Chapter 18
I tapped into the same power I had used at the Terra Palace and rushed at Summerset, who was grinning widely.
"Damn you, Summerset!" I exclaimed as I swung my blade at him.
We began clashing blades on the stairs, and every time one of us would gain the advantage, we'd swap sides and begin the clash all over again.
"Why don't you just give in?" he asked, "Give in to that darkness you feel! You know you're not sure whether Aurora will make it or not, so what will you do now that your newly-wed wife is almost certain to die?"
"She won't die," I said, "Seryn and Elizabeth will make sure of that!"
"Will they?" Elanis asked with a grin, "That bolt was tipped with a very particular poison, Tyris, and unlike Constantine, I'm willing to bet you don't have a failsafe!"
"They'll find a way," I said.
"Will they?" he asked again, attempting and failing to fake me out, "When you go back to your precious Ivory Palace and see her lying there dead, you tell me what way they found!"
"Shut up!" I exclaimed as I tried even harder now to kill him.
Our blows rang out and got more powerful with every clang! of our blades. Neither of us wanted the other to have the advantage, and we both wanted the other dead.
"Give in to that rage, Tyris, be my guest!" Elanis exclaimed, "With the lack of your infamous cool judgement, it'll be that much easier to destroy you!"
Hearing Elanis' jibes certainly didn't help my mood. I imagined Aurora, lying there, Seryn and Elizabeth trying to heal her, and Aurora suddenly passing away because I wasn't fast enough to catch the bolt or strong enough to prevent Elanis from shooting altogether.
This caused my rage to explode, disintegrating just about every Demon in the clearing and knocking down everyone else as mine and Elanis' blades continued to ring out in front of the shrine.
Three hits on each other's blade later, and Elanis reared back and kicked me again, sending me through the pillar opposite the one I'd flown through before. Once again, I landed on my chest as Elanis jumped up on the base of the now ruined pillar.
"You are fated to die, Tyris!" Elanis exclaimed, the battle once again raging around us, "Just accept your fate and submit!"
It had begun to rain at this point, and my leather attire, my coat especially, began to glisten in the downpour. My black hair that was normally pretty well-kept was now more unruly than ever. My sword was laying about a foot in front of me, and I knew that to destroy Elanis, I needed my blade.
I crawled forward and picked up my sword, using it to help myself up to the point where I was now kneeling on one knee.
"I..." I said.
"Go on," Elanis replied.
"I will..."
"Finish it."
"I will never submit to a monster like you," I said, finally being able to bring myself to stand as I looked at Elanis dead in the eyes with a look I'd never given anybody.
"You're pathetic," Elanis replied, brandishing his blade.
"I will never submit to you!" I exclaimed, "And frankly, I'm sick of you! This ends now!"
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Crown of Souls
Fantasía|Book 1 of 3 in the Soularis Trilogy| The divided continent of Soularis was no stranger to tension, as the Soul Kingdoms had quarreled for centuries. However, in a time seemingly and falsely called a time of peace, war breaks out, and it's up to the...
