Storm Gods - G. Bailey Page 0,64

should have known better than to expect you to leave well enough alone, Karma,” he says. “I won’t be making that mistake again.”

“Enough talk,” I snap. “Nothing you can say is going to change the fact that you’re a monster.”

“A monster?” He seems to take offense at that. “Don’t you see what we’re doing here, Karma? We’re changing the world! Look at what these powers have already accomplished!” He makes a sweeping gesture around at the carnage, at the empowered humans and plant monsters. He’s proud of himself, I realise, my mouth twisting into a snarl. “We’re making history here, Karma! No more living in secret from the humans! No more politics! Just a new world order, made in our image.”

“That’s no world I want to live in,” I tell him, clenching my hands into fists at my sides.

“That’s a shame,” Neritous mutters. “Really, it is. Of all my children, you always showed the most potential.” In spite of the dig, Ivar and Kjetli don’t even react, just continue to stare me down unnervingly with their glowing green eyes.

“I’m going to kill you,” I tell him.

Neritous just laughs, shaking his head like it’s all some big joke. “You can certainly try.”

And that’s when all hell breaks loose. A combination of red and green lightning pours out of him, shooting across the square to me and badly singing my shoulder even as I try to get my hands up in defence. With a yell of pain, I fire back at him, and he barely dodges out of the way. The twins fan out to either side, arms outstretched, and then I’m lunging to the left, scrambling to get out of the way of their incoming magic.

I’ve always had a hard time using my powers on multiple opponents, and that was before being imbued with life magic, so maintaining my focus is proving to be a challenge. The fact that the twins are relentless in their assault, raining down rainbow lightning from all sides, doesn’t help matters either. I’m on the defensive, but it’s all I can do to avoid being blown up right here and now. Neritous, the smug bastard, is just standing there and watching, his arms crossed over his chest and a wry smirk on his face. He doesn’t mind having his kids do his dirty work for him—he’s only ever seen us as battle fodder, and I didn’t expect that to change now.

Lunging to the left to avoid one of Kjetli’s oncoming blasts, I stumble over an exposed root and fall to the ground with a shouted curse. It’s exactly the opening Ivar needs, and I realise belatedly that he’s closer than I thought he was. Keeping tabs on both brothers is proving to be more difficult than I was expecting. Letting out an incomprehensible snarl, the other brother leaps at me out of nowhere, and I’m unable to get up in time to avoid his attack. Adrenaline surging through me, I clamp my eyes closed and fling my hands into the air, bracing myself for the kill shot that I’m sure is coming…but a moment passes, and then two, and the scorching pain never arrives. Could I be dead already? Hardly daring to look, I crack open my eyes only to feel my mouth drop open in shock; a wall of green magic is suspended in the air in front of me, flickering and shifting subtly like a wave of water. Ivar’s magic continues to fire at it, dissipating in bursts of electricity every time a new bolt hits the magical barrier. In my panic, I must have summoned some kind of force field…

But the minute I start to think about what I’m doing, I can feel the barrier falter, weakening before disappearing completely. Not about to take another chance, I roll out of the way of Ivar’s magic and stumble to my feet, the blood rushing to my head and making me feel faint. I sprint to the left, trying to move in a zigzag pattern to keep the brothers on their toes, and it sort of works, until one of the roots jutting out of the concrete suddenly begins to move. I skid to a stop, taken aback, and watch with wide eyes as the root continues to wind back and forth like a giant snake, the bark groaning with the force of the magic powering it. Rubble is pushed to the side as more and more branches emerge from the ground, snaking up into