Page 115 of Spirit Storm

Your claim on me and mine is ended.

Your contract is broken.”

Asher throws a shield up between me and Tharuzel, as Sebastian hits the demon with a barrage of spirit energy. The moment Dae-Jung is free and dragged out of reach, Wylder comes at him with another blade strike to the shoulder.

Tharuzel's abdomen splits with a sickening scream, and Asher fills the opening of his mouth with a flood of golden light.

He reels, and power explodes from him. The tidal wave of death energy knocks all of us off our feet. All of us except Garrison.

Wholly shit, just how powerful is he?

Shaken, I scramble to my feet, reclaim my blade, and try to remember where I am in my incantation. I can't remember, and it's too important not to get it right. I swipe my arm across my forehead, and it comes away slick with blood.

There’s no time to worry about that. I focus my intention and start again.

"By the blood of my bloodline...

By the Hallowinds who stood before me...

By the witches and wards that divide this world from Hell...

Mica gets caught by one of the remaining tentacles, but hooks the blade of her sickle and slices straight through it.

Tharuzel the Soul Thresher...

Your claim on me and mine is ended.

Your contract is broken.

I lean into my intention and redirect the air current in the chamber to slam him sideways three feet into Wylder's waiting blade.

You are cast out.

Return to the depths of darkness that forged you...

And never walk this realm again."

He roars and lunges at me.

Asher portals in front of me with his arms outstretched. He is as bright as the sun, and the heat and power he gives off is just as radiant. I feel his intention join mine… join Birdie's.

The Goddess Mother doesn't want this beast in her world any more than anyone else. And so, she gave me Asher.

He's incredible. He's always been magical… even before he had magic.

"You are cast out," I repeat, the world seeming to freeze in this moment of ultimate power. "Return to the depths of darkness that forged you, and never walk this realm again."

Wylder, Sebastian, Mica, and Dae-Jung all strike him at once. They drive their gold-metaled blades into him and press on.

Tharuzel thrashes, his voice no longer a chorus of the dead. The horrific sound that scrapes from his throat is like nothing I've ever heard. It explodes in my head and I collapse forward, clamping my hands over my ears.

The torture of his scream echoes on and on, scraping at the inside of my mind, and then…

Silence.

The moment the cold night air smacks me in the face, I release my ears and lift my head. We're no longer in the lockstone chamber. Instead, the thirteen of us have been transported outside onto the grass.

I do a quick visual triage of the group, and while Freya, Bjorn, Amara, and Priya are seriously broken and bleeding, they are conscious.