I HAVE TRAVELED ENOUGH of the country to know some of the major cities, but I don’t recognize where we’ve chased the god-bond to. There’s no major markers or touristy spots that give it away, just lines and lines of apartment buildings that now have ice damage to the side of them, sections of them blown to pieces and, of course, the two apartments that have been completely demolished by the fighting.
We’d landed directly in front of one of the piles of rubble—the only spot there wasn’t already Resistance fighters camped out and waiting for us—though that in itself shows that it’s a trap. I’m not sure if walking into a trap is better or worse if you know exactly what it is, but all I can do now is cling to the hope that we’re stronger than these people, strong enough to handle whatever they throw at us.
Strong enough to go home safely at the end of this all with Kieran in tow and Sage’s Bonded Group back together.
I realize now that the reckless streak in me, the one that has me running off after my friends without a thought for my own safety, has calmed a little. Not that I wouldn’t still run headfirst after them if they were in danger, only now, I would ask my Bonded to tag along too. I need to have them with me now the same way that I need air.
Knowing that Silas Davies is dead and no longer out there, ready to strap me to a table and carve me into pieces, bolsters my courage a whole damn lot. It’s probably stupid and naive of me, but I feel as though I can face the god-bonds far easier than I could ever face that maniac.
I don’t have trauma when it comes to them.
Sure, my own god-bond does. All of them do, thanks to a hundred deaths in a hundred lifetimes, but me? I still get the sweats and the shakes thinking about that goddamn table and the box of weapons that was used against me over and over again until my bond had to come out and play. All of the tactics used by a madman against a child, all of the ways he broke me.
I can admit that now that I’m a little older and I’ve seen a little more of life, both through my eyes and through Nox’s. I was a child, and he was a fully grown man, playing his little games and torturing me in the most creative ways. His sick mind would come up with a hundred different ways to carve a body up, only to have a Healer put me back together so he could start again.
If that pain couldn’t break me then whatever Gift this god-bond has can’t either.
I’m not even sure the Pain god can touch me with its power anymore now that we’re all awake and the Soothsayer has reinforced our minds. We’re not just stronger because of the power boost. I’m stronger because I have my Bonded with me. I’m stronger because I know that every last one of my moves is backed up by them, all of them are here to work with me to get us out of here alive and whole. We’re going to get through this together and be ready to take on whatever else might appear in our future.
Otherwise, what’s the point?
The moment that Gabe shifts into the Draconis and the dragon hops off into the air, I feel a moment of panic at his disappearance that is only eased by Gabe’s voice in my mind as he reassures me that he’s going to keep us safe, that everything here is going to be okay. I’m more worried about what’s going to happen to him up there than anything else, as though the distance between us is an unbridgeable gap when really, I know that we’re going to be fine. Everything has to be fine.
I wouldn’t have come out here unless I was sure that it was going to be fine.
Liar. You chased after Kyrie to a Resistance camp that terrified you purely because she’s Gryphon’s sister. The reckless, self-destructive tendencies in you are strong, Nox sends to my mind connection, and I startle for a second.
Are you reading my mind right now? Because I can only handle that happening with one person. To have you in there as well is terrifying.
He shakes his head at me, moving us away as North and Gryphon start mobilizing teams on the ground, pushing out and beginning to head towards the Resistance battalions waiting for us on the next street. They’re trying to draw us away from the rubble here. I don’t need anyone to tell me why when I get an eyeful of Sage as she stares at the piles of rock as though her life depends on it.
Kieran is somewhere in that rubble, alive and breathing, for now.
Everything is fine, I’m sure, but he’s trapped under there, and we have no way to know if he’s bleeding out or something right now.
Gryphon is quick to confirm it before I’m even able to cast out my own Gift. He can breathe just fine, but he’s unconscious and at the very least, his arm and both his legs are broken.
I look over at Sage and give her a thumbs up, pointing at the pile for a second, and she’s quick to dart over to it. She scrambles a little on the rocks as she begins moving them away, as though she’s going to lift them all by herself to get to her Bonded.
It’s cute but highly impractical, and time isn’t exactly on our side here.
“I brought someone with me who is kind of an expert at this,” I say to her loudly enough that if anyone’s around, it would give away our position, but the thick streams of smoke around us slowly forming into creatures are more than enough to do that.
Atlas carefully guides me over to the pile, making sure I stick close to him, and then, as though it’s nothing, he begins to move giant chunks of building away from the pile.
