The earth is careening straight down the tracks to hell and the humans are at fault.
Trapped in the dungeons of an ancient burial grounds and tortured to the brink of insanity, the God and Goddess of balance have been separated, unleashing a terrib...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Daniel palms the blade away from his sternum without flinching, throwing out his hands to knock me off balance and sending me skidding backward. His eyes glitter and flash a searing blue.
"What in God's name do you think you're doing?" He chokes out, panting ever so slightly.
The surprise and betrayal in that glare stings.
Instead of answering, I whirl to the side and attempt to slam the butt end of my hilt straight into his temple. Daniel ducks and aims to smack the grip from my hand. Clever, a decision based on fighting experience.
I'm smarter though, slashing my hand to the side and trying to strike down his chest.
"Iridian," he hisses, arching his back and holding his hands out in surrender. "What on earth are you doing?"
I withdraw slightly, standing up straight and twirling the blade effortlessly. The metal sings in the light with the buzz of my mana radiating off the tip. Each sigil glows a faint, rich color of its own.
Daniel catches his breath, eyeing me with such confusion I almost laugh. "You're not trying to kill me, Ira. You would've by now."
My eyes roll. "Of course I'm not going to kill you, Moron. Though, I am awfully surprised you're good enough to disarm me for so long without revealing anything to me."
His eyes narrow and something low and dark rumbles in his throat. "That's what this about? Really?"
"Yes."
"Why couldn't you just-"
"Ask? I tried that. Drop it? I was going to. But don't you think I deserve to know who and what you are after the mess we've been dragged into, Daniel? I'm not going to tell them. I'm not going to ruin this team or family you've built, whatever you want to call it. But I need to know what's on my side if I am going to come up with game plans and strategies and to be perfectly honest, I don't care for this selfish behavior."
Daniel stares at me, then looks at the ground. His face is growing red and exhausted, but the boy relents and allows a long sigh.
The electric glow shines out from his eyes again, a strong dagger lengthening in his palm. His eyes focus in on my throat, a short dash closing the distance between us.
I parry the blow, elbowing his sternum and kicking his feet out from under him.
I start chuckling, tossing the blade into the air and watching it vanish with a sheer ring. Stepping forward, I reach out and offer my hand to the heaving boy. "A Demi-god then, yes? One who's clearly never fought seriously at that."
"I've fought seriously," he chokes again, spitting on the ground and taking my hand in his. "But not against an ancient, jaded Goddess who doesn't know how to pull her punches."
This really makes me laugh, a hand clapping him on the back. "Daniel, if I didn't know how to pull my punches, you would've imploded with the force of pressure my elbow would have sent throughout every cell in your body."
