Page 38 of Unseen Lord

The White Rider laughs, the shredded white cloth overlaying his white armor dancing behind him in the wind. "You think I care about him. I already slit his throat once. Do it again and see if that matters to me."

"Hey now, let's all talk this through a minute. I quite like my throat where it is, thank you very much," I say as I fall back into the Tempest and use the momentum to pull him over me and slam him into the rocks. At the same time, Iris drops down with Theo, who picks the Tempest up with his claws, but the Tempest once again uses whatever shadow magic he has to vanish, reappearing at the far edge of the rocky cliff. As he does, the lightning from under the ocean rises up and focuses its aim, driving itself into the Tempest's chest.

The Tempest screams, and it is a sound to topple mountains. His body shakes, spasms, and lights up with the glow of a sun exploding in space.

Theo lands next to me and Iris slides off, her sword in hand, eyes fixated on the spectacle before us.

The red mask of the Tempest cracks as the lightning makes its way through him, and when the light dims and the man falls to the ground, the power of the Storm coursing through his blood, I see through the convenient lie into the truth.

The Tempest was no man at all.

For I stand staring at the face of my sister, Aya.

Chapter 10

Iris

"Aya?"Elias stands, his dark hair whipping in the wind, as he faces his sister.

I'm personally too shell-shocked to have a witty comeback to this. I mean, give me a sec and I'll come up with one, but daaaymmmnn what the hell? My girl has been pulling the evil strings all along?

I think of Ari in the cave, her mind a wreck, and I can't even with it all. Aya did that to her own mother? How? Why?

"How? Why?" Elias says, echoing my thoughts.

Aya stands as electricity zaps through her. Her fingertips shoot lightning and her hair stands on end, vibrating with the power she now embodies. She raises her arms and spreads them, letting the wind and storm grow in her as it pulls her from the rocks and she hovers in the air staring down at us.

"Our parents were weak," she says. "They have everything. The Midnight Star. The Earth Spirit. And still they relied on puny words and outdated ideas to create peace. I longed for a Spirit of my own, a way to claim enough power to do what needs to be done to ensure our people enjoy the peace and prosperity they deserve. And now, as queen and as the Storm Spirit, I will ensure it. For us, and for all the worlds."

Arias steps forward, holding his sword it, like that's going to do anything at all. A for effort though, buddy. "You cannot control this Spirit, Aya. It will control you and destroy everyone you love. You must release it. Give it back to be safeguarded."

Aya laughs, and the storm ravaging the island grows as her power does. "Give it back? After all that I've done to acquire it? I spent decades infiltrating Lix Tetrax, learning its ways until I discovered the leader. Then I became his apprentice, learning everything I could from him. He had other plans, plans to bring the Unseen Lord to the worlds and blot out the sun. I used his ambition against him and killed him when I was ready to take control. I had pure ambitions. Noble ones. Unlike him. And so I worked, moving his plots forward but for a very different purpose. To discover the location of the Storm Spirit and embrace it into me until I had the power to rule the way our parents should have."

"You can't do this," I say, raising my sword, because, you know, why not. Everyone else is doing it. "I won't let you."

She laughs, and this time it is filled with wind and thunder and lightning. "And who are you to stop me? A weak Unseen Lord who doesn't know her powers and is too restrained by her pathetic code to do anything about it even if you could."

Well that stings.

Still, this little convo bought us time for Theo to do his thing, which is to whip around behind her and attack while we rush her from the front. It has to work. We are three of the most powerful warriors in all the worlds. Surely she can't be that must stronger.

Spoiler. She is.

She blasts Theo out of the sky with lightning and as he falls into the water I scream and dash at her with my sword. Arias uses his powers to push Theo to shore, saving him from drawing, but my buddy isn't moving. Duke runs to him, licking him, as I fight the Tempest/Aya/wtf?

She blinks into shadow and appears behind Arias, thrusting a sword into his side before blinking away again. His sea creature lets out an anguished sound and slams the ocean water, making waves that come for the Tempest, but again, she disappears into shadow, appearing by Elias. Their swords clash and I run over to back him up, pushing worry over Theo aside. He's okay. He has to be. Right? Just tell me yes, okay. I can't fight if I'm worried about him.

She easily bests Elias, her sword now shooting lightning and electrifying him when they clash. He falls back spasming from the shock.

Well, shit. This isn't looking good for any of us. I make a run for her, using all my best moves. I'd give a lot for my daggers right now. Swords are so clunky and limiting.

But I make do, and we come face to face. It's a well-matched battle. I'm pissed. As pissed as I've ever been. And as I rage, I feel power build in me. Consuming me. We clash, the lightning zapping me, and finding something familiar in me. Like an old friend.

Aya raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow, and again I am mesmerized by her beauty even as she tries to kill me. "My Spirit knows you. You've met before."

"Yeah, it was a hoot. Good times." I knock her sword aside and dodge to the left, leading her to the edge of the cliff. She uses her super-duper annoying shadow trick to disappear and reappear behind me, sinking her blade into my shoulder as she does.

I bite down on the scream and push in instead of away as she's expecting. The move surprises her, since, you know, it's actually embedding her sword deeper into my body and it hurts like a mother effing bitch. But it disorients her enough that I can shove my sword between my rib and arm, into her. I don't hit critical organs, but I do give her a nice hole in her side.