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My gut rolled. There, amidst all my pain, the flicker of familiarity seemed somehow wrong. Secrets. The world and I would pay dearly for the secrets my father kept.
“I remember when you were merely a mewling pup. Now, look at you.” Those damned red eyes danced across my face. “All grown up.”
“I don’t remember you at all,” I hissed.
Isaiah shrugged and smirked, displaying a single gleaming fang. He flicked his wrist, drawing a single forsaken blade. The tip was jagged, sharp, and carved from bone dark as night.
“Not a problem.”
He pressed his knee against the wound on my abdomen. I gritted my teeth, a fresh wave of agony washing over me. He pressed my arm to the floor, watching me the whole time. Isaiah placed the blade against my wrist. I bucked weakly, blood bubbling past my lips, my body shutting down. He pressed slowly, the devastatingly sharp blade slicing into my flesh. I tried to focus and keep from blacking out from the pain as he separated my hand at the wrist. My skin burned at the contact, but I did not scream. I wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
Isaiah rose, standing proudly, a satisfied smirk on his lips. Nismera and the others glanced toward us. He ripped the rings from my fingers before tossing my severed hand across the room and walking to where Nismera stood.
“The Ring of Oblivion,” he offered her the dark ring like a gift, “as you requested.”
No.
I cradled my arm against my chest, sweat flowing into my eyes, my body trying to heal and failing. How could it? Most of my power danced through the universe, opening portals far beyond the reach of this world.
Isaiah placed the single obsidian ring in her palm, and she smiled. Kaden merely glanced at it.
My vision blurred as I lay on the floor, the agony in my body subsiding as I went numb. Not even my wrist or abdomen hurt as much now. The blood pooled around me was growing cool, and I was so tired. Sleep edged close, but I knew if I relaxed and let it take me, if I closed my eyes for a second, it would be over. I wouldn’t wake up. Something in me snapped, demanding I stay awake, stay here. It sounded like Dianna, but that couldn’t be real, and I was just so tired.
Nismera’s sharp boots clacked against the floor as she neared, gripping her golden death spear. I tried to push myself up and failed. Her long, torn black cape flared behind her, the skulls on her shoulders anchoring it in place. Blood streaked the front of her armor. It was similar to Kaden’s, only hers was more lithe, sharp, and deadly. She came to a stop, Kaden and Isaiah flanking her. Nismera spun her spear and slammed the tip into the floor. The runes containing me dissolved into the ground, a tiny bit of energy trying to crawl its way back to me. It wasn’t enough, not nearly.
She sent a vicious glare at Kaden. “I’m a little disappointed you got rid of my army of the dead, my mind screamers. You promised me vampires, werewolves, dream eaters, yet I have nothing.”
“You told me to kill the sister, and I did. That was the consequence of your command.”
“Don’t be so hard on him, Mera. He brought you The Hand, the Ring of Oblivion, and soon the head of Samkiel,” Isaiah interjected.
Nismera ordered the hit on Dianna’s sister? My mind reeled. Why? What grudge could she have against Dianna? My head throbbed as the pieces rearranged themselves in my mind, and everything finally made sense. Now I understood the broadcast and why Vincent had tried to get us to ignore it. Logan had been right. When Kaden took Gabby’s life, it wasn’t just watched by the entire world. It was to send a message to Nismera.
I wanted to ask, scream, and rage, but I was so tired. My vision blurred as the room shook again. More warriors exited the portal, arranging themselves around the room. A general with the shape and build of an upright reptile stopped at Nismera’s side. Its long snout parted, exposing sharp conical teeth as it sneered at me.
I blinked as another creature approached, this one taller than her, its muscular build covered in feathers, talons tipping both his fingers and toes. He cocked his head, his bird-like eyes focusing on me with a raptor’s gaze. “He does not seem that impressive,” he said in the ancient language.
“He never was.” Nismera glanced at me dismissively. “Are all the relics secure?”
“Yes, my king,” the feathered one answered.
“Excellent.” Nismera smiled. “Gather the rest of your fleet. We move to Yaegomar once we finish here.”
“Yes, my king.” He bowed in a susurration of feathers before leaving.
The reptilian general grunted. “What of this world and Onuna?”
“We claim it. Erase anything he has built. I want to kill any hope this realm or the next has of their precious lost king. Besides, it’s been a long trip. I am sure my beasts are hungry.”
Her smile was as vile as I remembered. The general beside her lifted a single clawed hand, and Gryhpors emerged from the tunnel. He turned on his heel, the thick-plated, scaled, legless creatures following him out. I felt the remains of Rashearim tremble in revulsion.
“Would you like to see another world fall before I snuff that pretty light out entirely?”
My heart beat rapidly in my chest as an idea formed. I could use the last sliver of power I had left to sustain me for a little while longer, or I could use it for one last act of defiance. I could save the people on Onuna. It was Dianna’s world. She’d shared it with me, showing me its blinding lights and overzealous mortals. I had grown to treasure all of it. They would not meet Nismera’s wrath or pay like Dianna and her sister had. No one should have to pay for my family’s mistakes again. I couldn’t stop what was to come for everyone, but I could for those on Onuna.
She laughed as she saw the light build in my hand. “Do you think you’re in any state to fight me, Samkiel?”
“No, but I won’t let you destroy them.”
