Page 220 of Gift from the Source
I scream until my throat is raw. Then I scream some more.
The cloud of deadly smoke circles the two of us.
It no longer knows who its true master is. It presses us so closely together, the rotten stench of his breath wafts across my cheek.
“Look at you. You could’ve been greatness, granddaughter. You could’ve had armies, realms bowing at your feet. Instead, you chose this. Liars. Those who stole this realm from me and never were blessed,” he grits as he wraps his hand around my throat.
“With a chain around my neck and my blood as your weapon. You could’ve been greatness. Poorly executed, yes, but regardless, Persley Vito gave you a second chance at life. You could’ve fortified the weak, made them equal rather than beneath any. That would’ve made a difference worthy of a blessing. You were given so many chances. So many choices. You squandered them all.”
I choke out as I take the deepest breath I can.
Inhaling everything I can.
“Foolish girl. You’ve been so brainwashed. If you had joined me willingly, you could’ve earned the rights to rewards. Now you will be a slave to me until the end of time. Your children will serve me. As will theirs. On and on until I say otherwise.”
The grip he has on my throat grows tighter. It cuts off my airways, but I can’t fight him off.
“This is your ending, granddaughter.”
“No, it’s yours,” I croak. “I, Willow Vito, a daughter of Elementra, set you free.”
His eyes look down at the Gods Binding clutched in my bloody hands, then madness stares back at me.
“What have you done?” he bellows as he backhands me and the two of us fall from one another.
I shake out my head and push myself back up on wobbly legs. The Gods Binding drops from my hands, and I step over it to reach him.
With each limp, another part of me dies.
I leave a little of who I was in the bloody ground with every inch closer to him I get.
He withers in agony, screaming and convulsing below me as the power he stole slices from his soul.
As his sorrows echo through the otherwise eerie silence, I kneel beside his broken, pathetic form.
“The last time you were in this position, you were granted mercy that you took as belittlement and hatred. You let it fester. Your actions since are unforgiveable. Unforgettable. You’ve taken too much from this realm, the creator, the people…me. You’ve taken too much from me to ever receive a sliver of understanding or compassion. What I will give you, willingly, is a quick kiss from death. Nothingness welcomes you.”
“Wil—”
My flamed hand lies against the center of his chest. The thickest point of where his M touches.
The purple traces the lines, then sears straight through him.
His screams travel through the realm like a sonic boom.
My heart cracks open as I watch black eyes bleed to a brown that used to horrify me as a child. Then they shatter the same way mine used to as they cloud with familiar fear.
I hold onto the look in those eyes until they burst into ash.
Exhaling harshly, a tear slides down my cheek. A lump forms in my throat as I stand and sway.
I turn in a circle slowly as power pulses through the land. Mid swing, cast, or command, the remaining fighters for the Mastery all crumble to the ground as the souls they sold to the Summum-Master rip from their bodies.
All the surviving E.F. members freeze in confusion.
My torturous turn continues.
Another surge of power blasts through the air from behind me. It soars through the palace, then the rest of the realm.
