Madoc’s gaze landed on Ignitus, bathed in blue flames, surrounded by his guards. Tor with an orb of fire in each hand. A gladiator with a spear lifted overhead.
Ash.
Ash was here.
Madoc’s blood surged as Ignitus carved a path in flames toward his brother.
Chaos gripped the room. From all around him came the clang of metal and the crack of breaking bones. Shouts rang out in horror and fury alike as Ignitus’s guards clashed against the centurions.
Madoc breathed it in, his muscles tense and ready. His heartbeat came in hard kicks to his ribs.
“Ignitus!” Geoxus roared. The floor gave a hard lurch, and Madoc was tossed to his hands and knees. A centurion fell on top of him but didn’t move.
Madoc didn’t have to reach out to feel the void of the soldier’s soul.
He shoved off the soldier and rose, searching for Ash. He couldn’t see her. He didn’t understand why she was here, but it didn’t matter. He had to get to Geoxus.
“You side with Anathrasa and you bring death to the world, brother.” Ignitus’s voice rose above the screams. “Did you think I’d let you pick Kula apart until nothing remained? That I would stand by while the two of you finished what she started all those years ago? You’re a fool if you thought I wouldn’t fight back.”
Fire whipped in a ring around the room, a snake eating all those in its path. Madoc dived just as it singed a tapestry on the wall above. Still aflame, it ripped free with a crackle and landed on several centurions.
“The time of gladiators is over,” Ignitus said. “Now we fight our own battles.”
Geoxus laughed, the sound sending terror down Madoc’s spine.
“Finally, we agree,” the god of earth roared.
A rumble thrust through Madoc’s chest, shaking his organs. He fell backward as the far wall of the throne room exploded outward, revealing the blinding white light outside. The courtyard beyond was coated in dust, plants and trees crushed and knocked down by the blow. Half of the mortals in the room dived for cover. The othersclashed, guided by a fevered, desperate need to survive.
A hundred stones rose into the air around the newly carved exit and hurled toward the god of fire in the center of the room. With a hiss, Ignitus thrust his hands out, creating a wall of fire to block the attack.
The ceiling groaned as a section gave way to Madoc’s left. He threw himself clear as giant hunks of stone fell, crushing centurions and Kulans alike, but bounced harmlessly off Geoxus’s shoulders as he charged toward Ignitus. The gods collided with a deafening boom that shook the entire palace from the roots to the tallest tower.
Outside, Madoc could hear faraway screams as giant sections of the building began to topple.
There was no time left. The palace would be destroyed, and when it was, Madoc would die, and no one would be able to stop Geoxus.
Wiping the film of dust from his eyes, he rushed forward, shoving two fighters out of his way. He lifted his arms, calling on the pain inside him, demanding it feed on the figure in black standing in the center of the room.
It began like a whisper. A soft breath against his neck.
Then it took hold like a hurricane.
His body jerked, a puppet on strings. He pulled and pulled on Geoxus’s soul, unable to stop each huge gulp that filled him. His bones pressed outward. His skin stretched to the point of tearing. In his head, he could hear his pulse like the galloping of a monstrous horse. He could feel the cold chafe of sand against his heart.
It was going to kill him. Taking the soul of a god would tear him apart.
Still, he thirsted.
“No!” Geoxus’s scream filled the room. Filled Madoc’s head. Burst in his ears.
He squeezed his eyes closed in concentration. He wound his fingers around the invisible threads of the god’s soul and pulled harder.
But something inside him twisted, shuddered.Heated.This was wrong. There were no more rough edges. No heavy weight on his bones. The soul energy had changed. It was lighter now, harder to hold on to.
Itburned.
He couldn’t let go. He sucked air through his clenched jaw, trying to control it, to release the reins, but the god’s soul had wrapped its tendrils around his limbs, his chest, his throat. He couldn’t peel free.
