Page 28

CHAPTER 27

NOVA

L orcan’s words were a soft-spoken catalyst for a shockwave that blasted through the entire realm—causing me to stumble back as wind whipped my hair across my face.

At our backs stood our army, but in front of us the skies opened up to a galaxy of nebulous cosmos. A hushed sense of awe encompassed the valley as my magic crackled through the air, contrasting the darkness that pulled everything toward it in a vacuum. In the distance, right out of reach, I could feel them— they were coming, and this was an open door for them.

Unfortunately, it was also an open door for all the old gods that I expected to appear.

In a shimmering wave of magic, they appeared within my wards in their full god forms, magic coating their massive frames. They stood in contrast to the approaching darkness, and behind each of the old gods, foot soldier after foot soldier appeared, showcasing the military might that followed out of pure loyalty. At the front and center of it all was Ra. What a bastard .

His gigantic, nearly ten-foot stature towered over all around him, and he glowed with a vibrant halo of sunlight. His golden skin was painted a fiery red, broken and cracked with lines of molten gold. In his hand was a massive sword, and the weapon seemed to almost tremble in anticipation, wanting to be used. My eyes narrowed on his cocky smile as I fought the urge to call down a bolt of lightning just to get that grin off his face.

“Daughter of Magic!” Ra’s voice boomed within the dome, vibrating the air in a way that brought uncomfortable chills over my skin. “You stand ready to face forces that will annihilate you, cosmic beings that will devour you. I'll give you one chance.”

Was he for fucking real?

As he was putting on his show, Lorcan began stealthily moving to the side of the group and out of the front line so that she’d be out of the way when the battle broke out. She didn’t need to be in the fray of war. She had one job, and it was by far the most fucking important.

“Stand with us,” he continued, “and accept the gift these creatures offer—to start anew. Beings as powerful as you and the siren shouldn’t be left to die with the rest.”

The pieces of the puzzle began to click together, and I realized why Ra had been so damn confident about his plan—he’d already been in contact with the dark ones. They’d already offered him a fucking deal.

My sneer at him was unavoidable. I turned to look back at my men, noticing that the Titans had come forward to join the front line. I spoke quietly. “Be prepared—he isn’t going to take what I have to say next well.”

Then I blocked them through my bonds, wanting my focus purely on Ra. I stepped forward with slow, determined steps, allowing my magic to grow denser and heavier. A few of the foot soldiers stumbled under the weight of it as I came to a stop only twenty feet away from the Egyptian god.

I couldn’t understand how someone could be so dumb to believe the ‘promises’ of cosmic beings, no matter what they offered. I had so many insults that I wanted to spew at this asshole, but one question was more important.

“Why, Ra? Why trade what you have for the possibility of less ? You could fight by our side. You could keep what you have. You rule over an entire sector of the God realm; you have hundreds of loyal followers. So why?”

His face grew enraged as he pointed his sword directly at me. “Because what we have now is not enough!”

Ah, well, I guess that made sense. I don’t know why I’d expected something with more depth—I really shouldn’t have. Ra was just a power-obsessed asshole who wasn’t happy with his very privileged lot in life.

“So it’s not enough that you’re the ruling god of an entire sector, that humans remember and admire you through mythology and ancient religion? What more could you want?”

I’d slowly been stepping closer to him as I spoke so that he was mere feet away from me. Three large steps and we’d be toe-to-toe. I didn’t cower or show any sign of discomfort at the disgust he was aiming at me, but being so damn close wasn’t ideal if he decided to swing that damn sword my way.

“I— we, ” he managed to correct himself before one of the other old gods could object, “used to be worshipped and seen as the answer to all. But now we are only remembered in stories. The gods of modern day don’t even reside in our damn realm!”

Interesting. Putting a pin in that for later.

“So no, Nova, it is not enough,” he spat. “We want what we have always wanted. Power. It is the way of gods. Surely you of all people know that.”

“Power means nothing if you exert it over those who are weaker than you,” I retorted. “Before, you were worshipped as a leader. Now, no matter what you do, you’ll be remembered as a traitor to everyone .”

“If you won’t aid us, won’t embrace your true potential—then we'll ring in this new era…” He paused for effect, then shouted, “With your death!”

The god surged forward, his sword pointed directly at me in an attempt to skewer me. Unfortunately for him, I saw his intention a mile away and jumped out of the way before turning sharply to intercept the violent motion.

I caught his sword between two fingers, stopping the momentum mid-air.

My magic exploded off me and rattled his sword so violently that it nearly broke off the hilt. Fury and fear flashed interchangeably on his face, and my ears rang with the sound of the strong metal being bent so easily under my touch. His magic pushed and pressed against mine as the force of our power caused the earth underneath us to tremble.

War horns filled the air, and the sounds of battle erupted behind us. My smile grew as his eyes filled with malice, pulling his sword away before tactfully jumping backwards and away from me, a sneer pulling at his lips.

