re right. It’s just so unnatural-looking.’
“Alright,” Fischer said, straightening up as his eyes began to lighten again. “Let’s go find our people. If Faris and I can powerlink, we can end this really fucking fast. Anybody who isn’t with us is dying today.”
The air swirled through the courtyard, thanks to the wings of the dragons above. Fischer’s thick curls swayed with the movement, but all I saw was the fire in his eyes and the desire for death. He was walking the edge right now, and I couldn’t help but prepare myself for the fact that he was likely going to cross it. Not just cross it, but throw himself several miles past that line.
“He’s over by the platform. Let’s go, brother.” My dark-eyed bestie spun and marched off through the crowd.
Stars, give us strength, and please keep Fischer from going psycho today. There’s enough of that going on right now.
Iwas livid. And I was fucking terrified. I was going to turn her ass red the second I got my hands on her. What the fuck was she thinking showing up like that? With Kohl’s cautionary tale still vivid in my mind, all I could think of was that history was going to repeat itself.
I was mere seconds from death when my eyes locked on hers, and gods dammit if she wasn’t a vision. She was lit up like a string of lights. I’d never seen anything so captivating. Of course, I didn’t miss the swell of her belly in the stunning gown that she was wearing.
If that was my last glimpse before death, then it was an amazing one. I could die knowing that she was alive and just as beautiful as ever.
Suddenly, all hell broke loose, between Goldie managing to disrupt the execution and the arrival of the dragons. As soon as we were free, Khol and I began circling around Asrael. The sight of blood pouring down his forehead gave me great satisfaction, especially knowing that it was my tiny warrior who had wounded him.
“You’re fools. All of you,” Asrael growled as he nervously took in the situation. The dragons were above us and all around us. Insurgents were rising up against him—against this false king who’d thought all he needed to take a kingdom was an iron fist and vicious power. He was learning the hard way that that wasn’t the case.
Khol laughed deeply, taunting the outraged Asrael. “I think it’s you who’s the fool, Az.”
“Guards!” bellowed Asrael. “Kill them all. Anyone who doesn’t stand with me is against me, and they’ll meet their death today.” He focused in on me next. “You think you can beat me? You don’t stand a chance, boy. I have power that you could only dream of.”
“Yeah, I don’t believe you,” I replied calmly. I wanted to ruffle his feathers. I knew he’d done something unnatural to boost his power levels, but I needed to stall. The angrier he got, the more likely he would be to make mistakes. It was a distraction tactic at its finest.
With a snarl, he lunged forward, swinging that great axe. I jumped back, narrowly missing the blade that would have sliced straight across my abdomen.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” I mocked, rewarding his shitty effort with a smirk.
“This kingdom was always meant to be mine!” he roared, swinging the axe around in a circle as he noticed Khol moving in behind him. “You’ll never take it from me. Those dragons are under my command.”
“If that’s true,” Khol mused, keeping his eyes on this mad king, “then why are they here? You certainly didn’t bring them here, did you?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Asrael replied. “Whether they’re here, or a hundred miles from here, they’remine.”
“You know, Asrael, I expected better from you. All those years we spent together fighting, taking over different towns, raiding and plundering. I figured you would have learned from the mistakes you made back then, but it seems you’re just as stupid as ever. You should know by now that you can’t force the people to bend to your will and still expect loyalty in exchange.”
While Khol engaged him, I took a quick moment to look around. None of the guards were approaching the platform to come to his assistance. It was impossible to know whether that was because they were changing sides, knowing that they weren’t going to be fighting a losing battle, or whether Asrael really did have less support than he imagined. Either way, I was grateful.
I heard Bagheera’s roar just as arrows flew toward the sky. We were going to need to speed things up. The green glow coming from Goldie caught my eye. It seemed she was holding her own—nobody could get near her. Thank the stars for that.
“That’s fine,” I heard Asrael say to Khol. “We’ll do this the hard way then.” Asrael launched himself at my longtime friend, not releasing the hold on the axe. But Khol didn’t back down, the stubborn bastard that he was.
The two demons were nothing but flashes of fists, steel, and anger. There was so much history between them, and it was coming to an end today. Finally.
“This is a plan that has beencenturiesin the making, and you think you can just come in here and fuck it all up? You’re wrong,” Asrael spat. “There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to make sure I keep my crown. Thane underestimated me. You underestimated me. Who did you think was behind the fertility problems? To put my destiny into motion, I knew I needed a way to get into the other realm, and without good reason, that idiot king would never have let me go. My brother was nothing but a worthless piece of shit.”
“You cursed your own people? Threatened the future generations of our kind because you’re selfish?” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing right now. Asrael landed a solid kick to Khol’s chest, launching him across the platform and sending him rolling off of it backwards.
Asrael spun on his heel, sneering at me. “Indeed. And who do you think they’re going to respect and rejoice over when I single-handedly replace all that was lost? When our females are able to have healthy pregnancies again? When the dragons are able to do so as well? It’s me who will be responsible, and it’s me everybody will be thanking—because without me, they would never have had it.”
I just stared at Asrael. I couldn’t believe the bullshit I was hearing.
