Page 168

Fuck this.

“You must have forgotten who I am.” He drove his fist straight to the ground; the dirt, grass, and trees within a twenty-foot radius gave way and started falling into a pit. Hel’s wings ripped out from his back, and he rose up. The gods who’d surrounded him scrambled to get away from the crumbling earth, crawling and clawing to grab hold of something solid.

“THANE! You gave me your word!” he shouted as he broke through the tops of the trees.

Swiftly unscrewing the top to the crystal, he marveled only a moment at the silver essence swirling inside. “You are mine,” was all he whispered, and it pushed through the opening and hit him in the chest. Athud, thud, thud,pounded in his ears as the power flooded through his blood. A light burst across his vision like a blazing star then slowly faded. Everything was louder, brighter, and more colorful. A hot pulse poured out from his core to his fingertips, to the top of his head and down to his toes as if he was coated in warm honey.

He held his hand in front of himself— his skin had a new subtle glow to it. His magic hummed with a new intensity. He threw his head back and started laughing. He’d forgotten how it felt to be so powerful, unstoppable.

If the battle was lost, he was going to take out as many as he could, and no one could stop him.

THANE

Phantom shiftedand danced side to side nervously beneath Thane. He stomped and tossed his head, ready to charge into battle. On his right, Fennan twisted the reins in his hands. To his left, Piper kept looking at him. The screams and battle criesechoed through the forest and across the open plane between them. Swords clashed, metal rang on metal, beast fought beast. It was pure chaos the likes he hadn’t seen in such a long time he’d forgotten the intensity of it.

He’d watched the exchange between Hel and Pricilla, watched the charge. Just like Hel said he would, he pissed her off enough to draw her army out. Beneath his Raven-winged helmet, sweat slid down the side of his face. Thunder clouds boomed to the east, rain poured but the sun still peeked through. The light reflecting off the pink-tinged trees created a red haze. That or all the blood being spilled.

“They are losing this battle,” Piper finally said.

“We want the pale ones to die,” Fennan said calmly.

“So you brought us here for what?” Piper growled. “To watch a slaughter and then have them march into Palenor?”

Thane remained silent. The pale ones fought as fiercely as he’d ever seen them. Teeth sunk into throats and guts hung from mouths. There wasn’t any part of him that felt sorry to watch them die. Only that Hel was waiting. Having their master amongst them gave them a zealousness they didn’t have before.

He watched several of Pricilla’s army turn into a cursed creature, a minotaur, a handful of feline shifters, even a dragon. Even if they were killed, it was alarming.

“THANE! You gave me your word!” Hel’s voice cut through the chaos, cut into his heart. He shot up above the trees, hovering on great white feathered wings, then a bolt of light burst out from him. An invisible wave rocked the ground…

“What was that?” Leif asked, leaning forward in his saddle. All the horses neighed and stomped at the disturbance.

“Hel just became a god again.” Thane smiled slowly.

“Then he can’t be killed.” Fennan patted his horse’s neck. “All the more reason we should wait until the pale ones die.”

“But he could be captured,” Piper added. “You said those cuffs the goddess has can bind his magic.”

“If they can get them on him.” Leif sounded proud of Hel.

“We wait.” Thane gripped the saddle horn to keep his hands from trembling. He didn’t want to wait. His mind said to charge in, but his gut said to hold. If Pricilla couldn’t get to Hel, she’d go for Palenor and draw him away from her fortress, but the timing had to be right, or he’d lose more than half of his Ravens and he wasn’t willing to do that.

From his position, hidden in the thick wood that circled Pricilla’s fortress, he could see the fighting diagonal to him. Many dragons circled above but most of them had landed and marched into the fight on the ground.

“Thane. The portal is right where they are fighting.” Piper had her sword in hand. “Palenor could be in danger.”

“You hate the pale ones. We have wanted this curse gone all our lives. Now you’ll watch it happen.”

“I may not like Hel, but you told him we would be there to fight. They aren’t the enemy right now.”

“And we will attack when I say.”

She threw her hand toward the battle. “We can attack the rear and box them in now.”

“If you don’t want to follow the commands of yourkingthen go back home!”

Piper winced and turned away.

Prince Ronan, covered in silver dragon scales, stepped in front of Thane. “We don’t have the numbers to fight her once his army is wiped out. If we wait much longer, she will overwhelm us too.”