Vanquished Gods (Hallowed Games #2)

Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

“ A re you okay?” Sion whispered.

My body trembled, my hand shaking as I gripped the wand. “I’m running out of magical energy,” I rasped. “Witches! Fall back. Get to the castle!”

As the witches retreated, I called more magic back into myself. Mentally, I channeled the power of the Serpent. I saw him as a little boy sprinkling bruised rose petals on the ground, mashing them into the dirt with his small hands. Another pulse of magic filled me, but it was growing weaker. I was using it much more quickly than I could refill myself, and dizziness whirled in my mind.

“I’m going to let the shadows recede,” said Sion. “We’ll lure the remaining soldiers into the forest.”

I heard him stumble off in the direction of the castle, and then the shadows started to thin. As they did, I saw the carnage laid out before us. The rows of bodies slumped on the rocks. The waves lapping at armored corpses. My chest clenched.

From behind them, a fresh wave of soldiers was rowing to shore in small boats. Already, more archers were arriving, nocking their arrows. Teams of soldiers unloaded battering rams, loading them onto logs and rolling them up the hill.

As they approached, their fear hung in the air so thickly, I could taste it. The Pater was nowhere to be seen.

“Retreat!” Sion shouted.

We turned, heading for the forest. We needed to move quickly enough to avoid their arrows but slowly enough that they saw exactly where we were heading.

As we ran toward the forest, arrows thudded into the ground around us.

From behind us, I heard chaotic shouts commanding the Luminari to follow us into the line of oaks. They wanted us—Sion, Maelor, and me.

And just before I slipped beyond the line of trees, a hawthorn arrow slammed into my shoulder. I winced. Pain slid through my veins at the feel of hawthorn in my blood. As I stumbled, I ripped the arrow out of my shoulder, grunting.

As my strength drained, wild hunger ripped through me, an uncontrollable craving for blood. I inhaled the scent of damp leaves and earth, then the smell of human life running closer. Their fear, their sweat…I craved their blood in my body.

The poisonous tinge of hawthorn corroded my veins, spreading agony through my muscles. I stumbled, my vision blurring as I struggled to stay upright. Feral hunger raked at my insides, and I fell to my knees. But as I looked behind me, I saw exactly what I needed racing for me. So many mortals with blood pumping hot in their veins.

Ravenous, I took a step back, lying in wait behind an oak tree.

The prey, running straight into a trap set by the hunters.

They had no idea what waited for them here.

The moment the first soldier came into view, I lunged for him. I slammed his hand hard against the oak trunk until he dropped his sword. The sound of his frantic heartbeat was a beautiful drum in my ears, the most beautiful music of life. Hunger raged in my gut, and I licked my fangs.

Time seemed to slow as his green eyes slid to me, and sweat trickled down his forehead. I lunged for his throat, puncturing his skin. My hand curled around the back of his neck as his pulse fed his life into me.

My blood-thirst raged like a storm, wild and unstoppable. Words went dim in my thoughts until there was only the hunger and the sensation of his blood flowing into my mouth. The nectar of the gods exploding across my senses like nothing I’d ever felt before. Thick and rich, it carried the essence of his life. It rushed into my body, drowning the pain of the hawthorn, dissolving the weakness.

I sucked down his blood until rationality returned. The thought crossed my mind that I should be wondering why none of his Luminari brothers-in-arms were coming to his aid.

My eyes flicked open, and my gaze slid around the forest. For the first time since I’d been hit by the arrow, I was actually paying attention to the world again. Shadow magic coiled between the trees, though as I vampire, I could see right through it. The Luminari, however, could not. They stumbled blindly, feeling around in the dark as vampires took them down, one by one. The soldiers’ shouts echoed in the air, panicked, confused.

There was a time when I would have felt terrible guilt for so many deaths at once. But maybe as a vampire, my survival instincts had grown stronger.

As I drained the soldier of the last of his blood, his body convulsed in my grip. His pulse slowed, his body going still, as I finally sated my hunger. I dropped his limp corpse to the earth, and the warmth of his lifeblood spread through me. All around me, vampire soldiers were slaughtering the Luminari from under the cover of shadows.

I felt more alive than I ever had.

I turned to look at the castle, where phalanxes of Luminari soldiers advanced in tight formation toward the castle walls. Their sun-emblazoned banners fluttered in the wind. They carried ladders, ready to scale the walls.

On the battlements above the castle, the six fire witches stood with their hands out, flickering with flames. As the lines of soldiers reached the castle, the witches sent fire erupting from their fingertips, burning arcs that ignited the lines of soldiers below. They crumbled beneath the searing heat, and others tried to run. Some raised their shields in desperation, but they still screamed, burning as the flames heated their metal shields.

