Chapter 27 #2
Adrenaline pulsed through me—we had to get in there. “Quick, Cecil,” I said desperately. “How do you kill a troll?”
“You don’t!” Cecil wailed. “She’s literally a pile of rocks. Chosen, Cress and Eryk will not be able to make a dent in her!”
My eyes drifted towards Donovan, moving slowly towards Agarthon.
The huge assassin finally moved, stepping out in front of the archway, obviously giving himself room for a fight.
He rolled his massive shoulders and lifted his sword.
“Come, false heir,” he rasped from within his helmet. “Let us finish your training.”
Donovan advanced, and Nate crept up beside him.
They spread out, coming at Agarthon from both sides.
Nate’s hands glowed blue. Donovan attacked, his sword clashing with Agarthon’s like cymbals.
The assassin whirled, blocking Donovan’s next strike, and battered away Nate’s thrown curse with his gauntlet.
Thrusting, ducking, parrying, he took on both Nate and Donovan with lightning-fast speed.
I started forward, but Cecil pulled me back. “You have to let them get rid of Agarthon so we can get through! He’ll kill you, Chosen!”
Redmayne the Dominant’s voice drowned out the rest of Cecil’s terrified whinny.
“I do not seek to influence you. Of course, the centaurs must remain impartial. But I can tell you now, that their monikers—the Devourer and the Chosen—are wildly misleading. I, for one, know exactly where my loyalty lies.”
The crowd rumbled loudly.
I kicked the hill in front of me. “Goddamnit! This is why Connor stole the seduire stone, Cecil! It’s not to seduce me. It’s to seduce everyone else! He’s got Redmayne sucked right in, and if he gets the chance to speak, then he’s?—”
“Now, as time is of the essence, we will hear from Prince Connor.”
Oh, shit.
“They call me the Devourer, and it breaks my heart to hear it.” Connor’s low, beautiful voice floated right into my ears, turning everything around me soft and foggy. “It is such a sinister name and entirely unfair.”
He sounded so sad. I itched to comfort him.
“Friends, I do not seek to consume spark stones to harm any creature; I do it to protect them. From her,” he said, his voice lowering, rumbling over the hill.
Oh, poor Connor.
“She will tell you herself that she seeks to close every realm’s spark stone so she can take the magic for herself.”
I rubbed my arms, trying to get rid of the buzzing feeling over my skin so I could concentrate on Connor’s beautiful speech.
Wait.
My skin was buzzing. I could hear his lies. No, a beautiful man like that wouldn’t lie. Not to me.
Vincent lied to you.
A jolt of pure panic chased away the last of the fog in my head. I clenched my teeth and concentrated, isolating the waves of Connor’s seduction magic as it floated out of the amphitheater.
“The Great Archer, Redmayne, is correct—the one they called the Chosen has an ulterior motive. Not only does she milk the last of the magic out of the stone before she closes it, but she also wants to close them so no other creature will evolve to challenge her.”
“Wow. What a fucking bitch,” Cecil snorted. “Chosen, why would you do such a thing?”
I slapped him on the back of his head, and his glazed eyes cleared. “I didn’t, you moron. He’s using the succubus powers!”
“The Chosen One is not even trying to deceive you. She will tell you all this herself. She wishes to close all the stones and keep the power for herself.”
Magic washed through me again, but it wasn’t as strong as before.
I quickly looked. Cress, thank goodness, still battled with Grisela, ducking under her blows and fruitlessly stabbing at her ankles, while rolling under her stomping feet.
Connor’s seduction magic wasn’t affecting her at all.
Donovan, too, wasn’t affected, but Nate had dropped his flaming blue sword and had sat down, his eyes glazed.
Cecil let out a huff. “You sure had me fooled. I can’t believe you want to keep the spark stone’s power for yourself.”
“I don’t.” I slapped him again. “Fight it off!”
Cecil shook his whole body, and his eyes cleared. “Whoa, nelly. That’s some hefty magic, and that’s an amphitheater filled with people!”
“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” Desperately, I looked up towards Donovan, furiously clashing swords with Agarthon. Nate sat in the grass, head tilted, eyes closed.
