They were afraid of Rissa.Terrified. Afraid of the power she wielded, the threat she posed to their very existence.
Numir floated at the center of the semicircle, his once immaculate suit now tattered and torn. His dark hair whipped around his face in the otherworldly breeze, his features contorted in a snarl of rage and fear. Beside him, Ishtar cowered, her blonde curls tangled and matted, her pastel dress stained with soot and ash. Her wide eyes darted back and forth, like a cornered animal searching for escape.
I felt a sudden surge of anger, hot and fierce, rising within me. These were the beings who had tried to destroy everything I held dear, who had thrown the world into chaos and ruin. And now, faced with the consequences of their actions, they had the audacity to look afraid?
To seek compassion?
Rissa's gaze was fixed on Ishtar, her expression one of pure, unadulterated hatred. I knew the history between them, knew the role Ishtar had played in banishing the old gods, in forcing Rissa into hiding. The air around Rissa shimmered with barely contained power, her fists clenched at her sides.
"You." Rissa’s voice tolled in the air like a giant bell, as divorced from emotion as the chimes in a cathedral. "You're the one who started all of this. You're the reason my family is gone."
Ishtar flinched back as if struck, her lips trembling. "I didn't have a choice," she stammered, her voice high and thin. "The Council...they made me do it. I never wanted to hurt anyone."
Rissa barked out a harsh laugh. "Spare me." The sheer power of her voice rolled over me, flattening me back down to the deck. "You knew exactly what you were doing. You condemned us all to an eternity of banishment from the world that created us, and for what? Power? Control?"
I looked back and forth between them, my mind racing. I had known these daemons all my life, had even considered some of them allies. But now, after experiencing how they treated those they considered useful tools, I felt nothing but disgust.
They had made their choices, had willingly sacrificed countless lives in pursuit of their own desires. Now they would face the consequences.
Numir's face contorted with rage as he thrust his hands forward, a bolt of crackling energy erupting from his fingertips. It hurtled towards Rissa, the air sizzling in its wake.
But Rissa didn’t flinch. She lazily raised a single hand and the magic dissipated like smoke in the wind. It was like watching a toddler try to slap an elephant. Utterly futile.
Numir's eyes widened, his mouth falling open in shock. "That's...that's impossible," he breathed, his voice shaking. "No god is that powerful."
Rissa smirked, her green eyes glittering with amusement. "Oh, Numir," she purred, "you have no idea what I'm capable of."
With a flick of her wrist, a swirling vortex appeared behind the Council members, its edges shimmering with a painful light.Before they could react, Rissa hurled their bodies through the air like ragdolls.
I watched in stunned silence as they vanished into the portal, their screams of terror echoing in my ears. Rissa stood perfectly still, her hand outstretched, her face a mask of grim determination.
And then, just as suddenly as it had appeared, the portal winked out of existence, leaving nothing but empty air in its wake. The Council was gone, banished to some unknown realm, and Rissa had done it with barely any effort at all.
I cleared my throat, trying to regain some semblance of composure. "Can I ask where you just sent them?"
Rissa shrugged. "I created a dimension just for them. It has no exits. It will support life. More than they did for my family."
No exits. Good. The Council members were trapped, imprisoned in a realm of Rissa's making, with no hope of escape. No longer on my list of things I needed to worry about.
Rissa walked to the center of the deck and sat down, crossing her legs beneath her. She closed her eyes, her brow furrowing in concentration. "Give me a few minutes to wrangle up all of the formless ones. They're a little bit harder to find than the Council was."
I frowned, recalling our earlier conversations about the formless ones. "I thought you didn't know how to find them?"
Rissa cracked one eye open, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth. "That was before I became whole again. Now it feels like child's play."
Just a few short hours ago, we had been desperately searching for a way to defeat the formless ones, and now Rissa was treating it like a game.
I sat down beside her, careful not to disturb her concentration. The yacht rocked gently beneath us, the soft lapping of the waves against the hull lulling me into a sense of calm. For the first time since we hit open air, I allowed myself to hope that everything might turn out alright.
So long as Rissa was still Rissa when all of this was done.
21
LUCE
I toremy gaze away from Rissa and walked over to Jeanette, who was trembling, her delicate features etched with distress.
"It's okay," I said softly, putting an arm around her slim shoulders. "You're safe now."
