Before I can speak another word, his fingers dig between my ribs. Burning. Ripping. Breaking. I try to cry out, but there’s no sound left in me. Nothing’s left. Nothing. Just a hollow pit. A void. A blooming darkness, eating me from the inside out.
The pain is over as quickly as it came, but I can’t move. Can’t speak. Can’t breathe. I’m a shell. Empty. Vacant. Suffocating under a blanket of shadow.
“I’ll allow you enough of your power to keep you from becoming mortal.” Ebris pushes off me and touches a single finger to the black stone on my ring. “Thank me.”
The hole inside me flares red. A spark of anger. A flash of fear. “You have no right,” I wheeze.
“I have every right.” Ebris pushes the hair from his face. “Drea, go kill the Emperor.”
For the longest of moments, even the leaves dare not rustle at the command.
“But—” Astra begins.
Drea steps forward. “I refuse.”
“You don’t have the luxury of refusing me,” he shouts. Drea storms away from us, her hands in fists. “This war ends today.”
Fury snaps free of the pain and shock bolting me to the ground. I push to my knees, wobble, and steady myself with shaking arms. “Why? If you’re going to kill him anyway, then why?”
“Because the Emperor’s life is mine to take, just as this war is.” He spits on the ground in front of me and storms toward the temple. Toward my temple, taking the most important part of me with him. “Make sure he gets home.”
Brisa wraps an arm around my shoulders, but I jerk back. “You let Ebris do this.” I eye each of my remaining siblings. “All of you.”
“Theodric…” Leander winces and runs a hand down his face.
“None of you could speak a word in my defense?” I latch onto a winding tree branch and haul myself to my feet. “Not one?”
Brisa sucks in a breath. “He would have turned on us if—”
“I don’t want to hear it.” My voice is low. As lifeless as the rest of me.
A bell tolls in the distance. Once. Twice. Five times. The vibrations ring deep in my bones. They rattle my teeth, rake against my eardrums.
The Emperor is dead.
Peace is coming.
But war will follow me home.
For I am it, and it is me.
Nothing Ebris does can take that away. At least not forever. I’ll play his game. I’ll prove myself.
And then I’ll burn him to the ground.
Which Fragile Chaos Character Are You?
Which Fragile Chaos God or Goddess Are You?
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Maps
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 – Theo
Chapter 2 – Cassia
Chapter 3 – Theo
Chapter 4 – Cassia
Chapter 5 – Theo
Chapter 6 – Cassia
Chapter 7 – Theo
Chapter 8 – Cassia
Chapter 9 – Theo
Chapter 10 – Cassia
Chapter 11 – Theo
Chapter 12 – Cassia
Chapter 13 – Theo
Chapter 14 – Cassia
Chapter 15 – Theo
Chapter 16 – Cassia
Chapter 17 – Theo
Chapter 18 – Cassia
Chapter 19 – Theo
Chapter 20 – Cassia
Chapter 21 – Theo
Chapter 22 – Cassia
Chapter 23 – Theo
Chapter 24 – Cassia
Chapter 25 – Theo
Chapter 26 – Cassia
Acknowledgements
About - Amber R. Duell
World of Huvaria
Realm of the Gods and Goddesses
End of the Ostran War (Year 1202)
Which Fragile Chaos Character Are You?
Which Fragile Chaos God or Goddess Are You?
Fragile Chaos Page 27
