Page 116 of The Dryad Storm

A blast of Void energy scythes from the demon’s palms and streaks toward Tierney in dark gray bolts, the screams of destroyed Forest and Waters reverberating through them.

Ready to die as an avenging warrior for her Vo, Tierney screams out an Asrai battle cry and releases her full storm.

Ropes of Viger’s Darkness unleash from her palms, surrounded by whooshing streams of both her and Fyordin’s Asrai storm shot through with Or’myr’s purple geo-energy, the three males’ determination ricocheting through her center.

Their attack slams into the V’yexwraith’s Void bolts, blasting them into an explosion of purple-lightning-spitting steam before their combined powers spear forward and lash around the towering demon. Tierney draws her palms back, cinching the tethers violently inward and binding the creature tight. The V’yexwraith lets out an earsplitting, multitoned shriek while Tierney swipes her arms in a sideways arc and lets out a guttural cry.

The tethers of Darkness hurl the V’yexwraith clear out of her Waters and crash it onto the western riverbank with an Erthia-shakingBOOM.

The battle going on around her shudders into focus, the Mages and the Marfoir racing toward her blasted apart by Or’myr’s violet-spitting lightning while Fyordin rushes into the water with raised palms and sends a whirling tide around the Shadow corrupting the Vo. Viger surges toward Fyordin in a blur of Dark, blackened hands thrust forward, the mist emanating from his palms twining through Fyordin’s power. Their combined might rapidly corrals the Shadow corruption and halts its spread downstream, then hauls it away from Tierney’s kelpies.

Fury and Darkness pounding through her, Tierney stalks toward the prone, hissing V’yexwraith’s colossal form where it writhes on the riverbank, pinned there by her bindings.

On instinct, she draws in a deep breath and swipes her hands toward the demon.

River snakes swarm out of the Vo and coil around the V’yexwraith’s limbs, a dart of vengeful satisfaction rushing through Tierney as serpentine fangs bite into the demon’s gray flesh. The beast hisses out its pain and fury, its long back arching as Tierney’s storm of Darkness rages around them both.

The V’yexwraith bares its rows of teeth at her, its multi-eyed expression chilling. “You cannot kill me, Asrai,” it chitters, its multitoned voice seeming to come from everywhere at once, vibrating straight through her. “My power isgrowing.” A harsh shiver courses through her, and she has to fight the urge to recoil. “I will re-form and come for you, Asrai filth,” the V’yexwraith chides, its multiple mouthssmiling. “I will feed on Forest and Water. And I will feed onyou.”

Images of Shadow consuming the Vo accost Tierney’s mind. Her fish and amphibians and plant life... all the complex Life of her River corrupted and destroyed, the River’s Balancebreaking. The image sharpens, and Tierney’s lungs seize. She’ssuddenly unable to pull in a breath, the V’yexwraith’s visionchokingher...

An explosion of purple light blasts the vision apart, and Tierney finds herself on her hands and knees on the riverbank, gasping for air. Or’myr stands beside her, wand raised, his purple lightning sizzling around the demon in a forking array. The V’yexwraith snarls, its multiple mouths accordioning forward with stretching force, stopped a fraction away from Or’myr’s face to viciously snap at him, straining to bite. Its attempt thwarted by Or’myr’s lightning, the demon hisses and contracts its mouths back into its large slash of a maw.

“Do you understand what it is to move against a primordial demon,” it snarls at Or’myr, giving him a terrifying multimouthed smile. It rears its head back and thrusts out two thick, forked, black tongues. Twin blasts of silver gray lightning shoot from the tongues’ tips, scything straight toward Or’myr.

Or’myr drops his wand and thrusts up his arms. He catches the lightning bolts in his fists, then smiles at the demon as the gray spitting bolts rapidly tint to violet, Or’myr’s tone chillingly vicious when it comes. “Do you understand what it is to move against the geomancer grandson of theBlack Witch?”

Or’myr hurls the lightning bolts back at the demon, impaling the V’yexwraith’s two largest eyes and pinning its head to the riverbank. The demon screeches as the lightning bolts’ purple energy sizzles over it, its huge form catching violet fire.

“I will re-form!” the V’yexwraith shrieks, so loudly that the very earth beneath Tierney quakes.

“Oh, go ahead and re-form, Void-spawn,” Or’myr snipes as he splays out his hand toward his dropped wand. The wand flies into his palm, and Or’myr levels it at the V’yexwraith.

Tierney flinches as purple lightning blasts from Or’myr’s wand and impales the creature’s huge, bony chest, the imprint of a glowing purple Xishlon moon forming around the strike.

“Here’s my calling card,” Or’myr snarls, low and deadly. “Vogel thinks he destroyed our Xishlon moon. Well, he didn’t. And it’scoming for him.”

A chilling grin forms on all the V’yexwraith’s mouths. “Your love moon can’t defeat us.”

“Are you certain?” Or’myr shoots back. He raises his wand to the heavens and sends a bolt of purple light into Tierney’s storm.

The lower clouds agitate and roll into bright purple orbs, all of them lit up like Xishlon moons.

Or’myr swipes his arm down, and the moons fall, each one colliding with every surviving and slain Marfoir or Mage soldier, the soldiers bursting into purple fire.

The V’yexwraith’s smile vanishes, replaced by a look of teeth-gritted feralness as Or’myr once more levels his wand at the demon.

“Vo’s love can turn to vengeance in a heartbeat, syth’vuu’wraith,” Or’myr bites out. “And I’m Her Varg-warded Strafeling. Come against me andfeel my wrath.”

An eruption of curling Shadow detonates around the V’yexwraith, and the demon vanishes.

Tierney looks at Or’myr in shock as the whole world quiets, countless dead Mage and Marfoir soldiers burning in violet conflagrations all around. Bolting up, she breaks into a run toward the Vo and into it, while reaching up to grab hold of the vial necklace she always wears around her neck. She unstoppers the vial-pendant and thrusts it into the water while hoarsely murmuring an Asrai command.

An ache constricts Tierney’s heart as her kelpies’ iron-decimated forms dissolve and stream toward her and into the vial, tears stinging at her eyes over their cruel treatment. Forcibly calming herself, she stoppers the vial and puts the necklace back on, then reaches up to massage her neck, her breathing still labored, her power severely depleted. She looks at Or’myr to find his gaze pinned on the bank where the demon thing just was, his breaths measured, a wild purple light in his eyes.

As her storm dissipates, her gaze catches on the single purple orb left hanging above the Vo—Or’myr’s own conjured Xishlon moon.

“I... I didn’t know that you’re religious,” Tierney manages, gaping at him. Gaping at what they’ve all wrought.

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