Chapter 43 Eleos
Eleos
Piano notes danced hauntingly around the square. Icelus had drawn his blade. His fingers tapped on the steel, mimicking the intonation of ivory keys.
The song of dread became real beneath Icelus’ spell, manifesting the people’s fear.
Wailing violin and haunting chorus sank into my soul, trying to drag me down with it. The people grabbed their heads and wailed, joining the chorus.
Percy stumbled, falling to his knees under the curtain of terror. Lifting his blade, Icelus shoved Cerys to her knees.
I staggered through the clearing I’d made—toward the stage. Icelus’ nightmares didn’t affect me. I didn’t understand why—and it didn’t matter. I would not reach Cerys in time.
Percy’s head snapped up. “It’s a dirge,” he breathed.
I looked up as the soaring notes sang above my head. It was a requiem—for the lives they would soon lose, whether death claimed them or not.
Icelus positioned his sword above Cerys’ head to bring it down on her neck.
Percy’s eyes slammed shut.
A roaring tempest struck the square. Buffeting winds crashed into me, pushing me forward. Shielding my eyes, I stared into the eye of the cyclone and froze.
Ghostly figures spun into the storm, like a cauldron of whirling death. Their wails joined with the song of dread. Ghastly. Otherworldly.
I recognized their faces, those ghosts. They were the nobles from the ballroom. The Hades Knights, whose faces we’d glimpsed. Eris. Icelus. Euthymia.
Lowering his sword, Icelus staggered back, staring at the sky in disbelief. The soldiers guarding Cerys lost their grips on their weapons as their own ghosts descended from the ether and rushed past.
The song of dread expanded beyond Icelus’ reach; it belonged to Percy now.
Rising, Percy marched to the stage. “I already bested you once before,” he shouted, stepping up onto the platform. “Clearly, I’m the better bard.”
Icelus shook himself out of his fear and lifted his sword, but Percy wasn’t deterred.
“You’re a sad, pathetic little man,” Percy spat. “Clinging to the heels of your ‘gods’ in hopes they will save you from that which you fear most.” He lowered his voice, but I could still hear it above the song. “Dying.”
Icelus lunged for Percy, but the bard sidestepped him, grabbing his wrist and bending it. The sword clattered out of Icelus’ grip. Percy slammed his knee into Icelus’ gut and tossed him, sending the noble sprawling across the stage.
Releasing my control of the people, I focused on the pair of knights, seizing them in their fear. Bending their minds to my will, I instructed them to lower their spears and step away, giving Percy a free path to Cerys.
He grabbed Icelus’ sword and sawed through her bonds.
Blood streamed from my nose as I limped to the stage. Icelus sat up, crawling away from Percy. His pale eyes flicked to me as I descended upon him.
I released my hold on the knights. They joined the people in their terror, running from the dirge and churning ghosts. But so deep ran their frozen horror that most fell to their knees and cowered.
Cerys wrapped her arms around Percy the moment her bonds fell free, and he pulled her into an embrace. Seeing she was alright, I turned back to the lord.
Only profound trauma brought forth magic. Icelus had tortured Aethra to its brink.
Kneeling beside him, I grasped hold of his weak mind. I said nothing as I commanded his limbs, ordering him to take the dagger from his belt and press it to his neck.
I smiled, seeing the terror in his eyes as the steel touched his throat. This death was exactly what he deserved.
The knife raked across his throat, spilling blood down his toga. A matching crimson tear streamed from my eye and fell to the ground.