40. Creed #2
“I will,” I say, then do just that. “Straight to the fighting rings.”
She grins, then grimaces as she grabs Mellcom.
The ability to starshoot other beings and each other was a surprising new ability that emerged as soon as we left the Gods Binding. Given the fact we got wings like the previous Beginning Gods, it shouldn’t have shocked us.
It’s already come in handy a couple of times, though.
The starshoot to the fighting rings takes less than a second and my glare lands on Mellcom as we surround him in the center. Gone is the arrogance that’s followed him all the way up to this point. In its place sits something far more satisfying.
Fear.
“Have you enjoyed toying with me this whole time, Thayla?” he asks, narrowing his eyes. “You didn’t have to drag me all the way to Hell to kill me. Just fucking get it over with.”
She lets out a humorless laugh as she steps forward.
“I meant every word I said, Mellcom. Death is too sweet for you. Too easy. How can you learn anything or pay the price for all that you’ve done if you’re dead?
” she asks, not really looking for an answer as she glances around the arena she fought and survived in.
“This will be your home for the next five hundred years.”
His gaze snaps to hers.
“You can’t be serious.”
“I’ve never been more serious,” she deadpans. “After those five hundred years are up, you’ll then move to the mid-level. After that, another five hundred in the lower level. Only then will you return to the realm. Powerless.”
His face blanches, all the color draining from him. Even his black eyes pale.
“Powerless?”
“Absolutely. You will spend the rest of your life without power.”
His knees give out beneath him as the reality of his punishment finally settles against his shoulders. She strolls up to him and grips his jaw.
Her power coats his body and he jerks under her grip.
“What you sense locking in place is an emotional barrier. It’ll keep those pesky little thoughts about killing yourself quiet. You don’t get to manipulate my emotions or your way out of this, Mellcom.”
She slings him away with enough force that he face-plants the dirt, and we all chuckle as he spits wads out.
“I’m done,” she says, marching toward the exit.
“Thay, pleas—”
His plea is cut off as a bellow of pain leaves his lips.
“Don’t worry, Mellcom,” Sevryn says as he squats in front of him. “You get to see my friendly face every day.”
I arch a brow as he stands back up and shrugs.
“I’m going to overlook the lower level from here on out.”
A huff of a laugh leaves me.
“Is that right?”
“Yeah,” he says, nodding around. “It feels fitting. Plus, I know how miserable you’d be here without me.”
I shake my head but squeeze his shoulder in appreciation. Hell could use him.
I could use him.
“Are you all coming?” Thayla calls as she and Mara reach the exit.
“You two go on ahead,” I say, peering over my shoulder at her. “We’re going to get Mellcom settled into his cell.”
She arches a knowing brow at me.
“Don’t kill him and don’t get bloody. That won’t be a great first impression.”
“We won’t,” my brothers and I say at the same time.
A giggle tears from Riven’s throat as soon as she starshoots away.
“Gladdy, Sevryn, be my dears and embed these with your powers, pretty please.”
He slings his backpack off and pulls out four whips.
Mellcom’s eyes grow wide as he attempts to scramble to his feet.
“Oh, no, no, no. My angel didn’t fly away when you whipped her, did she?”
Another menacing sound leaves Riven’s throat as his Chaos tears through the space.
Chains wrap around Mellcom’s wrists, snatching him down to his knees as a post shoots through the air in front of him. His head thrashes back and forth, slinging snot and tears all over the dirt.
Amick and Kyzen approach him and kneel at his sides. He attempts to snatch his face out of Amick’s grip as he clutches his jaw, but it’s no use when Kyzen tangles his fingers in his hair and snaps his head back.
“How many times did you whip her?” Kyzen asks.
“I…don’t—”
“You don’t remember?” Amick asks, then nods when Mellcom shakes his head furiously. “Well, that’s unfortunate. For you. I suppose we’ll decide how many you’ll receive then.”
“No. No. Please.”
I laugh as he begs.
“How many lashes do you believe you deserve, Mellcom?” Kyzen asks.
Mellcom hangs his head.
“Everything I did was for her.”
“No. Everything you did was to control her. Now, you control nothing,” Kyzen says as he stands. “The answer was forty-six lashes, by the way. Nine separate times you tied her to a post. Then you stood by for the tenth and watched her receive her fiftieth.”
Gladian flinches beside me, and I meet his remorseful gaze. I can’t think too much about it without growing furious.
“I’ll kneel beside him,” he says, gaining everyone’s attention. “I deserve to receive what I gave her.”
“That’s not our choice to make.” I suck my teeth as I stare at the dirt. “She gave us permission to punish him how we please as long as we didn’t kill him. As for you…she told us to let it go. Mercy was an option.”
“She doesn’t have to show me mercy just because I stood by all of you.”
“No, she doesn’t. But she’s chosen to.”
He holds my stare a moment longer before nodding and facing Mellcom once again.
“I’m thinking fifty each, boys,” Riven says, grinning from ear to ear.
Screams and pleas echo around the fighting rings as Mellcom tries with all his might to jerk free from his chains. All of us shake our heads. Sevryn offers the four of us a sinister smirk as he passes us our whips.
“I agree. Although,” Amick says, tilting his head. “He’s not going to survive that.”
“We can space them out. We have plenty of time,” Kyzen says, letting his whip unravel to the ground.
“Ugh, fine. Ten each today,” Riven groans.
I shrug.
“Works for me.”
A crack rings through the air as I take a practice swing, and a smirk mixed with a sneer crosses my face as piss runs down Mellcom’s thighs.
“Pathetic,” my brothers and I say together.
Not a second later, all four of our whips sail across the space, shredding Mellcom’s back and shirt. Blood instantly flows like a river down his spine, and his cries are music to my ears.
My endling may have made us promise not to kill him, but I will spend my lifetime making his a living Hell.