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Chapter
Sixty-One
KERES
My thumb idly pushed at theKassarmayaadorning my ring finger.
I’d spent the last 600 years scouring the realms for the blasted thing, and now that I’d finally found it, I could pay my brother and hiswifea little visit. Who’d have guessed it would only be a hop and a skip away across the San Al-Mani Sea… It had been no easy feat getting through that fog of madness that shielded the entire region.
Willingaway the glamour of the pretty demiurge princess, I padded my way up the steps of my brother’s temple, rolling my eyes at the enormous bronze relief of himself in all his compassionate glory on the front doors of the building. With nothing more than a press of my hand, theKassarmaya’sward-breaking power cut through the wards like a blade through flesh. Electrifying glee split my face as the door pushed open easily. It had been over half a millennium since I’d been home. Since I’d seen mysoulbound.
The cavernous foyer was dimly lit by torches casting ominous shadows. My loud scoff echoed off the black, veined marble.
Clearly, my brother was still as dramatic as ever.
This was supposed to be a temple. Not a bloody mausoleum.
And it was broad daylight. I may be the Goddess of Violence, but even I appreciated a little sun.
Even his acolytes shared Mors’ love of theatrics. One of them appeared in a nearby doorway, a dark hood drawn over his head, looking exactly like the ridiculous, fantastical depictions of my brother.
Even without being able to see his face, I could stillfeelhis shock. And something much, much sweeter.
Terror.
He attempted to flee down a hallway. My wings burst from my back to propel me towards him, sword raised high. A diagonal portion of the top half of his body slid away from the lower half, both thumping against the floor.
Mors’Pharalaki,hisphantom guardians,spilled from the dark hallways rushing towards me. Another of the gifts theKassarmayaimbued its wearer with was that it could also project wards as powerful as the ones it had broken.I willeda warded barrier to block their progress. They couldn’t be killed. Fighting them would be like trying to battle a cloud of smoke.
I pushed back on the barrier, shoving them back further down the hallway. One on top of the other, heaps of them pressed against the transparent barrier. They pounded on it with the weight of a heavy, corporeal fist.
Flashing them a victorious grin, I stopped in front of the stone wall where the doorway to my brother’s realm was carved, hidden by his magic.
With a caress of my ringed hand, the stone blocking the doorway disappeared. Just as I extended my foot to descend the steps, a hair-raising sound, like a steak knife shrieking against porcelain, stabbed my ears.
I scowled at the offending Pharalaki.
“Stop that.”
As if I’d encouraged them, all of them began to run taloned fingers against the barrier. The sound so shrill it made my knees want to buckle. I snarled, pressing my hands over my ears as I rapidly descended the spiral stone staircase.
The moment I stepped onto the soil of theElysio Agaro’s- one of the many paradises Avernus had to offer - for the first time in 600 short years, I felt like I could breathe again. Like a tremendous weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I didn’t allow the sight of my brother's perfect little home with quaint little puffs of smoke whirling gently in the air against the gentle breeze to ruin the relief I felt at finally having returned.
At long last.
Home sweet home.
Slightly lifting the skirt of my gown, I waded through the silky, tall grasses. Savouring the feel of it against my skin. I yearned to just lie here in peace, stare up at the clouds, and just let the world turn around me until it was consumed by entropy.
Maybe then I would have peace.
Maybe then this insatiable thirst for vengeance and violence would finally leave me.
Maybe then I wouldn’t have to feel the cavernous, gaping wound of betrayal that had sat in my chest for the last 600 years, festering in perpetuity.
Tears of righteous anger burned my eyes as I marched through the grasses, no longer able to enjoy the beautiful feeling of finally returning home.
My breath caught in my chest at the sight of Soteira, mysoulbound,watering the plants outside her house. As though the tether that had once bound us as fated mates still existed between us, her gaze lifted from across the field to meet mine. The ceramic pitcher of water in her hand slipped and shattered on the ground.
