Don’t let him touch you! I said without preamble. We must divest him of the souls which give him power.
“Bracelional!” Que still didn’t move, but he did bellow loud enough for us to hear. “I don’t want to fight you, son. My allegiance is with the Seventine, but there’s still time for you to join me. Together we will rule the new world.”
He was still under the misconception that the gods were going to allow a new world. No time to clue him in now, and I hoped he wouldn’t learn the hard way, because it would be too late for all of us then.
We were edging closer to the stoic male covered in vines. The storm still brewed around us, but I wasn’t sure what we could do to actually remove the souls. The elemental powers were good for kicking ass, not freeing souls. There had to be something, though – maybe this was in Eva’s wheelhouse of tricks. I whirled toward the others.
“Que has stolen original energy. We need that back so we may have a chance to lock away the Seventine. But first thing …” I turned to Eva. “Do you think that there’s a way for you to free the souls?”
Her cheeks drooped and brows furrowed as she blinked at the ground. I wasn’t sure what she was doing when suddenly her head popped back up.
“I don’t think I can.” Her sorrow increased. “I’ve tried to communicate and release trapped souls. The ones who were stuck on Earth without anyone to help them … I never could do anything to save them.”
“That was on Earth,” I reminded her. “Your powers are so much more here. It’s time to try again.”
“I’ll need to get close to him,” she said as she straightened her shoulders. “To touch the essence lingering around Que.”
“As long as you don’t have to touch his hands then we should be able to manage that.” Brace had energy resting in his palms now.
I could feel the heat and power he was releasing. He was pissed off, and the majority of that anger was directed at his father.
“Guess you aren’t taking him up on that generous offer to rule the world?” I said, snorting out my laughter.
Que never had a clue who his son was if he thought Brace would be swayed by something like that.
Brace’s laughter was dark and deep. “Que is a dead man. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
The words and tone sent shivers down my spine, and not in the normal mesmerizing way Brace tempted me. Nope, this was pure fear. How did the Walker induce fear like that? He was the last being I’d ever be afraid of, but still my body reacted involuntarily to the predator he was. I hoped he’d teach me that level of badassery one day, because it would be a skill I’d love.
“You don’t get to say ‘no’ to me, son.” Que was almost lost in the greenery now. Just a large vinery statue was visible, but his damn voice continued to make it through.
We were almost upon him, and while I could feel the Seventine out there, I could not see them.
Ria cried out, her hands rising to thread through the long mahogany hair at her temples. “He’s poison. He’s killing them.” Her cries continued for a moment; she slumped forward and Delane caught her.
At first I had no idea what she was talking about. Then, as her tawny-brown skin faded to something very pale, I could sense trickles of a metal element and – sulfur, maybe – seeping through our bond. The Artwon queen screamed long and loud, and the ground around us exploded in a veritable plethora of plant life.
“You think you can kill Mother Nature? You will suffer for this.” Her words echoed in a monotonous flow.
I shifted out of the way, and had to jump to the side when large ropy threads of roots started to shoot up from under my feet.
My head swiveled back up to Que, and it was now obvious what had happened. The vines were dead. The ones holding Que had shriveled away and within seconds were no more than blackened stems beneath his feet. The rot continued to bleed out from the spot where Que’s feet were planted, as if the Walker himself – as Ria had said – was poison. Ria’s plants tried to close the space again, but they couldn’t even get close before they withered and died.
A sob escaped from the beautiful Regali half. She was fighting, but Que was stronger. Her sorrow was enough to crush us. It flooded along the bond and entangled itself within our souls. I knew she fought not only for the plants here today, but for her beloved forest of Artwon, which was also dying. Slowly and surely, the plants were losing against the Seventine and Que, and it was painting black tar across her psyche.
“Okay, let’s give Ria a boost,” I said. “Add some of our other powers to show Que that he’s not in control here.”
The sacred animals took off in a single line, leaving our sides to spread around the perimeter of where Que stood. We’d practiced this move and I knew it was our best chance. The well inside me was full, our energy was at maximum capacity, so we would give it everything we had.