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Kalona
It ca to break bread once again Kalona had been Nyx&039;s chosen Warrior He had spent lifeti Darkness more fierce than this
Yes, they multiplied when shattered, but break their necks and they could not instantly regenerate They were lesser hed as he whirled and struck and fought It felt so good to be doing what he&039;d been created for again! In the
"You think to defeat me with puppets? For centuries I battled such as these in the Otherworld You shall see that I can battle them for centuries once more"
"Oh, I am quite certain you can, betrayer But she cannot" Neferet pointed her long finger at Sylvia Redbird as still trapped and suffering within the cage of Darkness
"With Kalona&039;s blood filling you
Obey me, be faithful and true
The turquoise will no longer save her life
His poill beknife!"
The tendrils instantly obeyed Neferet They released their suction-like hold on him and, bloated with his immortal blood, swarmed Sylvia Redbird She screaht The stones she wore still slowed theh power stolen from Kalona&039;s immortal blood, several tendrils were able to withstand the protection of the turquoise They sliced into the old woman&039;s flesh Then, as the tendrils weakened and sht theh his defenses long enough to cut his flesh and drink his blood Refortified, they returned to attack Sylvia
Sylvia Redbird began to sing Kalona did not know the words, but he heard the intent clearly She was singing her death song
"Yes, Kalona Please do rerandh her protection, but with your help her end will happen sooner rather than later Or, perhaps, once the protection of the turquoise is broken, I won&039;t kill her Perhaps I will keep her anddo you believe one old woman&039;s sanity ithstand the torht He could not save her-he could not command Darkness away from her Instead Darkness would use the power in his blood to torture her
"Go! Leave h to shout the words to Kalona
He knew she was right, but by leaving the old wo been defeated by Neferet But he had no choice! If he remained and battled Darkness all that would be left of Sylvia Redbird would be her er When the turquoise no longer protected the old woh it wounded his pride, to be victorious, Kalona had to retreat and then return to fight another day The is and launched hi the tendrils of Darkness, Neferet, and Sylvia Redbird behind
Kalona knehere he h and fast, and then dropped with inhuht campus, directly in front of the life-sized statue of Nyx Kalona knelt, and then he did what he had not allowed hiazed up at the marble likeness of his lost Goddess
No, he corrected himself silently It was not Nyx as lost, but me
The incarnation of Nyx that the sculptress had chosen to capture was, indeed, lovely The Goddess was naked Her ar a crescent ht ahead She looked beautiful and fierce- if she would siain
"Why?" he asked the statue "Why did you accept ain at the moment it cost me dominion over Darkness? Now I have had to allow Neferet to defeat me I had to leave a kind old woman entrapped and tortured I failed! Why accept me just to allow me to fail?"
"Free choice" Thanatos&039;s voice carried the power of authority and command "You know even better than I what that aze up at the statue as he spoke "It means Nyx does not stop us e make mistakes, even if it costs us, and those around us, dearly"
"Being iht not have realized this, but life is a lesson," she said
"Then I will forever be in a classroom," Kalona said bitterly
"Or you could look at it as an unending chance to evolve," Thanatos countered with
"Into what?" He stood and faced his High Priestess "Did you not hear me? I failed Sylvia Redbird remains entrapped by Darkness over which Neferet holds dominion"
"First you asked into what you could be evolving My answer is: choose You are definitely a Warrior But what type is your choice Dragon Lankford was a Warrior He almost chose to become bitter and hard, an oath breaker and a betrayer All because his love was beyond his reach You may do the same"
"You know" Kalona said
"That you love Nyx? Yes, I do," Thanatos said "I also know she is beyond your reach, whether you want to adether He wanted to cry out his rage-tell Thanatos that he believed the Goddess had touched him-that perhaps she was not beyond his reach But he remembered how the door to the Goddess&039;s Te his entrance His certainty faded
"I admit it," he said shortly
"Good As to your second question: yes, I heard you You could not rescue Sylvia Redbird because you no longer command Darkness"
"Yes"
Thanatos&039;s gaze went to the slash , but they still ith blood "You battled Darkness"
"Yes"
"Then you did not fail You fulfilled your oath"
"And by fulfilling it, I could not do what you asked ofparadox"
"It is, indeed," Thanatos said
"What now? We cannot allow Neferet to torture the old worandain, even if she was being used against her will"
Thanatos shook her head sadly "Warrior, all that you have said is true, but you have missed the point"
"The point?"
"Neferet cannot be allowed to torture an old women because it is inhumane If you understood that, Nyx would not be so unreachable"
"I understand it!"
Kalona and Thanatos turned as one to see Aurox He had been sitting on the stone steps of Nyx&039;s Te, unnoticed by either of theuard? Or at least locked in a roouard or a prison any more than you do! I chose to come here-to turn from Darkness-just as you did!" Aurox shouted at Kalona "And if I&039;d gotten to Grandma Redbird&039;s home sooner, or not left at all, I wouldn&039;t have let Neferet steal her away I would have fought harder for her!"
Kalona strode to hirabbed hiround at the statue&039;s feet "You could not even stop yourself froht Darkness, you foolish creature No matter what your brave words and your oh-so-noble intent, you were created from Darkness!"
"And yet I do not have to be told that an old woranddaughter could be used!" Aurox hurled back at hi to shake Aurox by the scruff of his shirt again, but Thanatos interceded "No, the boy is being truthful He does care for Sylvia"
"He is also a creation of Darkness!"
Thanatos&039;s eyes widened "Yes, he absolutely is And that, Warrior, may very well prove to be Sylvia Redbird&039;s salvation" The High Priestess began walking quickly away, leaving Kalona and Aurox staring after her "Well, what are you waiting for? Co
Kalona and Aurox shared a confused look, and then did as their High Priestess commanded
Zoey
I couldn&039;t sleep All I could do orry about Grand that Neferet could be doing to her, buthurt-or worse
Neferet could have killed her
"Stop thinking that!" Stark had told ether "You don&039;t know that&039;s happened, and you&039;re driving yourself crazy thinking it"
"I know I know But I can&039;t help it Stark, I can&039;t lose her Not Grand on to him
He&039;d tried to reassure me, to comfort me, and for a while I had found comfort in his touch I&039;d focused on his love and his strength He was roundedhts Not even Nala&039;s purr machine could turn my mind off Seriously, all I wanted to do was to curl up in the corner and cry into e fur
But that wouldn&039;t get Grandma back
I knew my restlessness would wake up Stark, and while the sun was up that wasn&039;t a good thing, so I kissed Nala on her nose and tiptoed quietly from the rooed for a can of cold brown pop and a bag of nacho cheese Doritos I sat at the table for a while, wishing someone would wake up and talk to me No one showed up I didn&039;t blame them We&039;d been up early the day before, and everyone was stressed out They needed to sleep Hell, I needed to sleep
Instead I stared atof chips
I also cried
If Neferet had Grandotten Marked and caused a bomb to explode in my human family
"I shouldn&039;t have kept in contact with any of them" I hiccupped a little sob "If I&039;d broken fro about randma They&039;d be safealive" I wiped the Dorito cheese on ht all of this vampyre crap on my family" I put my face in the paper towel and bawled like a two-year-old "That&039;s what I feel like-a damn toddler Helpless! Stupid! Useless!" I sobbed "Nyx! Where are you? Please help hter Be a woh Priestess, and not a child