Page 147 of Lethal Souls
“I…made…you. I…made…her. I…can do…it.”
My frown deepens, and my nostrils flare. “It’s too late for that, you demented bitch.”
I feel Hassha coming. I release Selah’s throat just in time for Hassha to slam a fist into Selah’s face. Blood gushes from her nose and mouth.
Hassha doesn’t wait for her to settle. She aims for her again, throwing rapid punches. She whips a sword out and plunges it deep into Selah’s chest.
“That’s for Korah!” she hollers.
Hassha starts to stab her through the chest, but before she can, Selah conjures a sword wrapped in orange flames.
“Hassha!” I call, flying toward them.
But it’s too late.
Selah’s weapon sinks through Hassha’s belly. She freezes above her, and Selah smirks, vanishing from beneath her. Hassha sails downward just as Selah appears on the other side of the sky, bleeding heavily.
Shit. I can’t go after them both.
I chase Hassha while throwing up a hand to try to wrap Selah in chains. It doesn’t work. She dodges them.
A yell rips out of me as I near Hassha, and just before she can hit the ground, I catch her. I swoop through one of the forests and don’t stop until I reach the beach where several survivors are swimming to shore.
“Don’t worry about me,” Hassha says, breaths ragged. “I’ll heal myself. Just don’t let her get away.”
I nod and leave her, soaring to the sky again to search for Selah. She’s nowhere to be found, but I sense her.
“Stop being a coward and show yourself!”
A prickling sensation builds under my skin. Then my ears burn.
I turn just as Selah rushes me, aiming her sword for my chest. I catch it by the blade, roaring as the flames sear my palms.
“You are no Regal,” she barks in my face, thrusting harder. The blade pierces my armor but I hold steady. “You are nothing but a commoner. You don’t deserve the power within you!”
The sharp tip plunges into my stomach, but I don’t stop resisting her. I conjure chains behind her, and they wrap around her throat. But even as they tighten around her, she doesn’t stop plunging the sword in.
“Your power will be mine, Seed of Yuri.”
My back slams into a mountain, and it cracks from the impact. Rocks fall, slamming into us, but they’re nothing compared to her sword.
The pain rips through me, and when she has me pinned, jamming the sword into my ribcage, she slaps a hand to my forehead.
“You’re weak,” she growls in my face.
My energy begins to transfer. I can feel her trying to drain me.
Do not let her win! Yuri commands.
I raise a leg, trying to kick her off. I search for that energy I used before, wanting to strike her with lightning, but it doesn’t happen. She’s draining me.
Fuck. I’m losing.
Her eyes spark to life again, fire building within them. A sneer drags across her face. “That’s right. Look at me while I watch you die.”
But then that fire fades from her eyes. She gasps and whips her head just as a flurry of gold crashes into her, yanking her away from me.
I snatch the sword out, groaning as I send it hurtling away. Blood runs out, but I press a hand to the wound, closing my eyes and letting it heal. When the pain disappears, I open my eyes again.