by K.N. Lee
What happened next mystified Aric.
Raina.
She ran out of the banquet room like a cat of the jungles of Sabourn. Her face was still beautiful, but there was something more there.
Hate.
Rage.
Power.
In a funnel of wind and glowing tendrils of gold, she swept through the courtyard, knelt on one knee, and shot into the air.
Taken aback, Aric’s mouth parted as he watched her fly straight to the man that threatened the princess.
He blinked once. Raina had Arela and set her on the stone ground so quickly that Aric’s eyes widened.
Is this a dream?
Princess Arela was back on the ground, screaming with her shaking hands covering her mouth as she looked up at Raina, who flew back into the air.
Blood sprayed everywhere as Raina used the man’s own dagger to stab him in the throat.
Aric caught his breath. His heart thumped as he watched her.
When she landed, she was covered in blood. She looked at him, her face unapologetic for what she had just done.
She was no ordinary Seer.
Witch?
Monster?
God?
He didn’t know what she was. But what she’d just done took his level of interest to heights no other girl had ever made him feel.
Chapter 32
THE WORLD FELT much different somehow.
Raina had never killed anyone before. Covered in blood, her hands shook as she looked down at them.
All sounds faded, yet her thumping heartbeat filled her ears.
When her eyes lifted, she saw that everyone in the courtyard stared at her in awe. The panic and frenzy had ended, but the aftermath was somehow scarier.
Raina was exposed. There was no doubt that what she had just done signaled Litha to her exact location. Saving Arela’s life was worth it.
Arela stopped screaming, but her eyes held something Raina never wanted to see directed at her. Not from someone she loved.
Fear.
That terror in Arela’s eyes twisted Raina’s stomach. Raina took a step toward the girl that she had grown to love like a sister.
Arela scrambled away, her dress in tatters as she climbed to her feet.
“Don’t touch me,” Arela shouted as she ran into her brother's arms.
Eryon held onto Arela. His face said it all. He was as shocked as everyone else at the party.
“But I saved you,” Raina said, breathlessly. Tears stung her eyes. Somehow she couldn't catch her breath as she clutched her chest.
“I did it for you.”
Raina wiped the blood from her hands onto her skirt. She scanned the crowd, watching them take steps away from her. The sky started to turn white.
Raina’s hands shook. She knew exactly what that meant.
She shot a look to Allan, nodding toward the sky. He stood next to Olia, his face paling as he looked up.
This was not how things were supposed to go.
His shoulders slumped, but he nodded in return.
Raina closed her eyes.
“Here goes,” she whispered as the air began to turn cold.
Chapter 33
ALLAN TOOK OFF his cloak, and then his gloves, revealing the tattoos that stretched across his fingers.
His eyes fixed on his sister in the center of the courtyard. Those that remained stepped away from her, gawking at what she had just done.
The amount of blood that was splattered on the ground startled everyone.
Even the guards from the palace stood back, unsure of what to do.
Were they safe?
No.
Raina had exposed them.
Everything was falling apart, before his eyes. He put a hand out to Olia when she reached for him. Clasping her warm hand within his both frightened him and gave him hope.
Litha would show no restraint when she arrived. Wind swept through, chilling Allan.
No one was safe.
“Please stay back, Olia. This is not your fight.”
Olia nodded. She hugged his waist tightly, tears in her eyes. “Be careful, Allan. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
He kissed her.
It might be the last time.
Olia grabbed his face in between her hands. “I’m carrying your child.”
Allan froze. His face paled. Every heartbeat from that moment sped. How could such good news frighten him? The fear of losing the woman he loved and their child fueled him, somehow making him feel even stronger.
“I love you,” he said, kissing her again.
When they pulled apart, Olia’s lips turned upward at the corners, and tears streamed down her white cheeks.
“I love you.”
He leaped from their place at the other end of the courtyard. As he soared above what remained of the crowd, he looked to the sky.
It was night, and somehow it began to turn white.
Every hair stood on end as Allan landed beside his sister. The ground cracked beneath his feet as he fell.
No use hiding who they were now.
Litha had already found them.
Chapter 34
A WOMAN IN white floated into the center of the courtyard, and the sky turned red.
She certainly didn’t waste any time.
“She’s here,” Raina whispered. Raina knew the moment that she saw her in the sky that this might be the day that she and her brother would finally die.
Litha landed in the center of town with the sound of thunder crackling across the sky. Long lavender hair floated with the fresh breeze. With dark brown skin covered in white tattoos, she was a beautiful specimen to look upon, but Raina had seen and felt her evil.
Litha’s blue eyes regarded the guests with cool disinterest.
Humans were beneath her.
“It’s time to go,” Raina whispered to her brother.
Allan shook his head. “No,” he said. “We can’t let her win.”
Raina shook her head as she tightened her fist around the dagger.
“Listen to your sister, Vineet,” Litha said, her lips curling into a cruel smile. “You are out of time. Come with me now, and I will let these pathetic humans live.”
