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I crouched lower, thinking about all the insults kids at school had thrown at me: Uno, McGimpster, Freak. How I’d hidden out at home because I didn’t want to face them. Weakling. I thought about how the gods had been manipulating me this whole time. Little half-breed nothing.
Then I pictured all the people who had my back—my family, my friends both new and old—and how they deserved my loyalty and protection. These thoughts expanded like the fire burning inside of me until I couldn’t contain it all anymore.
I knew Ah-Puch’s blind spot. The one thing he hadn’t considered. “You’ve overlooked something,” I growled.
“What’s that?”
“I am Zane Obispo, the Storm Runner. I didn’t bring you here to trap you.” My voice thundered. “I came here to kill you!”
Before he could react, I struck the first blow, launching myself onto his neck as we hurtled over the step’s edge, down, down, down. We spiraled through a muddle of thick jungle and black skies. As I sank my teeth into his slimy scales, I prayed that he didn’t bleed maggots.
He did.
They poured into my mouth as he screamed.
At the bottom, we came apart. Me spitting up vomit-flavored worms, him coiling tightly, getting ready to strike. Before he lunged at me, I leaped up, and his open jaws chomped only air. As I came out of a midair spin, he wrapped his tail around my back legs and pulled hard, slamming my head against the ground. Shock waves rolled over me. He was too big and too strong. Even without his god powers.
I slashed his tail with my claws, still resisting the urge to use fire. He released me and retreated. I
n one swift move, I catapulted over him and took off running. I was as fast as the lightning shredding the dark sky. Flashes of white lit up the Empty.
“Run, little godborn. But I’ll catch you no matter how far you go!”
I heard Puke slithering behind me. It would’ve been so easy for me to go back to the Old World and leave him here. But what was the point? One way or another I would eventually have to face him.
Then Hurakan’s whispering voice found me. You have the blood of a destroyer. Destroy him, Zane.
Oh sure, easy for him to say, Mr. Destroyer himself. “I didn’t exactly take God Destruction 101!” I shouted into the night.
The fire burned so hot inside me I thought I might explode. Ah-Puch was only a few feet behind me, and his monstrous hiss seemed to come at me from every direction. I didn’t stop running. Couldn’t stop.
There! Through those trees, a small clearing. The rippling air of the void was just beyond. All I had to do was get to the edge of what looked like an ordinary cliff from here. Increasing my speed, taking giant leaps, I finally reached my destination and spun to face the god of darkness, death, and destruction.
Ah-Puch’s giant body heaved. His eyes blazed with so much hate I thought it might swallow me whole. He slithered toward me confidently as I backed up slowly, balancing on the edge of the abyss with perfect precision. It was like walking on the rim of the Beast back home.
“Join me, Zane. I can show you the full extent of your powers.”
“How about I show you my power?”
He bared his fangs and hissed, “You will always be pathetic and weak!”
“And you’ll always be one step behind!”
He sprang. All my instincts told me to pivot out of his way, let his momentum hurtle him into the abyss. But to break our connection, I had to be the one to end him. It had to be by my hand—or in this case, paw. I held my ground, waiting for the precise moment. I said a silent good-bye to Mom and Brooks, Hondo, and Rosie. The moment his razor-sharp fangs sank into my shoulder, I grabbed hold of him and launched us both into the black hole.
There was biting, snarling, and clawing. A terrible pain radiated through my whole body.
“Do you like my venom?” Ah-Puch hissed. I started to black out as his tail coiled around my back legs. We plummeted into a bitter pool of nothingness. I looked up at the moon that was getting smaller and smaller.
Ah-Puch constricted further. If I didn’t stop him, I’d be overpowered in a matter of seconds. I let out an earsplitting roar, so loud it shook the abyss. Tighter and tighter he squeezed, crushing my ribs, smothering my lungs.
I’d always hoped my last thoughts would be of something good, like the first time I saw Brooks’s smile, or the way Rosie’s brown eyes shone even in the dark. But when you’re about to die, all you can think about is not dying. Or, in my case, how rotten it was to be choked by a giant maggot-breeding serpent in a black hole.
The fire will do as you command.
My skin burned. Embers glowed right beneath the surface. Finally I released it. Massive flames engulfed me.
Ah-Puch screamed, and his grip loosened, allowing me to suck in a huge gulp of air. I slipped a front leg free, then my whole upper body. With one last roar, I swiped fiery claws across his scaly face, slashing his eyes. He drew back and I managed to corkscrew out of his grasp. With all the strength I had left, I thrust him downward with the power of my back legs.
