Page 178 of Amethyst and Iron
“Morien,” Ryker responded, voice like steel. “Things will end the same way they did last time. Stand downnow.”
Morien sneered, then looked out at the rest of us, barely even registering the mass power Ketheron was using to bar him from us and the facility. “Where is my son?”
Kai’s eyes narrowed.
My power flamed, my Dark Fae magic sparking on my palms joined by my shadows starting to swirl around me.
Cassius watched warily as he held his white power steady.
“Take the shithead out,” Lazriel hissed to Ryker.
Ryker took another step forward.
Morien held up a finger and tsked. “Such aggression.” His eyes narrowed. “And such foolish hubris. There are hundreds you wish to protect on these grounds, yet instead of even considering my request for my son’s presence to appease me, you prepare to fight me.” He gestured at the dozens of Dark Fae—the very much corrupted version of my former kind. “Andthem.”
“You’re up against a fuck of a lot right now,” Lazriel growled.
“Yet, you are all living beings, are you not? Even you, hybrid, are only partly death-touched. Just like the Wraith hybrid beside you.”
I swallowed down a shudder as the realization of his words hit.
He was threatening to perform Risen Reckoning.
“Just to be crystal clear, I ingested a lovely dose of Celestial power on my return to this facility. So in case you were trying to calculate my reach, you may rest assured that I most definitely have the means to flood this entire area. They will all perish alongside you.”
“Your madness never wanes. Even in death and defeat,” Ryker returned heavily. “Neither does your true sickness—that venomous megalomania.”
“Yes, intoxicating, isn’t it?” He swept his gaze over all of us. “Just like all that heady power coming off you all.” He stepped forward right up to the wall, just an inch from touching it. “Where. Is. My. Son?”
Ryker started forward, his lightning flaring dangerously.
I saw Ketheron make a move to allow him through.
But then Morien snapped his fingers behind him at his backup.
A rush of power slammed into Ketheron’s wall.
It shouldn’t have been able to touch him physically, shouldn’t have been able to impact him.
But then he was screaming as a kaleidoscope of magical streams started sweeping all over the wall.
It wasn’t messing with the structural integrity—it was messing with Ketheron.
Personally.
They were using it as a conduit.
It was mind-meddling on a brutal scale, all of them pouring their power into it.
Ketheron staggered and roared, the wall flickering as he struggled to maintain stability through it.
“I can’t cast it out,” Ryker said. “My magic can’t touch him.”
And he couldn’t break through the wall either.
None of us could.
Kai spun around toward the facility behind us and I saw Vorzyr in mid-dragon shift, seeing what was happening. Nyx was herding everyone back inside as fast as he could.
