Warriors of Poseidon 01 - Atlantis Rising

and savage.
     
    "Yeah? Is that all you got? Come on and smack me down in person, you rotten coward!
    What kind of god are you, anyway? Come on! I dare you! Come heal these men!"
     
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
    Page 272 of 351
    A cascading torrent of flames twined with water burst out of the ceiling and flooded the room. Surrounded Riley and the two fallen warriors. Branded her flesh with its searing intensity. In the midst of the pain, Riley found an oasis of calm inside herself. A moment of reflection cast upon her by desperate need.
     
    So this is how I'll die. Mocking a god.
     
    A voice resonating with power beyond anything she'd ever imagined thundered through the room, through her head, through the fabric of her reality:
     
    MAGIC COMES ONLY AT A PRICE, AND LOVE COSTS ALL. DO YOU OFFER
    YOURSELF FOR THESE MEN?
     
    The pain stopped. All that she knew was light and color and the cool mists of an ocean breeze. She was wrapped in the sea and filled by the voice of the sea god.
     
    She'd dared to love a prince, and now his god would kill her for her temerity.
     
    The voice blasted through her again, resonating in her bones, her teeth, her blood.
     
    DO YOU OFFER YOURSELF FOR THESE MEN?
     
    She hesitated, knew the answer must be utter truth. Looked down at their faces and into her memories. Joyous Denal, shy behind a bouquet of flowers. Emotionless Brennan, hungering for the feelings that were stolen from him.
     
    And now their lives. This was her cost.
     
    Will you let Conlan know that I loved him?
     
    YOU DO NOT BARGAIN WITH A GOD.
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
    Page 273 of 351
     
    She bowed her head, ignored the tears streaming down her face. The pain that shredded her heart.
     
    She nodded.
     
    Said the words out loud, needed to hear them. A promise. An offering. A solemn oath.
    "Yes. I offer myself for these men."
     
    SO BE IT.
     
    The water spiraled up from the floor, out from the walls, and down from the ceiling.
    Cushioned Riley and the two warriors in its curling caress.
     
    Somehow, she knew to hold out her hands.
     
    Somehow, she knew what appeared in them.
     
    Shining with the glare of a dozen suns, the image of the Trident coalesced across her palms an instant before she felt the weight of it.
     
    SO BE IT! THIS I COMMAND!
     
    A fierce luminosity spread from the Trident across Riley's body to encompass first Denal, then Brennan. Quickly it grew so bright that she was unable to see them, had to shut her eyes against the glare. But she felt their still forms next to her.
     
    The water turned to fire, and it seared across her back like the lash of a flame-tipped whip, driving her down, screaming, falling, burning.
     
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
    Page 274 of 351
    As the blackness came, she welcomed it. Her life for theirs. Her final thought was of her sister.
     
    Hey, Quinn. You'd be proud of me. Took me dying to do it, but I'm finally part of your revolution.
     
    Even as Conlan fought to raise his head, the Trident had disappeared in a blaze of color and light. Reisen and Alaric had screamed as they were thrown back by an explosion of power that blew out every light in the building.
     
    By the time Ven and the others had gotten their wits back enough to pull out the flashlights they carried, Conlan had jumped up on the wooden stage to find Alaric.
     
    He knelt beside his friend, relieved beyond measure when he heard the priest still breathing. In the light shining from Ven's flashlight, Alaric was dead white. Alaric's eyes opened, and the fiery green glow in them burned up at Conlan. "The Trident?"
     
    A rasping voice came from behind him. Reisen. He whirled to protect himself from the danger he'd ignored like a fool in his fear for Alaric.
     
    But Reisen was no threat. If anything, he looked worse than Alaric. Blood trickled from the corners of his eyes and from his nostrils. "It's gone," he gasped. "That voice—in my head—talking of death. Then the Trident blew up in my hands."
     
    Reisen dropped his head in his hands, not paying the slightest attention to the half dozen swords, daggers, and guns aimed at him from close range. "It's gone. What have I done?"
     
    "You heard her, too? You heard Riley in your head?" Conlan grabbed Reisen's arm, shook him. "You heard her call?"
     
    Atlantis Rising – Warriors of Poseidon 01
    Page 275 of 351
    "We all heard her, brother," Ven said. Conlan scanned the group, registered the