Death crossed the field and swung his scythe, which I ducked under before grabbing his neck and wrenching him backwards. I smashed a hand down on his face and flooded it with that black tar to try and pin him to the ground, but the tar melted off his bones and seeped right through his cloak. He took hold of my waist and whipped me around to smash his scythe handle down on the back of my neck.
When I went down, he came up, the blade of his scythe meeting me halfway. Claude gasped and launched himself towards us, but before he had a chance to pull me away, Death’s scythe pierced my abdomen and cut right through my body, the tip breaking through the other side. A hollow croak escaped my lips from the impact, as well as a stream of dense blood that spilled across Death’s shoulder.
1.Cades verberatus, false deus: You will fall beneath us, false God
Chapter twenty-two
A Thousand Other Faces
Odysseus
Ambermourn’s dwelling was concealed by numerous spells, high-class ones at that. That would pose a problem for lower-class Elementals. Griffin surveyed them carefully before placing his hand on the tree leading to his home, flashing yellow eyes, and pumping every ounce of energy he had into the tree. The tree seized wildly before exploding into thousands of pieces that sprayed across the muddy ground, and all over us. Soren and I shielded our eyes from the sparks and shrapnel; Griffin huffed in satisfaction when the staircase below revealed itself. “Griffin one: tree zero.”
“Nice work. Let’s get down there.” I hurried down the steps, sword drawn, fueled by rage, and kicked the front doors open. They crunched under my boot and burst open, revealing an intricate home that he had spent years perfecting. Ambermourn was at a desk in his grand office stuffing gold-spun books into a carrying case, his hair matted with sweat to his olive face.He jumped when he heard the doors burst open, and when he saw me at the head of the line, his worries only deepened. “Ambermourn!” I roared, pointing my sword towards him. “Where is theLiber Silentium?”
“Like I’d tell you!” he laughed, throwing his hands behind his back as if to conceal it, though he held nothing.
I pressed the tip of my sword to his throat, which made him swallow softly. “You seem to forget that I have no issue slicing your neck open. My fiancé is getting his ass handed to him right now by his own father, and I will not tolerate that any longer. Either tell me where the book is…” Blood began to spill from an incision I made in his skin, “Or I will kill you now.”
“Go ahead! I was the one who spoke the spell, so unless I’m alive, that spell cannot be nullified. Atlas will continue to wreak havoc on this world, and so will the other Horsemen. You need me, whether you like it or not.”
“Liar!”
Griffin placed a firm hand on my forearm. “Hear him out. He’s right, after all. Galaxy told me this when we were fighting Famine.”
I lowered my sword slightly, which made Ambermourn sigh in relief. “What is it you want, Ambermourn?” I sneered.
His smile grew wide, wicked. “Oh, many things, Odysseus Levasseur. First, I wanted to see your little fiancé be pulverized by the true strongest God alive. Now that I have…” He gestured to a painting on the wall, one that looked new. The paint on it was still drying in some places, proving he had just finished it. The painting was a rendition of Pandora before she had been awoken. She stood valiantly against a lightning-cracked sky, her long black hair trailing her in the wind. She wore battle armor and looked as glorious as a God of Electricity should.
“You want… Pandora?” Soren breathed, shaking his head. “But, why? What can she do for you that we can’t?”
“Pandora is the promise of a new world. A world where Elementals rule once again, and those scum Humans are replaced by creatures that actually respect our planet, and those who reside on it.” He raised his hands slowly, his eyes crazy and delusional. “She is our hope for a new future, where we have reestablished powers and a planet ruled by those who created it, not those who abuse it.”
“You’re insane…” Griffin scoffed. “Pandora is nothing but trouble! She will turn on you the second she gets a chance. Don’t be surprised when she stabs you right in the back!”
He swished a hand at us. “Fine, choose not to cooperate. Your precious Nicodemus will die by his father’s hand, and Atlas will continue to destroy the world. It’s your choice: show me where she is, or let him suffer.”
Soren and Griffin looked to me for a final answer, as if I had the right one. All I could think about at that moment was how crushed Nicodemus looked before I left, how utterly defeated he and his team were, and how little time we had to play games. All of those dead Humans and Elementals on the field… it made me stomach sick to imagine what other damage could be done.
I sighed through my nose before conjuring a portal to Nicodemus’s personal Realm. “Enter,” I spat morosely.
Ambermourn cautiously slipped through the portal and crossed the magnificent room, spinning in a circle to take in the sights. His gaze fell on the coffin that stood in the center of the room, encasing the slumbering God inside. He placed a hand on her tomb, a hand that trembled with excitement. “Finally, my darling, I have found you…” he crooned to the God.
“You saw her. Now recant the spell,” I ordered sternly.
He pressed his face to the cool ice and tapped along it to see if there was any reaction from the inside. “I will… as soon as you free her.”
“What?” Soren gasped.
“Like Gehenna!” I drew my sword again and poised for attack. “You got what you wanted! You want her free, then do it yourself!”
“Should I remind you what exactly you’re fighting for?” He threw a hand out, which made a mirage of the deadly fight Nick was facing blur into our sights.
Death held him suspended over the battlefield, his scythe pierced directly through Nick’s body. Nick hung like a doll, already looking to have died by the attack, as Death screeched. Thousands of demons spread from the battlefield to swarm other areas of the world, to cause havoc and destruction anywhere and everywhere they could. I cupped my mouth in disbelief at the sight of Nick hanging on Death’s scythe. “Oh Gods, no!” I whimpered.
Ambermourn opened his hand further to make the mirage a portal to the field. Wind whipped violently in the room, and dust from the desert coated the cold ground we stood on. “It’s your choice, Mr. Levasseur! You want to play God? Then it’s time to play!” he cried over the sounds of destruction.
“What choice do we have?” Soren breathed to me.
