Release (The Protector Book 3)

by M. R. Merrick

  A black blur dove from the shadows, and Riley’s magic finally broke, spitting me to the ground as the beast attacked. Willy’s colorless eyes were filled with rage and his snarl was fierce. His jaws locked around Riley’s neck, pulling and tearing away his skin.

  Riley screamed but it turned to a gurgle, and blood spilled from his throat. As Darius’s magic filled the air, Willy jumped from Riley’s chest and attacked the Brother. His teeth latched around his arm and Willy shook his head violently from side to side.

  The amulet recharged my body as Drake approached Willy, but I threw my elements at the Brother. A tornado of black air swirled between my hands and hurled him across the road. I called the earth to my aid and rocks drifted up to my hand. One by one, they attached themselves to me like a magnet until they completely covered my arms.

  As Drake tried to get up, I launched my fist into his head. His face bounced off the gravel and I cocked my arm back, throwing it into him again.

  The fire surged beneath my hands and the rocks glowed, matching the shade of red filling my vision. Drake’s cheekbones shattered beneath my fist, and each time he called his magic, I threw my rocky fist back against him, the stones breaking and searing his skin all at once.

  The earth element swelled inside me, and the power filling my eyes crackled with magic, forcing the world around me to shimmer in a wave of green. I beat Drake’s face until it was nothing but a swollen mass of blisters and broken skin. He was unconscious on the ground when I finally stopped, and his jaw sagged, dislocated from his face.

  I turned to attack Darius, and Riley jumped to his feet. His throat was healed and his tight white t-shirt was soaked in red. Darius was on the edge of the road, fighting against Willy’s locked jaw, and Riley laughed, watching them battle.

  Darius screamed in pain and anger and an explosion of black magic flashed between them, finally breaking Willy’s grip. Willy yelped as he skidded across the gravel, trying to dive back into the shadows.

  “Oh, no,” Riley said.

  Dark magic flourished from Riley’s back and grabbed Willy’s hind legs, jerking him back into the center of the road. Darius screamed when he looked at his bloodied arm and stormed towards Willy.

  I moved to intercept him but his magic tossed me backwards into the ditch beside the road. When I got to my feet, Darius’s power hung thick in the air, snapping Willy’s bones and forcing him back to his human counterpart.

  Willy lay huddled on the ground, naked and covered in blood. He was in the fetal position, covering his face with his hands as Darius kicked him with godly force, and Willy’s body skidded across the pavement.

  “Stand up!” Darius screamed, but Riley grabbed his shoulder and held him back.

  “Do not touch me!” Darius pulled his shoulder away. “You don’t even know what all this is about.” He spat the words at Riley and circled him.

  Anger raged in Riley’s eyes. “How dare—”

  “Do not look down upon me as though you are greater. You are but a vessel for greatness, and I’ve stood silent long enough.”

  “Darius, no!” Drake screamed, struggling to his feet. The right side of his face was a mess of cuts and blistered skin, swollen with fluid.

  “No, Brother, do not interrupt. I have withstood these conditions for far too long and I will stand by no more.”

  “This is not the way. Do not spoil this again. Think of Father,” Drake reasoned.

  Darius stopped in his tracks, staring at Drake. “Why must I sit by idly with these fools?”

  “Do not forget your place, Brother. Do not forget what the gods would have done to us without Father’s interference. If not for Father, and not for yourself, do it for me.”

  Darius growled and kicked at the gravel.

  I crouched down next to Willy and helped him to his feet. He wasn’t badly hurt, but outside of his wolf form he trembled with fear.

  “I’m so—sorry, Chase,” he whispered.

  I pulled his head against my chest and held it tightly, whispering in his ear. “Don’t apologize, Willy. I’d have done the same thing. But now it’s time. You have to go.”

  Willy sniffled; I could feel his tears running down my chest.

  “Listen to me. You’re stronger than this. Shift and leave this place. Don’t come back, Willy. I know you want to be part of this, but you deserve better. Please, for me, just leave and be safe.”

  Willy pulled away and looked back at Riley, whose eyes were fixated on Darius. His power swelled and a branch of black magic emerged from his back, rushing through the air and crashing into Darius.

  “You disrespectful little shit!” Riley screamed, his voice sounding entirely different. “I am the vessel that will carry your father’s power. Your challenge to me is an insult.”

  “That is enough, Riley. Leave him,” Drake said.

  Riley turned his angry gaze to Drake as he walked towards them. “Do not interfere with me, or you too will suffer my wrath.”

  “No, it is you who forgets your place. None of this happens without us. We brought this to you, and we are the only ones who can give you the answers you need. You will release him, or you will gain nothing from us.”

