Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112416 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 562(@200wpm)___ 450(@250wpm)___ 375(@300wpm)
“Just think what you could do if I gave you an even bigger taste of my power. You could become a brand-new god yourself. Something this world has never seen. Crush that upstart in Erya who dared to court me before you. As a son of Caspagir, my power should have always been at your beck and call.”
Shey opened his mouth to say that he had no quarrel with Caelan and had no desire for more power, but Tyche jumped in front of him, attempting to shield Shey from Kaes with his much smaller frame. He threw out his arms to either side and leaned into Shey, herding him away from the newcomer.
“Fuck off, Kaes. He doesn’t need your powers to be amazing. He’s doing fine on his own,” Tyche snapped. “Why don’t you go cling to Tula’s skirts?”
Kaes dropped his joyous expression and glared at Tyche, who shivered but didn’t retreat. “Silence, tiny, useless godling. You had your chance at more power. You could have been one of us, but you walked away. Let Prince Shey make his own decisions. I think he’s going to prove much smarter than you.”
“He doesn’t need you,” Tyche said slowly, enunciating each word as if Kaes didn’t understand the language.
Shey dropped a hand to Tyche’s tense shoulder only to discover that Tyche’s entire body was trembling, and he didn’t think it was from the sudden cold he’d created. Tyche was facing off against one of the major gods, protecting him.
Kaes lifted his gaze to meet Shey’s eyes above Tyche’s head and smirked. “Oh, I think he’ll make the right decision. And as a gift…” Kaes gave the tiniest wave of his hand, and the ice cocoon holding Cirina disappeared along with the goddess.
“No! What did you do with her?” Tyche screeched.
“Where is she? Bring her back,” Shey demanded at the same time.
Kaes grinned. “She’s fine. I’ve sent her to New Rosanthe for the time being. It’ll take her a while to regroup and get a bead on her sister’s powers again. That should give you time to deal with him.”
The God of Storms had barely finished speaking when the snow and frozen rain started to fall, briefly obscuring Shey’s vision. He blinked twice, but the God of Storms was already gone.
Cirina was also gone, but it didn’t feel like the relief that it should have. They’d traded a brief respite from the Goddess of Dreams for catching the attention of the much more powerful God of Storms.
“Haru!” Adrian cried. He ran and slipped his way closer to the raging dragon, who was still searching for the missing goddess.
Tyche swore and ran after Adrian with Shey following on their heels. They would have to worry about Cirina and Kaes later. Right now, they had a much bigger problem.
“Haru! Look at me!” Adrian shouted.
The dragon’s head whipped around, and those gigantic eyes locked onto Adrian. Shey’s heart stopped in his chest. But instead of blasting Adrian with fire, he simply stared and growled. Smoke curled up out of his mouth, and his dark scales glistened in the snow and flashing lightning.
“Haru, shift right now. Let me help you,” Adrian pleaded.
The growl grew louder, and he opened his mouth. His sharp teeth snapped at Adrian, but just as quickly he jerked his head back and shook it violently. A kind of whimper broke from his throat, and those hard eyes softened.
“Go home, Haru!” Tyche shouted from beside Adrian. “Go home, and Adrian will find you. He’ll save you.”
The dragon extended his wings. With a couple of strong flaps, he launched his massive body into the air. A roar cut above the thunder as he soared higher, disappearing into the clouds.
Adrian snarled and grabbed Tyche by the front of his sodden shirt. “What did you do? And why?”
Shey reached out to pry Adrian off Tyche, but the god surprised him by covering Adrian’s hands with his own and squeezing. He didn’t shy away but met Adrian’s angry stare. “I gave us our only fighting chance. If Cirina had gotten her sister’s powers, there would have been no stopping her. She would have destroyed all of Bellcairn, probably all of Damardor. My powers are useless against her. But a dragon’s is more than enough to beat her. Especially while holding the power of a god.”
“Why did he try to attack me?”
“Nightmares,” Shey replied. “That magic comes with a cost.”
Tyche nodded, glancing over his shoulder at Shey to give him a tiny smile. “Yesuntei called them whispers. Her doubts and fears whispered in her ear, creating shadows around her that haunted her even while wide awake. It’s why she preferred a life alone, away from humans. When she was calm and centered, she had better control. She could compartmentalize all the noise in her head from the magic.”
“You gave a half-mad dragon the power of the Goddess of Nightmares, which is sure to drive him completely mad?” Adrian demanded, his words gaining volume and intensity as he spoke, so that he was shouting in Tyche’s face by the end.