Kaelen,I called.I need fire.
Burn,came the instant reply, a surge of heat flooding my veins.
Thane. I need a frame.
Solid,the earth whispered, stabilizing my core so the power wouldn't tear me apart.
Flynn. I need to cut.
Sharp,the wolf snarled, honing the magic into a razor's edge.
Elias. Aim me.
The High Seat,the Phoenix guided, his mind painting a target in the void.
I raised my hands. The golden veins on my armor flared, matching the light beneath my skin. The air in front of me distorted, buckling under the sheer gravitational weight of our combined will.
I didn't chant. I didn't beg.
I tore the fabric of reality down the middle.
Part of me expected it to sound like a scream, but it didn't. It was just silent as the air split, revealing a vertical slash of blinding white light. It widened, pushed open by the force of my intent, turning from a slit into a ragged, gaping maw.
Wind rushed out of the portal, a wind that smelled of ozone, exotic flowers, and thin, high-altitude air.
Through the rip, I saw it. The polished marble floor of a courtyard. A sky of impossible violet. And in the distance, the shimmering spires of the High Seat.
"Well," Flynn said, drawing two of his new daggers. "That’s one hell of a front door."
"Are they waiting for us?" Thane asked, hefting his massive war hammer. Hades had apparently gifted all of us weapons as well.
"No," Elias said, his eyes glowing white as he peered into the rift. "They wouldn’t expect the attack to come from the air."
I turned back to look for Hades, but the corner where he had stood was empty. Only a faint scent of pomegranates remained, and a lingering sense of amusement.
"He's gone," I said.
"He did his part," Kaelen said, stepping up beside me. The dragon drew his sword, the blade igniting with a roar of fire that mingled with the golden light of the portal. He looked at me, and the pride in his eyes was brighter than the magic. "Ready, my fireheart?"
I looked at the portal. Beyond it lay the gods who had engineered my entire existence, who had tortured the men I loved, who planned to feed a child made of my blood to a cosmic monster.
The fear was there, yes. But it was small. It was a pebble next to the mountain of rage and power I now contained.
"Steve," I called out.
The Skal scurried forward, looking sleek and dangerous, its carapace shining as if polished.
"You stay here," I ordered. "Guard the rear. If anything follows us... eat it."
Eat,Steve agreed, clicking his claws.
I looked at my pack. My monsters.
"Let's go say hello to the family," I said.
I stepped through the light.
THIRTY
