Destined to the Reaper (The Shadow Realms #2)

Chapter 15

Pharos

M orning came too soon. A part of me rejoiced that this horrible chapter of my life would finally end, one way or another. But another part of me was terrified at the potential outcome. As much as I didn’t want to die, it was my mate I worried about.

Her life thread glowed with greater intensity. It had steadily increased since she voluntarily gave me her soul. The seriousness with which she trained all day yesterday further strengthened it. Although it gave me hope, there was still too great a possibility that things would not work out the way I wanted.

It tore me to shreds knowing that bringing her with me put her in harm’s way, but that going without her also guaranteed my demise. The thought of taking my chances alone popped into my head multiple times. I systematically cast it aside. Beyond the fact that it would be suicidal and stupid, my bride would never consent to be left behind.

It warmed my heart to see how sincerely she cared about me and my welfare.

My farewell to Myress proved quite awkward. I did so while Kali was packing the handful of items she needed for the battle. She didn’t need to witness this.

“If I do not return, you are to seek out my mate and teach her how to cross the Veil so that she can come here at will,” I said in a factual manner. “This home and everything I own will be hers for as long as she lives.”

“Yes, Master,” she replied obediently. “Will she cast me out?”

I recoiled. “No, of course not. This is your home as well. She may be the mistress, but she will never leave you homeless. In fact, she will likely need your support to get through the first few months.”

“I understand. But it will not be necessary. You will return. You always do. That mortal necromancer will never be allowed to slay the son of the Weaver and of the great Lord of Death Azrael. I didn’t wait five hundred years for you to come home only to bury you. Make the necromancer suffer for all his wrongdoings. I will have your favorite meal ready when you return,” she said with a conviction that oddly gave me a spark of hope.

Without waiting for my response, she just turned on her heels and went back to whatever duties called her. I snorted and shook my head before returning to my mate.

“Ready?” I asked softly.

Kali gave me a stiff nod. Pride filled my heart as she held my gaze with an undaunted determination that commanded respect. Most people would be quaking with fear.

After further consideration, instead of flying to Sageville, I decided to teleport us at a far enough distance from Glocker Manor to avoid landing in a trap. It would only have been an hour flight, but I preferred to save every ounce of energy I possessed on top of granting us additional time to survey the perimeter.

We ended up in the woods about half a mile from the mansion. To my delight, my mate withstood the teleportation without any discomfort. Humans sometimes felt queasy or disoriented for a while after it. The fact that we were bonded certainly played a part in making it easier on Kali.

She immediately went on the prowl, looking for a bird to ensnare. A raven would have been ideal, but there was none to be found in the vicinity. Luckily, she found a magpie. They weren’t as powerfully aligned with magic as crows or ravens, but they served perfectly in this context.

With a swift possession spell, Kali took control of the bird and surveyed the land through its eyes. Under my guidance, she flew it to the mansion, describing what she saw along the way.

“The front gates are closed. A few lights are on inside the house, but I do not perceive the presence of anyone within the building. Casting Blood Magic through a thrall is quite difficult and limited,” she added apologetically.

“There’s no one there?” I asked, baffled.

I could clearly feel the pull of his presence at the Manor.

“Yes, there are people there, just not inside the house,” she amended, her eyes still out of focus and gazing off into the distance. “I’m circling around the back now where I feel their presence.”

My back stiffened when her facial expression changed to something akin to horror and disbelief.

“What the hell is going on?” she whispered, stunned.

“What do you see?” I asked, tension filling my voice.

“They’re standing on the terrace outside,” Kali said, her eyes flicking this way and that as she observed the scene through the eyes of the magpie. “Cornelius is near the wall to the left of the large patio doors. There’s a huge altar in front of him. Your scythe is lying on it. There are all kinds of runes, polished bones, and blood surrounding it.”

I cursed under my breath at this confirmation that he was indeed preparing the binding ritual that would bring about my ultimate demise. The mere thought of him desecrating my scythe had my blood bubbling with rage.

“Alva and Meri are standing to the left and right sides of the altar. They’re reciting some kind of incantation. I cannot hear them, but I’m certain it has nothing to do with your scythe, and everything to do with Piers.”

“Piers?” I echoed, taken aback. “What is he doing?”

“It looks like he’s being sacrificed,” Kali said with a frown. “He’s lying on the ground, spread eagle, his wrists and ankles bound by blood shackles. He’s screaming and… Oh Gods!”

“What?!” I exclaimed upon seeing blood draining from her face and her sudden air of panic.

“He knows we’re here!” she whispered fearfully, tension stiffening her shoulders.

