Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
My hands curled into fists as the thing flew up, letting out a grating, crackling noise. But I was locked to where I stood, staring at the guard on the ground as I reminded myself that I couldn’t intervene. I couldn’t. I started to force myself to look away, but something was happening.
A flicker of light seeped out from the guard, forming a small orb of softly glowing golden light. What was I seeing? The skin of my neck tickled as the small ball of light floated up several feet before fading. Instinct told me the light hadn’t really disappeared.
It had only moved to the Pillars, where it would take the shape of the man once more.
I’d never seen anything like that before, but I’d heard what it was called here and in every realm—even the ones beyond the Primal Veil. It was the spirit of an individual. Their inner consciousness. The psyche. The self. Sóls. The soul.
I’d finally seen what I’d always sensed upon death. The separation of the soul from the body.
“Get to low ground!” a guard shouted from farther down the Rise. “Everyone.”
My head snapped up. Now was not the time to be distracted by what I’d seen. I knew what this creature was. I’d seen them after I’d been with the riders. It was a sekya, and they were not allowed to leave the…
To leave the Abyss.
Shit.
This was what I’d felt upon waking. They were the source of the unrest Ash had eventually sensed. No souls were trying to escape the consequences of their crimes. Instead, it was those delving out the punishment.
The sekya flew toward the palace as others drew closer, their shrieks rising with my fury.
Guards flooded the courtyard, one of them shouting in a voice I recognized as Kars’. “Get off the Rise! Now! Go! Go!”
My heart lurched as the guards on the Rise ran for the nearest steps, scattering in each direction, but I knew—gods, I knew they wouldn’t make it. The sekya were too fast, and it didn’t matter what they were called, because there were rules…
Rules that had nothing to do with the eirini and were a part of all that information fed to me during the Ascension. There were so many godsdamn rules, but only one was important to me at the moment.
The sekya were not supposed to attack the living—be they Primals, gods, mortals, or anything in between.
But like with the dakkais, they could only be controlled to a certain point.
Several reached the Rise, chasing down the guards there. Half of them dropped from the sky as the first tucked its wings back, diving straight for the guards in the courtyard.
A Rise guard’s scream was cut short. The awareness of death pressed down on me as pieces fell to the ground. Pieces of what remained of the guard.
Kars threw a shadowstone dagger, striking the sekya in the chest. It let out a howl of pain and folded its wings as it got knocked back. It spiraled down to the hard earth. I didn’t feel its death, nor did I see its soul.
But the others echoed its cry. The whole damn mess of them veered, following the ones aiming for the palace.
A flash of intense silver cut through the darkness of the courtyard—an arrow of pure Primal essence. My head jerked to the left.
Rushing across the courtyard, Bele leapt onto a boulder, her shoulder-length braid slapping against her rounded cheek. She crouched, one arm outstretched as she held a bow made of crackling essence.
“What ugly…” She pulled the string of eather taut and released another arrow. “Motherfuckers.”
I would’ve laughed, except I could see we were outnumbered—even with Bele’s arrival. I sensed another death. With every blow landed against a sekya, another came from the sky, more pissed off than before.
I had to do something. If not, the courtyard would be littered with pieces. Possibly even Primal ones. I turned to the bedchamber doors just as the eather thudded heavily in my chest. A wail of pain stopped me, and my anger took hold.
There wasn’t time.
Eather pounded through my veins. The corners of my vision turned silvery-gold as I spun back to the railing. I grabbed it, and energy ramped up inside me as I sprang forward.
Cool night air rushed up, catching the sides of the robe while the sekya shrieked overhead, and the guards shouted from below.
Like before, my body knew what to do. My knees bent to lessen the shock of the impact as the rest of my body relaxed.
My landing still knocked the wind out of me.
Kars staggered back a step with a gasp, “Good gods.”
The flash of pain was even duller and faded quicker than before.
Wishing Ash had been here to see what I was confident had to be one badass landing, I rose.
Kars stared, his mouth hanging open.