“Bad. Fucking. Move.” Clouds gathered above me in thick, heavy layers, lightning dancing on the tips of my fingers as massive rock formations shot up around us to shield us from the battle. He tried to stumble back, falling into one of the formations, before realizing he was trapped.

I didn’t hesitate. I surged my power toward him. Ra cried out as his body convulsed, his protective wards diminishing under my touch. One crack in the ward was all my magic needed to surge through, searching for any hint of a trace of magic that didn’t belong to him. Magic that he had stolen. Magic that he had drained.

“You piece of shit, how many did you kill? How many did you drain?” I seethed. The clang of swords, the cries of pain, the vibration of magical salvos were nothing more than a soundtrack underlying my fury. Ra stumbled to standing, bracing himself before raising his sword, the metal lighting up with flames so intense I had to squint. The slight bend I’d created in his sword did little to deter him.

“As many as I wanted. Our descendants serve us , the magical creatures serve us . They are nothing without us. It is our right to use them.”

“Maker.” I threw a bolt of magic at him, but Ra darted out of the way. Seemed he’d gotten his footing back. “You are such a stereotypical bad guy. I don’t want to hear another fucking word out of you.”

Our fight began in earnest, the two of us engaged in a dangerous dance. Skilled with eons of experience, Ra fought with finesse that was contrast to my raw, untamed power.

While I could feel others nearby, even my men, I couldn’t afford to take my eyes off the god as we exchanged blow after blow.

Lightning against fire. Chaos against order—well, his fucking order, at least.

The other older gods were important but this bastard was the driving force behind all of this—the one making every fucking deal with the dark ones.

“You will never win,” he snarled, his sword slicing past me as I ducked and rolled. I grunted as I hit into one of the rocky formations I’d pulled from the earth, skinning my left arm. Shaking myself out, I turned to face him and offered a wry smile.

“I will win this. I’ll defeat you. You will never be as powerful as you once were. You will fade, Ra. You and every other god that seeks only to satisfy their self-interests.”

Ra’s furious roar sent me flying back as he swung his sword widely, nearly slicing me in the side. My head slammed into the ground, and my vision swam. My ribs ached, but I didn’t let myself think about it as I righted myself. I was fucking ready to end this fight.

I sprinted toward him, his sword coming up to block the move as I propelled myself into the air using a rocky formation. I landed on the other side of him, his back vulnerable to me. I spun and placed both of my hands against his bare skin, shooting him up with lethal power. Enough to kill anyone .

Ra’s agonizing cry filled me with joy as hail and lightning rained down on the man, extinguishing his fucking flames all at once.

Moving away from him, I reveled in the moment—only for the bastard to tackle me. His full weight took me to the ground as his hand wrapped around my throat, the breath whooshing out of my lungs. How the fuck had he recovered so damn fast?

“You stupid bitch,” he snarled, his hand lighting up with flames that burned my throat. “We’re going to drain each and every one of you. Your power will serve the civilization we’ll build in our fucking image.”

I laughed right in his face, a coughing wheeze, and slung my arm around to grab him by the back of his skull. I pulsed power right into his brain. Ra groaned and rolled off me, clutching at his ears, which were bleeding actively.

Jumping to my feet, I spit out, “You are so pathetic. I would call these ‘daddy issues’ or something, but clearly it’s more of a you issue. You are a narcissistic, egotistical asshole”—Ra swung weakly with his sword, an easy move to dodge—“who doesn’t deserve to call themselves a god.”

I felt victorious at the way his face turned red with fury…before an unfamiliar massive arm wrapped around my chest and waist, tugging me back violently.

“I’ve got her. Finish it,” the voice said. I turned my head to see who’d captured me—Ymir, the old god from the Nordic region. What was he talking about? Finish what?

Making a push to break out of Ymir’s hold, I cried out at the way his magic invaded my nerves. An arctic wind blasted through me and my eyes shut at the assault of such frigid magic, the ice-cold sensation turning my brain to mush. My limbs went numb, vapor coming from my mouth as moisture turned to icy flakes in the air around us.

The new magic was a perfect distraction—the perfect time for Ra to make his move.

Ra’s inferno blade plunged clean through the center of my stomach. I bit down on my tongue to hold in a scream, so violently that blood leaked into my mouth. The blade protruded from my back, flames licking up my insides. My knees broke as the blade cut higher, and for a moment I sincerely wondered if I could survive this level of agony…

My magic, at that exact moment, lost her shit.

I hadn’t even realized that until that precise moment, she hadn’t been truly showing off or even trying—taking a back seat because I enjoyed battle. But once Ra had actually injured me?

My magic turned into a creature of vengeance.

In an explosive plume of power, the world rocked underneath us, and a radius of thirty feet around me was whipped up into a tornado-like wind storm. It threw Ra and Ymir back as glowing figures emerged from my body, surrounding me in a group of nine. A soothing warming sensation spread through my stomach as my injuries healed, allowing me to straighten myself up and gather my bearings. What the hell…

The glowing figures solidified into exact copies of me, all wearing the same fierce expression, all focused on Ymir and Ra. This was my magic. This was the chick that lived in my head twenty-four-seven.