He literally picks up an entire wall and moves it away as if it’s nothing but a pillow.
I have to remind myself of the seriousness of this situation so I don’t swoon. I hear the screeching of the Draconis in the air as though it’s miles away, then the heat of his fire as he spits it out a few streets over. It feels hotter than the sun, even from this distance, and I lift a hand to shield my face from it.
“Do you think he’s gonna be okay?” Sage asks me as she watches Atlas, and I nod my head, rubbing her arm.
“Of course. He’s going to be perfectly safe and very grouchy while he gets completely healed up. I’m sure he will also hate every single second of you fussing over him and all of the shit that Gryphon and North are going to give him for scaring them like this. Everything is going to be fine.”
Everything is definitely not fine.
As the bullets and harpoons, freakin’ harpoons, start to arc through the sky towards one of my beloved Bonded, my chest tightens and my eyes shift as I call on my power.
I throw out my Gift as though it’s a net, finding as many of the Resistance as I possibly can and tearing their souls out. All of that energy and power that I take, I funnel through to Gabe. I feel as it seeps into his body, strengthening him and healing any small wounds he may have already. I feel him take it into himself, and the next stream of fire he breathes covers twice the distance of his last, burning hotter and devastating our enemy with ease.
It’s magnificent to watch.
While I work, Wick and Riley start talking amongst themselves. I can’t pay attention to their words while I rip souls out. I have to focus to get the right people, but the next thing I know, they join in with the fighting while Atlas and Sage dig for Kieran.
I’m surprised to find them working together.
Riley uses his Gift to lift objects as Wick sets them on fire, and then they’re flying through the sky, landing on the Resistance and crushing them as though they are nothing.
When there’s shouting and more gunfire to the left, Sage slides across the rubble towards us, reaching out her hands, and a wall of flames bursts out of her. It slams into the building next to us, the entire front wall catching fire as dozens of soldiers stream out. Whether they were lying in wait to attack us, or simply waiting for a safe moment to retreat because they were too scared of the shadow creatures to face us, it doesn’t matter now. As they descend from the staircase, yelling as their uniforms catch fire, I tear their souls out and let their power fill my veins.
North and Gryphon push their TacTeams further out, trying to draw the god-bond to them. My instincts tell me to funnel all of the extra power to my Bonded, but I try to remember what I’m going to be facing here soon. Instead, I keep some of the power that I get from the souls for myself.
I don’t like doing it.
It feels selfish to me, but I also don’t think I can afford to take a three-day nap this time. I can’t leave us exposed like that.
Atlas continues to move the rubble away, glancing over his shoulder every so often at me. It’s as though he’s sure I’m going to disappear the second he steps too far away. Nox sidles a little closer to me, his shadows casting out more and more, dozens of them covering the area.
As another hail of bullets fly through the air, Atlas straightens for a moment, pushing his hands out in front of him. The bullets all stop mid-air, hitting the barrier that he has been working so hard on perfecting, and they roll away.
We haven’t just managed to become a Bonded Group that gets along well, we’ve become a cohesive unit that can face our worst enemies and have each other’s backs, to protect our family and make it through this in one piece.
I’ve never been sure of our ability to do so before, but now, I think maybe we can do this. I think we can make it through the fight with the god-bond and create a better world for ourselves.
I think we’re going to survive this.
There’s a loud screech overhead again as the Draconis closes in on another section of the Resistance, this time above where North and Gryphon are pushing the teams further.
I can feel all of this happening through the net that I’ve cast out. I can feel what everyone is thinking, where they are, what they’re doing. I can feel everything around me, so I feel when the god-bond makes its next move.
There is a strange absence in my net, an empty pull that has no explanation, no reason for being there. And yet, there it is. I feel it the same time I feel the Draconis turn and circle back.
Panic flares in my chest, but my bond speaks to me. Trust our Bonded. All of them. They know what to do here. They have lived every life with us, and they will not throw away a chance at being together. Not this one.
I swallow roughly and glance at Nox, to his eyes that are glowing black. When he turns back to me, I can see that the Corvus has taken over in preparation of what’s to come.
Atlas continues to move the boulders, but his speed picks up. He’s less careful about what he’s doing, and it takes me a second to realize the Cleaver has taken over as well.
Sage scowls at him for a moment until she catches a glimpse of his black eyes, then she gulps and turns back to me.
