Imha had targeted me. I guess she didn’t like being betrayed.

She threw a purple bolt at me, one after the one, and I rolled out of the way. My back hit the first step around the pool, and I braced my hands on it to help me stand.

Imha didn’t give up. She screeched as she flung a big, purple bolt at me. I jumped to my feet, avoiding it completely. The bolt hit the pool. A loud boom resonated across the throne room. The pool broke in half, and water spilled on the floor around it.

“What …?” Levi inhaled sharply.

The crack in the middle of the crystal pool began opening up, more and more, until it was a huge hole in the floor. And a huge, crystal-like creature stepped out of it. I gawked, taking in the translucent creature that had bones and muscles and veins intertwined with crystals. Its arms and legs were long and thick and its head was massive, with a big mouth and sharp teeth. The monster opened its arms, showing off the long crystals claws at the end of its hands. After scanning the area once, the monster let out a huge roar. The ground and walls shook again.

“What is that?” Alice asked, somewhere behind me.

“I don’t know,” Nadine whispered.

I did a double take, not expecting to see Nadine standing here. I thought she was still on the balcony, waiting for her next opportunity to hit Imha with the spear.

“It’s the Lucent,” Maho explained to them. “He’s the Clarity Castle’s protector.”

That was a nice way to put it.

“So he’s going to help us?” Nadine said, sounding relieved.

Maho scoffed. “He attacks whoever is putting the castle at risk, and right now we’re all destroying the castle.”

Lucent roared again and swiped one big claw around the fountain. Several deities had to jump back, but some were still hit. He fished for the deities and demons, closing both hands around two and then three of them. He threw the three in his right hand at the wall across the room. The deities hit the wall with a loud thud, and then fell to the floor, from where they didn’t get up. Then, Lucent lifted his hand with the other two above his head. He tilted his head back, opening his mouth wide.

“Oh my God,” Nadine gasped as he ate them.

“Maho! Izaera! Ronen!” Ceris yelled. “On Lucent! Now!”

The gods and goddesses came forward and engaged the big monster. They taunted him, trying to make him leave, but he never went more than ten yards from the pool.

As if a switch had been flipped, the fighting commenced, and Imha threw another bolt at me.

I conjured a shield wall and turned to Nadine, glancing at her hands. “Darling, where’s the spear?”

“I lost it when I first threw it at Imha,” she said.

I cursed and scanned the area. I couldn’t see the damn spear. “I’ll keep Imha entertained. Go find the spear.” She nodded. A new bolt hit the shield and I put more power into it, making it stronger. “Use your senses!” I yelled as Nadine ducked under the claws of a demon and disappeared among the sea of enemies.

“Stop hiding behind your shield, coward!” Imha taunted me.

I tossed a bolt at her and moved, drawing her away from where Nadine was headed. When Imha flung another bolt at me, I put the shield back up. Breathing hard, I took account of our forces. Zelen had fallen and Izaera seemed to be overwhelmed, fighting too many at the same time. Sol was fighting Imha’s demons and our allies, while trying to protect a weakened Lua. Ronen and Maho were in charge of Lucent, but it was getting harder and harder to trick the big creature. Ceris had been grazed by a Black Thorn on her arm and was struggling to keep fighting. She had fallen back and was now fighting demons. Levi had Omi for himself, while I had Imha. It was all too balanced, too perfectly matched. Unless we came up with an advantage soon, we would keep fighting for days, until our strength drained and we simply gave up.

When we thought Imha was done bringing more shit into the Clarity Castle, mist rose from the broken pool and more demons appeared. Then a dozen more. Then another dozen.

Imha cackled like a mad witch. “Surround them!” she yelled.

Swiftly, the new arrivals formed a circle around Levi and me and started taunting us, attacking us, trying to break our focus, to make us cave.

Omi stepped away from the circle. “I think you got things covered here, my dear,” he said to Imha. His gaze went past her, past the sea of demons around us. “I have an old toy to play with.”

What?

Panic rose in my chest as I watched him disappear in the crowd, headed to where Nadine had gone.

“No!” I yelled, trying to go after him. However, Imha and more demons were in my way, and all I could do was hope.