the Keepers of Three were very useful in showing you what I wanted you to see. It being enough to send you on your merry way into Hell and exactly where I wanted you.”
“They showed me Lucius’ past, asshole, not something you planted!”
“Oh, indeed, but they could have showed you so much more. However, it must be said, my dear, you played your part exceedingly well. Impressive really, it was almost as though you were following a script you did not know that I’d written.” This time when I took a step closer I did so with the intention of hitting the bastard, which was why Clay banded an arm around me and held me back more forcefully this time, making Matthias start laughing.
“He will know, and Lucius will come for me!” I threatened, making him clap his hands once more, before leaning forward and telling me,
“Oh, my dear, I am counting on it.”
“Can I kill this fucker now?” Ruto said in a bored tone that told me he had better things to do.
“Fuck yes, please do!” I shouted, and the second this was out of my mouth Ruto let one of his blades fly straight towards the head of Matthias. I held my breath as I followed its path, one that would have flown true by embedding itself into his skull. But unfortunately, this didn't happen and instead, we were unfortunately rewarded with a slight taste of Matthias’ power. For he raised a single fingertip, stopping the blade mid-air before he touched the tip and it turned to ash, just like the leaves that continued to fall from the Tree of Souls. In fact, it was exactly like that, making me question, was he the reason the souls had been infected?
Regrettably this was one question that was to be answered in the worst possible way.
With proof.
“Oh shit,” I muttered, making Ruto look at me and say,
“You wanna try with a pencil?” Then he winked at me, and that proof of power I was afraid to see came after Ruto delivered first on his own. Because he suddenly erupted into his other form, surprising me with the sheer raw beauty of it. First came the bone structure of large wings that folded from his back, almost like some boned creature was trying to claw its way out.
Then as they stretched out, a silver energy worked its way up his body, like electricity slithering up over his dark trousers as if he was drawing it from some holy place that followed him. It continued to flow until it centred at his chest, building there for a few seconds before it shot outwards in a ball of light that consumed him. I blinked back the light, before what was left in its place was Ruto with a set of wings like no other. Thousands of metal shards, triangular in shape, now created a network of slatted silver feathers that forged over his bones, giving him a full set of metal wings. This happened in seconds before he lifted himself up in the air and shot his wings forward with an ear-piercing scream. This caused a blizzard of metal shards to shoot from his wings and head in the direction of Matthias.
But then suddenly the floor beneath us started to shake, as it turned out Ruto wasn’t the only one with immense power. Matthias lifted his hands up and with this action, the roots beneath him suddenly broke through the slabs of stone. This meant that by the time the soaring blades came close to him, they were stopped by a line of defence protecting him and taking the impact from every single knife-edge. At least thirty of them were now embedded in the infected roots and with a quick twist of his wrist, these blades all too turned to ash, floating away like ignited paper.
My gaze shot up to Ruto, who was shaking his head in confusion as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened. And for the first time, there was a dint in that cocky and confident amour he wore, and a real fear took over his features.
But then, as quickly as it appeared, it was replaced by pure rage. And in his fury, his young handsome features twisted into something frightening. Light behind his eyes burned white hot and with a vicious roar, he outstretched his wings one last time. This created another blinding light and this time, hundreds of feathers all rained down on Matthias like Heaven’s