With a yank, he returned to himself.
“That’s not safe,” Xariel snapped.
Bodies littered the once-beautiful gardens. Blood stained the water in the fountains. The faces of the dead were unfamiliar to Martin. He closed his eyes, reaching out for Peter. There! Finally! Peter appeared as a murky dream shape on the edge of Martin’s senses.
Martin could easily pull strength from his lover, but no, he wouldn’t.
Take it,he heard in his head.If this doesn’t work, I won’t need it anyway. You must tire Thomoth if we’re to have a chance.
Dmitri dropped a hand to Martin’s shoulder. “Take it. That’s his part in this war. Providing you with strength.”
Martin drew, only intending to take a bit. Once he opened the connection with Peter, power slammed into him, nearly knocking him off his feet. In the blink of an eye, he went from exhausted to invigorated, having removed the magic dampening amulet..
Guardian, gatekeeper, champion, solace. Card images flashed through Martin’s mind, similar to cards he’d read with Peter what seemed a lifetime ago. He pushed past the gray mist with renewed determination, bringing the guardians with him.
Step by step, Dmitri climbed to the main chapel, Martin close on his heels. The once-beautiful building now appeared sinister, a heavy weight of vileness permeating the air.
Priests and Chosen stood in their path, eyes eerily blank. Unlike those outside, these attackers carried swords.
“We’ve got this!” Gaveth cried. He and the Father’s other priests broke off, engaging with the Lady’s faithful.
Dmitri, Xariel, and Martin pushed forward. The moment they breeched the sanctuary, all outside sounds faded.
“Thomoth! We’ve no wish for any more loss of life,” Dmitri shouted into the eerie silence. Nothing. Then…
The barely audible click of heels on marble, the rustle of clothing.Tap, tap, tap, someone approached. They emerged from their hiding place.
Cere. Dressed in the same clothing he’d worn to the Choosing, only stained and dirty, golden skin showing through tears in the fabric. Cere would be beside himself if he knew how he looked. He opened his mouth, but another’s voice emerged. “I see, hunter, that you know who I am.”
Martin stepped out of the shadows. “Let him go. He’s merely a novice. What good could he possibly be to you?”
“He is my vessel. Allowing me to speak to you. You know you cannot defeat me. Yours isn’t the first world I’ve fed upon.”
“No, you go where you will, leaving death and destruction in your wake,” Dmitri snarled. Even through the heavy cassock, Martin sensed muscles bunched for launch.
Xariel stopped Dmitri with a hand to the shoulder. “That’s what it wants, to pick us off one by one. We need you to stay with us.”
“Your followers know who you are now, Thomoth. What you are.” Martin stepped away, drawing Cere’s attention, giving Dmitri time to compose himself. “They no longer worship you.”
“Like I care what the weaker races think. However, you’ve destroyed my conduits, how I channel the magic from this world into myself.”
Good! The runes worked.
Thomoth continued, “This body will have to do, though I’m afraid there will be nothing but ashes when I’m done.”
Martin bit back the pain of those words. Cere didn’t deserve this. None of the temple dwellers did. “Then what?”
“Then I consume what’s left of the magic of this place and leave.”
“The people here are innocent. Why destroy them?”
Thomoth laughed, a grotesque sound coming from a sweet young man of easy smiles and trilling laughter. “When I dictated the killing of mages and drew their power for myself, your people were all too happy to comply. They loved that I gave them a reason to destroy who they’d long envied. So they are complicit in the ruining of their own world. As has been the case on any world to which I traveled. I found no need to conquer, just divide the people and let them do the work.”
“You killed the mages. My parents. Many others.”
“Have you not seen your own kind kill each other when food is in short supply or over some petty bickering? Do you not look out for yourselves?” The mocking tones didn’t match Cere’s peaceful expression.
Martin struggled to accept that this being only looked like Cere. Did Cere still exist? “You kill entire worlds.”
