Page 130 of Beasts of Briar
Across the clearing, Kairoth was using his shadows to try and get the other gods’ weapons. His own dagger was strapped to his side, nestled safely away.
More trees toppled. Lightning split the sky above. Hail hit my head, bouncing off the ground, a thick layer of the milky white rock settling on the dirt.
“Enough,” Khalasa yelled and held out her hands, rising into the air. She summoned her starlight and shot it at my brothers. All of them flew back, and I let out a scream as they hit the earth.
They lay unmoving, and my heart stopped for what felt like an eternity.
“We’re okay,” Jorah said, slowly sitting up and rubbing the back of his head. My brothers slowly moved, and I was able to breathe again. But not for long.
The rest of the gods followed Khalasa, all of them floating up, weapons in their hands pointed straight at us. They closed in around those of us left, and we all backed in tight.
A hand closed around mine, and I looked over to see Kairoth next to me, his shadows swirling around him. His eyes glowed red behind the wispy forms.
“I’m with you,” he said. “Until the end.”
The gods stared down at us, fury in their tense shoulders and blazing eyes.
We’d taken Aethira by surprise, but we wouldn’t be able to do the same with the rest of the gods, not after what they’d just witnessed.
But they didn’t just look angry. Ysar’s eyes shifted back and forth. Larissa’s face had lost some of its color. Ragar swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. They were worried. Unsettled by what had just happened.
I stepped forward through the crowd. “The gods abused your power,” I called to the magic, voice ringing out through the jungle, and everyone turned to look at me. I summoned mystarlight, the gods shifting their weapons toward me. “They took the precious magic the land offered them and turned it into tools of power, oppression, and vanity. They don’t deserve to wield you any longer.”
Queen Liliath eyed me, then raised her chin and reached up toward a branch. It dipped down toward her finger, and she caressed it. “They take you for granted.”
“They are the reason you had to destroy everyone in the first place.” Princess Gabrielle flipped over her palm and a ball of water appeared over it.
Queen Poppy flapped her wings, wind swirling around her that lifted her thick brown hair. “They are not worthy of you because they do not respect you.”
Maverick kept a tight hold on Emory, but she gently shook loose from his grip. “They don’t think they need to earn your trust or respect and so they are reckless with you.”
“You don’t have to destroy the world again,” I pleaded as the jungle began to fold in on itself around us, the very earth swallowing it up. I thought of my father, how he’d blamed himself for what had happened, but really it was going to happen either way. “They are the reason you’ve been misused. Abused. Not the rest of us.”
“It’s cute how they think anyone is in control except for us,” Ysar said as if Aethira hadn’t just burst into dust. They knew. They knew and they were bluffing.
“Are you done yet?” Larissa asked, staring at her long blue nails. “This is getting boring.”
“I agree.” Ragar ran a finger over the hilt of his hammer. “I’d rather get back to the fighting.”
As if in response, the world around us suddenly went silent and still. The hail and rain stopped. The ground no longer rumbled. Trees stopped falling.
The gods looked at each other, and Kairoth squeezed my hand hard. I screamed out, “Now!”
Everyone moved at once, magic flying at the gods in a rush, a mixture of water, wind, fire, starlight, and earth, taking the gods’ weapons. And dust. The glittering dust appeared in the air, swirling around the gods’ eyes, keeping them from being able to move.
My brothers appeared next to me and shoved out their hands, right in Khalasa’s direction. They looked at me and I nodded as I stretched out my own hands while Khalasa swatted the purple dust swarming her. Seven bands of starlight wrapped around Khalasa’s scythe and ripped it from her hands. The dust fell to the ground and disappeared.
The gods stared at us, dumbfounded.
The magic was listening. It was helping us do what we needed to do. It wasn’t going to destroy this world after all. Just what needed to be destroyed.
Aron shifted into his human form. He was getting better at controlling when he could shift. Emory handed the frost god’s axe to him and nodded. Each ruler of the seven courts held onto a weapon.
“Now,” I yelled.
The rulers stepped forward in unison, launching the weapons straight toward the gods. The gods screamed out as they and the weapons exploded in bursts of blue, white, red, and gray. The glittering dust burst in the air like confetti, raining down over us. Jorah held the scythe out to me, and I took it, staring at Khalasa as she backed away.
Dust floated in the air, the only remnants left of the gods.
