Page 45

The Cloaked Lands

Death

We stand outside Esyi, the City of Gods. I look upon the golden city, the once wealthy capital of our luscious lands. I admire the building’s glimmer under the stars once more, before I tear it all down. Rage swells in my chest and fills my bones. Wrath heats the blood coursing through my veins and pumps my heart, filling it with a need for revenge. My eyes stare into the gleaming city with the promise of destruction.

Tai walks to my side, his long legs rustling the grass. His trained eyes scan the city. “They’re all in her palace. Acteem is holding a knife to her, Ro, we need to be careful with this. He is scared, he knows what he has done. Perhaps, we can get him to give up the girl in exchange for something else.”

I glance at him, noting his black fingertips. So, he is breaking, just like Kai and me. “There is only one thing he wants, Tai,” I growl.

He catches me looking at his hands and flexes them into a fist. We make eye contact, and Tai gives me a knowing nod. “True, but maybe he wants his life more,” he suggests.

“If you think I am not going to reap that little worm, think again.” My eyes cut to him angrily, how dare he try his manipulation on me. “Save your strategies on the battle, General. Do not act like you do not wish to see him dead after what he did to Pearl. Do not treat Grace like some girl caught in our battle, and definitely do not try to use us like I’m your tactic in a master plan. Find a different way.”

Tai is quiet as I pant furiously next to him. “I’m sorry, brother. I am just trying to find the best way to get her back safe. Please understand, it is who I am to decipher the best tactics. Sometimes you all get lost in the plans. It is easier for me to detach my feelings from you,” he whispers apologetically.

“I know. I am just on edge. There is no good way of doing this, Tai. My mate is in there, we give them what they want. When she is safe, we kill them all. That is the battle plan.” I flex my fists, staring into the dark city.

Tai has a smile in his voice. “I like it. Though, I am pretty jealous you get to rip Acteem apart. I should have finished the job all those years ago.”

“I do not know how you refrained, honestly. How could you keep him alive after what he did to your unborn?” My eyes wander to his face.

Hurt shudders across his face before masking it to a calm facade once more. “Pearl was hurt. It was either him or my mate.” He shrugs.

I nod. After Pearl’s injuries from that battle, she could no longer hold a child. I saw the wound myself, struck in her rounding womb by Acteem’s spear. They lost their babe, and she can never hold another because of him. I know Tai does not chew on herbs to keep sterile from lack of wanting a baby. Pearl’s stomach is badly scarred inside, any child that forms dies shortly after. He is sparing her the pain of constant miscarriages. I deliver every little soul they have to a beautiful Isle. It is too bad they cannot see it—them.

Tai slaps a hand on my back, making me tense and roll my shoulders.

“Who is going for who?” Tai calls out, walking back into the group. “ Obviously, I’m taking Saji.”

“I want Siggy.” Kai strolls carefully behind me, coming to my side to stare into Esyi.

I let their voices drown out as I feel the life around me, extending my fingers to the ground. They beg me to release my rot. I do not care who they take, as long I as get Acteem. A growl escapes me as I think about him with my mate.

“Ro.” Kai’s voice snaps me out of my thoughts.

I look at him, dark veins spiderweb up his neck. The Darkness that bonds us is calling us all to crack open. H?l will use us all to get its mate back.

Wild crimson eyes shine with rare clarity. “You kill him, and you make it hurt,” he whispers intensely.

I crack my neck, tension tight in my body. Icy air protrudes through my aura, frosting the buildings and turning the grass into ice. My shadows lash out between every crevice awaiting my command and shaking the earth.

It is time.

I let out a deep hum, releasing everything into my chest, vibrating my body with anticipation. My jaw is tight as my guttural song fills the quiet air. The twins’ cries are next, as they wail in perfect unison, beating a song on their chest and piercing through the sky. Their voices are filled with lament; they promise revenge. Cael’s, Pearl’s, and Talon’s own powerful hums join me while Aesha’s lilt tears through the dark, quick and deadly. We sing deep in our chants together, feeling the sorrow and anger deep within us and letting it out in song. Our cries promise war, destruction, and Death.

I start to walk, first among them. I rip the life within my grasp, rotting the ground and pulling the nature into ash. The golden gleams once bright on the buildings start to tarnish around me, metal flutters into the air, carried away by the biting wind. Walls start to crack and crumble, disintegrating under my touch. Cold shadows seep through the cracks, lashing out in fury and sending boulders exploding into the air.

The sounds of this once mighty city falling under my touch echo into the lands. My jaw is tight as I only have one thing on my mind: my mate. They will pay with their lives for hurting her. Acteem will suffer, I will grasp his fucking soul and burn it in the Infernal Realm for the rest of eternity. I will not settle until Grace is in my arms again.

Water thrashes in the rivers along the pathways, crashing against the walls as Cael’s own power courses through him. A black depthless Void expands across the sky, blocking out all light in an inky mass, swallowing the moon; Kai has let Chaos out. I hear his crazed laughter echo into the sky against Aesha’s wails as her lightning lashes out, wild and angry. Thunder booms above us as wind picks up, lifting up boulders and raising them into the air. They circle us, landing their strikes into buildings nearby.

I see Megala’s palace. My eyes set into a dangerous focus as I send H?l inside. I feel the shadows inching inside the walls, the doors, and windows. I crack my fist, pulling them all down in an instant, sending the front half of her once glittering palace tumbling into the ground. The earth shakes under us, but I keep charging forward. My pace picking up as I am so close to her. I can smell her sweet scent. I can smell her fear. I can smell her blood.

A growl escapes me as fury rears its head.

I am coming.