36. Thayla #2
What are you doing, Binding?
I don’t expect an answer, but it offers one almost immediately.
A deep hum rolls through the chamber, and the sphere brightens blindingly so. The intensity sharpens, building momentum, growing until all I hear is the thud of my heart.
One thud. Two.
Then…
The Gods Binding exhales.
A pulse tears outward in absolute silence. It races through the chamber faster than thought, passing harmlessly through my body without disturbing a single strand of hair.
Behind us, two sharp grunts break the silence. I turn just enough to see my father and Meridamus bent forward, clutching their chests.
“Dad!” I shout, jerking my arm to no avail. “Dad.”
“I-it’s okay,” he groans, holding his hand up, but it doesn’t lessen my worry.
Please.
I don’t even know what I’m asking for, but it’s the only word that comes to mind. Slowly, the rhythm of the essence settles, and with a tenderness that steals my breath, the Binding releases us. One hand at a time.
My chest rises and falls as I stagger back, still staring in awe, confusion, fascination.
That was…I don’t even know.
“Thayla.”
My head jerks and I spin, hauling ass down the bronze steps to reach my father and Meridamus as they straighten.
“Are you both okay?” I ask, grabbing an arm each.
“We’re fine,” my dad says. “You have to go. Now. Th-that most certainly was felt.”
“It severed your connections?” Amick asks.
“Yeah,” Meridamus…groans.
“We need to go,” Kyzen says, wrapping his fingers around my wrists.
Before I can step away, my father catches my other hand.
“Be careful, my shooting star.”
I meet his eyes. The worry there cuts deeper than any blade.
“I will.”
I twist my wrist from his grip, then tighten my fingers around his for the briefest moment.
He hesitates. Then he lets me go.
Our hands stretch toward one another as I hold his gaze for as long as I can while Kyzen pulls me toward the doorway. The distance grows with every hurried step.
There are still a thousand things left unsaid.
Today isn’t giving us the time to say them.
My men and I spill in and out of the white room in the blink of an eye.
“To the barrier,” Creed commands.
His power brushes across my senses, and mine roars to the surface. For one last calming second, the realm disappears.
When it returns, we’re standing before the barrier. Shock holds me still for a heartbeat as I stare through it.
Through it.
It’s so weak now it no longer hides Godsden or the Abandon.
Shit.
I tear my attention away and sweep my gaze across familiar faces.
Seismet stands tall and ready, dipping his head once when our eyes collide. Mara sits atop Fausta, waiting for me, while Gladian, Prath, Barir, and Vullie flank her.
Havar’s face lacks any playfulness. Yemi and I lost the fight over him coming here, and now the sight of him on Verlet’s back makes my nose burn. That’s an unexplainable level of trust between him, Verlet, and my men.
Yemi is…
Oh.
Despite the seriousness on her face, she glows. Not from power. Sevryn, Doren, Iric, and Nero crowd around her with a tenderness that’s more than before. My lips part before I smile.
She completed her Starwoven bond last night.
It’s obvious this morning.
My weird little soul family.
They’re all making it out alive.
I refuse to consider any other possibility.
Beyond them, our allies, brave Attendants, and hundreds of Defenders wait in disciplined ranks, black armor drinking in the last of the starlight.
Scattered among the darkness stand figures clad in pale silver and soft ivory. Our Healers. Close enough to reach the wounded. Far enough back to survive long enough to save them.
“Thayla,” Amick says.
I tear my attention from the army.
Seismet shifts as my men boost me onto his back. Their touches linger just long enough to make me crave more…
“I love you,” I murmur.
Their serious expressions never falter, yet their souls brush mine with impossible softness.
“I love you.”
The devotion in their echoed words sings through my blood as they step back.
Fausta lets out a neigh as she moves beside us, and Mara readjusts her grip on her mane.
It’s time. Really time.
One powerful beat of Seismet’s wings launches us skyward. He allows only the gentlest breeze to brush my face. Once we’re above the waiting army, he holds position for my command.
Only then do I truly see who’s waiting for me.
The battlefield stretches farther than I imagined, even though I’m the one who cleared it. It’s different now that it’s full.
Black armor blankets the ground like an endless sea. Veilatara circle overhead while the gods below bounce on their toes, eager for the command to charge.
So many.
Too many.
Countless hearts will stop beating today.
The thought settles heavily in my chest.
I let it.
Because if I ever stop mourning the lives this millennia-long selfishness has claimed…
Then I’ve become no better than the beings we’re here to stop.
