Chapter 48 #2
As she stood, standing mere feet from where he had attacked, she bore her teeth, “What are you doing here, Goddrick?!” She dared look for Jayce, wondering what had happened, only to see him pulling Karver from a pile of rubble.
“Bringing a murderous witch to justice.”
“You sound bitter, did someone hurt you?” Her nostrils flared as she readied herself.
He roared in frustration once more. This time, she had no chance to evade; with a resounding crash, her body slammed against the wall, nearly twenty or so feet away.
Slithering across her cheek, Ilkiz’s scales receded.
Thankfully, they had absorbed most of the impact, preventing her from losing her entire jaw to his massive punch.
“What did I say?” On his left, Jayce extended his hand, and had Goddrick not evaded, she could only imagine the devastation he would have faced.
Utilizing the dyspoxii, the space around his former position collapsed entirely upon itself.
The floor trembled, and even the air was transformed into sparks of crystallized elements.
He had obliterated the space into nonexistence, leaving behind a scooped-out depression in the marble ground.
At the sound of a cry, both she and Jayce turned to witness Jaakobai’s hand gripping Kaen’s neck.
Just as they prepared to intervene, water enveloped the Elder Fae and his soldiers.
The heat surrounding Kaen began to boil the liquid, and though they couldn’t hear their screams, the agonizing contortions sent a shiver down Azahara’s spine.
As Jayce stepped beside her, she felt the reassuring brush of his arm against hers, bringing a much-needed sense of calm.
While anger had fueled her determination, the knowledge that he was okay and prepared to fight by her side provided a renewed strength.
Goddrick inhaled deeply, and an ominous black aura enveloped his skin, a sight all too familiar.
“Why…” She asked him again, “Why are you aiding them?”
He held no title, like the Goddess of War or the God of Might—holding no connection to the mortal world beyond its people. Though he might have once been worshipped, he meant nothing to these people now, particularly once her voice echoed the truth about who he was and what he had done to her.
“You will find my previous kindness better than what is coming for you, Azahara.” The shrill feeling that traveled down her spine upon hearing her name was worse than being called a little mouse.
Jayce took a step to him, “Keep her name out of your filthy mouth, boy.”
Goddrick looked at him, and the pure, unfiltered hate in them was like daggers.
“Keep your fucking eyes on me,” she said, moving forward and stepping in front of Jayce. “Those eyes, I want them to watch me as I send you to the Oblivion.”
With his power pulsating off of him, he looked back at her, and smiled, “Az—”
He didn’t even get the first syllable out before Jayce was slamming him to the marble below, his body crumbling below the pressure.
The smile that crossed her face, it was crazed, and she felt as though she was embodying Kaen in that moment. Even as Goddrick used the dyspoxii to retreat back, she found humor in that second, he was retreating.
As satisfying as the moment felt to embrace, her smile faltered as she observed him. Goddrick had the power to obliterate this entire structure, to annihilate most everyone in mere moments. The question echoed in her mind: Why hadn’t he? He hadn’t hesitated in Itotaki.
Jayce once again attempted to collapse the space around Goddrick with his Magic, but the elusive dyspoxii was too swift. While she knew he was frustrated, he didn’t flinch, just turned his head to the god to see him.
“Let me,” she rubbed her hands together, “Get the Fae’s hands for me.” He regarded her with a devilish smile before disappearing.
Her outstretched hand conjured a ball of liquid power, following Kaen’s teachings.
With precision, she hurled it directly at Goddrick, who underestimated the intense heat of Ilkiz.
As he raised his arm to swat it away, the molten liquid clung to him, devouring his limb like a relentless disease, spreading rapidly.
“I want to see you suffer for all eternity for the things you did to me!” Despite the echoes of pain in her voice, it carried the power she had endured torture to obtain.
Hearing him scream would be the single most powerful feeling she would ever desire to have over, and over again.
As he struggled against the encroaching fire, she materialized in front of him, all the armor shifted to her fist as she delivered a powerful blow to his face.
He was propelled backward with such speed that even her own eyes struggled to track his trajectory amidst the billowing dust.
A second scream, Jaakobai’s, echoed in the background. While she pressed on to deliver the final blows to Goddrick, she glanced at Jayce who was standing over a bleeding Jaakobai—both hands now removed from his arms.
She was overtaken by pure, unfiltered joy as she catapulted herself over a pile of rubble toward Goddrick, a broad smile etched on her face.
As much as she aspired to exude the strength and stoicism of Xol, she couldn’t deny the sheer happiness that surged within her at the sight of their suffering – a joy she had longed for.
“Please!” A voice unfamiliar to her reached her ears, prompting her to swiftly shift her gaze and turn toward the source.
A scream, an urgent plea that stirred a sense of urgency within her.
“Someone! It’s—” She cursed under her breath, hastening toward the pile of rubble.
As it gradually cleared, she spotted a hand peeking out from beneath two pillars, and her eyes met those of the female elf who had once stood beside General Olaniyan.
“Shit—” She picked up her pace, and when she reached her, she put her back against one of them and began lifting. The weight wasn’t limited to just one pillar; several other pieces of the ceiling had collapsed, putting her strength to the ultimate test.
Shifting her stance, she engaged her legs and exerted all her strength to lift the pillar overhead.
A primal scream echoed through the room as she hurled it, the clash against the floor sending tremors across the space.
Without hesitation, she moved on to the next.
While it wasn’t as heavy, her body strained to maintain the exertion, her arms trembling as she lifted it above her head.
“Move! Now!” She screamed, to only watched as the Elf looked beyond her, “Move!” She said again, confused at her immobile body.
“Kill her! Now!”
“What?” She said, her arms trembling, “Move damn it—” A searing pain rocked through her chest, and though the sensation was all too familiar, she was still taken aback when she glanced down to find an arrow lodged between her breasts.
“What…”
“Again! Hurry!” Confusion ripped through her as another arrow attempted to pierce through her, but her scales reacted in time, sending it ricocheting across the room.
Looking down at the woman, Azahara stared deep into her green eyes.
She had tried to save this person, and still, she sought her death.
Feeling pain beyond the arrow, her body trembled, and her expression hardened.
Without a single bit of remorse, she shifted the pillar forward, watching as the Elf looked up at her with pure terror in her eyes, and let it go.
Her cries were silenced nearly immediately, and the sound of flesh and bone being crushed under its weight didn’t even faze her.
“No!” The voice that screamed, however, shattered her resolve. When she turned to find her assailant, all her strength and willpower were drained away.
Standing there, with his bow cocked, was Kaed.
She blinked, her body fighting for ownership with an external force trying to take her down. Was it the arrow? Was it the pain in her heart? What is happening…
Kaed released the arrow, and just as before, scales slipped across her skin, sending it flying elsewhere. He had attempted to hit her neck, to silence her.
“You monster!”
She released her breath, “What… did you say?”