“Nothing like a little extra pressure, huh?”
“You perform amazingly under pressure from us, little goddess.” Kyzen winks, making her face flame, and we all chuckle at her.
“Yeah, well, that’s different.”
“Okay, that’s enough. Shall you begin?”V cuts in and our amusement shifts to him.
“Riven, where’s the Obliteration in her body?” I ask.
She turns her attention to where he’s taken a spot in the grass beside her. His hand wraps gently around her throat and he tugs her toward him until their lips collide.
I huff as they deepen the kiss more than necessary.
“Right there, angel.”
“My throat? Really?” she asks, strained, as if the power itself is cutting off her ability to speak.
He nods and rubs his thumb in a circle against her skin.
“Obliteration is about endings, removing, and swallowing things out of existence. The throat is a gateway where words die, breath ceases, and silence forms. It’s the physical threshold between being able to speak something into existence and stopping it.”
She exhales as he releases his hold on her.
“Obliteration isn’t complete annihilation or pure destruction. Its original purpose was to be a divine cleanser of the slate, so to speak. It’s about removing what should be removed so something better can take its place.” I say.
“That doesn’t sound so bad.”
“I told you it wasn’t.” She purses her lips at me, and I wink as I carry on. “That field you and Riven went to the other day. Instead of it being asleep, it could’ve been overtaken by fire-ivy. Fire-ivy will spread to the roots, killing a tree completely.
“Once that happens, there’s nothing you can do to save the tree. If that had been the case, you could’ve used your power of Obliteration to completely clear the field of the dying trees and fire-ivy. Then the owner of the field could’ve started anew.”
“Couldn’t he have got a Plentiful to help get rid of it or help clear the field?”
“No. Fire-ivy is invasive once it’s disturbed. It’ll keep growing back until it’s destroyed.”
“Okay, so in that sense, I understand. I can even see where it’d be helpful but…”
She trails off and what she really wants to bring up, but isn’t, is clear to me.
“I know it’s hard for you to separate this power from our father. We all understand that, so I just need you to look at itthis way. Obliteration was always supposed to be the person who gave the ability to create room to breathe.
“He was supposed to be the person who obliterated corruption in the minds and hearts of his counterparts and all those who came from them. He didn’t. He gave himself over to that brand of power. No one else could’ve wiped the slate clean but him. Do you ever see yourself doing the same thing?”
“Absolutely not.”
Her answer is immediate. Certain. She now needs to accept that.
“Then your power is nothing like his. End of story.”
A long breath falls from her lips. Her single, determined nod is all I need. I grip the pot that’s still sitting in front of V and slide it between us. Her gaze observes the madness blooming from it.
“Do you see this flower here in the center?” I ask, and she gives me an uh-huh. “This is what’s supposed to be in this pot. All these little thorns sticking out around it are Mesquite briars. They’re killing the flower slowly. You’re going to obliterate them.”
I smack her hand away on instinct and apologize with my eyes when she glares at me.
“I reacted faster than my mouth. Don’t touch them. If their thorns prick you, their poison will eat away your skin.”
“What the fuck? Why didn’t you or V warn that sooner?”
