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Ramaal shook his head. “B-but how! The Thaqiba protected us!”
The god sneered at the spot where the columns had stood. “Indeed, they had, but you allowed this useful tool-” He gestured down to the remains of Maram, “-to convince you that the Thaqiba needed more ‘tending’ or it would fail, didn’t she? Your fear guided your actions and helped my purpose wonderfully. You never even suspected it was she who had begun the decline of the Thaqiba through her connection as one of the bloodlines of sages.”
Ramaal’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “My God. . .”
Eanaf threw back his head and laughed. “How I have so eagerly waited to hear those words again! Speak again to me, for I am returned and I will take my place upon the throne of this island! It will be great again as of old!”
He raised his arms and foggy tendrils shot out. The darkness slithered across the ground and wrapped around the king. They weren’t particular, however, and more than just royalty was captured. The stragglers from the crowd and those foolish enough to return out of curiosity were rewarded with their own tendril.
Two of the creatures slithered toward Ben and me. Ben drew me behind him and held up his hand with the palm facing the creatures. The tendrils wrapped around him, but the moment they touched his body their entire length blew up and was dispersed into the air.
Eanaf immediately whipped his head about to face us. He narrowed his red eyes at Ben. “You stink of dragon blood.”
Ben breathed hard but managed a grin. “And you stink of the grave. Perhaps you shouldn’t have left it.”
The god curled his lips back in a snarl as he stretched his arms out on either side of him. He flexed his fingers and the talons lengthened into daggers some six inches long. “I will not suffer another claimant to live.”
Eanaf rushed toward us, slithering along the ground with such great speed that Ben had only time to throw himself on top of me. I grabbed him and prepared for the worst as the shadow of the beast loomed over us.
That’s when a hulking figure crashed into the imperious god’s side.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-SIX
The blow forcedEanaf off his path and he toppled to the sands a few yards off. Our savior’s shadow fell over us and my heart was filled with hope at the sight of Nabiha seated atop Benya. She held two vials in her hand and her person jingled with glass like a wind chime.
“And I will not suffer my ancestor’s memory to be so sullied by your revival!” she snapped.
Eanaf righted himself and stretched himself to his full, lithe height as he snapped his jaws at her. “Your stench is all I need to know the truth of your words, mortal!”
Nabiha scoffed at him. “Don’t pretend you are anything other than that, snake. My ancestor sacrificed his life to seal you because he did not have the nullifying abilities this man possesses.”
Eanaf snapped his jaws at Ben even as his tendrils whipped about him. “I will deal with him as soon as I have finished with these sacrifices.”
Dozens of people were trapped in the grasp of his shadows, and their bodies became illuminated by the dark light as Eanaf began to drain them of their very lives. Among those victims were Salah and his family. They cried out as their bodies glowed bright.
Lila tried to grab hold of the tendril and her hands passed through the shadowy form. Her effort was not in vain, however, as the tendril that held her vanished. She dropped to the ground in shock, but she quickly recovered and lunged at her suffering parents. Her hands worked the magic of Ben’s family and the shadows were vanquished.
Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed as Eanaf threw a dozen more tendrils at them. Lila threw herself on top of the shadows and they burst out of existence.
Eanaf let out a roar as the life source from the others slipped through the tendrils and into his body. “Your efforts are futile, mortal! I will take these lives and be returned to my full strength!”
Cries of pain wracked my ears as the victims writhed in pain. Ben rushed toward the nearest victim who happened to be the king and grabbed the tendrils holding him and his guards. The shadows vanished and the light around Eanaf diminished. Eanaf rushed toward him and Nabiha rushed to intercept, but she was blocked by a half dozen tendril shadows that latched on to Benya.
That meant Eanaf slashed at Ben’s back. The god’s claws cut through Ben’s shirt and exposed his pale skin. Blood poured from the deep gashes and Ben spun around to block the next blow with his own claws. Eanaf’s might was such that the force of his swipe threw Ben to the sands. Eanaf towered over him ready to deal a damaging blow.
“Ben!” I shouted as I stretched out my hand toward him.
A bright light burst out of Ben and shot out in all directions. Eanaf was blown back along with all his tendrils. His victims dropped to the ground, weak but still alive.
Ben gaped at himself as his dark shadows pulsed around him, flickering like hungry flames that cast a comforting warmth over the area. Lila, too, stared dumbly at her own body became illuminated with pure brilliance.
I blinked at them before I looked down at myself. A gentle glow enveloped me.
“What the hell?” I whispered as I turned my hands over.
A roar from Eanaf ruined the moment as the ‘god’ climbed to his slithery body and his tendrils thrashed around him. His eyes blazed with fury at me and his fangs dripped with drool and poison. A horrible stench filled the air as he snapped his jaws at me.
There was death in those eyes, and it was meant for me.
