I nod once and let him go. Watch him walk into battle like the king he was born to be.
My legs wobble. My hands tremble. But I keep my eyes on him. I’m not going to miss a second.
Around us, the battlefield seethes. Sin is still fending off the warriors, blowing through them like a hurricane. Levi’s locked in his own brawl — pinning Amira while trying to keep two others off his back. It’s chaos. It’s carnage.
Draven looks around once and then he roars.
A sound so deep, so loud, so violent that it shakes the ground. Debris launches into the air. Trees rattle. Warriors drop to their knees instantly, heads bowed, foreheads to the dirt.
All of them. Even Levi. Even Amira. Except Sin. Of course not Sin. I don’t know why the hell that is, but one day I’ll figure it out.
Satisfied, Draven turns his gaze to the red-headed witch. She’s chanting now, fast and frantic, her hands glowing with weak crimson threads.
Neris yips inside my head, tail wagging like a maniac.“Our mate’s back, Kass! He’s really back! And he’s gonna burn that bitch.”
I sure hope so.
The witch throws a bolt of red lightning at him. He doesn’t even dodge it. Just keeps walking like she’s throwing pieces of paper. She hurls another one toward me — it hits the ring of hellfire and disintegrates on impact.
She looks terrified now. That’s right, you evil witch. Your time’s up.
My eyes flick to the side. I see poor Sinalyn slumped against a tree, chest rising slowly. I hope she’s ok. Without her, we wouldn’t be standing right now.
A surge of excitement and pure pleasure goes through me when Draven shifts into Draxis mid-step. Without a lick of hesitation. Without breaking his stride for even one moment. One blink, and there’s no more man. Just the monster. The beast. Ten feet of nightmare. Wings ablaze. Scales gleaming under his fur. Eyes molten silver.
Neris freezes, eyes fixed on him. I freeze too, watching with bated breath.
He stops a few feet from the witch and raises one clawed hand. Just a flick of the wrist.
Golden fire ignites at her feet.
She screams — high, sharp and inhuman. She tries to run. The flames follow. She tries to stamp them out. They surge higher.
They eat her alive.
I watch, eyes wide, throat dry. Her skin blackens. Then sloughs off. Her shrieks cut into the sky, and still Draxis watches calmly. Cold. Like a god judging the damned.
The stench hits me next. Burned rot. Boiled flesh. I gag and cover my mouth with my hand.
Neris doesn’t look away once. She’s watching the witch being eaten alive by hellfire like it’s a theater play.
Finally, she collapses. A twitching pile of burnt meat and ash. But Draxis doesn’t stop.
The hellfire consumes her. Her bones. Her magic. Everything. Until there’s nothing left. Not even dust.
I squeak when a man materializes in front of Draxis, cloaked in golden armor, soaked in blood, a warhammer clutched in his hand. He stands where the witch once burned, the nothing she became now a void between them.
It can’t be… That can’t be… No, no, he can’t be here!
“Aresssss,” Draxis hisses, his voice a broken growl. Shit, of course. The God of War is here. Because his daughter just died.
Ares sighs, and looks at the empty space where the witch used to be, seeming unbothered. “Did you really have to burn her soul, too?”
Draxis lifts a single talon and flames start building back up, violent and alive, heat thickening the air. The fire builds fast and Ares takes a sharp step back, instinct flaring. Then the mad bastard laughs. Head thrown back, chest shaking.
“Come on now,” Ares says, all smug ease and slick charm. “You know how it is — love and war, no rules.” He flashesDraxis a grin like they’re old friends meeting for drinks instead of standing over the ashes of his dead daughter.
Draxis growls low in his throat. The sound is pure warning. He’s not amused.