She breathed heavily for a few seconds, her eyes flicking from side to side while magical energy oozed out of her in droves. I wanted to pressure her into telling me what was happening but held my tongue, sensing that she needed her concentration. After thirty seconds that felt like hours, Kali’s shoulders finally relaxed. She blinked then turned to look at me with a mix of worry and guilt.

“What is it?” I asked.

“I was flying over the courtyard when Cornelius looked up. He stared directly into the bird’s eyes. He smiled and waved before resuming the ritual he was performing,” she said with a shudder.

I cursed again. “You do not seem in pain or in distress. So I’m guessing you managed to escape?”

She hesitated. “I safely got the bird out of there and released it. But Cornelius didn’t attack. He just wanted to make sure we knew he was aware of our presence. I don’t understand why he didn’t attack. For sure he knows that killing the bird while I controlled it would have harmed me.”

“He’s being cocky,” I said, the hatred burning in my gut for him clearly audible in my voice. “He loves psychological warfare. This is simply his way of telling us that he’s not bothered or afraid of our imminent attack. He’s ready and welcomes it.”

“But what’s the deal with Piers?” she asked, a frown creasing her forehead. “He has been his loyal apprentice for quite a few years now.”

“He has,” I said pensively. “Cornelius always gave more importance to the two women. He enjoyed fucking Alva and admired her malicious personality. But he loved Meri’s power. Piers had his purpose, but it did confuse me that he had not brought him when we went hunting the manticore. Now I wonder if it had been intentional to keep him in the dark as to the fate that awaited him.”

“Is there any chance Piers submitted voluntarily to whatever is going on?” Kali asked.

I pursed my lips as I pondered the matter. “With those three, anything is possible. If Cornelius promised him a significant increase in power if he volunteered, I could see Piers consenting to it. But I also wouldn’t put it past Cornelius to have conned or coerced him into whatever this is. Only time will tell. The question is—”

A sudden tug interrupted me. I inhaled sharply and jerked my head in the direction of the mansion.

“What is it?” Kali asked warily.

“The path is open,” I said, my stomach knotting with apprehension. “Cornelius lifted the banishment wards. I can feel him pulling at me, baiting me.”

“Should we go or delay then?” Kali asked, the same tension I felt audible in her voice.

“We must go,” I ground through my teeth. “As much as I hate playing by his rules, delaying further will serve nothing. I will go in first in my wraith form. The women cannot see me unless they shift their vision. And even then, I can fade a bit more to be fully invisible. And unless he uses my scythe, Cornelius won’t be able to either.”

“No,” Kali said firmly while shaking her head. “There’s no question that he has set up a trap for you over there. Cornelius has hosted you for the past five centuries. He knows you well enough to expect you will come in using your invisibility powers. I should be the one to go first.”

“WHAT?! Are you insane?” I exclaimed. “They will all be able to see you!”

“Yes,” she conceded calmly. “But the women and Cornelius were using Blood Magic. I can read and interpret it. You can’t. I’m certain there are traps on the ground that will trigger the moment you step into them. Why else would they have chosen such a large and open area with a flat terrain?”

“Even if that were true, it will still put you in harm’s way,” I argued.

“Any way you cut it, I am getting in harm’s way today. But I will do so on my own terms. Cornelius doesn’t want me, he wants you. I can create a distraction while remaining out of range of their spells and disrupt their ritual so that you can go in safely.”

I clenched my teeth and involuntarily shook my head, further wanting to say no and argue.

Kali pressed a palm to my chest and gently caressed it in a soothing fashion. “Look, I know you’re scared for me. But both your mother and brother said I needed to come to this fight. Trust them and trust me. I must go first. I can feel it in my bones.”

I stared at her for a while in silence, too many conflicting emotions warring within me. I placed my palm on the back of her hand on my chest, my heart aching at the thought of losing her.

“Don’t you dare get hurt,” I snarled at last.

She chuckled and leaned against me. My right arm immediately closed around her, drawing her tightly in my embrace.

“I can regenerate now, remember? Someone made me near unkillable,” she said teasingly.

“You had better remember your lessons,” I growled before claiming her lips with a possessiveness laced with passion and desperation.

With much reluctance, I released her and let my gaze roam over the perfection of her features as if to memorize them. I shifted my vision to peer at her thread. Despite the worry twisting my insides, I couldn’t help a smile of relief.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Your life’s thread is even brighter and stronger now than it was this morning,” I confessed. “It’s not yet at the level I wish it would be, but most of the dire paths are gone. We are making the right choices.”

“Of course we are,” she said with conviction. “We are going to win. But what about yours?”

