by Eve, Jaymin
But this … the being calling my name was not family.
It wasn’t completely unfamiliar either. I’d heard it the last time we took a back entrance into the underworld, its enticing tones urging me to step out into the darkness.
“It’s calling me,” I told Asher.
His head jerked toward me, gold threading his eyes. “I don’t hear anything. Not in your thoughts, or in my own head.”
Yeah, and he was not happy about it.
“It called me last time as well, only I didn’t realize at the time that’s what it was.”
We’ve been waiting for you…
I shook my head, and Asher’s eyes were even brighter. “What did it say this time?”
Turning to him, I moved closer. “You heard it?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head, “but I saw the change in your eyes. They shimmered. Briefly, but it was enough for me to guess it was in your head again.”
I swallowed roughly. “It said that it’s been waiting for me.”
If thunderclouds had a face, it would have been Asher’s in that moment. “Why are they so fixated on you? Why is everyone so fixated on you? I don’t like it, Maddi. I fear what this will mean if you allow these creatures too close.”
I wasn’t without my own fears, but really… “What other option do we have?”
It was a genuine question. If Asher could think of one other option to try to defeat the gods, I’d be all over it. I’d been trying for months to find a solution to our problem. We kept coming back to this.
If Asher’s jaw clenched any harder, he was going to break some teeth. “Fuck. I’m not sure this is the right thing to do.”
I captured his hand. “I need you to promise that if I lose control of them, you will stop me before I hurt anyone. You have the power of destruction and creation in your energy. What you did with Sonaris and Axl … I need you to do the same for me. Don’t let me turn evil.”
There was no chance for him to answer because a burst of light and power slammed into us. I was shot back toward the veil we’d just used to enter this world. Usually I would have been able to slow myself in seconds, but the invisible force didn’t fade, pushing us further.
My natural protections kicked in, and I managed to counter some of their energy, shooting my own back. Not that I could see who we were fighting.
Was it the Hellbringers?
“Maddison!” Asher’s shout sent another jolt through me, a literal jolt that strengthened me, allowing me to break through the force holding me. Finding Asher through the energy, we linked hands together, taking off along the path still trying to lead us to the Hellbringers.
“What attacked us?” I asked breathlessly, trying to get myself under control.
Asher was grim faced. “The gods. They’re not out yet, and that means they’re still in…”
“Here with us…” I finished softly.
Shit. I hadn’t expected that. Louis seemed so sure they’d break free in hours, and it felt like we’d been in the underworld for so long.
Maybe time didn’t move the same in this world.
Also… “The gods have been in the same section as the Hellbringers all along?”
Asher nodded. “Looks like it. They can’t control them, though, so their focus would have been on escaping only. They need to control us to control the Hellbringers.”
Their plan was complicated and full of holes. Not huge holes, but decent sized ones. I guess they hadn’t expected to lose touch with us for so many years, hadn’t expected we would be strong and independent and think on our own. They’d lost the advantage of not raising us to be evil and power hungry like they were.
No doubt they’d had Plan B’s on how to ensure our cooperation, which probably involved killing our loved ones if we didn’t, but nothing had worked out for them. Something I was going to be super grateful for. Maybe the Fates didn’t completely hate us.
Maddison. Come to us…
The voice again, at the end of the golden path, which was leading straight into the lava that ran like a river across half of the land here. In the distance I could see cliffs, and something told me that was the edge I’d stood on very long ago. The world had been dark to me then, my powers locked away, so I hadn’t seen what lay beyond. But now I could. I could see it all.
I wasn't going to reach the lava in time though, because a bunch of fucking gods had just exited from those cliffs, and they were rocketing toward us. There were more than I expected. Ten at least. Were they multiplying down here like fucking rabbits?
“We need a plan,” I said quickly. “Some way to contain them so one of us can get to the Hellbringers.”
Deep in my heart, I knew I had to be the one to deal with the Hellbringers. How I knew that was anyone’s fucking guess, but it had to be me. I was the one they called. I was the one to take the risk. That meant I had to convince Asher to try to buy me some time.
He heard my thoughts, and his were dark and angry, but he didn’t spill any of that out into the world.
“I love you, Maddison,” he said so fast it was almost a blur of words. “This is … wrong. I don’t want you to be the one to control those beasts, but … it’s the path.” He pulled me closer, expression fierce. “I will kill every god here and destroy the worlds above and below if you’re hurt. Don’t die, okay?”
My heart. My fucking heart.
Asher’s lips crashed into mine, one last kiss. “Find the Hellbringers. I will keep the gods away from you.”
Storms raged around him as everything lit up gold, his skin, eyes, hair. He was my golden god, and despite the urgency, I needed one more second to stare at him, to drink in everything that was Asher, just in case this was the end for all of us.
“I love you,” I whispered, and his face tightened. He brushed a gentle caress across my cheek, turned, and took off, heading for the gods. One versus ten. It was not great odds, so I needed to move my ass. He could maybe buy me a few minutes.
