Release (The Protector Book 3) (51 page)

My jaw dropped open. I rubbed my eyes and shook my head, but still she stood in front of me.

“Krulear.”

Chapter 37

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. “We came looking for you in Drakar.”

“Your father and the sons of Ithreal came to me, a few weeks ago. They were searching for a vision.”

“And?”

“And after what I saw, I knew I must flee to my home world. It was only here I could meet you and stop what has already begun.” Her voice was raspy and the massive hump on her back looked like it caused her pain as she walked. She stepped towards me and reached out a decrepit and frail hand. Krulear pulled me to my feet and started to walk away.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Come, there is no time. I must show you the way to the temple.”

I didn’t ask again. I jumped to my feet and walked alongside her. Her heavy breathing came with a wheeze, and she was limping.

“Are you okay?”

“I am not important, but you, Protector, you are. Your destiny lurks in shadows. I’ve seen it in the inky blackness of the sight, and I’ve tasted it in your blood. Your fate has not yet been determined.”

“Why are you helping now? You sent me away when Tiki brought me to you.”

“I feared what I saw, and I thought if I helped you further, you would lose your path. But it seems my guidance is needed now.”

Krulear coughed a few times but continued her elderly walk. She turned abruptly and waved her arms. The branches and leaves that blocked our way retracted, unweaving from one another and creating an opening.

“Your magic is breaking you already,” she said, pointing to my arm. “That means we must hurry. Do you have the one you sought to rescue? Is the summoner on your side or your father’s?”

“Rayna is with me,” I said. “What about her?” Panic struck a chord inside me and vibrated through my core.

“She is the one that must complete the binding. She must finish what you started when you were marked.”

“I don’t understand.”

Krulear’s red eyes glared at me. “You know nothing of what you are? Did you not get the book?”

“The
11th Dimension
? Yes, we have it.”

“No!” Krulear snapped, waving me away. “The
11th Dimension
is a book written by the goddess Korinth. It is the key to the ritual of breaking Ithreal free from his cage. Do not, under any circumstance, let him have it.”

“We can destroy it then,” I said.

Krulear laughed. “Not without another soul piece you can’t, and doing so will destroy her and her world. That is not an option.”

“The book is a soul piece?”

“Yes, so keep it safe and out of your father’s hands. You need the scroll.”

“What scroll?”

“So many questions!” Krulear shouted. “The one that you used to obtain the Mark. Gods help me, are you truly familiar with nothing?”

“Look, I’m from Earth. You know, the world that was closed off to all of this for thousands of years. I know about the half-demons and how to kill them. I don’t know anything about your worlds or this stupid prophecy.”

Krulear sighed. “Your magic hurts you because it is too strong for you to contain. You must make yourself stronger with the souls of fallen gods.”

“I’m sorry but I don’t understand what that means.”

A growl escaped Krulear’s mouth and she stopped, turning around and walking in the direction we’d just came.

“Where are you going?”

“I’m taking you to the temple.”

“But we just came from here…”

“Shut up and listen. You must use the summoner to call the fallen gods. She must guide them into your soul, or your fate, and the fate of all our worlds is over.”

I didn’t respond; I didn’t know what say. I was finally getting answers but there were pieces of the puzzle missing.

Krulear’s eyes found me and she must have seen my confusion. She stopped, grabbed my arm, and pulled me close. The smell of rot was on her breath and I fought not to pull away.

“In the old times, there were many gods. Occasionally, when a god felt their existence was no longer of merit, they would merge with another god, giving them their power. Other times, there would be war between them, and they would fight in the Otherworld. Whoever won would absorb their power. But these mergers were not perfect. Pieces of the fallen god’s essence would spill into the Fade.”

I stared at Krulear, trying not to look confused anymore, but everything she said was so foreign to me I felt like a child being scolded.

She rolled her eyes and shoved my arm back against me. “The Fade is where unblessed souls—souls that were not given proper burial rights—are sent. It is where all the spirits the summoner calls come from. The Fade is where your summoner will call the spilled pieces of the old gods. Invoke these spirits, then bind those gods’ souls to yours, and you become the Protector.”

“Am I not already?”

“No!” Her voice was harsh and raspy. “You are anointed with the Mark, which gives you power, but you are not yet the full-blooded Protector. This is why you lack the gods’ blessing.”

Krulear got a strange look on her face and black filled her red eyes. Her body trembled and she dropped to her knees.

“Krulear?” I asked, reaching out to touch her, but a burst of energy blasted me back to the ground.

“No!” she shouted. Her eyes vibrated in her head, searching the ground. “The Dark Brothers, as you so call them, are coming, and their wrath is feared by all.” She winced and climbed to her feet, the red returning to her eyes. “Chase, if Ithreal comes back, the future for all dimensions will be left to a horrid fate. You must stop this from becoming reality and kill the Brothers.”

“I know the Brothers are demigods, but what about others? Do all the gods have children that will fight with us?”

“The Brothers are a curse on the gods. When Ithreal defeated the goddess Alaria, he stole her essence, but with an unexpected side effect. When that small piece of Alaria’s essence spilled into the Fade, it took some of Ithreal’s too. Because he was alive, he could not enter the Fade, and those drops spilled to the ground of the Otherworld—where the gods reside—creating his two sons.”

Krulear paused, taking a wheezing breath and placing both hands on her knees.

“When the gods demanded that he destroy them, Ithreal refused and vanished into his worlds—worlds the gods could not enter without breaking their oath. It was in those worlds he spent many cycles building his armies up to fight in what eventually became the Great War.”

“How do you know all this?”

“I have tasted both your blood and your father’s. I have seen what others have not.” Krulear pushed herself up and began walking again. “Come, there is no more time.”

