Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
“Then maybe he should have kept them.” The words came out as a snarl, barely hidden beneath his exhale.
“You can’t keep blaming Tyche. He was stuck in a bad situation, and he was only trying to protect all of Thia. Besides, Haru agreed to this. Tyche didn’t force it on him.”
Adrian squeezed his eyes shut, lines cutting into his brow. The muscles in his jaw jumped and twitched as if he were grinding his molars together. “I know. Sorry. I’m tired and worried. And I want to blame someone…”
“It’s okay. You can blame me.”
The God of Luck was a ghastly shade of pale green. His red hair was messy, and in the bright overhead light that bathed the inner corridor his eyes had a glassy quality.
“Hey. Ty. Sorry.”
Tyche lifted a shoulder in a halfhearted shrug. “Don’t be. You care about that big, crazy lizard.” He got Adrian to almost smile before shifting his eyes to Shey. “I noticed we’ve slowed down.”
Shey nodded. “We’re close to the Isle of Stone, but there’s a problem.”
Tyche’s lips quirked in a weak smirk as he climbed the stairs to the main deck. “Let me guess—a nightmare world.”
Shey and Adrian stepped back from the stairs as Tyche reached them and gazed around. There wasn’t much to see. Just a landscape wrapped in black nothingness, but that was the problem. There should have been a beach, trees, and distant mountains. A sky and ocean waves, at the very least.
“Is there anything you can do about this?”
Tyche’s head snapped to Adrian, staring at him as if he’d lost his mind. “No. Not at all.”
“But you helped me with the nightmare in the prison. You gave me the trigger to break out,” Shey countered.
“Yeah, but that was your own personal nightmare. Yesuntei’s magic simply pushed you into a nightmare that you made and ultimately controlled.” Tyche lifted a slightly trembling hand at the darkness. “This is Yesuntei’s powers gone wild, fed by chaotic dragon magic. There’s nothing I can do about this. I doubt any god could.”
He’d barely finished speaking when something slammed into the starboard side of the ship, sending them all grasping for support to keep their feet.
“What the—”
Adrian was cut off by another hard hit to starboard and an answering one from port. Whatever was hitting their ship, it was clear there were now two of them. Alarms sounded throughout the ship, and feet pounded on the deck as the sailors who’d been brought along to protect the prince hurried to check the hull and gather arms.
An icy wind whipped up, carrying with it the heavy scent of rotting fish guts. Tyche gagged and covered his nose with his hand.
Shey pushed away from the railing he’d been holding and carefully walked to the center of the deck, his eyes narrowed as he tried to peer into the nothingness. The sound of water hitting the sides of the ship had dulled to a whisper while the wind picked up, tugging at his clothes and shoving its chilled fingers through his hair.
Could it have been a dragon sent to deter them from getting too close to the island?
Waves crashed, and there was a wet slapping sound before two massive great white sharks leaped out of the water from the starboard and port sides to land on the deck not more than ten feet in front of Shey. The ship rocked and pitched wildly under their sudden weight, nearly sending Shey to his ass. He fought to keep to his feet, his eyes locked on row after row of sharp teeth that chomped at him.
Shey retreated and drew the gun that he’d kept at his hip since they’d boarded the ship leaving Sirelis. He also kept a long sword on his back, ready for any kind of attack. He hadn’t expected it to be a shark attack, though. The yacht was enormous—no shark should have been able to launch itself onto the deck.
But they weren’t dealing with a normal world any longer. This was a dragon-fueled nightmare world that apparently included sharks bigger than elephants. Joined by several sailors who’d run out on deck, Shey fired at the sharks. Somehow, the bullets bounced off their smooth flesh as if they had been made of bulletproof armor.
“Son of a bitch!” Adrian snarled as he ran up to stand beside Shey. His silver throwing knives flashed in the faint light as they sped across the deck at the sharks. But like the bullets, each one bounced off their pale hides.
The sharks thrashed and chomped through their attack. Their tails rose and fell, causing the yacht to bob wildly in the water. The deck slanted toward the sharks, and Shey slid closer on the wet deck. Ominous creaks and groans rose from the bowels of the boat as if it were in danger of snapping in half.