Page 231 of A Reign of Chromes & Shadows

“They were such pretty little things,” Rain continued, tone dripping with mock sympathy. “It’s a shame, really…”

“Where are my daughters?!” Drazier roared, stepping out from behind Jay and moving to stand beside him. “What did you do to them?”

Rain’s grin turned wicked.

Two aetherials stepped between them protectively, as if they could shield their king from Rain. He winked at them.

“I simply put an end to the suffering you caused. Honestly, it was the least I could do after all they endured at your hand.”

Drazier’s fury ignited. His teeth bared in a snarl, smoke huffing from his nostrils in hot, furious bursts.

“You’ll pay for this!” he growled, voice thick with rage. He grabbed a fistful of Jay’s hair and unsheathed a knife from his belt.

Rain’s power snapped like a trap.

“Ah, ah!” His voice cracked through the clearing like thunder as he raised his hand. Drazier’s dagger arm froze mid-air, held immobile by Rain’s power.

The reaction was immediate.

Warning shouts erupted.

Weapons lifted and the five guarding aetherials lunged toward Rain and slammed into an invisible wall he conjured at will.

Rain’s tone dropped into something cold, commanding, and absolute.

“Now. This is what’s going to happen.” He stepped forward, eyes burning with controlled fury. “You’re going to gently remove every despicable finger from that beautiful head of hair…”

His gaze cut to Jay, softening for a fraction of a second.

“…while I disarm you.”

His attention snapped back to Drazier, voice like steel.

“And then you’re all going to take ten steps away from them. Understood?”

Silence.

Confusion rippled through the ranks. Fear. Anticipation. The air thickened with it. Rain felt every emotion pressing against him, hundreds of hateful energies clawing at his senses, chipping at the edges of his control.

Even Drazier hesitated — Rain could feel it. The king had planned something, but nothing was unfolding the way he expected.

Rain’s patience snapped.

“In three,” he warned, voice low and lethal. “Two—”

He moved.

In a single, fluid motion he yanked the blade from Drazier’s hand while dropping the energy wall. The lunging aetherials stumbled forward and Rain struck.

He slammed the two manipulators into each other with a precise burst of force. Their heads collided with a sickening crack, and they dropped instantly, unconscious before they hit the ground.

Rain pivoted, shoving the remaining attackers back with a sweeping arc of power that sent them stumbling away like rag dolls.

Then he strode straight toward Jay and his mother.

The ropes kept them rooted to the pole, helplessly exposed but Rain reached them in seconds. With a sharp exhale, he expanded his power outward, forming a shimmering, impenetrable sphere around the three of them.

The world outside blurred into muffled chaos.