“It’s alright. He’s just getting ready for the god-bond. He’s going to find Kieran first, and we’re going to get you guys out of here. I promise, Sage. Everything’s going to be okay.”
As sure as I feel about my words, I’m glad that Gryphon isn’t here to hear them, just in case there’s a lie in them, one I refuse to face myself. We have to find Kieran before the god-bond gets here.
We have to get him out.
North and Gryphon move towards us, leaving their TacTeams where they are as they continue to work through the Resistance. They have a bunch of Elementals in their numbers, and they’ve figured out that the quickest way to fight this Ice god is with fire. They melt away the giant shards it sends flying towards us so that we get hit with nothing but a gentle splash of water.
Just when I feel as though I’m going to scream with anxious energy, Sage gasps and a sob rips out of her throat as she calls out for Felix. The Cleaver turns with Kieran’s broken body in his arms, his legs pointing in the wrong directions and blood all over his face as it pours out of his mouth. His breath is uneven and choppy, with a terrifying rattling sound coming from his chest.
I have no idea how he’s still breathing in that state.
Sage moves towards him, but Felix barks out an order. “Stop! If you heal him like this, you might do more damage. Just wait there, Bonded. I’ll do what I need to do first.”
She falters and comes to a halt, but I can tell how much it’s breaking her to do so. Wick and Riley both stay steady and sure as they work together against the hordes of Resistance that surround us. I give myself one more minute with my bestie before I turn my attention back to the gods; one more minute to observe as Felix patches Kieran up enough to make the jump. I watch as Sage and Felix find a Transporter to take them back to the Sanctuary. I also watch as Wick and Riley make the choice to stay here and continue fighting, to do what they can for us and our community.
My respect for the two of them skyrockets as they both kiss Sage goodbye and tell her not to worry, that they will come home once everything here is over with. They might not be my favorite of her Bonded Group, but I can now firmly say that they have my respect.
The moment that minute is over, my eyes shift to black and my bond takes over, ready to deal with this god-bond once and for all.
The Eternal
THE DRACONIS HAS NOT ONLY FOUND the god-bond but it’s working towards capturing it and bringing it directly to me. An act of love and devotion that cannot be ignored.
Instead of waiting for it, as I’m sure it would like me to do, I move towards the Corvus. I’m ready for him to Shadow Shift us directly to where the god-bond is lying in wait. I’m ready to use my power and consume the soul, to take it into myself and ensure that we will never face this god again.
Pillars of ice are appearing around us as our enemy prepares to make its final move, trapping us here and attempting to use its strengths to take us out.
Little does it know, we are beyond such things now.
As I move towards the Corvus, ready to take his arm and shift with him, I feel the earth begin to move under my feet in an unnatural way. With an ear-splitting rumbling sound, a cavernous hole opens up around us. I stumble, my feet slipping on the loose rocks, and the Cleaver lunges towards me to cover me with his body as the earth gives way to a sinkhole, both of us tumbling into it as though we’re ants under the feet of giants.
Instead of landing terribly and breaking my body into a million different pieces, I feel nothing as the Cleaver rolls us both so that I’m on top of him. He takes the brunt of the fall with no reaction other than the tightening of his arms around me as we hit the bottom of the hole.
It ignites my temper.
I cast my web further, throwing it out wide and pulling out the souls of everyone around me that does not belong to the small community we have built. Every living being within the destruction zone is gone in the blink of an eye, all of their power churning through me as we prepare to face down not one, but two god-bonds, both of them working together.
“An Elemental,” the Cleaver says to me as we stand back up, trapped in a hole at least ten feet deep.
“Two Elementals,” I reply, and the Soothsayer speaks into our minds.
The Draconis is taking care of the Ice. We will bring you the other one, Eternal.
I have no doubt that they will do just that, but I also don’t particularly want to be buried alive here. It’s a death that I have unfortunately faced before, and it’s not one that I’m particularly inclined to re-live. I hear a screech overhead as the Draconis weighs in on the matter as well, the roaring of his flame breath blocking out all other sounds as he decimates our enemy.
The Cleaver pulls me onto his back as he finds footholds in the earth around us, climbing out of the pit with ease, as though ascending a ladder. As we reach the top, the Corvus is waiting for us, his arms ready to lift me out. The shadows are thick around us as he prepares for whatever’s next.
The ground begins to shake again.
