Page 54 of The Demon God's Desire
“Did you really think you can use your powers against me so easily, little one?” She taunts me. “Igaveyou your powers. I know exactly how they work. You won’t win against me!”
I’m determined to try anyway and I send off a few fireballs, surrounding the spot that she’s currently standing with flames.
She dodges them as easily as I thought she would but it does buy me time to push Bridget towards the entrance to the temple. “Go!” I yell at her. “Get out of here! Get somewhere safe!”
“But...”
“Don’t argue with me!” I tell her. “Go!”
She stares at me for one heart-breaking moment before nodding in understanding and making a dash towards the entrance.
But just as she crosses the altar circle, the goddess materializes in front of her.
“Not so fast,” she says, a cruel smile on her face.
I’m helpless to do anything as the goddess faces off against her. I’m too far away and my powers don’t seem to do much to her. I scream out, telling Bridget to duck, to run, anything but the Hearthkeepershovesout with her fire powers and I watch as everything seems to happen in slow motion.
Bridget goes flying across the room, hitting one of the far walls and falls down it, body lying at an odd angle, bent and twisted wrongly. Flames eat at her and she’s screaming in pain and it’s like something inside of me snaps.
Rage boils inside me, burning me from the inside out. I don’t even realize it at first because I’m so angry but my body is morphing, growing, absorbing the powers of the gods themselves and the very room we’re in.
My skin hardens like marble even as I grow so large that I’m almost too big to fit inside the temple—the same size as the gods we’re fighting. My eyes are orbs of flames and fire erupts around my hands as well.
I’m surrounded by pulsating tendrils of crimson magic. “You will pay for that!” I scream, my voice oddly deep and reverberating in the space. I shoot off an orb of crimson fire that actually seems to hit the goddess, causing her to cry out and use her own magic to douse the flame before she disappears and reappears once more in a completely different spot.
“To your left!” the Hedonist says, and it feels like he’s talking inside my head. I must have tapped into some new kind of godly powers after the Hearthkeeper almost killed Bridget, I realize. I’m the Hearthkeeper’s champion, imbued with her protection and gifted her magic.
Perhaps that makes me some kind of demi-god then? I don’t have time to examine it as I concentrate on fighting the goddess in front of me. The Hedonist laughs as he throws bottles of wine at his sister-deity, forcing her to dodge their attacks.
It’s distracting, yes, but not enough. “Can’t you use your magic!” I call out to him, ducking as I send a hurtling ball of crimson flame at the goddess once more.
“I could, yes,” he says with a twinkle in his eyes. “But this is way more fun!” He’s turned to drenching her in wine that he summons to pour down on her.
With her distracted, I’m able to send another fireball at her and this time it catches her long dress aflame, sending it upward and burning her skin. She screams as she puts out the fire but it’s too powerful and as soon as it’s put out in one area, it catches in another.
“This isn’t the end!” she warns as she summons a pillar of fire and throws herself into it. The Hearthkeeper disappears in the fire pillar before my crimson flames can injure her further.
The second she’s gone, I feel my body sag in relief and I shrink down to my previous height.
The Hedonist raises an eyebrow, sweeping over me with his eyes. “Well, little elf. I can certainly see now why my sister wanted you so badly.”
I ignore him, immediately rushing over to Bridget. She’s injured badly and her body is limp. Her breathing is shallow and uneven as she gasps for each breath she takes. Her body is also covered in terrible, blistering burns that seem to have melted her clothing to her skin.
Her honey eyes stare into mine, the pain in them evident. I failed her. I failed to protect her. Dammit! Tears sting my eyes and I turn on the Hedonist.
“You were supposed to protect her!” I scream, cradling Bridget in my arms. “We had a deal! You were to protect us!”
The god gives me a look, eyes turning cool as he walks over. He examines her briefly before looking back at me with the briefest flicker of amusement. “Well, she’s definitely hurt. Tell me though, little elf. What’s your pleasure?”
I’m so infuriated I could strangle him but as I stare at him, the gears start turning in my head. I stare back at him and take a deep breath. “My pleasure...is my human here, my Bree, whole and happy and exactly as she was when she walked into the temple.”
I look back down at her and nothing happens.
My eyes dart between her and the Hedonist frantically, my chest rising and falling in erratic breaths.
Nothing’s happening. She’s gone.
If Bridget’s gone, then I might as well go too.