“I need you to tell me more,” I pleaded. “Tell me everything.”

“I do not have more knowledge for you. I have not seen anything else of your fate. You must obtain the scroll, use it find the book, and bind the gods’ souls to yours. Then you can discover the rest for yourself. If you don’t do this, you will be no match for Ithreal or his sons.”

“Ithreal? I’m here to get the soul piece and destroy it so I can prevent Ithreal from ever coming.”

“You cannot stop what has already started. You can only fight back. You must take your allies and leave this place.”

“We got split up. I don’t even know where they are, or if they’re still alive.”

“I have guided them and they are together, awaiting you by the temple.” Krulear reached out and touched the stone wall that made up the dead end we’d come to.

The cement cracked, black veins branching out over the gray surface, and small chunks began to fall. As they hit the earth, larger pieces of stone followed and the wall crumbled. As the dust settled, there was an opening in the concrete, and the black, shiny base of Ithreal’s statue stared back at me, just a few hundred feet away.

“Are you sure there is nothing else you can tell me?”

“No! You must go!” she shouted. “Leave the soul piece and complete the circle. Become the true Protector!”

“You mean the soul piece is still here?”

The air blurred behind Krulear and her body jerked forward. The tips of five long claws shot through her chest, and a burst of black blood splattered to the ground.

I jumped back and unsheathed both my daggers. Krulear’s body collapsed and as it hit the ground, dust shot up around her.

A malevolent creature stood in front of me with black blood dripping from his claws. Power emanated off him and the veins in his arms pulsed. I knew exactly what I was looking at: Ithreal’s soul piece.

Chapter 38

A tattered and dirty nightgown hung over his body and slits in the bottom spread between each of his four legs. His feet were black with dirt, and red blisters oozed as he walked.

His yellow eyes were filled with past horrors and they stared at me beneath a creased forehead with no eyebrows. Streaks of red, green, yellow, and blue ran through his waist-length black hair. Dirt and grime covered his body, and small cockroach-like bugs crawled out of his tangled locks. They skittered across his face as they squeezed themselves into his ears.

Something moved under his skin, and a critter with hundreds of legs pushed the flesh around his eyeball aside and slithered across his face. A long, black tongue snapped from his mouth and pulled the insect in. It crunched loudly and the soul piece smiled, showing yellow ooze dripping over his lips.

Only a few teeth jutted down from his infected gums, and each tooth was rotted. The rest of his mouth was full of black holes and strange bumps. He licked the slime from his lips and his hyena laughter followed.

The creature glanced at Krulear’s body and his claws vanished into his fingertips. All four of his knees snapped and creaked as he lowered himself in an awkward crouch and picked up her hand. He sniffed it first and golden eyes beamed with delight before he bit off the tips of her fingers. Pieces of skin hung out of his mouth and black blood trickled down his chin. He locked his gaze with mine as he crunched on the skin. Then he laughed, followed by an angry, demonic echo that moved all around me.

“Protector cheated. Took shortcut through Zairo’s maze. No helpers allowed!” He wagged his finger at Krulear’s dead body. His voice cracked with each word, going from low to high. “Protector didn’t play by rules, so neither do Zairo.”

Zairo giggled, and it sounded less like a hyena this time and more like a hysterical child. He rubbed both hands along his face and grumbled.

One hand was oversized with unkempt brown fingernails while the other was small and underdeveloped, matching his childlike laughter. He ripped the entire fingernail off one of his fingers and watched me.

Another bug skittered out of his ear and blood dripped down his lobe. The cockroach disappeared into the black and rainbow-streaked hair.

“You’re the soul piece?” I asked in disbelief.

Zairo’s forehead creased, he frowned, and his bottom lip trembled. His lips were painted with stripes of color that matched his hair, and the color ran down his chin as he licked his lips. He stomped his feet. “Protector not impressed...” he whispered in a sad, whimpering voice.

The pouting look faded and he walked strangely with his legs bowed out to each side. Even though his knees were each pointed outward, his feet turned on his ankles like they weren’t connected, rotating as he changed directions. A small hump sat under his gown and he stomped the ground around Krulear’s body, whispering to himself.

“Why are you still here?” he shouted, both hands gripping his matted hair. He stomped his feet over her face but Krulear’s body remained limp. Zairo growled and serrated claws shot from his hand. He swung down against the earth and sparks flew as his nails dragged across the pavement.

Krulear’s head rolled away from her body, and a few moments later, she burst into flames. Ash and embers flickered in the air and Zairo smiled. “Much better!” He clapped his mismatched hands together.

When he saw the look of disgust on my face, his smile faded. He whispered to himself in a language I couldn’t understand, and I jumped back as he scurried towards me.

“You’re here for Father’s power…you are Protector but you not impressed by Zairo,” he said, and then continued to whisper to himself. I tried to step away but Zairo hissed at me. “Zairo show you power he has.”

His unequal hands shot out in front of him, warping the air. Zairo jumped and clapped. “Yay! Zairo show you power. Protector will show respect.” He smiled, and his giggle turned into the hyena-like laughter that had been haunting me. He danced around, all four legs slapping the pavement at alternate intervals. “Blood will spill, your friends be killed, and Zairo be happy tomorrow!” Zairo jumped in the air, clapping his feet and hands.

A loud bang sounded outside the hole Krulear had made in the wall. Massive gray clouds pooled together, churning as the wind picked up. A black dot formed in the center, and as the clouds turned, the dot grew bigger.

I didn’t wait to see what Zairo had started. Krulear had said my friends were waiting here, and I was done wasting time. We had to get out of this dimension.