He found a reservoir of strength in the depths of his fury.
He rose from the dirt, a specter of ash and vengeance.
He seized Ty’s armored forearms in a grip that crushed the internal servos.
Idan dipped down and whispered into Ty’s stricken face, speaking with such cold malice that the magnate shuddered and shook.
‘I promised myself that when I got the chance, I’d slowly rip your limbs off, one by one, Ty. The day has arrived for yourfokkin’ reckoning.’
With a twist of his lips, Idan began to dismantle the man piece by piece.
He tore the shielded metal limbs from their sockets, the sound of snapping hydraulics, bones, and the hiss of blood spraying in the air.
Ty’s screams came to an abrupt stop as Idan hauled the mangled torso down slope, toward the lip of the pit, the collapsed steam-driven drill excavated deep into the earth.
He delivered a final, crushing blow to the center of the helmet and sent the remains of the tyrant hurtling into the black, bottomless depths of the shaft.
In a heartbeat, the valley fell back into a horrific silence.
The only sounds remaining were the dying hiss of ruptured power cells from the scattered armor and Idan’s heavy, ragged breathing.
He staggered to Sheba and wrapped his arms around her.
Surrounded by carnage, he exhaled in relief that the only other heart left beating aside from his own was that of the woman he would scorch the universe for.
16
It’s Raining Gods
The couple swayed close together, arms encircled, lost in one another.
Birds called out to each other in the trees surrounding them.
A light wind blew over the spectacular alpine vista littered with the remnants of the fierce battle.
Idan kissed Sheba’s forehead. ‘Sante,salkia. You saved my freakin’ immortal skin.’
She laughed, stroking his jaw. ‘I couldn’t let him take you from me.’
‘I’m grateful for your fierceness, my love.’
He was about to claim her mouth once more when the ground reverberated beneath the pair as a rhythmic tremor surged from the gut of the mining pit.
‘What now?’ Sheba whispered, her voice lost in the groan of shifting tectonic plates. ‘Three times is too much.’
Idan, cursed long and hard as he encircled her waist and shielded her frame with his own.
Milliseconds later, the quarry spewed a pillar of amethyst flame into the heavens.
The incandescent fire vaporized the remains of the massive excavating drill, turning the sky into a bruised expanse of radiating energy.
From the blazing column of radiance, a silhouette ascended on a surge of shimmering heat.
Launching high above the couple, it drifted back to the surface with terrifying grace, landing a few meters in front of them.
‘Thefokk?’ Sheba gasped, her fingers digging into Idan’s arm.
A wash of pure horror surged in her throat as a tall, thin, luminous form appeared, composed of gold and obsidian.
