Thayla
Who the…
Gut-wrenching pain sears through my body, and a pure, unfiltered scream erupts from my chest.
The air in my lungs flees me. Fast and unforgiving.
I curl in on myself as far as I can without submerging my face in the water, and ripples flow around me from my uncontrollable shaking.
The guys bellow my name, and their panic thrashes across my soul, but I can’t focus on them.
My powers continue to war with the tainted one attempting to weave itself through me as if they know this foreign, deadly addition doesn’t belong. They’re doing everything they can to fight it off without a care in the realm about the pain it’s causing me.
It’s killing me.
“Time to get this power out of you, Thayla. V, if you will?”
The stranger, goddess, maybe—whoever she is—Willow, holds out her hand, and my agony deepens my confusion.
If he will, what? How does she…
My eyes widen, and a grunt tears through my clenched teeth as V’s power washes over us, leaving the Binding sitting in her palm.
“W-what is happening? What are you going to do with that?”
“I’m not going to do anything. You are.”
She holds the Binding inches from my face. I glare at it and her. No part of me wants to touch it or remove my hands from the spot on my stomach where the power pierced me.
“I don’t—”
“I’ll guide you, but you must listen. You’re running out of time, and once that power settles, there’s no getting it all out.”
Her words are spoken so certainly that it takes me a moment to understand she’s being serious. There was no urgency in her tone.
Just calm warning.
“Do as she says, Thayla.”
I cut my eyes over to V and my men, and fear flashes across all four of their faces. It’s shaded by the rage coursing through them, but still on the surface enough to see.
As one, they nod.
It’s unconvincing. Their worry and doubt betray any confidence they may have.
Water drips from my trembling fingers as I reach for the Binding. Its power adds to all the other sources pounding in and around me, including the hot springs, and I whimper from the jerking in my stomach.
“W-what do I do?” I ask with an agonizing stutter.
“You’re going to cleanse your body. The Gods Binding is a creation of order. Whatever method was used to bind this power to you, the same will need to be used to unbind it.”
“The God of Obliteration hit me with power from his Binding,” I tell her, although I doubt—
“Therefore, your Obliteration will get it out of you.”
Welp, never mind.
Another screech rips from my throat. Daggers pierce me from the inside out as this horrid power forces its way through my blood faster. My fingers dig into the Binding as I grip it with all the strength in my body.
“What do I do?” I scream.
“Command your Obliteration to get the power out of you and put it into the Binding,” she commands.
“How—”
“No more questions. No more doubt. Just do it, Thayla. It’s time you listen to your instincts.”
My gaze collides with hers. Where my eyes are filled with pain and rage-induced tears, hers are steady and the most striking shade of silver. I’ve never seen a god or goddess with irises like that.
Focus.
Instincts.
My instincts are pleading for me to get this shit out of my body, but they sure as fuck aren’t telling me how. Every feature on my face begs her for some guidance.
“Call your gift—your Obliteration—forward, and command it to wrap around the power inside of you that shouldn’t be there. Then you’re going to do what you already know how. Put it in the Binding.”
Put it in…
For the Valories.
My Seduction had to go into the Binding for me to push more power out to the guys.
I hold my breath, choking down another sob, possibly a scream, that’s crawling up my throat. My attention zeroes in on the spot where the lump forms.
Where my Obliteration lies.
It responds.
Fierce, prepared, and…deadly.
My command to spread through me barely crosses my mind before it soars beneath my skin. From my scalp to my toes, it expands.
Disgust bubbles in my belly as I sense a small thread of familiarity between my Obliteration and the one it’s cocooning. Yes, the one given to me from that vile fucker is darker…wrong, but unfortunately, I sense that they both came from the same source.
Valories, I’m going to explode.
Not in a good way.
In a horrible, million little literal pieces way.
I, nor my body, can take much more of this pressure, pain, or power.
“Put it into the Binding. Release it. It isn’t yours to hold onto.”
The strange woman’s whisper slices through the panicked voice in my mind, and I nod, but I don’t actually do anything.
I don’t know what to do.
The grip on my body is uncontrollable, tightening with every labored breath. Neither—none of the powers, mine or otherwise—wants to let me go.
Pressure knots in my stomach and then crawls upward. It sits in my chest like a stone before shoving itself through the tight squeeze of my throat.
The unrelenting force cuts off my windpipe, and I can’t drag in a breath, causing my panic to flare. My Obliteration sits in the back of my throat, not moving, not doing anything but holding that tainted power at bay right there.