King Lavi approached her first. From the crowd of frightened partygoers, he stood taller than most, but even his height and stature meant nothing to Litha.
Queen Nevah tried to pull him back, terror in her eyes. The king turned to calm her.
“It will be fine,” King Lavi said.
Raina clenched her jaw.
He had no idea how wrong he was.
There was no mystery to who Litha was. There were sculptures and statues all throughout the land in her honor.
“Goddess,” he said to her, bowing to one knee.
It was odd to see King Lavi bow to anyone, but he had the right idea. If anything was going to work on Litha, it was humility and praise.
“You’ve been hiding my prisoners, King Lavi,” Litha said, gazing at the blood red sky. “I really don’t appreciate it.”
“Who do you refer to?”
She glared down at him. “Who do you think? Don’t feign ignorance with me. I want the twins with the black tattoos.”
“We didn’t know who they were. I swear it,” King Lavi said. “Please spare us, and take those whom you seek.”
Raina shook as her eyes lifted to meet Litha’s. Shock filled her body, leaving her unable to move. She glanced at Aric.
Her lips whispered goodbye to him, and panic filled his eyes.
“No,” Aric shouted.
Litha’s attention went to him and Raina felt her stomach lurch.
“Stay back, Aric,” she shouted.
“Yes,” Litha said. “Stay back,” she repeated and with a flick of her hand, Aric’s body went soaring into the stone wall that enclosed them in the banquet hall’s courtyard.
Raina cried out. She ran at Litha only to suffer her first blow.
Litha’s black lightnin
g entered Raina’s body, seeming to rip through her insides.
She prayed that Aric was okay.
Doubling over, she tried to catch her breath. She reached out a hand, weakly, but not ready to give up.
“No,” Raina shouted when Litha turned her attention to Allan. “Stop.”
She clutched her chest, the pain threatening to elicit a scream of agony. Raina held it in. Not in front of Aric.
“Leave him alone,” Raina shouted. “Please, kill me, and let Allan live.”
Litha’s brows rose, as did the corners of her lips.
“What is this you propose? I kill you, and let the God of Peace live?”
Raina bit her lip, her heart thumping in her chest. Everything hurt.
“Yes,” Raina said, nodding, tear streaming down her cheeks. “We can’t rule without the other. We can only rule together. Aden can be yours.”
Raina’s face drained of color when Litha let out a chuckle and sent her black lightning into Allan’s body. The jolt sent him crashing to the ground.
Eyes wide, Raina screamed as she watched her brother lay there unmoving.
Raina forgot her own pain and scrambled to reach for her brother’s hand.
They’d been foolish to think they could win again a god much stronger than the both of them.
Now, Raina could feel herself dying.
“I’m surprised you’re still breathing,” Litha said. “The reports must have been true; that you can indeed absorb any kind of blow, physical, mental, or magical. I am impressed.”
Raina rolled onto her back, her eyes staring into the white sky. She held onto Allan’s hand.
“Please, Goddess. Spare my people,” King Lavi said, his eyes fixed on Allan’s body. “We are not a part of this.”
“King Lavi,” Raina whispered, drawing his attention.
He looked at her. Everyone did.
“You brought this terror to my kingdom,” he said.
Raina felt her face heat. She turned her head to glare at him.
“You might want to get out of my way,” Raina said, her body lifting into the air.
King Lavi scrambled to his feet and backed away.
Litha watched her, her face without emotion.
Time was at a deficit. Raina had only seconds to retaliate. With the power of the wind, she cast a funnel over Allan’s body, protecting him from any further harm.
He wasn’t made for war, he was to be the peacemaker. Raina refused to let anything happen to him.
“Clever,” Litha said, her arms out to her side as she lifted herself to Raina’s level. “But you’ll pay for that with your life force.”
Raina shot her a glare. “No, Litha. I saved some just for you.”
Like an arrow, Raina darted into Litha’s body, crashing through her protective aura, and wrapping a hand around the woman’s neck. Raina was only months from being Enlightened and fully capable of ending Litha’s life forever.
Until then, she would use every ounce of her energy and skill to beat her into submission.
Litha gasped, her blue eyes peering at Raina with shock.
“I thought you were willing to die,” Litha hissed through clenched teeth.
Raina squeezed her neck with all of her might, yet it seemed to be merely an annoyance to the Goddess of Law.
“I lied,” Raina said.
Chapter 35
IT TOOK EVERY ounce of energy for Raina to keep her grip on Litha’s neck. Fueled by more rage than energy, she tightened her grip.
Raina narrowed her eyes at Litha.
“Why can’t you leave us alone?”
Litha reached a hand around Raina’s arm and pressed a finger to Raina’s forehead, blinding her. A cry of agony erupted from Raina’s throat.
The people of Rhene took this moment to flee. Screams of terror filled Raina’s ears.
