Break of Seals , livre ebook

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114 pages

English

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"This tale of spiteful Reapers had come full circle. Death had wronged her children, and some had fought back in their own way. It had led to a millennia-long disaster, and it was time for its conclusion..."Prepare for an unputdownable read.

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Publié par	Distributed by eBookpartnership
Date de parution	01 juillet 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9798620406432
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

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Copyright © 2020
Hot Pancakes Ltd
www.hotpcakes.com
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
ESME
M aybe I should have seen this coming. As we all stood mere yards from the southern gates of Roano watching the Spirit Bender, Corbin Crimson, and a disturbingly large army of Darklings and other Aeternae nearing their boiling point, I had to wonder whether this had been our destination point from the very beginning.
Were we always destined to reach this moment, to end up staring the very core of our enemy in the face with little chance of escape and even less chance of actually winning this fight? Yes, we had most of the First Tenners on our side, but the strength of the Aeternae had been thrown behind one of the most dangerous of the First Tenners. Innocent lives hung in the balance, and their survival now depended on how we played this next hand.
“He’s summoned them all. Silver and gold guards, civilians, Crimson soldiers-he has stacked the deck against us,” Derek said as he surveyed the swelling crowd just beyond the transparent layer of magic that separated us from them. That kept us safe from them, at least for now. “It’s not just Darklings anymore. He’s turned this into an Aeternae-wide cause.”
“They will do whatever it takes to save themselves,” Unending added, her galaxy eyes reminding me that I wasn’t looking at Valaine anymore, even though this was still her body, and she was still in there. The Unending was the sum of all the lives she’d lived throughout the seals’ cruel cycle. She was also the very first among the First Tenners-the first Reaper Death ever made. “Spirit and Corbin have convinced them that killing me and destroying you all will be their salvation. Their only means of survival.”
Phantom crossed her arms. She resembled Unending now more than ever. The pale skin, the long black hair, the blood-red lips-from what Taeral had told us, these were defining features of Death’s appearance, as well. “You know we can’t escape again. There’s no way we can pull another Orvis here,” Phantom muttered.
“They want Thayen and Valaine,” Unending said. “They don’t know that I’m awake.”
Her statement made my heart beat a little faster. There was purpose in how she’d crafted her words. “Do you have a plan?” I asked her, and she gave me a sideways glance.
“The flicker of an idea, at best. But Spirit not knowing I’m back is definitely a plus, and it’s not just about my death magic skills. Spirit not knowing I’m the Unending again means he’ll treat me like I’m Valaine. He’ll be cocky and arrogant like he usually is when he thinks he’s got everything under control.”
Sofia kept her hands on Thayen’s shoulders. “Either way, they’re not getting Thayen. There’s no way we’re letting that happen.”
“I agree.” Unending sighed, then turned her focus on the other Reapers. “How long do you think the protective shield will last with all the death magic reinforcements?” She gave Lumi and Kailani a quick look, as well, including them in her question.
Lumi exhaled sharply, her gaze slowly dropping. “A few hours, at most. I’m not sure what impact thousands of Aeternae alongside the Darklings will have. We haven’t dealt with this large of a crowd before.”
“Make that tens of thousands.” Taeral appeared out of nowhere. He’d been gone for a few minutes in order to get a better look at what was happening beyond the protective shield. His feedback made my blood run cold.
“What?” I managed, my voice barely a whisper.
“You can’t see them from in here, but there are literally tens of thousands of Aeternae coming to Roano, gathering around the city from different directions,” Taeral replied, his brow furrowed. “From the north and the south, and even from villages and cities beyond the Nightmare Forest. It will take a while before they all get here, but I don’t see this ending well.”
Murmurs erupted across our smaller group. The Orvisians were understandably terrified. Even the Seniors looked worried. Regardless of their skills and experience, they were still at a disadvantage, since Spirit and Corbin had brought support in these alarming numbers.
But even so, I couldn’t bring myself to consider defeat. Not that it was too early, but I simply could not concede.
The unfathomable had occurred. Somehow, Corbin had managed to bring the Spirit Bender back with just eleven of the twelve shards from his soul copy. The disgraced yet relentless Reaper now wanted Thayen to complete himself, and much like Sofia and Derek, I had no intention of letting Spirit take the kid and kill him.