I gave her an apologetic look. “Sadly, I cannot see my own. But seeing yours thrive gives me hope.”

“Then let’s go get rid of the trash and settle the matter once and for all,” Kali said.

I nodded and claimed her lips in one final kiss. Picking her up in my arms, I flew her closer to the mansion, circling around the outer gates into the backyard. Despite my earlier reluctance, I felt silently grateful to have her able to scan for the wards and traps that might have been laid out for me.

I dropped her at the edge of the thick garden that provided some shelter from view. We didn’t say a word. Heart heavy, I let my eyes do all the talking for me as I caressed her cheek. She smiled, leaned into my touch, then turned her face to kiss my palm. As I dropped my hand, I realized that I was in love with that woman. No matter what it took, neither of us would die this day. I had waited too long to find the other half of me for it to end now.

I faded into my ethereal form and started invisibly roaming around the perimeter my mate had deemed safe. My stomach twisted as Kali boldly started walking towards the courtyard. I couldn’t tell if I was more impressed than worried by her assurance. I wanted to believe it wasn’t a sign of reckless arrogance now that she had enhanced powers. Knowing it was the fear I felt for her making me paranoid, I cast those negative thoughts out.

Seconds later, my blood turned into ice when Piers emitted a soul wrenching scream. His naked body began to swell, his limbs twisting like one would a wet towel to drain the water out. It was grotesque and horrendous. His skin darkened as inky blotches appeared all over his overly bloated body.

“Pharos, I can feel you lurking in the shadows!” Cornelius suddenly shouted, his eyes flicking this way and that looking for me. “Come out, come out, little Angel. Let’s play!”

“I think not!” Kali shouted back as she continued her approach.

Cornelius’s head jerked in her direction. The instant hatred and malice that descended over his features sent my protective instincts into overdrive. I barely refrained from rushing over to him and tearing him limb from limb for harboring ill intentions towards my bride.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the little thief!” Cornelius hissed. “What’s going on? Is Pharos too scared to face me? Does he need his little bitch to fight his battles for him?”

“You are one to talk, you carrion feeder,” Kali retorted with contempt as she continued her approach. “You need both of your bitches to fight your battle and to sacrifice that fool. Sounds pretty pathetic to me.”

Under different circumstances, I would have laughed at Cornelius’s outraged expression. That monster was insanely thin skinned. He could dish out the insults but couldn’t withstand even the smallest slight.

“I’m going to have fun with you once I’m done with him. You will be my obedient little bitch. I’ll keep that foul mouth of yours too full of cocks to spew anymore disrespect at your betters,” Cornelius shouted, his anger almost palpable.

But his words fanned my own.

Kali waved a dismissive hand. “Your threats are no more than a fart in the wind. You will not live past this night. I will enjoy watching you beg for mercy before none is granted.”

“Thanks to that pathetic Reaper, I will live forever, you cunt. Forever! And when I’m done using you in every conceivable way, I’ll make you the local town whore and even have you entertain what’s left of your brother. After all, he hasn’t had pussy in a while.”

Blinded by fury, I began moving forward towards the inner courtyard.

“Pharos, stop!” Kali shouted.

Her voice pierced through the red haze that had descended before my eyes. I froze. For half a beat, I almost panicked, thinking I had come out of my Wraith form in my anger. How else could she see me? And then it struck me that as my bonded mate, she could always feel where I was within a certain radius.

Cornelius perked up, his head jerking this way and that, looking for me. Even altering his vision did not allow him to detect me.

That pleased me tremendously.

However, Kali slicing her palm open, then spreading her arms wide, palms facing up, reclaimed my attention. She began uttering an incantation. Within seconds, the largest magic ring I’d ever seen came into focus in the courtyard, the pale pink glow quickly intensifying into an angry shade of red.

My blood turned to ice as I recognized some of the patterns of the first circle he had trapped me with in Hemdell Crypt. It wasn’t identical. That one was far more complex with a slew of symbols I’d never seen before. A series of lines, swirls, and runes had been etched in a pattern that seemed to point towards the altar. Although I didn’t know much about Blood Magic, I recognized the section that served as a trap deeper into the circle.

This whole thing screamed of the type of ancient magic that very few people would dare to even attempt. And without my woman stopping me, I would have crossed the outer edge of the circle in only a couple more steps.

“Well, well,” Kali said, echoing Cornelius in a taunting fashion. “Up to your good old dirty tricks again, Cornelius? Too bad they’re not going to work this time.”

An endless string of curses tumbled out of Cornelius’s mouth to have his trap thus exposed.

