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ignore the fire as long as I could and double down on my
attack. I tightened my grip upon my two family members,
using all the strength I could muster to lift Tom from the
ground, hoping gravity might assist my relatives at achieving
a killing depth. Again, Tom seemed less than impressed.
“You call these simple antics coming prepared?” The god
seemed almost bored by my efforts. I realized that stopping
Tom would not be a matter of finding his weakest point,
but the unwrapping of his soul from the stolen flesh of the
folklorist.
Changing my strategy, I tore my father free and sent him
roaring down upon Tom’s knee, nearly severing his leg. Tom
deduced my new strategy easily enough and affected his
own.
Lightning split the ceiling and lashed my arm, exploding
skin from bone and evaporating blood into smoke. The pain
was unexpectedly bearable, but my arm was largely useless.
I fell to the floor beneath the thunder and smoke and smell of
ozone. Tom laughed from his mangled maw. “You creatures
are always so impressed by lightning. It’s just a toy, really.”
Another blazing lash from the sky licked my body as
thunder shook the entire building. My chest bubbled beneath
the blinding touch of the storm. Within seconds, the swelling
erupted into smoke and charred skin. The Red Dream that
enfolded me was buckling, and I could feel death waiting
impatiently.
“Humans are merely domesticated birds flying beneath
ceilinged skies,” Tom said, “looking out dirty windows
and declaring the spaces beyond themselves to be infinite.
You have no idea. You couldn’t, really. Why the Shepherd
thought you and yours could interrupt me, I have no idea.
If not for my amusement with your affairs, you would be
nothing but smoke and a terrible echo by now.” I tried to
pull the darkness over me, to allow myself the luxury of a
temporary withdrawal. But the shadows had already chosen
a side, and it wasn’t mine.
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