I see you’ve called on Rakashonim. Again. You were warned. It’s burning through you now. Slowing you down. It killed you once before. But you risked it again. Bad girl.
Go fuck yourself, I thought.Where is he? Where the fuck is he? Tell me! Now!
He shrugged his shoulders, and held his blue hands out, his palms lifted to the darkening sky.
An akadim attack in the day.Mercurial made some kind of clicking sound, followed by a whistle in my mind.Not even back in my day did I think I’d live to see such a thing. I told you that this wasn’t your fight—this wasn’t the course to take.
Where is he!
You didn’t listen to me, my remembered Goddess. And now, you will lose everything.
He vanished.
Help me,Mercurial!I screamed in my mind.Fuck! Help me. Anyone! Asherah! Auriel! Please. Bring me to Rhyan. Bring me to Rhyan. Bring me to Rhyan. Show me where he is! Show me!
And then someone listened. Because I saw him. On the other side of the arena. He was in the arms of an akadim. Too weak to fight back. The monster bit down on his neck, a hand over his bare chest. When he pulled his claws away, a black shadow formed across Rhyan’s skin. White lightemanated from Rhyan’s heart. The akadim was eating his soul.
I screamed in horror, and pulled my arm back, willing all I had left inside of me to aim true. And I threw the sword, the blade flying at the beast. I missed.
I was running before I could think, screaming, trying to scare it away. But myRakashonimwas running out. Spent.
More light poured out of Rhyan, and his head fell back, his eyes closed.
One more time. Just one more time, I had to call on Asherah. I just needed enough to get to him, to stop this.
I began to chant. And this time, the words flowed from my lips without effort, almost as if I weren’t speaking at all.
“Ani petrova rakashonim, me ka el lyrotz, dhame ra shukroya, aniam anam. Chayate me el ra shukroya. Ani petrova rakashonim!”
The fire in my heart exploded. My entire body was engulfed in flames. I was in agony as I roared Rhyan’s name, the energy burning through me. I ran forward, my arms pumping at my sides, my legs moving faster and faster, my heart pounding. Lightning flashed in the sky, thunder crashing. And then I felt that familiar tug in my stomach, and suddenly, the Katurium was gone.
I slammed down onto uneven ground, slipping and sliding forward, searching for Rhyan in front of me, my sword withdrawn, ready to slay the demon.
But he wasn’t here.
And I wasn’t in the Katurium, or even outside of it.
Sand. I was in the sand. I fell to my knees, feeling a heat I hadn’t felt in months bear down on me.
The waves of the ocean were lapping at my feet.
I stared at the horizon, the sky a thousand colors as the setting sun glowed bright red instead of gold.
No. No. No!
What was this? Was this a vision? A memory? Had I traveled on my own? Or was this just a fucking trick of Mercurial? I searched anxiously around me. The beach wasn’t too far from the Palace. I could still get back, still run. Still find him again and save him. But how? How had I gotten here?
Your Rakashonim. I warned you.Mercurial’s voice was in my mind. And then he laughed, the sound ringing and cruel.
My heart shattered.
A few yards away stood the black statue of a gryphon that stood three stories tall, watching the ocean. A statue that was unique to one country.
The Guardian of Bamaria.
I was home.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