I slam my eyes shut, willing the tears and the strain on my body to ease so I can think, do, process. Fucking something.
Blocking my sight doesn’t help.
It heightens everything.
“Come on, little goddess. Tell your power what to do. It’s yours to command. You can do it. We’re right here with you,” Kyzen shouts, and the other three join in his mantra.
Their desperate pleas and praises bounce around in my mind.
Come on, Obliteration.
I know I give you the most shit out of all seven, but you’re kind of proving my point here.
You’re killing me.
Not the vile-ass power inside of me.
Do something. Get out of me and into the Binding.
I’ve accepted you, so please, for the love of all fucking things, accept and save me.
Tremors rip through me so fiercely, I can barely stand. If it weren’t for the water holding some of my weight, I’d sink. The pressure and pain expand my throat, and I take advantage, sucking in as much air as possible.
It thrusts itself right back out.
“Get out of me!”
My scream erupts from my lips.
So do both powers. Right and wrong.
My eyes fly open as full-body twitches rush across my skin. Even as my shrill tapers off, power continues to pour out of my mouth in a billow of gray smoke, and ash coats my tongue before it surges into the Binding.
Power traps me in place, and the excruciating seconds drag on.
Valories, I’d give anything for Kyzen to speed this along for me and get me to the end.
The pressure inside my dry throat wanes as my Obliteration continues to pour out of me, and I sense when the last of the taint slips past my lips.
“There you go, Thayla. Prepare for the snap,” Willow warns.
The snap?
A grunt falls from my mouth as it slams shut, and I tumble backward. Before I splash beneath the surface, something wraps around my waist, hoisting me up until I’m on my feet again.
Swaying, but standing.
My Obliteration settles, fully opening my airway, but not helping at all with the taste of ash or dryness on my tongue.
“What the actual fuck?” I gasp.
My question is directed at what literally just happened, and at the tree vine slithering from my stomach. The second vine that’s passing the Binding back to me takes me completely by surprise.
“Crazy, isn’t it? Fighting off a power that’s trying to take over your body. One of the worst feelings in the realm.”
I stare, dumbfounded, as the goddess nods.
“Last step, then we can get out of the hot spring.”
“Last step? Is this shit not out of me?”
She covers her small laugh with a cough, then clears her throat.
“It is, but now it’s infecting the Binding. It needs to be cleansed back to its original state. This part is easier than the last.”
No, nope. I’m fucking done.
Done with this Binding, this power, this day, this stranger…
I’m over it.
“I know and understand how frustrating this is, Thayla. I swear to you, though, you’ll want to do this now rather than later. I know it’s a big thing for me to ask you to trust me when you don’t know me, but I am asking.”
My shoulders bounce with my breaths, and I peer over at my men once again, and at V, who’s been far too quiet for my liking.
The fact that he’s still restraining them with his power is adding to their fury, but his features reflect nothing but confidence and certainty.
“V…what’s going on?”
“I swear to you, the being in front of you means you no harm. Listen to her, then she’ll allow you out of the hot spring, and I’ll let the boys go. It’s crucial that you get the Binding back to its original state.”
I stare into his bright teal eyes until my breathing levels out. The goddess before me waits. She doesn’t push or press me to hurry, and her unwavering temperament helps.
A little.
“What do I do?” I ask for like the millionth time.
“You’re going to command the Binding to release the power.”
“The last time I released it, it had to have somewhere to go.”
“It has somewhere to go now,” she says, pointing her finger up. “Send it back to your creator and allow them to worry about the mess they made.”
My eyes damn near bulge out of my skull. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty pissed off with the Valories right now as well, but that was venom in her tone. Gods and goddesses don’t speak so ill of our creators like that, regardless of whether we’re upset with them. Not out loud, anyway.
Shit.
“V, is that seriously what I’m supposed to do?”
“Yes. Just like last time. Start with the beginning of the Valories prayer, then fill in the rest with what you want.”
“What power do I call forth to do this?”
“All seven.”
I gulp.
Fuck it. Here goes nothing.
I’ve got to get out of this water, drink something, and lie my ass down.
It feels like I just took a beating from hell after not sleeping for a week.
I need my men.
My exhale raises goose bumps across my body as I glare down at the Binding. After I released the power to all of us, the essence floating inside the globe was white like the clouds. Now, it resembles ash blowing in a breeze.