Page 55 of The Magic of Eternity
“You’re wrong. Without you, they never would have had this problem to begin with! You’ve ruined so many lives. You’re irredeemable. Nothing but an evil piece of shit who wants to wear a crown that he doesn’t deserve. But not to worry, you won’t have a head to place it on by the end of this day.” I saw Khol’s head pop up on the other side of the platform as he scrambled to climb back on.
“This is enough child’s play,” Asrael growled, with a knowing look in his eye that I really didn’t like. Unease began to swirl in my gut, telling me that he had something up his sleeve. Of course he did. I just really didn’t want to know what it was. Tilting his head up to the sky, his eyes drifted shut. His whole body began to vibrate.
“Khol!” I shouted in warning. “Get ready.” At that moment, a blur appeared beside me. “Faris?”
“Hold still, demon boy.” Before I could blink, a sharp pain exploded right on my dick.
“Ow! What the fuck, Faris?!” I shouted, grabbing hold of my wounded weiner.
“You’ll thank me in about two minutes. I gotta go.” He quickly pressed his mouth to mine. I didn’t even get a second to enjoy it, before he was gone.
He was standing before Khol, the older demon giving him a dirty look. “You stab me in the dick and I will rip yours off,” Khol promised fiercely.
“Fine, here, take it. It’ll restore your magic.” Faris handed a syringe to Khol, who drove it into his bicep, no questions asked.
My gaze didn’t linger on them for long. All of my focus was back on Asrael, who was now shaking so violently, it looked like there were seven of him. Without thinking about the repercussions, I darted forward, intent on snapping his neck while he was so out of it with whatever the fuck he was doing. But the second I wrapped my hand around his neck, I was jolted back. Pain burst through my body, like I’d been electrocuted. My back hit the wooden platform and all the air in my lungs was forced out, leaving me gasping. Now staring up at the sky, I could see the multitude of colorful dragons flying overhead, with spurts and spouts of great fire raining down on different parts of the castle.
A deep, disembodied laugh boomed out throughout the courtyard. It was so loud, I felt it in my soul.
“Get up, Bram,” Faris hissed from above me. He grabbed both of my hands and yanked me up, causing my head to spin.
“What the fuck is that?” I slurred, trying to regain my bearings and wondering if I was seeing things. Where Asrael had been standing was now some kind of creature. A creature that was terrifyingly unnatural. At least eight feet tall, with the form of a demon but the skin of a dragon, and long fangs and nails. Even his face had transformed, taking on more of a reptilian appearance, with slits for nostrils and slanted eyes. The wings that exploded from his back were at least twenty feet wide.
“You will never defeat me!” that deep, demonic voice yelled out to the crowd, which was now completely silent as everybody stood and stared at the abomination that was Asrael.
Icouldn’t believe what I was seeing. Asrael was turning into a living nightmare. A lot of the battle had ceased as everybody turned toward the platform, captivated by what they were seeing. I knew that whatever the fuck was happening, this was going to be bad.
Tilting my head to the sky, I yelled out for the dragons to land. It was time. We needed reinforcements. Rhodes and Misha were standing beside me as the dragons began to descend to the courtyard. “Are you positive that he can’t control them anymore?” I demanded.
Rhodes lifted an eyebrow that was barely visible over the black mask he wore. “Yes, we’re positive. All of those dragons are now free. Something Asrael will find out as soon as he tries to exert any sort of control over them.”
“Well, I sure fucking hope you’re right,” I replied. I saw Rhodes’ eyes flick over my shoulder, the movement the only warning I received at the last second. Drawing electricity to my hands, I spun around, unleashing it on a large demon who’d been seconds away from running me through with a blade.
“Thanks for the heads up,” I said snarkily, as the guard began convulsing on the ground.
Misha just stood there, watching. “Well, we have to keep it interesting. Plus, I wanted to see your powers. Fascinating. I bet that’s popular with the ladies.” Rhodes grinned wildly, and I rolled my eyes.
“Stay focused,” I barked. “We can’t afford to get distracted now. There’s too much on the line.”
For the most part, the battle around the courtyard had started to slow immensely. I didn’t know if that was because of Asrael’s distraction, or if it was because we were really winning. But for the first time since everything started this morning, I began to feel a real sense of impending victory. Group after group of dragons flew down, shifting as soon as they touched down with their feet. They were males and females, all of them warriors.
Asrael must have seen what was happening because he was pissed. An ear-piercing scream sounded just before he shouted, “What the fuck is going on? Guards, kill them all!” I imagined it was likely quite a shock seeing these massive creatures he’d held captive for years suddenly shifting into their human forms without a single problem.
Rhodes and I shared a grin, before shouting orders to separate groups of dragons. Most of them looked shell-shocked and a bit unstable on their legs, likely due to lack of use.
“Stay focused!” I yelled at a group. They nodded, acknowledging my orders.
Misha’s deep voice came from behind me. “You might want to go check on your little lamb. I don’t know what she’s doing over there, but it doesn’t look too good. Or depending on who you are, it looks really fucking good.”
Eyes wild, I scanned the mob in search of Saige. The crowd began to rush toward the left of the platform, like the people there were trying to get away from something. Pushing past them and letting my electricity take care of any who tried to hurt me, my feet came to an abrupt halt as I took in the bodies, or what used to be bodies… They were unidentifiable now.
In the center of it all, was Saige. My woman.
Her body was glowing, as were her eyes. Her once long red hair was now shorter, but that wasn’t the most noticeable change. When my gaze fell on her stomach, I could’ve dropped to my knees in relief. She was still pregnant. Perfectly pregnant, round and swollen. Her belly had gotten so much larger since I’d seen her last. Anger flared within, because I’d missed it. I’d missed the majority of her pregnancy. Had it been hell for her? Had she been mistreated in our time apart? I felt robbed. I could only imagine how she felt, how my brothers felt.
My legs carried me the remainder of the distance between us, and I found myself reaching out for her. “Little witch,” I called, my voice cracking. I knew I needed to be paying closer attention to what was going on around me, but just like every time I laid eyes on her, I was fucking captivated. Pulled into her orbit with no way out, but I didn’t want a way out.
She spun around where she stood, her hands out in front of her. Her magic hit my body like a freight train. The surprised wheeze that left my chest was full of pain, but it was the only sound I could make as it felt like my lungs were being squeezed.
