Page 197 of The Gods Order

Then…

The entire chamber shudders.

The roaring hoot that cuts through the house sends everyone tumbling to the ground. Bones snap, screams ring free, and bodies fly through the air as an ombre of indigo feathers explode through the room like a falling star.

Dark Gods and Oblirians don’t even have time to scream as talons the size of swords punch through armor. His wings hammer outward and bodies lift from the floor, then break against the walls.

Within seconds, every guard is dead and…

Only Obliteration remains.

“V,” Thalya mumbles as he lands between us.

He doesn’t glance back at us.

“You’ve gone too far, Kirabaddon.”

The deep, ancient rumble in his tone nearly shocks me still. I’ve never heard his voice laced with such power.

Black wings shoot from our father’s back as darkness crawls from his fingers.

“Not far enough, Vedarya.”

Those three words carry centuries of hatred and V answers with another hoot. The two collide in the air like thunder and lightning.

Debris falls from the ceiling as power as old as time crashes together in waves of corruption and pure essence. It keeps us pinned to the ground, watching in absolute horror and fascination.

The shade of purple that you see in the Angel Aura Amethyst and the angel orchid flower cannot rival what flows from V’s feathers.

Hope and triumph continue to rise in my chest as blow after blow tears my father to shreds.

Never in my life have I seen his blood, but as the raindrops of burgundy—the perfect mix of red and black—splatter against the stone, I deem it my new favorite color.

It’s the most breathtaking sight I’ve ever seen.

Until…it isn’t.

Thayla screams bloody murder at every feather that falls from V’s body as black ropes lace their way around him.

The unpredictable pattern of him being caught, then breaking free, has my heart seconds away from exploding.

Neither ancient being gives up. They never give an inch. They land strike after strike.

Again. Again. Again.

Each impact louder than the last.

Their bodies move so impossibly fast that wings, corruption, and light become one blurred storm of white, frost blue, lavender, rich purple, deep indigo, and black.

Pressure builds not just around them, but everything.

The stone beneath my ass splinters.

The Veil trembles.

Every breath becomes harder to pull into my lungs, and every instinct in me screams to run, hide, survive.

Instead…we watch. We’re forced to. The power in this now seemingly small space paralyzes us where we are.