Page 69 of Devastation
A feral scream rips from Keres as she uses her wings to propel herself towards me like a bullet, but at the last second, I send a tunnel of wind towards her to keep her back. She flips through the air and shoots up, sending twin blasts of hellfire towards my mates behind me.
Thankfully, they're prepared and as my head whips around, Leo is sending a blaze of fire up, merging with hers and simmering out in the air in a cloud of smoke.
Focus, Lana. They can protect themselves.
"Keres, I don't want to hurt you, and I don't think you truly want to hurt us either!"
I mean every word I say. There is no way that my soul would call to hers to be queen of the realm if she truly had bad intentions. I recognize that pain and anger that has overcome her. She's hurting at the revelation that her mother sent her away and lashing out, thinking that this gives her some semblance of control, but all it does is prevent her from working through her true pain.
Fury like I've never seen before appears in her gaze as she screams, "You don't know anything, Oslana!" and dives toward me. She gathers the flames between her hands, quickly creating a massive ball of fire that turns a deep, angry shade of red.
I'm torn on how to fight her because deep down, I don't want to hurt her, but I will be forced to if she continues on this path. No matter what my personal feelings are, my family's safety comes first.
For now, I will continue to just put her off. I send a blast of air at my mates, knocking them back a few feet as I create a dome of water around myself before Keres makes contact. My dome sizzles as her flames hit, and I use the steam to hide my next move.
Kicking off the ground, I use air to propel me up where I last saw her and rely on the one thing that I know she can't escape in close range. I fly out of the steam and land a punch to her chin, snapping her head back and sending her flying through the air.
She tumbles a few times until her wings flap, righting her again. Slowly, I sink back to the ground and plead with her one more time. "Keres. My soul is telling me that you are the rightful queen of this realm. That means you have a deep love for your people and all of the creatures here. Do you know what Erebus and his army will do to it?"
She falters, and I seize the moment to barrel ahead with my pleas. "He will destroy everything and everyone in your realm, Keres!"
Confusion flickers in her eyes before she shakes her head and snaps, "No, he won't! He promised me that we would be safe."
"He killed your parents before he came to you. That should tell you everything you need to know about the person he is! If he cared about you as his daughter, wouldn't he have asked what you wanted first before ripping them from your life?"
Deep laughter fills the hall, echoing over and over, and my alarm bells ring with the power that I feel coursing through the air.
"Now why would I need permission to kill the people who hid my daughter from me?" Erebus muses while walking out from behind a pillar.
The shadows cling to him as he walks, his ruby eyes glinting from within their depths and under his hood.
I glance up at Keres and see a battle playing out in her head as she looks back and forth from Erebus to me. Ignoring Erebus for a split second, I fill my voice with genuine concern as I plead one more time with her, "Keres, do not let your pain blind you. You are not evil. There will be no coming back from this if you decide to take his side."
I have to break through to her. I need her to accept this tether. Something within me is pushing to have this final connection in place.
Her wings beat slowly and steadily as she lowers herself to the ground between Erebus and I, looking back and forth. As she does, a loud boom rocks the floor, and a chunk of the wall crumbles, sending debris flying at all of us.
I feel the tunnel of wind Zedd sends out quickly, blocking it from hitting everyone but Erebus. Unfortunately, the god simply holds out a hand and his red energy burns the rubble to ash before it can touch him.
He laughs deeply, but it feels like ice flowing over my skin. There is no warmth in the sound. "It seems our armies are beginning to clash, and here I am missing all the fun." Fixing his gaze on Keres, he says nonchalantly, "This is child's play. I expected more from you Keres. Perhaps you aren't a daughter of mine after all if you can't even handle this."
He rubs his hands together as he rants, “Countless decades of work behind the scenes. Making sure Oslana was annihilated in her first life, placing her and her men in the worst of homes when they were born in this life, killing the foster mother who brought them all together…”
I hear my men scream, but the sound is drowned out as if I’m underwater as I process his words. He’s the reason for all of our suffering. All of our trauma and loss. Everything points back to him.
I focus back in as he spits at Keres, “And here I gave you one simple task in all of my plans, and you couldn’t do it.”
I see the decision to discard her like a plaything the moment before he moves. She sees it too, but a second too late. However, something snaps into place for me, and I'm filled with power and a speed I did not possess before.
I feel more alive than ever, and the connections to each of the realms flares to life in my head. It feels as if a separate part of my brain now holds a constant state of consciousness for each of the realms and their general state of being along with each of the queen’s attached. Including Keres and the demon realm. She chose my side in the end. Our red tether glows brightly in my mind.
Moving like the speed of light, I come face to face with Erebus, blocking his attack on Keres with a wall of teal flames, halting him mere inches from me. "You will not harm her or anyone here. You have taken enough from the realms," I spit, with venom lacing my voice, but seconds later I feel a coldness seeping through my abdomen.
Glancing down, I see an arrow coated in blood protruding from my stomach, Erebus’ red energy licking at the metal.
"You see, little goddess, you are simply no match for me. No matter how many people you have following you." He steps closer to my teal flames, getting his face as close as he can while seething down at me, "You. Are. Nothing," he emphasizes each word.
How did this arrow break through my energy? It dawns on me. It didn't break through. He threw it at Keres before I constructed the barrier, and I merely intercepted the arrow meant to kill his daughter.
