Threads of Fate

Chapter 71 ~ Let It Be Over

    Talarion's blade clashed against his father's with a resounding shriek which reverberated up his arm. He only bared his teeth in a snarl, and Roshan mirrored it. He knew his father was beginning to falter, but he would fight until his last breath rather than surrender. Not that he would be given the option anyway.

    Talarion managed to shove the male back several paces and gave a quick shake of his hand, loosening his aching muscles so he could retighten his grip. He also spared a fraction of a second to heal his chest wound just enough to keep him from bleeding out now. He wouldn't let Durga's Harbingers come for him until Roshan was dying alongside him.

    Talarion sucked down a few measured breaths and risked a glance back at his sister. She was still hunched over Azael, trying desperately to heal the wound on his head. The male's eyes were open, but vacant. Worry threatened to strangle him, but if Azael were already dead, Tissaia would be a feral, heartbroken mess. Right now, she was just angry and worried, judging by the look on her face.

    He brought his attention back to his father as the male renewed his attack. Talarion ducked beneath one blow and sent a bolt of magic spearing through his father's side. He doubled around the male before he could recover and sliced his dagger up his spine. Roshan gave a pained and enraged shout, rounding on him.

    Talarion caught his dagger against his own and fed only rage and defiance into his gaze. Memories of words spoken long ago filtered through his ears, stoking the fury smoldering in the pit of his stomach. Every time he'd been called worthless. Every time he'd been called a failure. Every time he'd been ordered to murder some innocent, unsuspecting victim. All of their terrified screams.

    All of Tissaia's screams, and all of the silent ones he knew she'd held back. Every tender word Kaius had spoken to him, even knowing about the things he'd done. Even knowing who, and what he was. Still, his mate had loved him. Still, his sister loved him. They had never held any of it against him, even when pain befell them for his sake.

    Now, he was paying all of it back. Every drop of blood that had been shed because of him, he was wringing from his father's flesh. Every life he had ever taken would be avenged by his father's death, and his own after that. Kaius's life would be avenged.

    And when he entered the afterlife, even if he was unworthy of the Eternal Haven and was flung down to Hel...even if Kaius hated him for everything that had happened, he would know that he had done all he could to avenge and atone. And he would bear the consequences of everything else for eternity.

    "Even if you kill me, Son, you'll never escape what I turned you into," Roshan seethed. "Hadeon will have your soul, and you will never see your mate again. You'll spend eternity without him. How long before you forget about the short time you had together in life?"

    "No amount of time could make me forget him," Talarion hissed in response. "And if Hel is my fate, then so be it. I'll meet you there and spend eternity wiping away every trace of your soul. I will find a way to make it so that it's like you never even existed." His lips peeled into a smirk. "Perhaps Hadeon himself will aid me. After all, you are responsible for the death of one of his Heirs. I don't envision the god of war and destruction, the ruler of Hel, as being very merciful."

    Something flickered through his father's gaze and satisfaction filled his own. It was fear that was flooding his father's face now. For Roshan had never considered a time when he might not be alive, and what fate would have in store for him then. He had always thought himself invulnerable. Unkillable. But now, he was staring at his own doom. Roshan gave a frantic thrust of his dagger but Talarion dodged it.

    And while his father's arm was still outstretched, he revealed the strange, dark shackles that he had carried out of the temple, and clamped an open cuff around Roshan's wrist. The seams fused themselves together, creating the unbreakable lock that had prevented him from removing them from Kaius himself. Roshan gave a horrified cry, and Talarion lunged.