x
Looking up, I met Za'Fia's desperate stare as she watched helplessly from her glass containment. I'd just now realized she had a silvery purple glow around her. Was that Verin's doing?
Indeed, Viraa answered. Za'Fia cannot fight so long as she is under Verin's power.
I looked back down at Tymon's unconscious body. His eyes were moving under their lids, but he was losing color.
What now? I asked.
Find a way to escape, Viraa said.
The only exit was the doors. How was I going to get myself and Tymon there? And even afterward, they'd catch me and bring me back...
Trevor started toward us.
"Hand him over, kid," he said as he approached me.
Suddenly, thunder began booming outside. It was as if there was a massive thunderstorm right over us. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand as the air smelled of ozone. Then, the building shook as multiple bolts of pink lightning ripped through the ceiling and struck Verin, Avarice, and the High Gods.
The bolt never touched Avarice since his spirit energy blocked it. Junichiro, always alert, stopped his bolt with his sword; Verin was caught by surprise and took the bolt to the face but remained unharmed, Wren was protected by Avarice's energy as well, and Trevor was struck from the side as he walked toward me, sending him flying to the end of the room with the doors.
The blast to Verin's face may not have hurt her, but it did break her concentration. Whatever Verin had done to put that glow around Za'Fia was undone, allowing Za'Fia to stand, looking uncharacteristically angry.
Za'Fia smashed what appeared to be a circuit box and the green suppression lights that were on turned off.
"Tch. I'm not surprised he'd interfere," Verin mumbled.
Trevor got to his feet and began to fly up to the hole in the ceiling.
"Don't bother, Trevor. Even Avarice and I would find it difficult to fight him," she stated. "Besides, you've got bigger things to worry about."
As I watched Za'Fia, I saw her eyes glow the color of fire. Then her sclera turned black like Tymon's had, and her iris became pure red with a slit pupil as steam escaped her mouth, fogging the inside of the container. Then, there was an orange glow as the glass began to melt outward.
A clawed, red-scaled hand reached out of the steam, grabbing the edge of the melted glass as Za'Fia stepped out of the container.
Za'Fia stood there with scales down her arms and legs and some lining the edge of her face. She had two growing from her head and a pair of beautiful reptilian wings extending from her back. From the reflection, I could also see the red ascension mark on her back. It looked like two crescent moons, one with its ends pointing down, the other pointed up, and their centers connected. Then there were four circles, two smaller ones on either side of the moons and two bigger ones within the bowl of the moons.
Her clothes were burnt away, but she was covered in so much fire that it hid most parts of her body. As Za'Fia and all her power stood before us, I heard my crystal crack. I suddenly noticed how hot I felt as the torrent of fiery spirit energy from Za'Fia smashed against my disruption field.
One crystal wasn't meant to protect against this much energy. If something wasn't done, I was about to be incinerated.
Shockingly, a golden-yellow barrier of energy materialized around me. I looked over at Avarice, who smiled back.
I knew it was because he still wanted something from me, but at the moment, I was thankful for the save.
"All right! We finally get to see what a Supreme Primordial's hybrid form is capable of," Trevor announced excitedly.
He shot multiple spheres at Za'Fia, who stood there as they exploded around her. When the smoke cleared, we saw that the explosions did not affect her.
She's probably extra resistant to heat, I thought to myself.
Trevor charged at Za'Fia faster than she could react and grabbed her by the throat.
"Trevor! That's Dad's future queen," Wren yelled.
"No, no," Avarice said, preventing her from stepping in. "This is a good way for him to learn about compatibility."
"You're the least powerful of the Supreme Primordials, but defeating you is better than nothing," he said arrogantly.
Za'Fia grabbed the wrist of his hand that held her throat and slowly yet forcibly removed it. As she pulled it from her throat, Trevor struggled against her superior strength.
"I guess it's true what they say about the dog that barks the loudest," Za'Fia said coldly as she looked at him with disinterest.
She grabbed him by the throat, then tossed him across the room to the wall next to me. The impact had enough force to send cracks through the observation glass supporting Tymon and me.
As I looked down and noticed we must've been moving because there were trees beneath us now, a dreadfully risky idea suddenly popped into my head.
This was my opportunity. Thankfully we weren't over water.
More thunder boomed overhead as I figured more lightning was about to strike.
I raised my arm and banged it on the glass, creating more cracks. I did it a second time, creating even more cracks.
I grabbed Tymon, held him tightly, and raised my throbbing arm for another.
I wish I had at least enough energy to use spirit enhancement, I mused.
I looked down at Tymon's unnervingly still face.
Please don't die.
I sent my bare arm smashing into the glass again, this time breaking through it, causing Tymon and me to drop from 30,000 feet in the air...
To be continued in "The Primordials: A Joyless Life"
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Message from author: Hey! So, the first book of the Earthly Ties Saga is complete. I hope you all are enjoying the story so far and are looking forward to the next book (Which I'll start publishing soon).
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