  Riley’s glare locked with Drake’s, their wills battling one another.

  “Now is your chance, Willy. Now is both our chances. We make a break for it in opposite directions. They’ll have no choice but to follow me. Just run until your legs won’t run anymore, and then push yourself even further. You deserve a good life, Willy. And that isn’t this one.”

  Willy didn’t respond with words. Tears ran down his face and he shook his head.

  “If you do anything for me in this lifetime, do it now. Just run, not forever, but until this is over.”

  Willy fought a silent war in his eyes and finally nodded.

  “Promise me.”

  “I…I pro—promise.”

  “Fine!” Riley screamed, tearing the tendrils away from Darius. “But you will not hold all the cards forever, Drake. Remember that. I suggest you and your brother start appealing to my better side very quickly.”

  “Willy, it’s time,” I said. “Go!”

  Willy’s magic came to life and I tried to run towards the warehouse, but my body froze as Drake’s magic wrapped around me. Darius appeared behind Willy and pushed a knife against his throat.

  “This fight is over, Chase,” Riley said. “It ends now. From this point forward, you are but a pawn on the board.” Riley stepped in front of me as I struggled against Drake’s magic. I felt it give a little as I pushed harder, but it didn’t break. “I’ve tried kindness, I’ve threatened you and all that you love, and still you defy me. I’ve grown tired of your insolence, son. If I did not need you, I would tear the heart from your chest. Since that is not an option, I’ll take the high road.”

  Branches of magic spread out behind Riley and reached towards me. I braced for the coming pain and searched the amulet for power. It filled my soul, but still Drake’s magic wouldn’t break.

  The darkness wrapped around my neck and yanked the amulet over my head. The chain sparkled beneath flashes of lightning, and the colors inside the gem were brighter than before. Riley’s magic dropped the chain around his neck and his power grew stronger, making the air taste of sulfur.

  Lightning cracked down from the sky and struck the amulet. With the dagger in one hand and the key in the other, Riley stretched out his arms and the lightning flashed from one soul piece to the next.

  His body rose in the air, darkness reaching out around him, and the lightning flashed again. His body jerked as the energy filled him, and when the lightning vanished, he dropped from the sky.

  His body hit the earth on one knee and the ground rippled around him like a wave. He remained still for a long moment before he lifted his head. Instead of blue, his eyes were black with bursts of white light crackling inside them, and his face was vacant of emotions. His skin had paled and his lips were completely white.

  “It is done,�
�� he said, and his voice wasn’t his own; it was deep and demonic.

  Riley had turned himself into a creature much darker than he could have imagined. He had released a power far too great and now he had absorbed all three of Ithreal’s soul pieces. All because I wasn’t strong enough. I wasn’t fast enough. I wasn’t smart enough.

  “Interfere again and I will shatter your world, son.” Riley was beside me now, his demonic voice whispering in my ear. “And to ensure you don’t…” Riley vanished behind me and reappeared behind Willy.

  Willy broke free of Darius’s grip and ran, trying to escape, but Riley’s magic wrapped around his body and smashed him into the ground. The darkness dragged Willy’s naked form against the gravel until he was back at Riley’s feet.

  “No!” Willy screamed, fighting against the power. His wolf broke through and his bones began to snap, but Riley’s power flexed around him and the beast was shoved back inside. Willy cried out in pain. “No, please,” he whimpered.

  Riley didn’t look at Willy. Instead, his black eyes stared straight into mine. I screamed in anger and fire burst inside me, but Drake’s magic silenced my voice and my magic, leaving the scream to echo inside my head and fire to burn my soul.

  Riley flung Willy into the air and his body hit the earth with a thud. He smiled as he reached down, grabbing Willy by his hair. The Brothers moved to stand behind Riley, and their pale skin was nearly glowing as lightning flashed across the sky. Riley pulled Willy up, and his hands moved to either side of Willy’s face. Willy trembled and his brown eyes were streaming with tears and wide with fear, begging me for help.

  “Chase,” he whispered.

  In an escalation of fury, my elements exploded all at once and everything became a shade of red.

  The earth shook in a violent quake, a monsoon of rain poured from the sky, flames engulfed my entire body, and it all came together to shatter Drake’s magic.

  Air pushed me off the ground at a speed I couldn’t manage on my own, and I charged towards Riley, but once again, I wasn’t fast enough.

  The world slowed around me as Riley’s smirk turned into a toothy grin. His fingers flexed, and both his hands jerked to the side, snapping Willy’s neck.

  Willy’s eyes rolled back in his head as Riley released him, letting his body drop like an anvil to the ground.

  The world returned at a blurring speed and I threw all my power forward at once.

