Page 22

22

SUMMONING THE COURAGE FOR REVENGE

T he sight of him sitting in that massive throne made me shudder. I wanted nothing more than to just run from the room.

The back of the chair rose up in a collection of giant dragon-style wings all interlocked together. Ten sets of them, at least, all fanned out, creating a huge backdrop that took up most of the wall behind. Each one tipped with deadly looking horns at multiple points, with the bottom of the chair like stone tree roots coming straight from the ground, anchoring it in place.

This was situated on a raised platform with a fan of steps leading up to it. Behind, were swathes of soft black fabric that hung from the arch behind, similar to what was in my room by my bed. Either side of the throne, were two doors tucked close to the corners of the room. Each framed in its own carved stone arch with keystone above.

The room was big enough to have held thousands of bodies, yet there looked to be just me and him. I didn't know whether this was worse or not, because I was left to walk the entire distance toward his throne alone. The long length of black carpet leading the way to what seemed to be my doom. My footsteps were barely heard because my nerves were that shot, that one sound and I might have taken off running.

Which meant that by the time I got to the foot of the stairs of the raised platform I had to fist my hands by my sides just to stop them from shaking. As for the oh mighty king himself, he looked eager for me to get there. The gleam in his eye told me that he had something planned and whatever it was, it would not bode well for me.

And I was right.

“Ella, my dearest, I have guests I would like you to meet.”

I kept in whatever snarky remark I would have liked to give, watching as one of the doors in the corner opened. Then in walked what I would have easily classed as being a real Queen.

She wore a long, dark red dress, that was edged in gold and fell off her shoulders into long sleeves past her hands. The style was similar to that of some medieval fair maiden. Her waist was cinched in by the thick gold under corset, that was glittering with jewels and coils of golden rope keeping them in place. This matched the crown she wore, which was deadly gold spikes decorated in rubies and diamonds. Her long black hair hung down in waves all the way past her waist.

As for her face, her haughty expression gave her an air of arrogance, and she looked down her slim nose as if everything displeased her. Her dark brown eyes held a cruelty to them that instantly told everyone around her that this woman could not be trusted. The regal way she moved told me she had most likely spent most her life as royalty, oh… and she wasn’t alone. In walked another woman, this one dressed as if she were ready for war. Both women sneered at me the second they saw me.

The second women’s armor was strange and made from what looked like a delicate filigree of painted black metal. The chest piece was molded to her tall frame, covering her from the top of her shoulders all the way to her hips, making me wonder how she even got in that thing. Long, black, sheer gauze material floated down from the edge of the metal, acting as a skirt. Her skin was so pale she looked half dead and with her black eyes void of any emotion, I could have well believed it. Her hair was worn loose, like the queen’s, with white streaks running through the black, matching her own crown. One far less gaudy and extravagant than the queen because it looked to be made from stark white bone fingers.

“Your Majesty, how good of you to come so quickly,” Garmr said without rising from his chair.

“Yes, well when your messenger told me what you have for me, then of course I came, for I have been waiting to kill my husband’s bastard children since that harlot Nymph tricked him into bedding her.”

At this I nearly lost my shit, knowing now she was talking about our mother, which would mean this was…

“Persephone,” I said her name with distain and through gritted teeth, making the woman who had accompanied her fly at me in rage. She was so quick that I had no time to react as she back handed me hard enough that I not only hit the floor, but I went skidding along it!

The jarring hit made my ears ring as well as making me taste blood in my mouth. The pain of it made my eyes water, and I could only hope she hadn’t broken my jaw!

“Silence, half-blood!” she snarled, coming at me again, only this time, Garmr intervened. He was by my side in a second, grabbing her arm and preventing her from striking me again.

“I believe we have business first, for you know the deal!” he growled angrily. Making me spit out blood to the floor, as I tried to get up, hoping and praying to the Gods that the baby was okay after that fall. The woman, who I was guessing to be Persephone’s daughter, Melino?, yanked her hand free and snapped,

“Then let’s get on with it!”

“Yes, please do, for my daughter, Melino?, has been quite eager for the chance to torture this one… and better yet, I get to watch… it is, however, just a shame my husband won’t be here to witness it,” the queen said cruelly, but Garmr didn’t seem to be listening because he helped me up from the floor, making me snatch my hand away from him. He gritted his teeth before forcing me to look his way, now gripping my chin and assessing the damage.

The blood on my split lip was dripping down my chin, as well as from my nose, making him snarl back at Melino?. Then after running the back of his fingers down my burning cheek, he pulled piece of black fabric from his suit jacket pocket and handed it to me so I could hold it to my bleeding nose.

“And what of my end of the bargain?” he asked, his voice now hard and void of earlier pleasantries.

“Yes, yes, you may have my legions to fight in your silly war, I care not, for all I want is the girl’s head. Shame, though, you don’t have the other one.”

I gritted my teeth at that, knowing that she was talking about Lerna.

“This is the only girl that concerns me, for she is all I need,” Garmr said, his eyes on me, before turning back to face the queen.

“And had you possession of them both, then you could have bargained for much more,” she countered, making Garmr scoff.

“Ah, but I think you misunderstand me, Persephone.”

“That is Queen of the Underworld to you, Geryon,” she snapped, making me wonder why she thought he was called that? Was this what Jared had been talking about when mentioning this name?

“But you see, that is not my name at all,” he replied, now dropping all pretense and revealing his true self.

I had a feeling that this had all been a set up for the queen. Because even I knew now, that Garmr didn’t want me dead. Even without my powers. Which could only mean that he needed the ones who had stolen it to begin with.

That he needed them here.

Oh no, this was bad.

“I… I don’t understand, you shouldn’t be here, not in my realm,” the queen stuttered, as if realizing that she had been played.

