Chapter 16
Korithax
There is no word in any tongue, mortal or immortal, that accurately captures the horror of the Drekkar.
The sky above the Northern Ridge is alive.
Blood-red lightning streaks across the expanse, making the sky appear like it’s bleeding.
Crimson clouds roil over jagged peaks, the ground trembling under the weight of the creature in front of me.
The air crackles with dread and terror, the kind that even makes the most sinister of demons pause.
Towering over forty feet tall, the Drekkar is a twisted behemoth of scale and shadow.
Reptilian in structure, but corrupted far beyond anything that can exist naturally.
Its body is armoured in jagged obsidian plating, each scale edged with a venomous green substance that pulses through its veins.
Leathery wings sprout from its back like broken cathedral windows, too large for its disgusting body, with membranes black and iridescent, stretched taut over gnarled bone.
Its head is elongated, draconic—but where eyes should be, are hollows of shifting emerald green flame.
A maw that splits open wider than physically possible, layered with rows of serrated teeth, roars its deafening sound all around us.
It sounds like a thousand dying screams, enough to make me slam my hands over my ears.
I don’t take my eyes off its clawed hands, each digit long enough to impale a full-grown man.
One successful swipe and I know I’m a goner.
Its back has a dozen spiked tendrils—tentacle-like extensions that move with sentience, coiling and uncoiling each time the beast moves.
This monster is the reason the north of Hell remains heavily guarded, and the exact reason I’m out here with my strongest soldiers.
This one is massive. Larger than any I’ve faced before.
“Fall back,” I bark to the nearest commander. “Get your men out of the way.”
“But sire—”
“NOW,” I growl, not giving room for any argument.
The Drekkar lunges before the words are even cold on my tongue.
I dodge the first strike, its scorching green flames streaking behind me.
It’s fast. Too fast. I unfurl my wings, shooting into the sky as it quickly follows, its bone-trembling roar making my ears throb.
We clash mid-air, and one of its claws rips through my side, tearing straight through flesh.
I hiss through my teeth, hoping that it only managed to slice its way through skin and nothing else.
I move fast, countering its strike with a blade of soulfire, the hottest flame in Hell, driving it deep into its neck.
It shrieks—a sound that instantly ruptures my eardrums, making the surrounding mountains tremble.
I can feel the blood trickling out of my ears as I watch the reptilian bastard fall, its wings slamming into the nearest cliff face.
The Drekkar’s talons gouge the earth, leaving large gaping grooves across the ground.
My blood spills freely from my side, dripping down to join the rivers of molten lava that freely run down the mountainside.
I don’t stop, because this is what I was made for.
This is why I am to become King of Hell.
It takes hours to bring the bastard down, my body aching.
I take my final swing, the explosion of power pouring out of me, my hellfire intertwines with the soulfire in my blade, causing the entire realm to tremble.
I stand over its corpse, breathing hard, drenched in black blood and my own.
Half of my soldiers’ cheer, the other half stare at me in awe.
But I don’t take notice, I just turn and walk away, grateful I’ve finally had a match to compete with my strength and rage.
I’m halfway to my chambers, too exhausted to try and teleport, when a healer intercepts me.
“Your Highness—” her eyes widen, taking in my appearance.
“What?”
“Miss Sandoval isn’t in her chambers for her tonic. She’s been summoned by the Divine Six.”
I stop dead in my tracks.
“They summoned her?”
“Yes sire. She is still with them now.”
Rage floods me, fresh and scalding, consuming me entirely.
I summon the little power I’ve not already burned through and attempt to rip a hole straight into the Divine Six’s pretentious sanctum, but it’s locked down tight.
Those bastards knew I would try and breach it the second they called her.
Fine, guess I’ll do it the old fashioned way.
I appear in front of the golden threshold of their domain in Zeriavoss instead, smoking peeling off my skin in waves.
I’m instantly met with guards trying to intercept me.
I snap the first one’s neck with barely a flick of my wrist, bone crunching like dried reeds.
The second, I grab by the throat and slam into the wall until he stops twitching.
I don’t break stride. I throw the doors open like a god of war.
Smoke trails behind me, my footsteps thundering across the marble. My eyes land on Daisy.
She’s stood there in the centre of the Divine Six’s chamber. Surrounded. Small. Confused.
“You fucking dare bring her here?” I growl, my voice echoing around the room like a thunderclap.
Seraphiel rises. “You are not permitted—”
“Drop the fucking shield so I can take her back to her chambers. Now!”
“She does not belong in Hell,” Seraphiel continues. “Her soul was returned. We do not understand why.”
“I SAID—DROP. THE. SHIELD.” The words aren’t a command, they’re a threat laced with promise.
I take a step forward, my wings spread wide.
My hands curl into fists that glow with dark black fire.
They know me, they know exactly what I’ll do.