Someone I never want to be.
My head turns toward Mara.
I nod.
“Fly, Seismet.”
His neigh tears through the air as we surge forward.
So do the other Veilatara.
The barrier offers no resistance, and my chest tightens when its familiar warmth is gone. I don’t dwell on it. The roar of the army below demands my attention.
Two more powerful beats carry Seismet forward. Verlet and Havar stay to our left, Mara and Fausta to our right. We fly high enough to avoid anything below, but low enough for my power to reach where it needs to.
The moment we reach the first ruined building, Mara’s power spills across my skin, and my Obliteration swells with impossible strength.
I raise my palm and…
Erase everything below us.
The other Veilatara fan out in a protective formation as we become streaks across the sky.
Black essence pours from my fingertips, swallowing shattered homes, broken towers, crumbling walls. Stone dissolves into dust before vanishing entirely, leaving nothing but flat ground behind.
The ruined town disappears beneath us until nothing remains to hide behind.
Perfect. Exactly as planned.
Keep going.
I glance over my shoulder before facing forward again.
My men and friends have already been swallowed by the distance as they guide the army toward the path I carved.
A few more passes, then I can join them…
Just a little farther—
A shift passes through the air and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end. My brows scrunch together, but I keep pushing my power.
“Thayla!” Mara hollers, and I jerk my attention to her.
She’s staring behind her.
My gaze follows.
Fuck.
Oblirians and Dark Gods appear across the empty ground I just created as though the earth itself split open to release them.
That isn’t where we expected them to starshoot in.
We should’ve been able to clear hundreds more yards.
My stomach drops as the front lines collide. Steel, power, and determination crash into each other so forcefully it vibrates the air around me.
“Shit, Seismet, turn back!”
He and Verlet release purrs that whip through the air and in a millisecond we’re wheeling around.
My eyes scan, searching.
I never find my men, but I do find an opening.
I point toward a group of Oblirians who haven’t mixed in with our people yet.
“There!”
Wind screams past my ears as he dives toward the battlefield. Every powerful muscle beneath me coils with anticipation, and I unsheathe my swords.
At the last possible heartbeat, his wings snap open.
The force sends the Oblirians sprawling and his deafening neigh splits them apart even farther. The sound rolls through the chaos with enough power to make heads turn.
A Dark God whirls around, fear flashing in his gaze for a breath before Seismet barrels into him. He plows through the enemy line like they’re nothing more than blades of grass. His hooves shatter armor and throw bodies aside with brutal efficiency.
“Fuck yes, Seismet!”
A few feet from us, Fausta and Mara drop down, while above us, Verlet, Havar, and the other Veilatara lash their wings outward, knocking more Oblirians and Dark Gods to their asses before they even realize what’s happening.
From atop his back, my blades point in every direction. I use them to direct my Obliteration and slice through bodies that get too close.
Together, we carve a path. Every stride widens the opening for our Defenders to pour in behind us.
As familiar armor races past, I snatch my Obliteration back beneath my skin. The two sides fold together so fast it becomes too difficult to tell who’s friend or foe from Seismet’s back.
Shit.
Too many Oblirians. Too fucking close to Seismet.
If I stay mounted much longer, we’ll become targets instead of weapons.
My attention snaps left at the bellow of my name, and my gaze locks with Yemi’s. Her men still surround her while her barriers crash into bodies, sending them flying backward.
I don’t suppress the dark chuckle that spills from my throat.
“I need to get closer to Yemi. You get back in the air and help the others,” I tell Seismet, pointing my sword toward her.
“No. You stay right where you are. We will fly.”
“I can’t. My Obliteration is my biggest asset right now, but from the air I’m going to turn one of our own into ash.”
An annoyed neigh flows from his nostrils as he raises his leg and kicks a Dark God straight through the chest.
Some of the god’s ribcage returns with his hoof.
“Fine.” His displeased growl echoes in my mind. “But I will have my eye on you at all times.”
“Make sure you watch where you’re flying.”
He doesn’t care for my sarcasm. He rears up and his wings flare.
His front hooves crash down, sending another wave of beings tumbling backward. I slide off his back before the dust can settle.
The moment my boots hit the ground, his hooves leave it, and bodies close around me.
A rusted axe swings toward my shoulder and I duck beneath it. My sword drives through his ribs, and I rip it free in one fluid motion. Blood sprays across the trampled dirt as I pivot into the next attacker. My second blade finds the gap beneath his jaw before he can raise his weapon.
No pause. No hesitation.
Just keep going.