Page 158 of Of Serpents and Ruins
I shook my head, not knowing what to say. Tears burned the backs of my eyes. I wanted to give him some comfort. Some hope. But the words wavered as the tears rolled down my cheeks. "I forgive you," I whispered hoarsely. "And—"
"Look at her false tears," the Gola Resh sneered. "She knows what comes next, doesn’t she? She is a seer, after all. Well, let’s not disappoint her." She drew closer, her shadows streaming around me. "I’ll hold the brother back, and you kill the girl for me. How’s that? Do it, and I’ll spare you. Defy me, and I’ll make sure you suffer. You took my bond, after all. I own you."
Elias looked down at his enchanted quarter staff and shrugged. "Never. I’ll regret choosing to serve you for the rest of my life," Elias said. A grim smile stole over his features. "Lucky for me, that won’t be too much longer, will it, you pedantic old hag?"
The Gola Resh's face contorted with rage. Shadows whipped violently around her. I tensed, preparing to make some sort of attack. Kine stayed in front of me, muscles poised to lunge.
Then Elias lunged forward at the edge of the cliff. He jammed his quarterstaff against the stone and launched himself out over the lava. Then, just as smoothly, he swept the quarterstaff back around and flung it so that it knocked the stone with the reagents off into the heart.
The Gola Resh screeched with rage, darting forward fast as smoke. "Traitor!" Her claws sliced through the air in a shrieking rent, and Elias’s body vanished.
A scream tore from me. "Elias!"
"Bastards!" Brandt bellowed.
Shouts of rage and horror rose from the few of us that remained.
Buttercup reared up, striking at the air with her forelegs as she wailed in response.
The Gola Resh’s and Babadon’s laughter echoed through the cavern, devouring all other sound.
But that penultimate bundle of rock and reagents started to burn and melt.
"You won’t win." I glared at her. "You won’t!"
Smirking, Gola Resh waved her hand again. All sound seemed to cut off except for her and the Babadon and what I could hear in this little bubble. Kine stayed in front of me, his arm taut and tense as if he could protect me.
Her malevolent orange-green eyes fixed on me once more as she leaned back against the Babadon. He was still so incorporealthat she passed through him with little resistance, but she swept back before him.
The Axe had fully melted now. The Goblet bubbled along its side, barely holding its shape. The Spear had slid a little farther down. The rocks with the reagents glowed brightly, half melted.
The Babadon chuckled darkly. "It saddens me to keep the love match separated," he said coolly. His form became stronger, more substantive, the more the weapons sank into the lava. He lifted one long, bladed hand, the movement heavy but graceful as he indicated Brandt. "Don’t keep them apart on my account, dearest love."
Candy shook her head, screaming something that was likely a combination of obscenities and an offer to sacrifice herself.
Cahji looked on with horror while Hord readied the spear.
Brandt lifted his chin, the defiance vivid in his eyes.
The Gola Resh crooked her finger, gesturing for him to come forward without lowering the energy barrier. "You all thought you were so clever, completing the tasks early, breaking down the intervals. And I know there was some debate about how many cycles you had left," she purred. "But did you know, I can force the curse to move forward—to pinch time as your skinchanger said? But all that’s left? It’s gone, like the Kairos Faction."
She brought her fingers together, the light in her eyes brightening.
"No!" I screamed at her, balling my fists.
Brandt’s body snapped arrow-straight. The light in his eyes flared. His fists clenched as he struck at his head, grunting and baring his teeth.
"Oh, he’s fighting it!" The Gola Resh clapped her hands. "He’s fighting it, my love. Look at him, trying so hard! As if he has a chance."
The Babadon chuckled at this, his sonorous voice booming over the molten rock and blackened stone.
My breaths raced, and my thoughts spun. It wasn’t over. If Brandt could hold on until we made the Babadon and the Gola Resh and then killed them—
The Gola Resh swept her hand down as if peeling a layer away. Brandt lurched forward. Candy and Hord sprang after him, but the invisible barrier held them back. Arjax and Lorna shouted something, their mouths moving but the sound lost.
"Kill her," the Gola Resh murmured, her voice silky. "Kill the woman you love. And then I’ll kill you and put everyone else out of their misery."
STELLA