“Soon to be my realm, my dear, and speaking of which, I would like to introduce you to my Queen…” He held his hand out to indicate me, making the other two glare at me in shock.

“How dare you! I demand to know the meaning of this!” she shrieked in outrage, making Garmr grin. One that stayed in place even when her daughter ran at me, a dagger pulled from her back now in hand. A dagger that was about to kill me. But then just before she could get close, she suddenly froze in place like a statue half running. A green fog started to hold her suspended in place, swirling around her like unseen shackles had gripped her.

“Ah, ah, ah, Melino?, I can’t allow that. Now you see, you have something that belongs to me or should I say… belongs to my queen.”

At this Melino? started to scream as if something was being ripped out of her. And well… it was.

I looked to Garmr to see that he was drawing her powers from her, pulling and pulling as if handling a thick phantom rope in front of him. The coiled green ribbons of smoke were dragged towards him and, piece by piece, they were yanked away from her.

“What do you think you are doing?! Stop it, stop it at once!” the queen shrieked, trying to stop him, but Garmr used a free hand to backhand her, just as hard as her daughter had done to me. Something that made her go falling to the floor, with her crown now clattering on the stone as it rolled from her head.

Then Garmr started walking closer and closer to Melino?, pulling harder and harder, making her scream in agony until her knees buckled and hit the floor. She tried clawing at her metal covered chest until suddenly, it released her completely. This as the last remains of my power left her. She fell forward, now scrambling along the floor, trying to chase the power like loose threads she desperately wanted to cling on to.

It made me wonder why it hadn’t hurt like that with me when that creature had taken it? Had it been because I had unknowingly given it up willingly? I looked to Garmr, who now had the book of souls floating next to him like this was the true core of my power.

“Come here, Ella,” he ordered gently. I shook my head and started walking backward.

“Ella, there is no escaping this,” he told me as I started to move faster. His voice now echoing the louder he became.

“There is no escaping your fate!”

I turned and started running down the center of the room, desperate to make it to the doors. Desperate to escape. But it was like he said, there was no escaping this. Not when a green portal suddenly opened up in front of me, making me scream. Because I had been running too fast to stop in time, and I slammed into him. His strong frame made me bounce back a step before his hands went to my waist to stop me from falling.

“There is no escaping me,” he growled demonically, making his eyes glow crimson, and the darkness around them grew outward along his face. Then he forcefully took my hand in his cold grip, making me try and fight him. But then, when he made the book appear right next to me, I knew what he was going to do.

“No! No, I don’t want it! Please stop!” I shouted, knowing what would happen the second I touched it. Because it wasn’t just about getting my powers back, it was about what he would make me do when I did. And I was soon to find out.

I could only fight him for so long before he slapped my hand to the book. The second I made contact, I gasped, as every single soul came rushing back to me.

And then just like last time… I was screaming.

The power of it coiled up around me as if trying to consume me whole. That same vortex of souls all swimming around me, this time forcing me to grip onto him, as if I needed the anchor. Which was when he wrapped an arm more firmly around me and said,

“Just let it happen… that’s it… let it consume you, let it consume us both, my queen.”

I forced my hands to grip him tighter, holding on as a bright green light blinded me. The overwhelming feeling of rage and hurt and pain hit me all at once, compelling me to control it.

So, I did.

But the moment I gave in to the temptation of dominating the power, I started to lose myself. I felt myself falling under, unable to resist the power from taking me over. My mind was getting lost in an abyss, like falling down a well and gripping the sides, desperate to stop myself. Until I finally landed and when I did, I knew my body and mind was no longer just my own.

I wondered for a moment if this was what it was like for Jared when in his HellBeast form. Like an outsider peering through the window with no control over our own body. I was conscious and could see everything my body did, but I was no longer in the driving seat.

I was a prisoner.

Which was when I discovered the truth. Garmr had been right. Because the moment the Summoner power took over and changed me, I became someone else. I blinked through the last remains of the switch, before looking to Garmr in a new way. And he too looked down at me, as if I was finally back.

“My love?” I heard my voice speak but it wasn’t my conscious self that had spoken.

“Yes… finally, finally, my love, you return to me,” he said fervently, as if it overwhelmed him as he crushed me to his body, holding me tight. Then he pulled back, taking my face in his hands and I wanted to scream, “NO!” I wanted to pull away when he started to kiss me. My cry of pain only came out as a deep, passionate moan, as if the Summoner part of me had waited an entire lifetime for this.

At the same time, I heard the queen and her daughter call out in anger. Making myself and Garmr part enough to look their way to see a mother consoling her wicked daughter.

“YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS, GARMR!” the queen screamed, making me look to the man whose arms still held me in his tight embrace. Then, a voice that sounded like me asked,

“And you brought me things to play with?” The question made me wince inside the prison of my own mind.

“Yes, a gift, for your return.”

“A gift?” I asked in what sounded like bewilderment, making me scream silently, ‘don’t listen to him!’

Garmr then took me by the tops of my arms and turned me to face them so he could speak behind me, right by my ear.

“Yes, for they killed your mother, your dear sweet, Leuce… they took her from you and your sister.”

I heard myself gasp, then a strange sound I have never made before rumbled from me. I snarled at them both, feeling the rage building. Doing so until it unleashed in the form of green flames now licking down my arms, all the way to the tips of my fingers.

But then this nightmare wasn’t over yet, because this was when the true horror began, starting with an order from Garmr.

“Kill them, Anástasi, make them pay for what they took from you.” At this, my other self needed no more to release her powers. The serpents of green smoke whipped out, her souls all rising up around them.

After that, I was forced to watch as she…

Slaughtered them both.