The Darklings’ leadership had been crippled with Danika and Petra and all the other Whips gone. But Corbin was still standing, and he held the key to Unending’s freedom. He had her scythe and the ring that Spirit had crafted as part of the three-seal curse through which he’d bound her to Visio, stripped her of her physical form, and forced her into an endless cycle of suffering and rebirth.
“Most of those headed for Roano likely have loved ones suffering from Black Fever,” Taeral added. “The Darklings have them convinced that this is their only solution to stop the curse from spreading. An all-out assault on Roano to kill Valaine and reset the cycle.”
“They will kill her to save themselves from falling ill with Black Fever,” Kelara said, her voice breaking. She looked unwell, her galaxy eyes surrounded by tiny reddish veins. Her breathing was ragged, and her gaze darted all over the place. She had a hard time focusing, and the rune collar that Soul had put around her neck to keep her ghoulish hunger at bay was a very temporary solution. It was only a matter of time before she broke out of this one, too. She’d gotten out of Corbin’s collar in order to save Thayen, but even though she was wearing this one voluntarily, she was also losing control over herself. “Their moral compass is unlike ours. They might have little to no care for… Unending’s plight. Oh wow, this hurts,” she cried out, hugging herself as she struggled to stay upright.
Soul put an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t force yourself to talk,” he whispered. “Deep breaths. You can resist this.”
“How are we going to save her?” Thayen asked, genuinely worried for Kelara. “She saved my life. She deserves better than this.”
“Kill the spellcaster is the usual solution,” the Unending said. “That’s Corbin. But first, we need to get my scythe and my ring back without getting jumped by Darklings, Knight Ghouls, and desperate Aeternae.”
“This is quite the mess we’ve gotten ourselves into,” Trev grumbled, looking over his shoulder at Kalla’s funeral pyre. The flames were finally dying down, leaving only embers and ashes and charred chunks of wood in their wake. “Her wisdom would’ve helped right about now.”
“There’s a lot we’ve overlooked,” Mira said, unable to meet his eyes. I could tell she was still blaming herself for what Arya had done, but none of the Seniors were in any way responsible. Arya had deceived everyone for almost five million years. The ruse had taken an insane amount of talent and patience to pull off, but she’d done it. No one could have foreseen that she’d turn out to be a key ally of Spirit’s, a spy planted in the middle of the Seniors’ community to squash all hope or attempts at rebellion against the Darklings’ evil machinations. Arya had been the first Master of Darkness, after all. Not some run-of-the-mill Darkling agent, but the big kahuna herself. “This is our last chance to make this right,” Mira added. “Our final move.”
“But it’s not the end,” I said. “We’ve made it this far. The Unending remembers who she is! We know how to free her!”
“Yes, but it means we have to kill Valaine.” Tristan sighed, and Unending gave him a sad look.
“This is something we’ve already discussed, my love…”
“It doesn’t make it any easier,” my brother replied. I could see he was having a hard time accepting the concept, and he had every right to feel this way. He’d fallen in love with Valaine, and even though she was a part of Unending and would continue on through her, his emotions were getting the better of him. He’d fallen in love with Unending too, but there was so much of her that he had yet to discover or fully understand. I could only imagine how difficult and confusing this had to be for him.
“How do you think I feel? I’m both Valaine and Unending right now. I’m basically two consciousnesses, equally aware that one has to be absorbed into the other, knowing that I’ll still be able to remember myself as Valaine once I’m only Unending. Good grief, saying it out loud makes it sound even weirder.”
Derek cleared his throat. “Whatever needs to be done to set you free, we’ll do it. You have our full support and all our resources. Esme is right on this. We’ve made it pretty far in the game, and we have plenty of work left to do. Unfortunately, most of this work revolves around defending the people who’ve found shelter in Roano while also freeing you from your seals. I trust that as soon as you’re no longer bound to Visio, you will release Death from her own bindings so she can end this for good.”
“That is pretty much the plan,” Unending replied. “The algorithm behind its execution is still a bit iffy because we’re basically mere hours away from an invasion, but yes.”
The Time Master shook his head. “We’ll handle the defense of Roano and its people, since we can’t teleport anyone out of here, let alone forge another tunnel. Corbin will have learned that lesson by now.”
“Just a brief reminder here that whatever course of action we take, we’d better not put Taeral at the forefront,” Widow said. “He’s got Thieron, and if Spirit takes him down, this whole universe is screwed. Taeral needs to bring Thieron back to Death once she’s free.”
“Don’t you think I know t