Even from there, heat from the fire magic drifted on the wind, along with the smell of charred flesh, the intoxicating scent of human blood.

But it wouldn’t be enough, would it? The fire magic would run out, just like mine had. And the soldiers kept coming, more of them marching up the hill.

I reached down, snatching my wand from the ground where I’d dropped it.

Barefoot, I walked over the mossy ground, channeling magic into my body again. Replenishing myself like a spring garden in the rain. The heart of the forest pulsed where my heart used to beat.

Arrows still rained around us, but they were aimless, clattering off trees.

Power flowed into me from the ground, magic starting to move again under the surface of my skin. We’d need to hit them with another veil of deathly shadows until they finally gave in. We needed them to retreat, leaving the Pater behind.

My skin prickled with the charge of magic, and I scanned the darkened forest for Sion. At last, I spotted him fighting like a wild man, his sword arcing through the dark air as he whirled and carved his way through the Luminari.

I ran for him, dodging between the tree trunks. And as I did, I spotted a well-aimed hawthorn arrow heading right for him. I lunged, grasping it in midair.

Sion spun to look at me, smiling at me through his shadow magic. “What a glorious day to be a vampire.”

I nodded. “We need more death magic. The fire witches will start fading at any moment, and the Luminari will start to scale the walls. We need to force them to retreat. I could feel their fear. If we terrify them enough, they’ll realize they have no chance against us. They will retreat, and the Pater will be left behind.”

Sion’s golden eyes narrowed as he calculated. “Have you got more magic?”

“I’ve replenished?—”

But a scream cut me off. A sound that made my blood turn to ice.

A child’s cry. One I knew well.

I froze, my legs shaking. The sound hit me like a slap.

“They’ve got Leo,” I whispered to Sion.

He grabbed my arm. “It’s a trap, Elowen.”

I turned back to look at him, and clarity hit me like a diamond-tipped arrow. It didn’t matter what the risks were; it didn’t matter what anyone else said. “I’m going to get him.”

I turned and rushed between the tree trunks, flying with my vampiric speed toward the sound of Leo’s voice.

And as I burst through the line of trees, I saw them there—the Pater gripping my Leo, a dagger pressed to his throat. They stood just at the edge of the forest, only a few feet from me. Tears streaked Leo’s face, and he called my name. My heart no longer beat, but I felt it crack all the same.

Five Luminari stood behind the Pater, their swords drawn.

I needed to think clearly to get Leo out of this.

The raging battle seemed to blur—the fires from the mages, the screams from the dying Luminari, all faded into a distant roar as horror wrapped its bony fingers around my throat. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe.

“Elowen!” Leo cried again.

The Pater stared at me, his face haggard. “Mother of Death! I have your son. Little Leo. I did tell you, didn’t I, that I would find him. Why don’t you trade places with him?”

“He’s not my son,” I said coldly. “I already told you that in Ruefield.”

Sion was at my side in the next moment, looming over us. “I’ll take his place. I know you’ve been searching for me.”

Maelor burst from the woods, freezing next to Sion when he saw Leo.

The Pater’s eyes flicked up to Sion, then Maelor. “My Magister Solaris. My Raven Lord. I’ll take all three of you. That’s all I want. Then we will leave the island in peace.”

My gut twisted. He’d never leave in peace. Everyone there would die.

We had to play this cool. As the wind rushed over me, I walked casually over to them, masking my horror with an easy smile. “That boy? Am I supposed to be concerned?” I bared my fangs. “Perhaps you didn’t notice, but I’m a vampire now. I don’t give a fuck about humans.”

The Pater’s eyes gleamed. “You’re lying, witch. Always so mendacious, your kind. Give yourself over to my Luminari, and they will subdue you three with hawthorn. I will set the boy free, and Gwethel can live in tranquility. It’s all very simple.”

“Leave her here,” said Sion, cold fury lacing his voice, “and take me.”

Fury of my own twisted through me, molten hot, but I shoved it down, schooling my face into a calm mask. I knew how this would play out. The Pater would kill me, Sion, Maelor, and Leo, and then everyone else on the island.

“You want me to give my life for this mortal boy?” I sighed dramatically. “Are you stupid? As I said, I’m a vampire now. I don’t care for this boy any more then I care for a little hedgehog . I’ll kill him myself.”

I reached out and stroked his forehead with my bare fingertips.

It was the first time I’d ever touched him without gloves, a simple brush, as light as a kiss.

For a moment, he stiffened—then went limp, slumping back against the Pater, convulsing a little.

It was very convincing.

The Pater’s smile faltered, confusion flashing in his eyes as he looked down at Leo shaking in his arms. He let him drop to the ground, where he fell into the dirt.

I slammed my fist into the Pater’s face—once, twice—cracking his skull. I wanted him alive but broken.

