Chapter 94 Rhyland
Rhyland
Islam down hard on the floor, my body screaming in agony as I hit the ground with a sickening thud.
My thoughts are whirring, my mind reeling as I try to process what the hell just happened.
That vortex, that swirling maelstrom of light and energy.
..it felt like it was melting the flesh from my bones—the G-force was tearing me apart atom by fucking atom.
I retch, my stomach heaving as I puke up blood onto the gleaming surface beneath me. The coppery taste fills my mouth, and I wipe my arm across my lips, smearing crimson across my skin.
Slowly, painfully, I push myself to my feet, my eyes scanning my surroundings with growing confusion.
This place... it's like nothing I've ever seen before.
The walls are adorned with intricate, futuristic glyphs that seem to pulse with an otherworldly energy.
A massive circular globe dominates the center of the room, its surface shimmering with a kaleidoscope of colors that hurts my eyes.
My mind flashes back to the fight, to the moment when Azrael fell at my feet, his life bleeding out onto the ground.
The triumph I feel is so thick, so visceral, that I want to roar with it, to scream my victory to the heavens.
The way I wielded the lightning, the way I cast it at that fucking bastard.
.. it was unlike anything I've ever experienced.
His shadows were quick, dodging my assault with an almost beautiful fluidity.
But when he materialized, when he finally showed his face.
.. I was ready. I hit him with everything I had, my power crackling like a living thing.
And when I ripped out his heart, when I felt it pulsing in my hand. .. fuck, it was glorious.
I look down at my hand, still slick with his blood and viscera. The sight should repulse me, should make me sick to my stomach. But all I feel is a dark, savage satisfaction.
My thoughts instantly return to Dani. The look of sheer panic on her face as the vortex swallowed me whole. I reach for her through the bond, desperate to feel her and know she's okay. But there's nothing—just a yawning emptiness where our connection used to be.
Is she feeling it, too? The ripped-out, hollowed-out feeling in her chest? The sense that a piece of her very soul has been torn away?
I clench my fists, my nails biting into my palms hard enough to draw blood. I have to get back to her. I have to find a way out of this fucking place and back to my mate. Back to the woman who holds my heart in her hands.
I look around at the alien landscape, at the strange, pulsing energy that seems to permeate every surface... I can't help but wonder if I'm already too late.
If I'm lost to her forever, trapped in a world that's not my own.
And the thought is enough to bring me to my knees, to make me want to howl with a despair so deep, so all-consuming, that it threatens to swallow me whole.
Tiny whispers begin to gnaw at my conscience—the siren call of the Soul Stone. I slam the door on them, barricading my mind against their insidious pull. I can't afford to lose focus, not now. Getting out of here alive is the only thing that matters.
I take a tentative step towards what appears to be a door, but its sheer scale makes me pause.
It's fucking massive, towering over me like a colossus, and it looks like it's made of pure, unyielding steel.
My eyes scan the surface, searching for a keypad, a handle, or anything that might give me a way to open it.
But there's nothing—just a smooth, unbroken expanse of metal.
Suddenly, the door opens with a deep, resonant boom that echoes through the chamber. The two halves slide apart on some unseen mechanism, revealing a figure standing on the other side.
I stumble back, my heart hammering in my chest as I take in the sight of him.
He's enormous, easily dwarfing me in both height and breadth.
His armor is like nothing I've ever seen, all gleaming gold and intricate engravings that seem to shimmer with an inner light.
He holds a massive staff, the metal as bright and polished as his armor.
He walks towards me with a measured, almost regal gait. His glowing pale green eyes are fixed on mine with an intensity that makes me want to look away. But I force myself to hold his gaze, to meet his stare with one of my own.
"Welcome to Asgard," he says, his voice deep and resonant. "We've been looking for you."