Reaper (Cradle Book 10) by Will Wight

Author:Will Wight [Wight, Will]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hidden Gnome Publishing
Published: 2021-11-01T16:00:00+00:00

14

Iteration 001: Sanctum

On Suriel’s screen, Gadrael hovered in the middle of space. A translucent blue wall of force intercepted a planet-obliterating strike without so much as trembling.

“Did Makiel agree with this course of action?” Gadrael asked.

The Titan was a small but athletic man, made of muscle, with blue-gray skin and short horns like swept-back hair. He had perfected his body as he ascended, as virtually everyone did, and among his people his form was considered ideal beauty.

Suriel wondered how they would see him with a broken nose.

Not that she could break his nose. Not only was he an infinite distance away, but his cartilage was sturdier than most planets.

She could dream, though.

“Makiel is still in treatment,” she told him. Again. “His mind is occupied with potential outcomes, and he cannot be distracted from his management of Fate.”

“Contact me again when you have his approval.” Gadrael turned, presenting her with the back of his smooth white armor, and readied the buckler on his arm. A vast cloud of black smoke billowed against his barrier, and the wall of order slowly began to dissolve.

Gadrael swept a hand and his barrier vanished. The smoke boiled forward, suddenly unhindered, and Suriel could sense the appetite and corrosive influence it carried. Enough to swallow a hundred planets.

The mundane buckler expanded in an instant, and Gadrael was holding the Shield of the Titan. It was a bulwark of gleaming steel, wide enough to shelter his entire body, and it crawled with red-hot veins like molten metal. She heard a distant roar as its powers activated.

The black smoke crashed over Gadrael in a wave, and her connection to him faded to nothing.

Suriel’s hands curled into fists as she stared into her blank wall, and her Presence had to restrict her strength before she crushed everything in her building with the force of her irritation. With every passing day, worry ate away at her soul.

Not worry for Gadrael. He was the closest thing to invincible, and anyone standing behind him was as safe as they could be.

But he would plant himself like a fortress wall in front of someone, declare them under his protection, and never consider whether there was someone else who might need him more. He relied entirely on Makiel to direct him effectively.

Makiel, the Hound, who had refused to lend his support to Suriel’s efforts.

She’d fail, he said. She had a far greater likelihood of success by waiting for the Vroshir to leave, as her Presence had told her.

Suriel couldn’t accept that.

She had contacted every single one of the other six Judges, and they had all—in their own ways—turned her down. They would be delighted to accept her help, but provide their help to a risky venture when they didn’t need to? Why? Their worlds weren’t under threat.

Suriel was starting to see why Ozriel had left.

[You always knew why Ozriel left,] her Presence said. [He was abundantly clear about his frustrations with the Court.]

She held her hand over her eyes, wondering if she should make herself sleep.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.