Totally unfazed, my mate resumed speaking words of power. A wave of Death Magic emanated from her, laced with a hefty amount of Blood Magic. I couldn’t even pretend to comprehend what kind of spell she was casting, but its effects quickly became obvious. I stared in awe as the edges of the circle began to unravel.

“You wretched cunt!” Cornelius screamed.

To my shock, he launched two dozen blood darts at her. I shifted out of my wraith form, becoming visible again and sucked the life force out of the darts. They faded into ashes blown away by this soft evening breeze long before they could reach my woman. Without missing a beat, I cast a death strike at Cornelius, knowing it wouldn’t be that easy. Sure enough, the spell struck the blood shield they had erected to protect him and his two female apprentices.

Anyway, even without the shield, my death strike would have caused insignificant damage. The ring was dampening my magic as it traveled through it, weakening it further as it crossed the distance.

Cornelius burst out laughing, his eyes sparkling with malicious glee upon finally seeing me.

“There you are, my little pet. Now, the real fun begins. Prepare to suffer like you’ve never suffered before,” the necromancer shouted.

He pronounced a series of words of power. My stomach dropped when the blood shackles pinning Piers to the stone covered ground fell off and he shot to his feet—twisted though they were—in one swift movement. The handsome, lanky young man he had once been no longer existed. In his stead, a monstrous, bloated creature stared at me with bloodshot bulging eyes. He appeared much too big for his skin, which looked like excessively stretched fabric over whatever was wiggling beneath it, seeming like it was on the verge of bursting open.

Piers lumbered forward, his mouth opening impossibly wide to release an ear-splitting screech. Endless rows of teeth filled his mouth.

To my shock, instead of coming for me, he turned to look at Kali before spitting a stream of black, oily substance towards her. Like I had done with Cornelius’s blood darts, I drained the energy from whatever that substance was. It once again dispelled in a shower of ashes. However, I could feel the acid and virulent toxin that had been in it.

“What have you done to him?!” I exclaimed, horror and disbelief filling my voice.

“I’ve made him incredibly lethal and immortal!” Cornelius boasted.

“I don’t think so,” I retorted, a challenge in my voice.

Invoking all my power, I cast a potent death strike on Piers. To my dismay, the abomination he had turned into didn’t instantly die as he should have. He merely screamed and stumbled a few steps forward before regaining his bearings. However, his skin stretched further as he gained more mass. Somehow, the damage he sustained made him grow.

I repeated the attack a couple more times, frustrated not to be able to just charge in. But the wretched dampening effect of the circle kept thwarting my efforts. Kali was diligently unraveling it. However, it would take a while, considering its massive size and the power of the sorcerers who had cast it to begin with.

Aggravated by Piers’s continued advance towards my female, I summoned my ghostly scythes, straightened the bone chain linking them to turn it into a double-bladed staff, then threw it like a boomerang at the lumbering abomination. As soon as my weapon left my hand, I realized I had made a mistake. Cornelius’s triumphant expression terrified me. I extended my hand towards the blade to recall it to me, but it was too late.

It found its mark and cut through Piers.

The moment the blade made contact, the apprentice exploded into what I initially assumed to be a shower of the same blackish oil he had spit at Kali. But they turned out to be giant shadow tentacles with vicious spikes at the tips. They shot out in every direction, two of them racing straight at my woman. I barely had time to shove her aside with an elemental strike. She’d been too focused on unraveling the circle to properly react to the threat.

But a few more tentacles racing towards me forced me to dodge out of their path. Without pausing, I cast another death strike at the giant shadow creature Piers had turned into while catching my returning scythes. To my shock, the creature faded into dark shadows, my spell passing right through him and fizzling over the distance due to the circles dampening effect.

In the back, the two female apprentices increased the intensity of their incantations. Simultaneously, Piers grew in size and mass, easily reaching a height of four meters, with his tentacles extending nearly three times that length. I couldn’t give a name to what he had become. The beast slithered on the ground like a squid but possessed a humanoid upper torso. The head—which also had smaller tentacles as hair—had a mix of canine and reptilian to it, with half a dozen glowing red eyes and endless rows of dagger teeth filling its oversized mouth. Unlike a squid, no suction cups lined the tentacles of its lower body. Instead, spiked scales covered it with vicious hooked claws at the tips.

The beast attacked again. I flew out of the way and immediately blasted it with my necrosis on top of casting my death aura at it. Piers screeched as the end of his tentacles began to wither before they could reach either my mate or me. However, he faded back to his shadowy form, instantly shedding the necrosis.

