Chapter 34 Samkiel
SAMKIEL
Cameron, Reggie, and I stood at the center of a burned and ruined small town. There was nothing left but rubble and cracked stone, and I knew only one being who could create destruction on this level.
We found no bodies or remains, and that scared me, but it was the footprint of an Ig’Morruthen far larger than Dianna that had fear lacing my veins.
Cameron called out to my right as he ducked from the overhang of a crumbled building.
He walked directly to me, carrying a small, crushed black device with intricate markings along its sides.
“Smell that?” he said, handing it to me.
I raised it to my nose and sniffed. My head reared back, my nose curling.
Rage coiled in my gut, and I spun from the wreckage.
I’d kill him again, even if he were my own father.
I’d destroy the fabric of his godsdamned soul if he’d allowed that monster to take her over.
Reggie stepped in front of me and gripped my arm.
Only my love for him kept me from ripping his arms from his body.
“What?” I all but growled.
Reggie’s eyes dilated as if he saw some part of me I did not. It was enough of a shock that I felt it then. A cold swath of power had risen in me. I didn’t need to glance down to know that Oblivion wrapped around my arms like twisting snakes made of smoke.
“You need to know Dianna’s past, her history.”
“I know it.” I scowled, shaking his hand from me, afraid that if he continued to touch me, he’d die by Oblivion. “And now I need to find her before he takes her over. She’s strong, Reggie, but if he—”
“She can kill him,” Reggie said. “I believe she can burn the spirit that haunts her.”
“Her flame cannot do that,” I said. “No matter how much I, or you, wish for it.”
“It’s not just flame. You know of her father. Azrael was created by the trickster god Xeohr, but her mother, Victoria, was crafted by Elin. She was the Goddess of Light, and Dianna is her daughter. That light in her is what they have always wanted. What they stole.”
My mind spun, and my brows furrowed. What they stole?
My anger had no bounds, especially when it came to her.
She was and would always be my light. I’d known that the second she’d stepped into my life.
Actually, she had crashed into it, waking me from a haunted, cruel nightmare.
She was the spark that lit my entire world, dragging me from the darkness.
I had always known her as light, and here was the confirmation.
Reggie stared at me intently, as if he were trying to imprint the meaning of both the words he said and those he couldn’t into me.
“Her light burns brighter than the flame she wields, making her flames hotter than even Gathrriel’s.
Use that if you must, for it may be the only way to free her if he has taken over. ”
I sucked in a deep breath, calming myself. My wrath was not directed toward Reggie. It never really was. “I appreciate your counsel.”
“You need to control Oblivion,” Reggie said, looking pointedly at my arms.
I shook them and then rubbed my forearms, trying to get the power to withdraw. I could still feel it right beneath the surface, creating goosebumps on my skin. “It’s fine. I’m fine. I just need to get another ring crafted, but first, we need to find Dianna.”
Reggie just stared at me for a moment with his otherworldly eyes before taking a shuddering breath. He nodded, and we turned to leave the city.
“Where to next?” Cameron asked, falling into step at my side. He’d been standing nearby with his back to us, watching for threats, but I knew he’d been listening.
“Back to Whitcliff. See if some of the shipyard workers have heard anything more.”
Whitcliff was also our safest bet at staying under the radar.
The small city was built inside an ocean-facing cave.
The spiraling white stone of the cavern glowed with its own internal light, keeping the darkness at bay.
It was deep enough into the cliff that anyone passing overhead would only see rich land, never knowing of the city below.
Nismera knew of Whitcliff, but she left it alone.
It was a small, illegal trade route, and I imagined she found it useful enough to let it exist.
I formed a portal and Cameron stepped through, but I stopped Reggie before he entered. There was something I had to know.
“Tell me this. Only this. Can I save her?”
Reggie’s smile was soft and genuine, even with the flicker of pain I saw in his eyes. “You save her every day and more than you will ever know.”
“Good, I’ll take that,” I said, my nerves settling. “Now let’s go find her.”
Reggie stepped into the portal, and I waited until he was through before I started forward.
A hand closed around my throat in a viselike grip.
My eyes flew wide in startled surprise because I hadn’t heard anything, but even worse, I hadn’t sensed anything.
How powerful was this being that they were able to cloak the roiling presence I felt at my back?
“You will not have to go far,” a deep, rumbling male voice said.
With a negligent toss, he sent me sailing across the broken cobblestone street. I crashed hard against a wall and slid to the ground, landing in a heap. I shook my head to clear it and looked up to see a man with burning orange eyes stalking toward me.