The shadows smiledas they stepped over the Lord, straddling him. When the Lord tried to use his powers again, the host shoved the air down until it encompassed the man. The Lord’s face paled as the air crushed his lungs.
“It seems your plan has backfired,” the shadows hissed.
The Lord’s mouth twisted into a snarl. “You have not won! You’re dead too!”
“We are very much alive and just so you know,” the host said as he knelt closer to the Lord, “Orin and Varo are alive too, you piece of shit. We used the harrow stone to fake their deaths, but they’re alive and on that battlefield, killingyourarmy.”
The Lord’s face turned an apocalyptic red as he shoved against the air the host had turned on him. “Liar!” he spat.
“Not at all. They live, and weallplotted against you. I wanted you to know that before I killed you.”
Spittle flew from the Lord’s mouth as he thrashed and screamed. “I’ll kill you!”
The shadows’ laughter filled the hall as they slid around the air the Lord used as a shield against them. Like chickens pecking from the ground, they tore little pieces away from him. His screams were pure music as the host broke through the barrier.
* * *
As the Lord’sscreams rose in intensity, Lexi opened her eyes to watch the man, who’d inflicted so much sadness and destruction on the realms, torn to shreds by Cole and the shadows.
The shadows’ laughter continued to fill the hall, but it wasn’t like any laughter she had ever heard before. This was like the bowels of Hell had opened to release the cries of the damned trapped within.
The Lord’s body parts fell to join the countless others scattered around the room until the screams and laughter finally stopped.
CHAPTEREIGHTY
The shadows turnedtoward the arach who stood in the middle of all the blood and death they’d so gleefully inflicted. Sorrow from the host pierced them, and that warm feeling came again, but they shoved the dangerous feeling aside.
They’d come this far; they wouldn’t turn back now, but the host was fighting them. It wanted free to be with her, and they couldnothave that. They would not relinquish their power again.
The arach’s eyes shone in the light spilling into the room. Anguish etched her face as they stared at one another before the host stepped aside to give her a clear path to the throne.
Bobbing and weaving, the shadows waved her toward the throne. They would see this completed even as the host tried to pull them away. The host didn’t like them near her, but he should know they wouldn’t hurt her.
“Take your throne,” the shadows commanded.
* * *
Lexi liftedher chin and looked from Cole to the throne and back again. A couple of the dragons crept closer until they nearly touched her. They looked from her to the throne and back again. She felt their eagerness, but her feet remained planted in the blood.
Cole was gone, but she still heard the destruction raining down outside as the screams of the dying filled the air. And she could stop that, or at least help with it… she hoped.
Keeping her chin high and her shoulders back, Lexi started toward the steps of the dais. She ignored the warm blood squishing between her toes as she stepped over the Lord’s head with its bulging eyes and gaping mouth.
She placed one foot on the first step and started to climb. It took more time than she expected as she kept slipping in the blood. She nearly went down a couple of times but somehow remained standing.
When she arrived at the top, she stood and stared at the arach throne. The dead littered the ground around it. Blood from the Lord’s dismembered guards dripped down the back and pooled on the seat.
Gone was the golden throne the Lord sat on; a simple, stone creation sat in its place. Dragons etched its back, but this stone seat was nowhere near as fancy as its predecessor.
The Lord must have cast a glamour over the throne to make it look more elaborate, or maybe it changed itself depending on whoever sat on it. Either way, this blood-drenched throne wasn’t the same as the Lord’s, and for that, she was thankful.
She edged closer to it. Though it was different from the Lord’s throne, she knew it had made those who sat on it for the past thousand years insane.
A lot of power ran through this throne, and it washers.
She’d be lying if she said the idea of sitting on it didn’t petrify her. It was the true arach throne, but its history was intimidating and nerve-racking.
It was a history she intended to change from this day forth.