I funnel my power into the Draconis and the Crux, carefully reserving some for myself, knowing that I will be consuming two gods’ souls. And though I came out stronger on the other side of the last feast—disgusting as it was—it might not be enough this time.
We might have to send one of them back into the cycle.
The Corvus turns to look at me, a scowl on his face. “That will not be happening. We can give you whatever you need to be taken care of. I refuse to spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for one of these things to come back and find us.”
I smile at him as though he has declared his love for me, and he has—in his own special way—and reach my hand out to clasp his hands.
The Draconis lets out another screeching sound and for a moment, I worry that he has been attacked or harmed, but then I see him circling again. A long stream of fire sprays out of his mouth, destroying everything around him until there’s nothing, dead or alive, left for him to target other than the god-bond he hunts.
I step over to the Corvus once more. “We should join him.”
He shakes his head. “He will join the others when he’s ready. He’s having fun playing with his food at the moment.”
A smile stretches across my lips as the Cleaver and I each take his arm, the shadows engulfing us completely as he shifts through the air in an instant. It’s completely different than how the Transporters do it. There’s no sickening motion, no feeling that what we’re doing is unnatural, and my stomach does not churn horrifically.
Instead, I’m enveloped by his shadows for a brief moment, safe and beloved there, only for them to part and be somewhere else entirely. I find myself standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the Crux and the Soothsayer once more as they face down the Elemental. My Bonded has it captured and wrapped in shadows.
This one is young.
Young enough that I’m sure the vessel is still alive, not yet killed off, as the god still requires sleep to recover from the cycling. It might even be younger than the vessels of my Bonded, but its eyes are black all the same. There’s a tugging in my chest as my vessel wants to speak to me.
I know her, the girl says. I know exactly who that is. She’s been so close to us before.
It doesn’t matter though. It’s something for the girl to discuss with the vessels at a later point. What does it matter to us if it has appeared before? All that matters is that it’s dead now.
It just doesn’t know it yet.
“You don’t deserve to be together,” it starts to say, but I have no interest in listening to these things anymore.
Why should I lower myself to listen to the tirade of madness that their broken minds have conjured? Instead of staying true to the one thing that matters, their Bonded, they threw it all away, because they’re weak and pathetic.
They are nothing to me.
I reach a hand out to anchor myself as my Gift flows out of me and into the god-bond’s being, wrapping firmly around their soul. The moment I have them trapped, I yank my power back into myself, taking the soul with it. It’s easier than the last one, this god having only been awake for a short amount of time. Still, I’m thankful for the extra reserve of power I have as I wrestle with it, pulling and pulling and pulling until finally, it comes loose.
The vessel’s body drops as I take the soul into myself, dead and gone before it hits the ground.
I take a deep breath before I consume it, disgust rippling through my body at the thought of it being inside of me, but the power-kick it gives me rocks me on my feet. It’s like being struck by lightning, an almighty explosion trapped within my skin as volts of energy race up and down my limbs, burning everything it touches as I force the power to obey me, kneel for me, become a part of me.
Another one gone.
Another one finally set free, no longer cycling, but gone from this world forever. One more god that we never have to worry about killing us again.
The shadows ease away from the vessel. There is a quiet moment as we stare at the body of a teenage girl before a screech cuts through the air once more. The Draconis flies overhead, and we’re forced to scatter like ants as a body falls from the sky, landing with a thud at our feet. A pile of blood and bones pokes through skin, and a wheezing, rattling breath is somehow still coming out of the bloodied mess. It is the most gruesome gift.
My favorite kind.
The Draconis lands close by, blood dripping from its teeth as it snuffs and snorts happily, satisfied that it has brought me a god-bond to consume but utterly frustrated that it can’t do more to right these wrongs. I reach out a hand to my Bonded, pressing against the scales of its neck for a moment as the sparks still play under the skin of my palm.
This soul is a lot harder to get out.
The vessel is older, already long dead, and the god-bond is strong after years of hiding out and developing. It takes a moment, but the Soothsayer floods my mind, sending me more of his power as he opens up my mind to the others, letting them help with this burden.
I’m careful not to take too much from them, careful not to open us up to the risk of too many of us being weakened, but I do take what they offer. I use it to pull the god-bond’s soul out with one hard yank, watching as the body twitches violently before finally it stops breathing. This time when I consume the soul, I pass out from the waves of power that flood me, everything going dark around me as I feel the lifeforce flood my body.
The Crux catches me as darkness envelops me.
