He could have no part of me ever again.
As if he heard those declarations, a creeping smiled curled over Echnid’s lips. At the sight, I channeled more seraph and myth power to devour his, to stretch beyond the god’s reach and swallow it whole, just as it had with Ptholenix’s fire.
I am the last seraph, I repeated to myself as magic tugged at my being and sweat rolled along my skin. I was a threat the known gods felt the need to banish, and my power would not be leashed.
A hugecrackechoed over the desert as I broke through his force, showers of gold sparks and white mists raining to the sand, the latter reeling in the god’s magic where it pummeled the city. I panted as Sapphire rose and fell in the sky, whinnying her battle cry.
“Stay true, girl,” I gritted out, rage bubbling beneath every word.
And she dove to the dunes, ready to face a god.
As she landed, sand flying up around us, I pulled the Vincienzo dagger from its sheath and held it flat against my thigh. It warmed in my palm, the blade hungry to take a god’s life, as I had—Spirits willing—imbued it to do when forging it with the power of all seven Angels.
“Echnid,” I said, sitting tall atop Sapphire.
“Ophelia,” he greeted, both of our wells of power carving out a space as the barrage slowed. “Have you finally decided to join me?”
I scoffed. “If you truly still believe I will do that, you’re more delusional than I thought.”
“Delusions and dreams are not that different,” he said, hands folded before him, infuriatingly calm as mist rolled off his shoulders.
“Spoken as someone truly in his own world.”
“You understand the idea,” he purred.
“Is that the plan?” I asked. Sapphire slowly rotated around him as I spoke, moving imperceptibly closer with each step. “To consume Ambrisk once you take out the gods?”
“The plan is to first harness your power because you will be the ultimate asset. Then, I will dispose of my siblings, absorbing their strength in the meantime.”
I blanched at the concept of him consuming all of the known gods’ power.
“You didn’t absorb Moirenna’s.” No, Moirenna had the Fatecatcher to account for.
Echnid hummed. “All of that will be remedied in time.”
Vale flashed through my mind, and a defensive instinct roared up. He would not lay a hand on any member of my family.
“And what?” I spat. “You command Ambrisk, then? You allow your Angels and gorgons free reign over the realm?” He’d mentioned once he wanted to open bridges, to restore the truths that have been lost to this realm and attend toothers. But he’d been drugging me at the time, and those days all blurred together.
“Ambrisk is the Balance Realm, Ophelia. It is the heart of magic of every realm. He who controls Ambrisk, controls all.”
“So, this all goes back to control, then? Control and revenge?” The oldest motives known to warrior kind. To command that which does not belong to you, to outlaw all those who would speak against you. It was a violation of the very nature of Balance we were woven by.
And yet, the ego of a god saw it as earned. He could notearnour respect in title alone, though.
How sad must that have been, to spend your entire existence thinking your legacy expounded that of others, simply by nature? To think you knew better, enough to force them to bow to you?
Sapphire was closer now, Echnid turning slow circles around himself to watch us. A satisfied smile played along his lips.
“First, it will be revenge against my siblings. Then, against all others. Pantheons that have built their own empires. Those who have kept us out. I will open the locked bridges, let my children rule Ambrisk as they wish, and I will conquer other paths.”
My blood chilled. “How did you do it? Break down Artale’s barrier?”
“On the whim of sacrifice, Ophelia.” Cruelty radiated from that proud smile and the straight set of his shoulders. “The Goddess of Death wove her magic against me with the blood of her own daughter, and the warriors beneath her. One significant offering from each Angel was all it took to unravel an enchantment so densely cast.”
I have to find my sacrifice, Damien had claimed. Gaveny and Ezalia. Spirits, my gut sank as I understood they were offering us up, blood drawn at their own hands, the loss that would impact each clan.
I shouldn’t have been surprised, yet my stomach turned with the truth. “Why make the Angels offer such a thing when they are loyal to you?”