No one else had a chance to for Litha’s patience was thin. With a violent push to Raina’s face, Litha sent her back to the ground so forcefully that Raina found herself in a deep crater that broke through the stone of the courtyard and made way to moist soil.
Raina cried out as she fell face-first on the ground, the dirt barely softening the impact. Weak from the drain on her power, she looked over her shoulders at Litha.
Good job, Raina thought. All you did was make her angrier.
If only she had reached Enlightenment, she could have had a chance. They were foolish to think they could win against a goddess that had been around since the beginning of time.
The Goddess of Law lifted both arms, and a force of air rippled through the dusty ground. The power of that ripple sent all of the surrounding buildings outward.
The sound overwhelmed Raina as she tried to pull herself from the hole in the ground. The destruction was unlike anything Raina had ever seen. Dust and debris rose from the ground, and upward to encircle Litha’s frightening frame.
Enraged, Litha shot lightning into everything in sight.
Raina’s hair whipped around her face as the world around her turned to chaos.
She wished she could save the humans she had grown to love.
She’d failed them all.
Raina tried to climb to Allan’s body. She had to reach him and take refuge in the funnel she’d created. Together they could escape this world gone mad and walk into the land of the dead hand-in-hand.
Something grabbed Raina by the hair, jerking her to the surface.
“Don’t give up, Raina,” Desi’s voice said as she lifted to the surface.
Raina grunted as her body hit the stone beside Allan.
“Desi,” she cried as she watched the fairy stumble to her knees.
“I can’t stay, Raina,” Desi said in between gasps for air. “This world cannot sustain me.”
“Go back into the necklace!”
Desi shook her head. “No, Raina.”
Raina sucked in a breath as she watched Desi turn herself into a golden ball of light wrapped in black tendrils that increased her glow.
“Live, Raina,” Desi said in her tiny voice. “Both worlds depend on you and Allan.”
Raina held her tight to her chest. “What do you mean?”
Raina cried out as Desi shot into the air. Her eyes followed the golden light as it cut through the destruction.
Desi shot through Litha’s body, leaving a hole the size of Raina’s fist.
“Desi!”
Her hands shook as she reached for the fairy. She prepared to fly when Allan grabbed her by the wrist.
“No,” he said in between ragged breaths.
Torn between Allan’s awakening, and Desi’s actions, Raina turned back to watch as Litha’s body trembled.
Within a blink, Desi exploded inside of Litha’s belly, sending blood, bone, and guts into the air.
Allan kept a firm grip on Raina’s arm.
“Run, Raina,” he shouted.
Through burning tears, Raina made a fist. “Why? She’s gone. They are all gone.”
Allan pulled her up to her feet.
Stunned by his strength, Raina stared at him.
“You can’t kill a godlike Litha, Raina,” Allan reminded her. “She will be back.”
Raina wrapped her arms around her brother’s middle and sobbed into the front of his shirt.
“And next time she will bring the Red Beast.”
“No,” Raina said, her tear-soaked face set with determination.
“Next time we will be ready. For her, the Red Beast, and any evil that comes our way.”
Allan ran his thumb across her cheek. He looked at her with pride.
“That’s right. That’s the Preeti I know,” Allan said. “Now, we need to find any survivors.” His eyes scanned the ruins, landing on Olia, who sat crouched behind fallen pillars.
Prince Aric held her, shielding her.
Allan sighed a breath of relief.
“I have something to tell you,” he said to Raina, who started toward the prince and the woman that carried his child.
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Raina glanced back.
“What is it? We have to hurry and get out of here.”
“No matter what happens to me, promise me you’ll name my child…girl or boy, Desi.”
Raina’s eyes widened. They filled with tears as she covered her mouth.
She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“Desi. That’s a beautiful name.”
THE END
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Goddess of Ruin
An Exclusive Excerpt from Goddess of Ruin, the second installment of Fallen Gods Trilogy.
FEAR DOMINATED RAINA’S thoughts. Rhene no longer existed. Allan was missing. All she had was her power and her golden-haired hero.
This could not be real.
“We failed,” Raina mumbled through the bone-searing pain. Her blood dripped all over Aric. She dared to hope they could survive.
Raina gripped Aric’s hand and stifled a cry as the pain ripped through her thigh. The noise of the falling city filled her ears as the pain burned through her muscles.
She shrieked and without pause, he threw her over his shoulder and continued running through the snow covered forest.
Wolves howled and warned their pack that creatures more dangerous than themselves were in their territory.
The pain threatened everything.
“Calm yourself, Raina,” Aric growled as ran with her. “We will lose her and you will recharge. Trust me.”
Raina felt herself losing her grip on her power. So much blood dripped onto his chest from her wounds. Raina’s eyes rolled into the back of her head.
“Trust me,” he begged in between labored breaths. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”
Raina nodded. A chill ran throughout her entire body, making her eyes pop open in alarm. She expected to see the moon, but the cloak of a massive shadow blocked its light.