I will burn this room, I will tear down every gilded edge, shatter every rune, crack the spines of the immortals until they feel what wrath really is.
The shield drops. I don’t wait for permission, I stride straight to her, her eyes wide with fear. She doesn’t fight me as I scoop her up into my arms. I can hear her heartbeat thrumming wildly, feel it pattering against my chest. I vanish before they can even breathe another word.
We land back in her room, and I’m shaking. My arms are still around her, my skin slick with blood. Her wide eyes look up at me like I’ve just walked out of a nightmare.
“Why did you give my soul back? She asks, voice barely above a breath. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I don’t answer, instead, I place her down on the bed gently. The second her body is out of my grasp, my anger resurfaces tenfold.
“Why did you go to the Uppers without me?” I snarl.
“I didn’t know they—”
“I should break Aran’s fucking neck,” I interrupt, pacing up and down the room.
“No—don’t. He helped me,” Daisy stutters, stumbling over her words.
I whirl on her, eyes blazing, but quickly look away before I do something I’ll regret.
I can’t look at her, not like this. They set this up.
They planned this. The Drekkar attack wasn’t random.
No creature that massive, that brutal, just manages to wander that far inside my borders.
They sent it. They waited until I was distracted, then grabbed her.
My lip curls as a snarl forces its way out of my throat.
She watches me, trembling. “When can I go home?”
My eyes turn to her, my breath catching for half a second. She’s splatted in my blood. The sight of her skin streaked in crimson, my crimson, does something ugly to me. I love seeing the women I fucked marked in my blood, but seeing her this way? Fuck.
“Go shower,” I snap, “you’re covered in my blood.” I turn my gaze from her. “The healers will bring the rest of your medicine and I’ll have Aran take you home in a few hours.”
I exit the room, slamming the door behind me on a growl.
In my chambers, I tear the ruined clothes from my body and storm into the obsidian and marble tiled shower.
The water burns as I turn the temperature up to the highest it can possibly go.
I plant my palms against the cool stone, letting the heat sting down my back, watching the blood and grime wash away down the drain.
I slap my hands against the wall, then pound the sides of my fists against them.
It's not enough. It’s never, ever enough. I rear back my arm, driving my fist into the wall once. Then again and again, until my knuckles bleed and my breath comes in broken snarls.
She’s leaving. Good. She doesn’t belong here, she never did. Not seeing her again will be a good thing. Yet for some inexplicable reason, the thought of never seeing those godsdamn ocean eyes again has my ribs feeling like they’re splintering open.
I return hours later, buzzing with irritation.
“Aran’s busy,” I mutter as I stride into the guest chamber. “I’m taking you.”
She opens her mouth, but I lift her into my arms before she can even form a word and teleport us back to her realm. We land in the middle of Daisy’s apartment. It’s dim, quiet, smelling faintly of lavender and familiarity. Her medicine lands with a quiet thunk on the table seconds after we arrive.
“You will not see me again, Daisy,” I say flatly
She blinks in surprise. “But… what if I want to?”
Her voice is too soft, too raw. It sounds like a plea, like a wish, like she believes there’s something in me that makes me worth her time.
I force myself to look at her, really look.
The way her hair’s fallen loose around her face, a piece curling against her cheek.
Without thinking, without meaning to, I brush it gently behind her ear.
My fingers skim her skin in a moment that’s too intimate.
I instantly snap the thread, my jaw locking.
I step back sharply, arms falling to my sides.
“And why the fuck would you want that, little flower?” I sneer, forcing ice into my voice.
She flushes, embarrassed by her own honesty. “I… I don’t know.”
The blush rises up her throat, and gods help me, I like it. I take two long strides away, trying to put as much space between us as I can without tearing open the walls.
“You will not see me again,” I growl. “Get your fucking self together, and don’t try kill yourself again. Just get on with your life, Daisy.”
She flinches, tears lining her eyes. “Why are you so hot and cold with me? I don’t understand.”
I take a slow, deliberate inhale and rake my eyes over her—not with lust, or tenderness, but with forced disdain.
“There is nothing to understand,” I say, venom lacing every syllable.
“You are a pathetic, weak little mortal, who has been nothing but an inconvenience to me since your wretched father sold your soul to me like it was trash. You were so beneath me, I gave it back. I do not want you in my life, my realm, not even in the fucking depths of Hell.”
I watch her expression crumble as I tear her down with words I know will scar.
Not because they’re true, but because if I don’t burn the bridge between us, I feel as though I may never stop crossing it.
I don’t give her another chance to reply as I vanish straight back to my chamber, leaving her behind forever.
I lean against the wall, breathing hard.
The taste of my cruelty is bitter in my mouth.
Good, I tell myself. But my hands are shaking from an emotion I’m struggling to place.
And when I lay down in my large, cold bed, the broken way she looked at me is the only thing I see as I close my eyes. And I fucking hate myself for it.