Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Creating a semicircle around me, a group of fellow Leandreans waited for my command—Ryddal, Kartok, Seeran, Elandra, and a few others.
Each one had the same appearance as me with slight differences that made us distinguishable from the next Leandrean.
Tall and with hard muscle to take down our enemies. Gray skin, six fingers, and claws black as the night. Long, white hair we never cut, never sullied. And eyes… ones void of light, pitch-black of hope, or anything that could be soft or humane.
We were not made for mercy. We were the Leandrean. Keepers of thresholds. Keyholders of the forgotten doors—the dimensions that linked all worlds together.
And we were done keeping evil at bay and the world safe. We were opening those doors and letting it rain chaos.
“I felt them move,” I said, breaking the silence, my voice echoing through the cavern like a rusted blade scraping stone. “The Therabus struck the Eastern European stronghold last night. Blood soaked the ground, adding more payment to the result.” I looked at each member of my house. “By now, the Lycans will know the Therabus are the threat.”
Ryddal’s laughter slithered out from behind his jagged teeth. “They are already clinging to their old ways and order, to their frail alliances. They wrap themselves in it like it’s armor.”
“Their softness will be their downfall,” Kartok added, stepping forward. He lifted his hand and drew a circle in the air. The air bent and distorted until a visual orb appeared. The Scottish Lycan stronghold shimmered into view. “They build supernatural walls against enemies they can’t even see.”
“They will know us soon enough,” Seeran said with a smile.
A whimper had us all turning and looking at the creature huddled in the cave's corner.
Elandra turned toward the creatures, who was crouched in the shadows at the edge of the chamber. The Therabus in their true form was something grotesque. A wonder of depravity. There were no redeeming qualities with their kind, but there wasn’t any for a Katara faction being either.
They were bloodthirsty and could shift into a human visage–always with blue eyes and blond hair. Their authentic forms were ugly beasts with scaled bodies like serpents, and they had tails like a scorpion–that they used to paralyze their victims.
I enjoyed the natural forms of shapeshifting Katara creatures. The Therabus had jaws that could dislocate, showing three rows of razor-sharp teeth. But their insatiable appetite–their weakness–was for human female flesh. And once they fucked the female, they devoured the bodies and absorbed the power and energy of their souls.
“They still think the Therabus acted alone,” Elandra said with a smirk on her face. “But that won’t last long. They may have figured out the truth already–that the Therabus are too stupid and wild to think of such calculated plans.”
“Let them believe what they will. Makes no difference to our endgame,” I sneered.
Seeran turned his black gaze toward me. “The next strike must not simply be violent. It must be precise. The cities of men—where the crowds go to congregate. We need a sacrifice to help shift the power even more.”
I nodded once. “Chaos breeds desperation,” I said. “And that desperation will help birth their surrender and our rule.”
“Chaos breeds desperation,” we all repeated in unison.
It was a vow as ancient as time.
“Destruction will open the portals. It’ll shift the power to the Katara Faction once and for all,” I said with a raised voice that shook the walls.
Not a rip in space, time, or dimensions but a permanent door that would allow the dark to pass into the light. The realms would splinter, so the shadows could slither out and take root. The Katara faction was always seen as outcasts, the evil of the world.
My kind were the keepers of the dimensions, bound by blood and magic to obey. But after the time and portal rip, thrusting Otherworld alike to other worlds, it opened that magic for the first time.
I stepped forward, letting my clawed hand brush along the Therabus’s jagged spine. The creature trembled beneath my touch.
“You will go to the Highlands,” I whispered, my claws digging into its flesh, ripping it open until dark blood oozed out. “They’ve rallied, brought in alliances, trying to flush out the threat. You’ll make yourself seen as your true self for the first time. Go to a place where humans and supernatural entities try to coexist. Shatter that illusion. Tear through them. Take the innocent and destroy their illusion of safety. It’s time we added more sacrifice to our cause.”
The creature gave a low growl of acceptance and obedience.
“They’ll come for you,” I added, “and you’ll let them. You’ll add your blood as a sacrifice.”
We needed blood, fear, tears, and pain. We needed it all to push back the last resistance of chaos, to open the gates fully, to immobilize any magic that could be used against us.