“I have a vision,” Connor went on. “A dream to share with all of you, and I hope you can see it, too. A dream of peace in all the realms. No more fighting, no more wars. All the Worlds united under one banner, under one rule. I alone can bring that to you. I alone am strong enough to fight the one who has committed herself to shutting down the spark stones that give you all life. I will keep you safe.”
His seduction power was already fading to almost nothing.
His next words confirmed it. “I will return the stage to the Great Archer Redmayne, but first, I wish to offer you this chance to be a part of this glorious revolution. Join me,” he bellowed, a throb of magic pulsed through his words.
“Join my army. Pledge allegiance to me, your true King of all Worlds, and I will keep you safe forever.”
This had been his game all along. Propaganda. Connor needed an army to fight me, so he was building one.
“We pledge allegiance to Prince Connor!” A voice shouted. Then another. And another.
I swore. The damage had already been done. It wasn’t too late to undo some of it, though. I had to get in there. “Cecil,” I spat through gritted teeth. “What will kill a troll?”
“I told you. Nothing will kill her,” he said, twitching his rump nervously. “The only thing that will stop a troll is distance.”
“Then that’s what I’ll do.”
I pulled on the heat in my belly, firing it with my outrage at Connor’s words. The bastard was trying to destroy my reputation, painting me as the bad guy. My fists clenched, and my arms grew bigger.
It wasn’t enough though. I needed more fuel.
A traumatic experience. That was it. I let myself sink into the depths of my worst nightmare—locked in a bare beige room, strapped to a table, head fixed in place. Forever and ever and ever…
My muscles bulged.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, Chosen! Your ass is hanging out again! Hang on, let me?—”
I barely heard him. I needed more. I thought of Vincent, stroking my hair, telling me he loved me while I wondered why I kept hearing strange screams coming from his studio.
Courtney, shaking her head sadly while explaining that there was nothing she could do, and I’d have to plead guilty to manslaughter.
The ground retreated a few feet; I was growing. More.
Seraphina, stroking her pregnant belly in front of me. Gordon and Delilah, calling me a whore. A cold breeze hit my skin.
“Look, I’m just going to put you in spandex.” Cecil gagged. “God, I hate spandex.”
My muscles throbbed with power. My biceps were bigger than my head. It wasn’t enough. I needed more.
A low grunt of pain hit my ears, so I looked up. Agarthon’s strike had hit its mark, Donovan’s shoulder was bleeding. A bolt of panic hit me. “No!”
Suddenly, the ground was twenty feet away. My huge muscles surged with power. I stomped forward just as Grisela caught Cress with a backhand, knocking her ten feet away. She landed in the grass and didn’t move.
Lurching forward, I grabbed the troll by her arm, punched her in her stubby nose, then pulled her, throwing her off balance.
Turning in a circle and holding her arm tight, I spun around and around, pivoting on my feet.
Grisela lifted off the ground as I kept spinning.
I leaned back, counterbalancing her weight, and swung her around and around and around…
I let go. Grisela soared through the air, over the courtyard, and landed with a thump in the forest a mile away.
No time to celebrate, the challenge was still on. I thumped forward and scooped Cress out of the grass gently and laid her over my shoulder. She stirred once and mumbled.
I was already shrinking, though. Damn. And Connor was still talking, promising the audience the protection and strength of a great army that he would lead, if they joined him.
Agarthon, clocking the bigger threat, stomped towards me—sword bared—and left Donovan slumped near the tunnel. Nate, shaking off the last of Connor’s seduction magic, had crawled over to him. His hands glowed over Donovan’s shoulder, healing him. Agarthon rushed at me, swinging his sword.
Uh, oh.
A flaming iron ball hit his helmet, knocking aside his strike. Oh, thank god, Eryk had recovered, too. Before Agarthon could come at me again, I balled up my fist and used the last of my berserker strength to punch him in the chest.
He flew back, landing near the archway, chest plate crushed in.
Dead? I hoped so. My muscles were gone. Eryk took Cress from me as I shrank back down to my usual size. “We have to get in there, right now!”
Agarthon lifted his head and tossed something behind him into the tunnel. It exploded with a sharp crack.
The archway collapsed.