Page 146 of Fated In Forever
As the last soul disappeared through the breach, the portal snapped closed, but not before I grasped those golden chains one final time.
Hold on Vicious,I whispered.Help is coming.
72
EVANGELINE
Istumbled back onto my feet, the air in the underground chamber choking me, like pure poison.
Every breath I took burned as the corrupted pool leaked foulness into the already stifling atmosphere, the ley line magic adding its own potency to the mix. The acrid stench of Ravok’s decaying body, and sulfur warred with metallic scent of blood—mine, from where Ravok's claws caught my shoulder.
Blake’s, from a brutal gash along his ribs.
Eldric’s, from the claw marks that nearly took his eye.
Magic hung between us, thick as fog, and Ravok?
Didn’t have a mark on him.
And how could he? His hide was as tough as any revenants, scaled, almost, with thick, bony growths that only enhanced his protections. His magic was unbeatable, and he was growing stronger by the minute.
But at least he’d stopped growing.
This creature was something from my deepest nightmares—twelve feet tall, but squat like a rhino, his head was a mass of bony growths, gaping mouth lined with sharp teeth wide enough to swallow my entire head in one gulp. Thick ridges of bone protruded from his shoulders and down his spine, eyes burning with an unholy light that ignited his entire face.
But there was no intelligence left there.
Ravok had finally become a god, but had lost himself in the process.
I raised my hands, shoulders straining, dark magic coiling through my veins like liquid shadow. My power responded sluggishly, as exhausted as my overtaxed muscles, but I managed to spool up two handfuls of darkness, enough to decimate an entire army.
I’d lost count of how long we’d been at this.
Ten minutes?
An hour?
Longer?
Blake met my eyes and gave me an encouraging nod, keeping pressure on his side, the four deep gouges that cut to the bone. If he hadn’t moved when he did, he would have been gutted. Riordan’s torniquet on my shoulder was holding, rudimentary field dressings a must down here, since all the corrupted magic in the air was preventing us from healing.
“Get out of there, Evie,” Riordan growled.Again.
“Not a chance,” I growled right back.
Ravok stepped toward the door, crossing the line I’d drawn with my boot in the dirt.
Eldric materialized beside me in a swirl of flames, his face tight with concentration. “Get back, give yourself a minute to refill.” The fire around him writhed and twisted, and Riordan dragged me back, far enough the heat of dragonfire scoured the side of my face.
The roaring plume of flame did not let up, Eldric holding his magic steady, the room turning into an inferno, steam hissing out through the opening as we all flattened ourselves against the wall, trying to breathe.
Finally, Eldric dropped his hands, sweat and soot andblood running down his face in dirty rivulets, the last of his dying flames reflected in his eyes, along with the hulking shape in the center of the chamber.
Still on his feet.
Still alive.
“Impossible,” Blake muttered. ‘Nothing could have survived that.Nothing.”