Maker, that was so incredibly cool.

“Get them!” I roared, and damn did they listen.

I watched in awe as they burst into action, sprinting toward the two gods and overwhelming them with pure power—not with my magic, but with magic that appeared to belong to my bonded.

A flurry of ink, alchemy, and death magic clashed together in a joint attack. It was glorious, and so powerful that I worried it was affecting the men. Closing my eyes to remove distractions, I allowed myself to feel out where they were.

The battle was clouded with chaos and death, but I could feel the vibrant auras connected to mine. I could feel their magic strengthen in response to me pulling on the bonds, as if they existed within an endless loop of feeding from it and giving back to it.

“Nice parlor trick, but you forgot about me,” a female voice hissed in my ear as a slick, dark power wrapped around me like a snake from behind. I groaned in frustration as I turned sharply and threw a punch, my fist colliding with Inanna’s face. Shock filled her expression, her skin painted in blood from battle.

“Did you just fucking punch me?” She nearly seemed insulted.

“I was trying to check on the men I love,” I growled. “Get your gross magic away from me.”

“Your men will be dead soon.”

“I’ll show you a fucking parlor trick,” I growled, refusing to respond to her statement. I threw my hands out in front of me, blasting her with vibrant blue and black flames. Her skin blistered on the spot, and she dodged left to get away from me—though not before throwing a dagger at my torso. It grazed my shoulder and clattered to the ground. “And you have shit aim, so don’t talk about my ‘tricks.”

Before she could respond, I felt one of my avatars—because what else did I call them—get hit with a nearly fatal amount of magic. I growled defensively, realizing that Ymir was left facing all of them, with Ra nowhere to be seen. Where did the bastard go? I didn’t like not having eyes on him.

“Don’t you dare turn your back on me!” Inanna screamed, her body slamming into mine as I fell to the ground, her boots on my back. My avatars immediately came back to me, as I watched Ymir fall to the ground, the Nordic god’s neck ripped open. Solid.

I groaned as Inanna ran a blade against the back of my neck before resting the sword at the soft spot at the base of my skull.

“I don’t consider you a threat, so why wouldn’t I?” I was amused by how offended she was at me turning from our fight. She tried to bury the sword into the back of my neck, but my magic wasn’t having it. With a blast of power, she soared backwards, her sword clattering to the ground.

I snatched it up and surged toward her, burying it deep in her chest cavity. Inanna cried out as blood and dark magic seeped out of her body, shimmering with red crystals that floated up into the sky before dissipating into smoke. I crouched down and grabbed her jaw, watching the light fade out of her eyes.

Much like with Titania, my magic went a bit overboard and disintegrated her. An orb of magic danced on my fingers where her face had once been. I released the power back into the ground before standing and wiping myself off.

Walking over to Ymir, I did the same thing. I didn’t want either of them to ever be able to come back.

“You did good!” Cronus called out. Now that the immediate threats were neutralized, I took in the scene of my men and the Titans fighting in the surrounding battlefield, slaughtering enemy combatants one after another. Masses of bodies were piled on the ground, and hoards more continued coming. It was such a morbid and beautiful combination of magic, chaos, death, and violence—it was intoxicating.

My gaze snapped around as I tried to lock onto Ra’s golden magic signature—and almost immediately found it. He was sprinting to the south, towards Lorcan.

Lorcan’s aura was a beacon of seafoam green that shimmered at the top of the cliff, right on the edge of the void. She was looking upwards, clearly waiting.

Unfortunately, that meant she was distracted, and Ra would take advantage of that—I just had to hope that her men could hold him and anyone else off. Others were already battling to reach her, magic exploding on the lower levels of the cliffside.

I needed to get there. I needed to go help.

“I’m going to protect Lorcan!” I yelled out before breaking through the lines of Titans and my men, sprinting full force. I heard someone shout my name, but my panic wouldn’t allow me to even pause. Something told me I had to get to Lorcan—now.

I let out my magic in physical form, nine figures surrounding me on all sides and keeping away anyone that would try to stop my path forward. I was still so far from Ra, I wasn’t sure I would catch him in time—but I had to try. He could not be allowed to reach her.

Suddenly, a deep bellow, the sound of bass vibrating, filled the air like a war horn.

The hairs on my skin raised in warning, and a sudden magnetic pull tugged at my skin and bones as the breath whooshed out of me. Metallic screams, like echoes of the past, filled the air, making my ears bleed. My vision swam as I stumbled, trying to find my balance.

The fighting came to a halt as every single individual looked upward, attention drawn to the abyss of space, the place that once held the cosmos now replaced… devoured by three gigantic black voids approaching us.

The world eaters had arrived.