Although I still couldn’t enter the circle, Kali was making impressive progress wrecking it. She cleverly realized that combining necrosis to her Blood Magic acted like a virus that chipped away at the circle, unraveling it even faster. I only needed to keep her safe while she performed that task. I flew around the area directly in front of her, using my powers to destroy any tentacle rushing in our direction, slicing through others with my scythe, and forcing Piers to vanish into smoke with my death aura.

To my delight, the creature was quickly faltering as Alva and Meri struggled to counter my attacks. It was clear that they were the puppet masters fueling whatever monster they had turned Piers into. But for all their powers, they didn’t know Death Magic or how to counter it.

The tide was turning in our favor, and soon I would be able to go tear them to shreds.

Focused on pushing back the beast and protecting my woman, I didn’t notice that Piers was shooting his tentacles at a much shorter distance than before. In order to cut them off with my scythes, I needed to move forward. By the time I realized what was happening, I’d already crossed into the magic circle.

Before I could dash back out of it, Cornelius slapped his hand on the spinal bone of my scythe and shouted a word of power.

A debilitating pain ripped through my spine and tore at my soul. It was as if I had traveled back in time to that dreadful day in the crypt when I accidentally killed that human. I felt myself plummeting towards the ground from where I’d been flying in front of Kali. I tried to recover before I would crash, but three of the beast’s tentacles speared right through me—two in my chest, and one in my right thigh.

I cried out as Piers yanked me like with a roped harpoon towards his gigantic mouth.

“PHAROS!” Kali screamed.

Through the haze of agony tearing me apart, I instinctively swiped my scythe at the creature. Half a beat before it would have connected with the side of his mouth, Piers turned back into smoke in an evasive maneuver. As he faded, so did the tentacles impaling me. I felt the short distance to the ground and landed heavily onto the hard stones paving it. My breath rushed out of me, and the gaping wounds left by the tentacles bled heavily.

Spilling my own blood inside a sacrificial circle was the last thing I needed.

As I tried to fly away while invoking my regeneration, what felt like a hundred giant needles speared me again from every side, as the beast materialized again but this time with much smaller tentacles. I shouted in agony, realizing he was going to put me through an endless cycle of pain to break me while he stole my powers. However, before I could cast another death aura or necrosis, Cornelius slammed the bone on my scythe lying on the altar before him again.

This time, I felt my spine shattering. My head spun, and I struggled to keep my eyes from rolling to the back of my head as another round of needles stabbed through me, piercing flesh and organs. Through blurred vision, I saw a flurry of red streaks flashing by. Only once I heard Meri scream did I realize that the red streaks had been blood darts launched by my woman. Dark spots of necrosis spread around the entry points of each dart that had found its mark on Meri. She clawed at herself while stumbling back.

Without her magic feeding it, the beast faltered, freeing me. I drained as much of the creature’s life force as I could to regenerate before it turned into shadows. But just as Cornelius was going to wreck me again by bashing my scythe, another flurry of blood darts forced him to cast a protective spell to parry my mate’s attack. It was the tiny opening I needed. Fighting through the pain, I threw my ghostly scythe at the necromancer. He barely managed to dodge and once more tried to smash my weapon only to be thwarted but another volley of darts.

I charged forward even as my ghostly scythe was returning to me. With a flick of my wrist, I redirected it towards Alva while casting my death aura to wither any new tentacles or needles Piers might want to shoot at me. But my ghostly scythe sliced through Alva from the back, cutting her in half. Her torso fell to the ground before her lower body did, her face frozen in a shocked expression.

Piers screeched as the last of his handlers perished and turned back into his solid form. Without hesitation, my Kali cast a far more potent blood necrosis on him than I thought her capable of. The beast began to rot from the inside out at a terrifying rate. Under different circumstances, I would have wanted to admire the macabre spectacle. But I had more important matters to handle.

The panicked and terrified expression on Cornelius’s face as he watched me flying at dizzying speed towards him was literally orgasmic. He attempted to cast an offensive spell against me, but my death strike shattered his blood shield and made him stumble back.

Behind me, I could hear my mate running towards us. As I closed the distance with my nemesis, I felt a wave of magic fly past me and strike the blood on the altar surrounding my weapon. It instantly levitated and flew towards me. I said a quiet thank you to my mate as I caught it mid-air and swung it so that the blade would cut Cornelius in half from the top of his head down to his chest.

Half a second before my true scythe would connect with his skull, a glowing sword appeared in front of me, blocking might blow. Then a powerful blast of magic sent me flying a few meters back. Shock and anger surged through me at this deception.

I prepared to retaliate against that treacherous foe but froze in place when I realized who had intervened.

“Father!” I breathed out.