Do not use magic! It will only drain you!Teeth and claws only!
I leap from my seat, wings exploding from my back in an instant, but I’m too slow. Nyxthos is obviously trying to leave. His body shimmers, but he can’t shadow walk in that strange way that all gods do. He hesitates for only a few seconds as his powers are drained from him just as mine were, and that’s all it takes.
One of the Hunters thrusts a longsword through his chest, through his heart if gods actually have them. The crystal in the Hunter’s breastplate flares a black so blindingly strong that it seems to absorb the light of the torches, and the Hunter shakes with the effort to hold his sword in the god’s chest.
Hunters surround him, spears and shields creating a dome of protection as one Hunter kills a god before our eyes. The rest of the audience is either frozen in place or screaming in pain as they try to use magic. The five dragons and I are the only ones moving toward the stage, and my eyes keep going back to Fiona, terrified they’ll turn on her as soon as they’re done with Nyxthos.
I couldn’t give a damn about that bastard dying. He’s been nothing but an arrogant fool for as long as I’ve known him. The way he treated Echo was tragic, but when the prize is won, the Hunters will focus on the rest of us. And Fiona. That can’t happen.
“Azric,” Sidon calls out in a rough voice I know means he’s commanding me rather than suggesting, “hit them hard, but then retreat. Do not let their weapons touch you. Do not use magic other than your Steel bloodline. Fight hard, but don’t let themsurround you. They’re faster than you think. Kasan, when the barrier drops, make things easier for us. Inni, be ready to help anyone they begin to drain. Vyran, keep everyone else back. I do not want this to turn into a bloodbath of champions or dragons. Calyr, watch the ship, and let us know if it does anything.”
“What are you going to do?” I shout as we get closer.
There’s a momentary pause, and I glance at the largest of the dragons. He’s smiling as he looks at me. “I’m going to kill them all.”
I swoop down at Fiona’s side just as Brandor Halden stands up, his hand on his chest. Vyran lands in front of the crowd with his back to the actual enemy and roars, “DON’T MOVE!” When a dragon the size of Vyran commands you like that, you do it. Even if a god is being murdered thirty feet away, you do what you’re fucking told.
I draw Mournfang from its sheath on my belt and smile as I finally get a good look at my true enemy. I’d been right to think this was all happening soon. I’d been right about it all. Still, I’m too late.
Each of the Hunters is just a human. They’ve been given some kind of power just like the Godforged have, but at their core, they’re just humans. And I have been killing humans since I became a champion.
Damn Nyxthos and the rest of those cowards we call gods. Instead of doing something about it all, they sat and waited. If I hadn’t killed Echo when I did, none of the gods would even be here. They’d all be in their own worlds, hiding like rats in a leaky ship, destined to drown.
I swing Mournfang at a shield, and for the first time in my life, I don’t control myself. I embrace the rage, the desire to fill rivers with blood. I let the anger and fury I’ve contained all these years flow through me like water from a spring, unending and unstoppable. Every battle before this has been against my allies, whether or not they understood it. I had to control myself. I had to hold back. Now, I don’t have to do anything of the sort.
Mournfang cuts through the shield as if it were only paper, and I feel it continue through the bearer’s chest as he holds it close to maintain his strength. His scream is like a siren’s song, drawing me further into the fever of battle. Spears jab at me, but they’re no faster than any of the Godforged. I slip between them, pushing against their formation.
I’ve stood on the front lines against the Chained and cut them down like wheat before the sickle. I’ve fought an army of Abominations without ever using anything but my blade, and they never touched me.
This? This feels like a joke.
Do not become overconfident!Inni’s words of chastisement remind me that they defeated dragons, and I remember my Uncle Darian’s words when I was young.Don’t let them know what you can do. Don’t let them understand how they can fight you.
Are they baiting me into a false sense of security?
My blade never stops, and my body moves with a surety I’ve gained from a lifetime of war. But I don’t push. I do as Sidon commanded, drawing their attention and keeping myself between them and Fiona.
As I spin, I see her staring at me with black eyes. Gone is the blue I’ve dreamed of too many times to count.
The formation expands, moving to encircle me, but I dance backward. Their attention is focused on me, but they refuse to attack.
My strikes are as hard as any Chained, and Mournfang renders their armor and shields worthless. Multiple Hunters fall to my blade, and I test the shadows again. Still, I sense that impenetrable sense of steel surrounding me, yearning to take every bit of power.
My sword sings with the song of death, just as it was meant to, hacking through limbs and breastplates as if they weren’t wearing armor. The screams of the Hunters echo through the early morning air. I want to do more, to weave my other powers together into a symphony of death. I know that if I could only use them, Sidon wouldn’t even need to fight.
The fight rages on. Me against the Hunters while an entire amphitheater of Godforged watch without moving. I move in and kill one or two, and they do their best to surround me. I pull back again, never giving ground nor taking it. I’m following orders, but when I glance at Fiona, I’m tempted to ignore them.
Her mouth is open in a silent scream. Her arms and legs strain at the invisible bonds. Pain is wracking her body, and I can’t do anything to help her. Not while I’m busy holding the Hunters’ attention.
Then the tide shifts. Giant boulders the size of carts fall from the sky, Kasan’s powers at work. They fall twenty feet and crush the Hunters underneath them. Kasan would be drained by using hispowers, but the sparkling dust that had been in the air has faded significantly.The barrier is falling.Inni’s words are an explanation for why Kasan has started to use his powers again. That dust must be what kept Nyxthos and everyone else from using magic.
I reach out with the power of Flame, and it explodes around me. There is still resistance, but it’s nothing like before. The Hunters are unfazed by the blast or heat, and they surge around me even stronger. I leap backward, and they follow. The entire formation is straining under the multiple enemies doing things they hadn’t expected.
I’m covered in blood, but I haven’t felt so alive in all my life. This is what I was born for. Or is it what I was made for? Then I hear a shriek that digs into my bones coming from the world around me.
The very shadows seem to quake at the sound. The night sky looks as though it’s rippling. There’s a tremor through my own powers.
Then, there’s a silence that feels deafening. The Hunters still, their plate armor no longer shifting and squeaking with tiny movements. The audience doesn’t make a sound.
