Artemis growled at them. "You're so pathetic. I can't believe we share a common gene between us."
Shooting a nasty glare at her brother, Artemis struggled against the invisible force that held them down.
Like the rest of them, she couldn't reach Ash.
"Acheron!" she called. "Can you hear me?
"
Disembodied laughter filled the room.
Ash leaned his head forward and more lightning flowed through him. The dragonlike beast tightened its grip around him and hissed a fiery breath at the goddess.
Artemis tried to climb up his leg, but she was forced back, away from him.
"You know, folks," Camulus shouted. "The idea was to kill Acheron, free Apollymi, and reclaim our god status. Not piss him off and end the world. Personally, I don't want to be ruler of nothing. But if someone doesn't stop this guy, that chant he's making is going to undo life as we know it and un-create the world.
"
"What are we going to do?" Sunshine asked Talon.
Only one thing came to his mind.
He had to bring Acheron to his senses.
Talon kissed her lips, then moved away from her. He hadn't gone through death to get her back, only to lose her now.
He summoned his remaining powers and allowed them to cocoon him. He no longer had his Dark-Hunter immortality, but he did retain all the psychic powers that had been given to him.
Hopefully they would be enough.
He rose slowly to his feet.
A lightning bolt came at him.
Talon deflected it. He moved slowly through the maelstrom until he reached Ash's side. So long as he stayed calm, he seemed to be shielded from Ash's wrath.
"Let it go, T-Rex.
"
Ash spoke to him in a language he didn't understand.
"He says to back off or die," Styxx translated. "He's summoning the Destroyer.
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com)
"
"I can't let you do that," Talon said.
The laughter echoed again.
Wanting to distract Acheron from what he was chanting, and not knowing anything else to try, Talon rushed him.
He caught Ash about the middle and knocked him to the floor. The dragon arched up, shrieking.
Talon ignored it as he slugged Ash.
Sunshine held her breath as she watched the two of them fighting. The entire building felt as if it were going to break apart.
The floor beneath her shook.
They were locked together like two great primal beasts and the fate of the world lay in who would win and who would lose.
She whispered a prayer as she watched them, awed by the morbid beauty and grace of their battle.
Zarek came through the door, bleeding, and was immediately thrown backward, against a wall.
Artemis tried again to reach Acheron and again he tossed her back while he fought with Talon.
"I'll give the boy credit," Camulus said. "He always was a fighter.
"
Talon stopped fighting as he heard those words.
"You never could learn your place, Speirr. You never knew when you should just lay down the sword and play nice.
"
Camulus had been right. Up until now, Talon had never known when to fight and when to withdraw.
Being calm was what had allowed him to reach Ash.
Then, he remembered what Acheron had said to him on the night he'd become a Dark-Hunter. "I can show you how to bury that pain so deep inside you that it will prick you no more. But be warned that nothing is ever given freely and nothing lasts forever. One day something will come along to make you feel again and with it, it will bring the pain of the ages upon you. All you have hidden will come out and it could destroy not only you but anyone near you."
He wondered now who those words had really been meant for. Him or Ash?
He looked up at Acheron and saw the fury of the man who was attacking him. This was what Ash had meant that night.
Both of them had kept such a leash on themselves for so long that their fury blinded them to reason. It made them attack when they needed to withdraw and rethink the line of battle.
Closing his eyes, Talon summoned the soothing calm, as Acheron had taught him.
Ash rushed him again.
This time, instead of fighting, Talon embraced him like a brother.
Possessed of a strength and power Talon had never known before, he cupped Ash's face in his hands
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer (http://www.novapdf.com) and tried to make his old friend see him.
Ash's features were no longer handsome or human. They were those of a twisted demon. His eyes were blood-red and yellow, and there was no mercy in them. They were cold. Vicious.
The colors swirled and danced like fire.
Talon had never seen anything like this before.
Who knew Ash had this kind of power?
But he had to stop him.
One way or another.
"Acheron," he said calmly, slowly. "Enough.
"
At first he didn't think Ash had heard him. Not until Acheron turned his head to see Sunshine on the floor.