I wouldn't waste them.
Chapter 31
“Maddison! You belong to me. I’m your mother, and you will stop what you’re doing right now.”
Lotus’s voice blasted across the world but I paid her no mind. She was my mother, but she had not raised, loved, or wanted me. I was a means to an end, and even if I had thought of her as a true member of my family, there was no way I’d be on board with her plan.
I wouldn’t bend to the will of others.
I heard the gods clashing. Storms raged around, fueled by Lotus, Asher, and me. My power was stronger than ever, lightning bursting from my fingertips when I swirled my hands too fast.
There was no time for me to play with electricity though. Asher wouldn’t be able to hold them off for long. I needed to kick my ass into high gear and find those Hellbringers.
Keeping my mind locked with Asher’s, I saw that he was hitting them with everything he had. I gave him as much help as I could, our energy drifting almost seamlessly between us.
Just as the Atlantean text said. True mates that were also gods could share power.
Enough, Asher said, cutting off the flow. You need all your energy.
He was probably right, but the urge to send more his way was strong.
Focusing on the path again, I followed it straight to the river of lava, hoping that when I got closer I’d know how to find the creatures. Surely, they didn’t expect me to plunge into that river of red, oozing, spitting lava, clearly hotter than the fucking sun itself.
Sweat was running in my eyes now, but it was easy to ignore when one was busy trying not to die. I mean, this was our first decent shot at stopping the gods. And to find out they were all still in the prison, no havoc or loss of life above…
A fucking gift.
You’re so close. Don’t stop. Find us…
How do I find you? I shot back.
I was mere feet from the surface of the lava. If I wasn’t supernatural, I would be dead from the hot air simmering around me.
How?
My descent slowed until I was hovering inches above the bright red field.
You know how…
They legitimately couldn’t be serious.
It will kill me.
No reply. No flicker of that voice in my mind. It had withdrawn and was now waiting for me to make my decision.
With nothing more than a thought, I lowered my body to the point where if I breathed too deeply my chest would touch the fire. Since I didn’t actually need oxygen to survive, I just stopped. Safer that way.
My fingers brushed across the surface, grazing the red lines, and I flinched at the immediate and deep burn. I wasn’t immune to this lava, and it didn’t appear to be like the fire fields in that test by Heptashia. This was actually going to burn me. My fingers were already covered in angry red welts.
Maddison … baby. No!
That was Asher. He sounded labored, but he was paying enough attention that he knew what I was thinking.
It’s the only way.
No! he said again, more command in his voice. Don’t blindly trust the Hellbringers. We have no idea what their agenda—
He was cut off by their power as they spoke to me again.
We are without agenda. We are not beings with sentient thoughts. These words you hear are a reflection of your power and the bond you hold to us. We are nothing more than a wisp, but nothing comes without sacrifice.
Fucking fuck.
I floated for seconds, trying to figure out if I had the strength to do this. Not physical strength—it was of no use here. But the mental strength.
A long time ago, when I was still in the human world, I’d read a news article about a man who cut his own arm off to save his life. At the time, I couldn’t imagine how he must have felt, knowing those were the only two choices he had, and that both of them might mean his death anyway.
But at least one of those choices held a sliver of hope. Sometimes a sliver was all a person could rely on. It was all they had.
Agony burst through my mind and it wasn’t my own. I screamed for Asher, rising up, my energy ready to shoot me straight toward him.
Don’t come to me, he choked out through our bond. Get out of here. Get the others to help you.
He was hurt. Badly. The gods had him pinned, and even though he’d taken out a lot of them, and hurt Draconis, Lotus had managed to slip through his guard. Like the slimy bitch she was. Swear she had a guardian angel and nine fucking lives like a cat.
Asher’s power burst free in a shimmer of gold, raining across the land, and I knew this was his last-ditch attempt to power me with his own energy. I couldn’t leave him like that though. I couldn’t leave him to be tortured by them and possibly killed. Maybe they thought the ten of them could handle his energy. I wasn’t close enough to know if they’d bonded themselves in the same way I had to the Atlanteans.
More gold filled the air, and this time it wasn’t from Asher. It was from his mother.
Galindra, bound with magical ropes, was dragged forward by Draconis.
“If you don’t want to die, G,” Draconis choked out—Asher had hurt him good. “You will kill the child. He’s an abomination.”
Asher remained tall and strong, not a sign of pain or fatigue on his face. I could still feel him through our bond, but he was blocking me as best he could, hiding the worst from me.
My eyes darted between the god standoff and the lava below, and I found my fortitude. I found the strength to remove my arm. Because I didn’t need two arms if I had no Asher. I didn't need them if there was no world.
Gritting my teeth, I dived back down toward the lava, and when I neared the surface, threw my left hand out and plunged it straight into the boiling river of fire. My intention had been to keep my pain to myself, grit my teeth and get through it, but it was so much more than I’d imagined.
