Page 74 of Secrets of Ruin

The emperor howled as his fingers clawed at the rocks, his nails tore away, and his screams echoed throughout the jungle. The shadows lifted him into the air as more of them flowed through the portal.

The screams of the other ophidians drifted from the other side before going abruptly silent. Kaylia smiled as the shadows returned; they wouldn’t have left any survivors.

“You gave me your word,” the emperor sputtered.

“I did,” Lexi acknowledged, “and the dragons aren’t bothering you.”

When the shadows released the emperor, he hit the ground with a thud. “We never promised the shadows wouldn’t,” Cole said, his voice distorted by the shadows inside him.

Lexi rested her hand on his arm, seeking to connect with him as the shadows slithered into his eyes. As they returned from the portal, more shadows slid away from the emperor and coiled back toward Cole.

Kaylia gulped as she watched them. They were not to be fucked with; together, they were the most lethal union in all the realms. She was glad she was on their side and prayed to Hecate that nothing ever caused the couple to turn on the realms they protected.

“He’s all yours,” Cole said as he turned toward Kaylia and Brokk before focusing on Ryker.

Kaylia didn’t move. She yearned to watch the emperor plead for his life as he died, but it was one thing to kill someone who was fighting them. It was another to kill someone when they were hanging before them, surrounded by shadows.

Besides, no matter all the atrocious shit he’d done to her and Brokk, this man wasn’t theirs to kill. Her attention shifted to Ryker, who remained standing closer to the rocks, his gaze on Leo’s head.

She’d never seen anyone look so defeated before. Ryker had spent the past year searching for his king… his friend.

He’d been determined to free Leo and bring him home, and that quest had ended in heartbreak. Defeat carved every inch of his face.

The expression on the other amsirah’s faces was despair, but they didn’t emanate the same devastation Ryker did. Leo had been their king and leader; he was Ryker’s friend and someone he’d loved.

Then, Ryker stalked toward the emperor. The tip of his sword, resting against the ground, clanked and clattered as he climbed the rocks to stand before the ophidian.

Without saying a word, and his face completely blank, he lifted his sword and severed the emperor’s head before lowering his weapon and walking over to Leo’s head. He stood, staring at Leo’s open mouth and wide eyes, before bending to lift the head.

With the head held securely between his hands, he climbed the rocks, set Leo’s head carefully down, turned, and with tender hands, turned over his body. Though she knew how incredibly painful it was, Ryker grasped the netting around Leo’s wrists and started unwinding it.

A lump lodged in her throat, and she stepped toward him to tell him to stop, but Brokk grasped her wrist and whispered, “Let him do this.”

Kaylia started to argue before closing her mouth. He was right; no matter how awful or badly it hurt, Ryker wouldn’t leave this mark of the ophidians on his king.

Ryker had to stop often, and every time, she thought he might have to walk away, but then he’d return to the bindings again. When he finished with the wrists, he moved to his ankles.

Sweat dripped from his brow, his face grew florid, and his hands shook as the muscles in his neck protruded, but he didn’t stop until the last of the binding fell away. A sense of relief fell over those watching when it finally ended.

Kaylia’s shoulders slumped forward as a single tear slid from her eye to drip off her chin.

Ryker rose, lifted Leo’s head, and settled it on his chest before sitting beside the body of his friend.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-FOUR

As the army dispersed to search for survivors or rescue those caught in the traps, Ryker remained sitting on the rocks. Brokk, Kaylia, and the rest of the amsirah remained behind.

At first, his brothers, Sahira, and Lexi, stayed with them, but when Alina brought word that the giant still lived, they left to see what they could do for the woman. Gibborim and another giant had entered Doomed Valley a few minutes ago and carried the woman out.

The dragons had also all retreated, but he and Kaylia remained with Ryker and the amsirah. They should leave this place of death and misery; the ophidians weren’t the only threat here, but Brokk would give Ryker some time. His friend had earned that and more.

While they waited, his injuries healed. He still wasn’t recovering at the same speed he did before the jungle, but it was getting better.

As the sun started to set, and more creatures awoke in the jungle, Brokk climbed the rocks to sit beside Ryker. The general had one leg drawn up to his chest and his arm draped over his knee.

After a few minutes, Brokk spoke. “You couldn’t have stopped it. No one, not even the shadows, could have stopped what happened.”

“I had one mission, and I failed.”