Page 217 of Gift from the Source
They’re trying to take what’s mine.
My fury burns through me and my tears scald streaks down my cheeks.
The agony racing through me hurts more than anything I’ve ever experienced. Any other severing holds no candle to this.
CC’s, Gaster’s, the taste of Oakly’s.
The three occurrences together can’t match the pain of losing Corentin’s. The fragile strands left are begging me to repair them. Sow them back whole.
“I’m coming, Core. I’m coming.”
A vicious growl sounds from right above my head. Seconds later, Draken drops down right on top of the soldiers. His flames burn bodies to ash in the blink of an eye. I lose sight of him as he shifts.
The closing circle thins as Mastery members thud to the ground silently.
My gaze lands on my gentle giant, whose fists are clenched at his sides, head thrown back in an earth-shattering bellow.
I search the area around him and air gets trapped in my throat.
I choke on another sob.
Our entire family is circled around, protecting the prone form lying in the center of them. My sister and Aria are kneeling, holding his head as Jamie presses on his chest. His hands are glowing as he forces every ounce of his gift into my Corentin.
Aurora sobs as she screams and casts out brutal strikes. My fathers-in-law are no better. They’re machines.
Keeper zips through people, leaving them in pieces.
Tanith’s screech sounds in the distance.
My brothers bellow as they battle.
Trex, Codi, Xander, Dec.
Another strand cuts.
“NO!”
My war cry rings out across the battlefield and my feet push me to impossible speeds.
Any who are locked in fights with the E.F. that we pass I end quickly, viciously. I let each death fill the void starting to grow larger in my soul.
“Kill them all. Kill as many as you can, Tillman,”I beg as the distance between us shrinks.
More bodies drop.
Leaping over the dead and plowing through the living, I crash through the protective circle and crawl to Corentin.
Oakly and Aria try to touch me, but I sling their hands away.
His sickly pale skin, the black veins running through his arms. My shaky fingers trace it all, begging him not to give up on me.
“Do you see now the possibility of the power, dear granddaughter?”
His voice cuts through the madness in my mind and time seems to slow.
The fighting circle instinctively moves outward, splitting open to allow him space to step through. The distant fighting that’s still spread across the land rages on, but it becomes echoes of whispers as I glare up.
“None of this would have had to—”