Before I could strike again, the Luminari leapt into action. A soldier lunged at me with his sword, swinging for my throat. But he was too slow for me. I ducked, and my hand shot up to catch his wrist in a crushing grip. He cried out, dropping the sword, and I released my death magic into his body. He fell to the ground, and I pivoted to see a sword swinging for me again.

My stomach swooped, and I caught that one in my fist. I grunted with pain as it cut through my hand, sliding through to the bone, but I managed to stop the swing. I backhanded his face with my other hand, releasing my death magic as I did.

When I turned again, my hand was already healing.

Sion and Maelor were in motion, their bodies blurring as they tore through the Luminari with breathtaking ferocity. Sion ripped thought the throat of a blond soldier. Maelor grabbed a Luminari by the head, slamming him face-first into a tree trunk with such force that it made me wince. Bodies lay scattered at our feet—including the Pater’s, still breathing. Still alive.

I caught my breath as I scanned for Leo, who sat crumpled next to a tree, staring at us with fear. Oh, gods. I ran to him and knelt. “I need you to get to safety.”

He stared at me wide-eyed.

I turned back to Sion. “Where’s the safest place for Leo now? Where can he hide?”

Sion frowned at him. “Leo, have you been drinking the hawthorn tincture?”

Leo nodded. “Can I become a vampire now, too?”

“No,” said Sion with finality. “Maelor will take you back to Veilcross and protect you there.”

Maelor scooped up Leo without a word, pulling him close to his chest. He took off in a streak of shadowy black, racing with him back to the witches’ home.

I dragged the Pater’s limp body out to the battlefield, pulling him over the stones. Sion rushed across the rocks beside me.

Before the ships on the shore, I spun to face the castle.

Moving swiftly, I once more dragged the Pater’s limp body over the stones, his legs catching on the jagged edges of the earth. I screamed, “I have your Pater!”

The Luminari were still trying to scale the castle walls, desperately trying to force the portcullis open.

“I have your king!” I shouted again, my voice ragged, barely cutting through the chaos—the soldiers shouting as they tried to breach the castle, the fire raging from above.

“I have your king!” I shouted yet again, drawing my wand. But my voice was lost, drifting away in the ashy wind.

By my side, Sion cupped his hands around his mouth, shouting, “We have your king! Your Pater has been captured, and your Magister Solaris is dead. My queen, Elowen here, can kill each and every one of you with her magic.”

“What?” I whispered, shocked not only by his words, but by what he’d called me.

“Show them,” he whispered back, seemingly oblivious to what he’d just claimed me as. “Remind them what you can do.”

I shook myself and gripped my wand, narrowing my eyes on a Luminarus who stood at the base of the castle. The Serpent’s magic coiled through me, and I shot a bolt of dark magic at him.

The man instantly fell to the ground, convulsing.

“You are free now,” I called out, now that I had their full attention. “We will free you from the Order that has crushed all of us with fear, that has pitted us against each other, that turned our neighbors and friends into enemies, and made your family spies, weapons. The Order that killed us all with the loneliness of not knowing who to trust. It’s over now. They made you believe that only through them could you be safe. It’s not true. It’s never been true. They’re the ones we need to be safe from . Their reign of terror is over.”

The Luminari went still, staring at the unconscious Pater.

“You are free,” I shouted again, my voice echoing.

Sion glanced at me, then looked down by my feet. “What are you planning to do with him?”

“We need to find Cecily. I have a plan for her rock sculptures.”

I breathed in the damp, mineral scent of the temple to the Serpent as I stared down into the pit. Sunlight poured in from the oculus above, washing over the iron cage and the Pater’s unconscious body lying across the floor, where I’d been not long ago.

Cecily took a step closer, gripping her wand, her long black braid draped over a white dress. She glanced at me, raising her eyebrows. “I usually make art, not tombs.”

I took a deep breath, having expected this. “His immortality comes from stealing the magic of witches. We just need to make sure he can never do it again, and then it’s all over. The trials, the witch-findings, the Purifications.”

She smiled at my words and nodded, pointing her wand at the pit, no further reasoning necessary.

As she did, the rocky ground beneath my feet started to tremble as her magic vibrated through the stone. Cold air rippled over my skin, and my gaze flicked up to the Serpent’s altar, where the stone carvings seemed to writhe and shift.

“An offering for the Serpent,” I whispered. “A king for the god of death.”

I felt his power wrap around me, comfortable as a soft cloak.

The rocks groaned underneath me as they started to move, closing in around the pit—changing, growing. They started to close over the light, casting a shadow over the pit. Darkness swallowed the Pater whole as the rocky ground sealed over him, the Serpent claiming his gift.

Silence filled the temple, death having claimed the immortal king at last.