His silence enraged me further, stoking the flames higher until my Fire Magic coiled around my arms once more.
“The time for a decision is now, Chief Vizier. You suddenly have two new deities to contend with, and the Goddess of Destruction and Pain is not nearly as forgiving or patient as I am,” I growled, clenching my fists to keep from grabbing the front of his kaftan and shaking him into submission.
His dark brown eyes flashed with something indecipherable before they widened in fear. “Y-yes! Yes! I agree. The ships are yours. I already had them prepared,” he whimpered, fumbling over his words in haste to get them out.
I blew out a breath, though it did nothing to ease the boiling of my blood. The sudden rush of power was . . . incredible. Using that much magic should have at least left me winded and conserving whatever I had left in my well. But it was almost the opposite; like expending that much power simply stoked the flames higher, begging me to draw more.
It was euphoric.
With a growl, I turned away from Hosmunt and the bowing janissaries and started to leave the room.
“Aren’t you forgetting something,Prince?” Hosmunt sneered from behind me, where he cowered against the wall. I froze, turning slightly over my shoulder. The Chief Vizier’s attempts to mask his fear of me were almost comical.
My Fire Magic wove around my arms and intertwined with strands of Earth Magic, as if encasing me in a protective film. I grunted once, noticing the janissaries still postulating against the floor as if in prayer.
“Rise,” I said, my voice a rumbling rasp. The janissaries scurried to obey my command, protecting their ward all but forgotten.
That’s what happens when you fill positions based on nepotism and not merit, I thought scornfully. I’d give Hosmunt the title of “Lord,” but his downfall was imminent.
“In the presence of these witnesses, I relinquish my claim as Pasha of Iluul. The title and everything therein passes to Chief Vizier Hosmunt,” I paused, fixing the newest pasha with a look that I was certain would frighten any rational man. “Long may he watch over and protect Iluul.”
A slow, serpentine smile spread across Hosmunt’s face, and I had a distinct feeling I may have missed something vital in our previous exchanges.
“My thanks, God of Fire and Earth,” Hosmunt said with a slight incline of hishead, his voice all silky smooth with none of the deference my position demanded. “You will find your ships awaiting your orders at the docks.”
I stood frozen for a moment longer, my gaze and furrowed brow fixed on the slimy vizier before I turned my back on him and my homeland.
Chapter Seventy-Two
Solace
Acharge swept through the heavy, humid air, lifting my hair from my back and freezing me in place. Something deep shifted in the magic of the world, like the scales of power were rebalancing. Instinctively, I checked the wells that rested near whatever was left of my frayed soul. All three were still intact, though still frustratingly empty, as they would stay until I eradicated those peskygodlings.
The static charging the air disappeared just as quickly, and the skies brightened as I felt the shift.
Kaos, my brother and the last true god to walk this plane, was dead.
I audibly hissed at the thought, my long nails cutting marks into my pale palms as black blood dripped through my clenched fingers to saturate the holy ground beneath my feet.
Howdarehe soil this place with his remains, here in this place where his final descendant eradicated the last of my kind. While he’d whispered the plan in his descendant’s mind with my permission, their deaths still felt like pieces of my being were being ripped asunder.
His death was supposed to be atmyhands in retribution for everything I’d suffered due to his schemes and disloyalty. I’d thought I was the one dragging Kaos along like a puppy on a leash, molding him into a being that was loyal to me and me alone, sending him to do my bidding and unearth secrets long held in Elyria.
What a fool I was to think Kaos was loyal to anyone but himself.
Now the ability to extract retribution from his flesh was takenfrom me.
My feet squished in the muddied and blackened grass as I strode down the hill toward the power signature that felt so much like my brother’s.
Perhaps whoever absorbed his magic was still incapacitated, their insides curdling and liquefying as they fought to force the power into a well within their soul.
A maniacal grin lit my face at the easy prey lying beneath the surface, waiting for me to deliver the killing blow.
How easy it would be to simply kill them and absorb those powers.
I’d be the most powerful being in existence, and Fate would be loath to stop me.
Conjuring a small tendril of air, careful to conserve my waxing and waning powers on the slight off chance that the being below made their death more difficult than I anticipated, I began to shift the collapsed main house. The roof was caved in, though no decay grew along the dilapidated structure.
