Series: Charmaine Pauls
Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70056 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 234(@300wpm)
A weight slams into my chest, nearly stealing my breath. My eyes fly open with a gasp. Aruan, who’s still protecting me with his body, has stepped back and crashed into me. With my eyes tightly shut, I wasn’t following his lead. He’s slowly but surely walking me backward toward the hallway.
Caught off guard by the chilling screams of their disintegrating compatriots, the Phaelix on the ground have paused uncertainly, their bulging eyes trained on the palace. A few brave ones lift their sickle-like knives and charge the guards again, but in a second, the whole army of lizards is fizzling and bubbling.
Holy cow.
They’ve all been vaporized. The smell is disgusting. It stinks like rotten fish. I swallow hard, almost retching at the stench.
The guards are splattered with green glob. The ground is covered in the sticky mess. And just when I think it’s over, another wave of Phaelix rush through the waterfall.
They’re either brave or very fucking stupid, because like their buddies, they’re melted on the spot.
At this point, I’m observing everything with detached fascination. It feels too unreal, more like a movie than reality.
“Three strokes west of the sun,” Kian says.
Aruan turns his gaze in that direction. As Kian predicted, the Phaelix attack from a different angle on the ground. And then, poof. They’re all liquefied.
The enormity of Aruan’s power hits me then. If it hadn’t truly sunk in before, it’s staring me straight in the eyes now—and it’s terrifying. Kian uses his mind-reading ability to announce from which direction the enemy will be targeting while Gaia and her mother create portals to bring in more guards. Some of the guards must have powers of their own because I saw one hurling Phaelix through the air without laying a hand on them while another set them on fire by simply looking at them. I’m not sure what the king’s role in all this is, as he’s given up on the waterfall, but it’s clear that the guards’ main purpose is to keep the enemy at bay long enough for Aruan to vaporize them as they attack from all sides.
It’s almost too easy.
The Phaelix don’t stand a chance.
Finally, there’s a slump in the constant charging. The king uses the opportunity to drag the queen from the Great Hall as she seems set on ignoring his order to retreat. Vitai rushes toward us, saying something about getting the wounded guards to safety.
Gaia stops opening portals and grabs my hand. Aruan is still holding my other hand. When the reassuring grip of his fingers loosens around mine, I cling to him, a part of me unwilling and inexplicably incapable of letting him go.
“No,” I say as he releases me with a soft, reassuring smile.
I don’t want to leave him.
Of all the things I’ve never wanted to do in my life, including dying, abandoning him now is at the top of that list.
I can’t explain it.
There’s no logical reason.
All I know is that it’s as if my soul is being torn in two when Gaia drags me away and pulls me through the purple lights.
I stumble, yanking my hand from hers, when we land in front of Aruan’s quarters. “Wait, Aruan—”
“My brother can handle himself,” she says in a stern manner. “You saw it yourself.”
Everything inside me protests. “We can’t just leave him there on his own.” What if they get a jump on him? What if his power runs out? Can it run out? I have no idea what his limitations are, if any.
“Kian and Vitai are with him as well as the guards. You should go inside like the other royals. They’re all in their quarters where it’s safe.”
“So that you can go back and make more portals while I sit here and twiddle my thumbs?” I ask with a snort.
A few tuataras scurry by, their sharp nails clacking on the flagstones as they run deeper into the palace. I duck as an anurognathus dives low through the air and whizzes past my head, following the pets to the farthest rooms, as far away from the danger as possible.
Pip.
They know. The animals know instinctively.
Aruan is fighting for his life—for all our lives. Kian and Vitai are helping as best they can. So is Gaia. The queen did what she could. The king, well, I don’t know what he’s doing, but I can’t just hide in the palace with the rest of the royals.
Suno rounds the corner, running in the same direction as Pip and the tuataras. He stops in his tracks when he spots us.
“Dragons, Gaia. What are you doing here? The queen has collapsed. She’s too sick to create more portals. I’m on my way to guard her so your father can return to the fight. You should be with your brothers. At least you’ll be able to pull them to a safe location in the palace if necessary.”