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)
“That—” Tyche’s voice was cut off as he spat and coughed as if he’d gotten a mouthful of sand. He crawled to Adrian, his long hair whipping around him, nearly blinding him. “That’s not Brian!”
Adrian caught his words. Haru roared and flapped his wings wildly into the wind, but he was making little progress. The boat was still approaching, though it had slowed quite a bit as the waves grew. The dragon bellowed out a blast of fire, but even that was batted back so that it barely made it out of his mouth.
“Who?” Adrian demanded. Had he heard Tyche wrong? Who the fuck was Brian?
“The God of Wind! Brian! That’s not him!”
Once Adrian could get his mind to lurch past the notion that the God of Wind—whom he’d never heard of in the first place—had been named Brian, fear choked him. If that wasn’t the god Tyche knew, did that mean that whoever was behind the capture and slaughter of gods had transplanted another god’s power into a human?
“Are you sure this asshole is supposed to be the God of Wind?” Adrian shouted, grasping at straws.
Tyche stared at him for a second as if he’d lost his mind. “What the fuck else could he be? The God of Sunny Days?”
Tyche had a good point. All this wind had come out of nowhere and was very centralized in its invisible attack. This was the work of the God of Wind.
Adrian’s legs trembled and gave out beneath him. It had become too hard to continue standing against the wind. Haru was roaring and shooting fire, but it wasn’t reaching the ship, which had now stopped its approach. The soldiers in black gear were shooting at the dragon, but thanks to his thick scales, the bullets were bouncing off him. It was a stalemate, but Adrian feared it wouldn’t last long.
Squinting his eyes to protect them from the flying sand, Adrian edged closer to Tyche, who was now kneeling on the beach, his side turned toward the water. “Is there a way to take advantage of the fact that he probably doesn’t know what he’s doing?”
Tyche was silent, his hand raised to shield his face. “We have to wear him out.”
“What?” The God of Luck was insane. He didn’t want to stop this minor god but to push him harder. “If this keeps up, he’s going to send tornadoes across the island, killing hundreds.”
“It’s the only way! That’s a human with too much power. He thinks it’s endless, but he’s going to use up everything he’s got and pass out or kill himself.” Tyche leaned closer to Adrian, his stare unwavering in the howling wind. “We need more dragons.”
That was a good idea.
And one they didn’t have to do anything about.
Angry dragon roars split the air, and the ground shook under them as dragons flew over and burst through the distant tree line. A few people in a variety of different robe colors ran out to shift into dragons as soon as their feet touched the sand and rocks. Apparently, Shou did more than summon members of the Omari clan for help. Judging by the variety of colors in the dragon scales, multiple clans had sent their members to engage the invaders.
Adrian dug his feet into the sand and dove for Tyche. He grabbed the God of Luck’s arm and tugged him upright, pulling him farther away from the waves as they crashed to shore. As much as Adrian longed to dive into the fight alongside Haru and the others, he wasn’t stupid. He was one tiny human among enraged scaled behemoths spouting fire and death. They might not mean to hurt him, but accidents happened in battle all the time. There was such a thing as friendly fire, and it would kill him regardless of their intentions.
And right now, to keep Haru sane and in control, Adrian had to remain safe.
They stumbled along the beach until they reached the rocks that covered the ground near the trees that hid the rest of the dragon world. Together, Adrian and Tyche stared back. The wind grew fiercer, pushing at the dragons, but it did nothing to stop them. Fire filled the air and lapped at the waves as the dragons fought to get at the attackers. Under the rage-filled bellows was endless gunfire.
“Adrian!” Tyche tugged on his shirt, jerking his gaze away from the fight.
“What’s up?”
“Protect me. I want to see if I can help.”
A broad grin spread across Adrian’s lips, and he stepped in front of Tyche, glad that at least one of them could do something. Right now, the ferocity of the wind made his few, meager skills useless. He couldn’t get close enough to the boat of invaders to make a difference. But he could make sure that nothing happened to Tyche while the minor god closed his eyes. Adrian glanced over his shoulder to see Tyche’s brow furrow in concentration. His hands lifted before him, and his fingers twitched as if he were lightly touching something only he could see in his mind.