bubble up inside me. Closing my eyes, I concentrate on my breath, grasping for my powers. It’s a struggle, especially when I can’t use my hands; usually that’s the first step in channelling a god’s magic, and I never fully understood how some of the higher gods could do it without the gestures. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let this bitch hand deliver me to the higher gods, though, and I seize on my rage and determination, willing the magic to burst out of me the way it has so many other times before. Below the karma powers, the life goddess’s magic sits, tranquil and waiting, but it’s not either of those that I’m after. I need the pure, destructive force of the higher gods’ lightning, and when I sense it building up, I yell and will it to come surging out of me.
And it actually works.
Green lightning explodes from me, out of every pore, my wild red hair defying gravity as the static courses through it in an untamed burst of magical electricity. The sky lights up once more as I continue to force the energy out of me, desperate to break the other goddess’s hold…and finally, I feel the enemy magic loosen. Immediately, I come crashing to the ground, landing on my back so hard it knocks the wind out of me. I gasp for breath, my powers faltering, and in that instant, the goddess is on me, clawing at me viciously with her hands as she tries to restrain me. I push back hard against her chest, but that surge took it out of me, and I’m going to need a moment to regain my concentration. “You bitch,” she hisses. “Can’t you see what Neritous is doing?”
“Oh, I see exactly what he’s doing,” I grit out, my muscles trembling with the exertion of holding her at bay. “And I’m not going to let it continue.”
“We’ll see about that,” the woman snarls, her hands closing around my throat, her eyes filled with hatred. What did Neritous tell these gods to sway them so much? It doesn’t matter now, though. She’s hellbent on killing me, so I put all my energy into shoving back. My air is being cut off, and I can feel the strength going out of me once more, but just as my vision begins to swim, I remember my legs, and knee her hard in the stomach. She winces, her fingers loosening a little, but that’s all I need. Flinging her arms off me, I throw her away, sending her sprawling across the ground. Not even bothering to sit up, I hold out my hands, wincing at the pain in my neck, and a fresh bolt of lightning manifests, cracking through the air to strike her straight in the chest. She writhes in pain, and I bear down harder; I don’t want her to suffer, but I’m not going to let her get between me and stopping Neritous. The goddess pushes back with her own powers, but it’s too late, and seconds later her body goes still, either dead or unconscious.
I stare down at her grimly before picking myself up and looking around; the fight only seems to be intensifying, and it’s obvious that we don’t have numbers on our side. To my left, Killian and Seth are tag-teaming a group of plant monsters, while a little ways ahead, Storm is summoning a tornado to carry away a couple of rival gods. Kit is off to one side, summoning portals for the enemies to fall into, but where is Mads?
I don’t have time to consider before a cat god springs at me out of nowhere, fangs bared and claws out, ready for another fight. I’m not about to be caught off guard this time, though, and I unleash a blast of green energy that sends him flying away. Another one comes from behind, raking my back painfully with his claws, and I hit him with lightning before he can come any closer. They’re melee fighters, I remind myself. If I can just keep them away long enough… But it’s like every cat god in the world has suddenly descended on me, hunting me in a predatory group. It’s hard to keep up with them, blasting them one at a time, but I don’t have another power surge in me, at least not right now. Every time I strike one, another comes darting out of the shadows, moving with the speed and agility that