A Shade of Vampire 77 A Fate of Time - Bella Forrest Page 0,74
than any punch. The implications were larger than life. Within suspended seconds, I realized I wanted nothing more than to make Death's words come true. I needed to be let out of this pause… I had to do something, if I could. But how?
Understanding that my enthusiasm had gotten the better of me, I eased back into the present, my eyes fixed on Death.
"When time resumes its flow, you must kill the Spirit Bender first. You have Thieron. You can do it," she said.
I would've loved to ask how I could possibly do that, since I was technically under his full control. The Time Master reached out and took Spirit's scythe away from him. While still looking at his brother, the Reaper broke the curved blade with his bare hands. Suddenly, something snapped inside me. A string that Spirit had used to tug, to push and pull as he pleased. His control over me was gone.
"The Spirit Bender's powers are no more," Death announced. "He no longer has control over you or any of the spirits present. In fact, no soul he's ever touched with that blade will ever bow before him again."
She got up and walked over to me. The clinking of chains drew my gaze to her ankle, where a solid iron cuff tightened, connected to the bottom of the lake by a thick chain. It shimmered strangely in this white light.
"It's the first seal. The others will have to be broken before we get to it," she said. "That will take time. Anyway, don't worry about me, Taeral. I need you to do something, if you wish to stop the ritual. I will tell you the words, and you shall whisper them into Zetos, Thieron's blade. It will activate my weapon's full potential, and you will have full control over it. You'll know what to do next."
She leaned closer and whispered the words in my ear. They poured straight into my brain, like ice water, causing an intense headache. This wasn't a language I knew or understood, but I memorized everything. Every syllable and accent, every single letter. It had been seared into my memory with ice fire.
The Time Master raised his scythe, giving me a brief glance. "Your time is now, Taeral."
He flicked the blade, which zinged with delight.
It is my time now.
Taeral
Spirit stared at me in sheer disbelief.
His power had been taken from him. Time itself had been stopped in order to strip him of everything that had given him an edge. Despite his machinations and years of planning, it had all been dismantled in a matter of minutes.
As the world resumed its flow, I realized my hand was still up. Thieron was between us. Spirit glanced down for a moment, but he didn't get the chance to react.
I pushed the blade forward, deep into his chest. I heard its song as it pierced through him and commanded that his existence be ended, right here, right now. The Spirit Bender gasped. His figure disintegrated in a shower of white sparks that scattered across the inflamed whiteness still reigning over Aledras.
The light was still coming. The ritual was about to unfold.
Without a moment's thought, I pressed Thieron's blade against my lips. I could almost sense the Spirit Bender's essence, somehow embedded into it—as if he'd simply been returned to his point of origin, the very core of Death's cosmic power concentrated into the three pieces that made up her scythe.
"Ha'krul. Ha'bril. Ha'shemenef," I whispered into Zetos, the cold metal making my lips tingle.
Death looked at Lumi and Nethissis. "Dear brother, thank you for your offer to help. Fortunately, I still had an ace up my sleeve, as you can see."
Around us, the light expanded, eager to consume everything in its path. I heard my friends whisper and murmur as they got closer together. Soul said something about me being way cooler than he'd thought.
But my heart was pumping as I continued my death spell. "Ka'fune. Ka'ori. Ka'sheniel."
Zetos began to react, and I could swear I could hear it whispering back, repeating every word I gave it. For a moment, the two of us spoke at once, on the brink of nothingness.
"I was ready to do whatever it takes," the Word said through Lumi and Nethissis at once. "What your offspring did has caused a grave imbalance in the universe, sister. The others will not be pleased."
"They'll have to suck it. We're fixing it," Death retorted. "Though I do appreciate your concern. It's most brotherly of you."