Seas! Stumbling to my feet, I sprinted down the road and fumbled with the stable’s gate. Athena snorted when I entered, shaking her mane nervously. Grabbing her bridle, I quickly fastened it.
Another tremor shook the ground. Pulling a stepping stool to Athena’s side, I climbed onto her back and dug my knees into her side.
Athena burst from the stable and galloped down the road,following the beacon of flame. I saw something moving in the smoke, great leathery wings extended toward the sky, and what looked like a snake whipped around in the shadows.
What in the Maiden’s name was going on? Did another chthonic mage share Seraphim’s powers, or had rioters set the city aflame?
Shouting chased behind me as I rode through the white city. Whipping my head around, I saw a Ma’at knight pointing in my direction.
Godsdammit. Did he recognize me?
Leaping over a hedge, Athena galloped into a square littered with Hades Knights. Yanking her mane, I tried to turn her around, but I was too late.
A spear whistled through the air. Athena screamed and fell, throwing me from her back. I hit the ground hard and rolled over myself several times before I finally came to a stop.
Adrenaline breathed through my lungs, masking the pain. Lifting myself up on my hands and knees, my heart thrummed in panic.
The javelin had skewered Athena through the heart of her body. She lay on her side in a growing pile of blood, weakly thrashing.
Crawling toward her, I placed a hand on her side. Oh,gods. This was fatal.
The Hades Knights bore down on me, glaives raised as they trapped me within their circle.
The light of life faded from Athena’s sweet brown eyes as smoke blackened the air, trapping us in darkness.
39
Seth
Flames consumed the western district, and the smoke from their fires filled my lungs. Landing atop the highest roof, I wiped the smoke from my eyes and searched for the beast Eris had ensnared in her grasp.
A deformed monstrosity prowled the streets. Head on, it appeared as a lion, but its body twisted and changed behind the neck. The second, black head of a goat emerged from its upper back, and the winding form of a viper took the place of its tail. Claws and scales covered its limbs, and draconic wings unfolded from its back.
Seas. Had that been what I’d seen prowling the borders of the Empty?
The chimera snapped its head down on a guard, crushing his armor. The snake whipped around, sinking its fangs into a fleeing civilian while the goat head breathed fire, coating the street in red-hot destruction.
This thing would tear the entire city apart if I didn’t stop it.
Pressing my hand to my chest, I remembered thedread I’d felt by the Empty. The sense of defeat.
Alone, I could not save this city, but I would try nonetheless.
Magic swirled within me as shadows gathered at my feet. From their embrace an enormous cobra rose, a being of the abyss, its body the Empty itself.
The serpent that painted the halls of Hades, that loomed over the prophecy of the final maiden, awaited my command.
Leaping from the rooftop, I flew through the flames toward the chimera, the serpent’s shadow streaking beneath me. Spinning my spear to face downward, I plunged it into the lion’s neck.
The thing’s hide was tough as steel—the spear point hardly pierced the chimera’s fur. The goat’s head twisted toward me, its eyes glazed over, glowing white as flames spewed from its mouth. Rolling to the side, I flew to the ground.
My serpent lunged from beneath me, clamping its jaws down on the goat’s neck before vanishing. It appeared again on the creature’s other side, striking at the lion’s front paw while a dual shadow of itself appeared from behind and lashed at the tail.
I felt the pain Aethra described, faint prickling under my skin as though a thread of my being had loosened.
Roaring in pain, the chimera swatted at the serpents, but its paws passed through shadow. Faint wounds appeared where the serpents had struck, but not nearly as deep as I’d hoped.
Legend said monsters had once been beasts, mutated by years exposed to the Empty. Had they grown immune to its disintegrating touch?