  My back split open and blood exploded from the wound. The skin on my chest pulled itself apart, and my arms were shredded in vicious gashes. But I had my magic, and in this moment, I felt no pain.

  Streams of energy burst from my hands. Earth, air, water, and fire moved in separate streaks of colorful force and slammed into Riley. But as my magic surged and rushed into him, tendrils of dark power engulfed his body and absorbed my elements. Riley flicked his wrist and drove my body into the ground.

  Lightning cut down from the sky and thunder rumbled. My vision was blinded with bright light and pain seared my chest before my body was blown across the gravel.

  Rain beat down on me and electricity coursed through my veins, forcing my muscles to convulse. My face was pressed into the sharp gravel road, and Willy’s body lay across from me.

  Black shoes stepped between us, and Riley kneeled next to me. “Do you see how easy this is for me, Chase? Can you see now why you should’ve joined me?” The voice speaking was not my father’s. It was something else—something darker. “Once the ritual is complete, I will be a god, and all this death will have been but a means to an end. With my rule will come the very peace everyone has spent lifetimes fighting for. But your friend there, he didn’t have to die. He wasn’t a casualty of war. He was a casualty of you. You chose to interfere and now his death is on your hands. Stay out of the way, Chase, or one dead mutt will be the least of your worries.”

  Riley stretched his legs. Black magic rippled over his skin and jumped between his fingers, coiling around his wrists. “You could’ve had a throne beside me, son. Now look at you. You’re nothing to me.” I could feel his black gaze beating down on me. “You’re nothing,” he repeated, and then the gravel crunched beneath his feet as he walked away. “Let’s go!”

  A loud bang sounded like a gun firing next to my ear, and then there was only the sound of rain beating the ground.

  My eyes lost their fire and all the color returned to the world. I stared at my friend, pleading for him to move.

  Blood pooled around me from every part of my body. The pain was immense but I didn’t care. I saw flashes behind my eyelids every time I blinked and electricity sparked between my fingertips. Small bolts of lightning rolled over my hand and up my arm, sending jolts through my body.

  I looked into Willy’s brown eyes but there was no life staring back at me. Tears ran down my face, trickling down my nose and dripping to the ground.

  Willy’s skin faded and slowly turned gray. Embers began to spark, lighting up his skin.

  I tried to scream, but my voice was hoarse. My heart shattered and the pieces crumbled inside me.

  Red and orange sparks moved together, flared up, and overtook Willy’s face with embers. His eyes stared into mine for a moment longer before they too succumbed to the flames.

  I didn’t blink. I watched as the cinders glimmered, stealing away his body until all that remained was an ash replica of Willy.

  My chest hurt from sobbing but I couldn’t move. What had I started? What had I done? My best friend’s ashy gaze stared at me as I figured out the answer. I’d gotten my mother and my best friend killed, and now I’d handed Riley the last piece of the puzzle—I’d started the end of the world.

  Rain continued to fall from the sky and thick heavy drops crashed onto Willy’s ashes. He crumbled as the water splashed over him, beating him down to a murky liquid.

  All I had left to look at was the warehouse down the road, where our salvation had waited a hundred yards away, but I hadn’t been strong enough to get to it.

  Dark cloudy streams of water created rivers in the gravel, robbing the pieces of my best friend and washing them down into the grassy ditch.

  “Willy?” I asked, hoping I had imagined it all. This was just a dream or a vision of something to come—something that could be avoided. His voice would come back to me any second and he’d stutter my name.

  More rain splashed against my face and ran down my cheeks.

  “Willy,” I whispered. I didn’t want to stop saying his name. Stopping meant he was gone. He couldn’t be gone.

  The thick gray liquid began to thin, his remains almost gone, washed away to become one with the earth. This wasn’t a dream. Reality had just slapped me in the face—the end wasn’t coming; it was here.

  Water pelted the ground in front of me, splashing into the air like tiny explosions, and thunder crashed from above as the last streak of ashy water trickled across the road.

  “Willy…” My voice was so quiet I almost couldn’t hear myself.

  Whoever said death couldn’t be measured was wrong. Death was a football field. Death was a sprint. Death was a measurable distance I wasn’t fast enough to reach.

  Three thousand six hundred inches.

  Three hundred feet.

  One hundred yards.

  That was it. One hundred yards was the difference between life and death. At least for Willy.

  “Willy...I’m sorry.”

  ######

  About the Author

  M.R. Merrick is a Canadian writer, and author of The Protector Series. Having never traveled, he adventures to far off lands through his imagination and in between cups of coffee. As a music lover and proud breakfast enthusiast, he's usually found at the computer, between a pair of headphones and in front of a large bowl of cereal.

  Connect with Matthew

  Website: http://www.mrmerrick.net