My skin melted away, reduced to nothing more than bone in seconds. My skin was diamond, but even diamond had a melting point. My bones, though, must have been something stronger than diamond because they did not succumb to the heat. Once I’d screamed through the pain of losing my skin and muscles and organs, there was nothing but a cold chill against the parts of my body still in the flames.
Where are you? I called to the Hellbringers. But there was no reply. Swirling my mutilated arm in the fire, I started to wonder if this had been enough. Did they require me to go fully into the flames? Did I have to sacrifice everything except my bones to control them?
Before any of those questions could be answered, something heavy and solid grabbed my bone-arm and yanked me under.
Chapter 32
Asher’s voice was the last thing in my mind before everything went black and pain like no other destroyed me.
I burned.
Every part of me burned. There was no escape. My screams allowed the lava to seep through my throat, melting me from the inside, and within a minute of the worst kind of torture I’d ever felt in my life, there was nothing left of me, nothing but a fractured mind and a skeleton built of fragmented memories and original power.
As I floated in the lava, it felt cool against my bones, and I wondered what it really was. What was this substance, filled with an energy I had not felt before?
Come to me.
This time I was in control, fears stripped away. I could never experience the sort of pain like that again. Softness had been burned from my body, and I was now the perfect machine to house the Hellbringers.
I was the perfect god killing machine.
Our special one.
The energy surrounded me, a swirl of darkness and ultimate power.
The three of you would have controlled us. It’s better this way.
I had a flickering thought of two others, their faces shrouded. Better this way for sure. This was what I was made to do. What I was made to be.
Why am I special? It was time to know, even if knowing changed nothing.
You and the other two contain a tiny essence of the Mother of All. Her energy lived within you when she died to save the worlds. She spilled her blood and power. We are the original energy she used to build it all, and now you will have it. No other could harness the energy of the universe in the same way you do.
This information was new to me. I’d never expected that the Mother of All’s energy would reside inside of me, but it explained why I was here now, controlling this power.
I was the Mother of All … the second.
Bony fingers appeared in front of my face, held together with my power alone, since any connective tissue was long gone. The dark power wrapped around my hand and my energy welcomed them. They sank into me like the missing pieces of my essence. Light pierced through the darkness of this world below and I wanted to smile, only there were no lips left for me to do so. I settled for embracing the contented feeling of completeness.
Complete power.
Time to do what we were born to do.
The Hellbringers had not been born, but they were one with me now, and had embraced my thoughts and memories. They’d lain here in this elemental ooze since the fall of the last Mother. They had been waiting.
With ease I lifted myself in the air, moving through the fire like it was water. Something caught my eye when I was about to break through, and I wondered for a moment why there was a bronze trident in the lava with us.
Why had it not burned?
You don’t need it.
The voice pushed away my curiosity and I dismissed the trident then as nothing more than a trivial Atlantean thing. Akin to caring about an ant. Or the slimy trail of a slug.
All were insignificant to me. I would waste no time on them.
When I sailed out of the lava, it was to find a world built on chaos and tragedy. Screams and fire licked across the world; gold covered every surface, and two gods fought with blows that would have killed any other being.
Flicking my hands to either side, I pinned them against the wall. The cracking of their bones was somewhat satisfying. These wer
e supposed to be the most supreme beings in this system of energy, and it was like swatting a fly.
Gliding across the air, I approached the closest one. A woman. Her power buzzed against my bones like electricity. A goddess of storms.
“What the fuck are you?” she stuttered out, fear creasing her almost perfect face. In the reflection of her eyes, I could see the glowing skeletal vision of myself, see the flames in my eyes, the darkness shrouding the rest of me.
“The Mother of All,” I whispered back. Or tried to. My voice boomed much louder than I intended, and she whimpered as blood trailed from her ears.
I didn’t attempt to keep my voice down again. I was not made to consider others. I was made to right the wrongs of this world.
Use us.
My perfect Hellbringers.
They were the omniscience to my power, the ones to allow me to reach out and drain the goddess until she was nothing more than a husk. When her body puffed into a dusty residue, I directed it toward the lava.
The power I’d drained from her swirled inside of me and I briefly contemplated keeping it.
No. You are not made to bow or worship the storms. That must belong to another. Find the one who will remake it in your image.
The entire world of beings flashed before my eyes, and for some reason I paused on one with perfect dark skin and hair the color of the flames from which I was born.
Her.
I didn’t know her. She was nothing to me. But I sensed that she would embrace the storms and bring back their glory. If I couldn’t take on the power, I had to keep the balance.
The balance was everything.
The original magic that had borne gods seeped from my bones, Hellbringers at my center helping me control it all. The storm power disappeared into the universe.
A new god was born.
While I had been focused on my internal view of the world, more gods appeared. They were attacking me with power and energy and their own specific brand of godhood.