She couldn’t watch her past-self die, but she felt it when Sheli hit the ground. Her entire body spasmed with agony.
The Blood Bond brutally shattered, and Kahssiel’s horrible screams echoed through the sky.
At the bottom of the chasm, he clutched Sheli’s broken body. All fighting ceased as his cries rendered across the kingdom. The loss of a True Bonded mate should have killed him, but mad with grief and rage, Kahssiel transformed into an entity of flame. Sheli’s body dissolved away, and he was left holding only ashes in his empty hands.
“They took her from me,” he growled like a monstrous beast of annihilation. “They will allburn.”
Dyna watched helplessly as Kahssiel filled the Realms with flame. Their screams of fear filled her ears. His people either fought or fled. Armies rose against him by the thousands, and each met a sea of pure flame. It struck them down, swarming into their armor, their eyes and mouths, smothering their screams as they turned to ash. All that remained of them were fields of blackened earth, cinders glowing within empty helmets. The skies darkened with smoke as he banished the sun once more.
All fell to his power.
For he was unstoppable.
So Dyna was confused when the dream smoke cleared to a memory of Kahssiel in chains. He sat on his knees beside theHyalustree. His armor and face were stained with soot. All that was once green was now charred to ash. Scattered fires lit the brush and charred feathers floated in the breeze.
The dried blood on his lips cracked with a cough. Wind rattled the translucent leaves softly, and he briefly closed his eyes, as if remembering a past moment in this very place.
A brokenness lined the shadows of his face.
Exhaustion.
Surrender.
“All this death and bloodshed, only to end defeated. To what end?” Lord Raziel said. “For some witch?”
Kahssiel lifted his dull gaze to him. “Am I defeated?”
“You are in Skath chains, Kahssiel. Your Seraph fire is useless now.”
He chuckled sardonically. “They will not hold me for long, Raziel. As soon as I am free of these chains, I will come for you. For all of you.” He snarled at the traitors standing with him and lurched at them. The guards held onto his chains, jerking back his manacled arms. “Each of you has betrayed me, and nothing will inhibit me until I have melted the flesh off your bones. I will return you to the Gates and raze the Realms to the ground. As soon as I am free, I will fill this world with a sea of flame and consume it all until there is nothing left of it!” His eyes blazed with flame.“I WILL BURN IT ALL!”
His roar echoed his promise over the land, and they grimaced from the force. Fear stole their confidence as they realized the truth.
“I am invincible.” Kahssiel chuckled. “You cannot stop me. Not with these chains. And not with your army. In the end, you will be naught but dust.”
Raziel’s mouth thinned, but he smirked, only cold amusement on his face. “I questioned whyElyonchose you to remain a Seraph and wield the pure flame. Why did he choose you to hold such a power when it has only created a monster? It was not made for this world, and it shall not remain.”
He nodded at the guards holding the chains. They forced Kahssiel forward and yanked out his six white wings.
His eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“Ending your reign,” Raziel said as they drew their swords. “Kahssiel, we hereby denounce you as our High King and as a son of the Heavens. Your wings will be sheared from thy back and with it your power. Thus, your soul shall be eternally damned, cast away toGehenomfor eternal punishment. Never to return to the Heavens again.”
“Stop!” He fought against the chains. “You cannot do this. It’s sacrilege!”
“It is no less than you deserve.”
Dyna cried out in horror as swords of flame raised above him. But she caught the moment he strained forward, fanning out all six wings, exposingthe margins. The blades sliced clean through them. His scream of pain tore through her ears, and he fell flat on the ground. The power that had hovered off him like a wave of heat vanished from the air.
Kahssiel shuddered on the ground, surrounded by his sheared wings. White feathers floated on the surface of his blood.
His speed. His strength. His fire.
They were gone.
All that was left were the six stumps of exposed muscle and bone on his back. His mortal weakness and terrible agony crashed over Dyna as she cried. His pain almost matched the pain he endured when Sheli had been taken from him.
Almost.
