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)
After a few seconds, a low chuckle rose from Tyche, causing the hair on the nape of Adrian’s neck to stand on end. He’d never heard Tyche make such an evil sound. But it was cut off.
“Oh, shit!” Tyche’s eyes popped open, and he grabbed Adrian’s shoulders before throwing them to the ground.
Adrian groaned and began to ask what that was all about when something happened on the distant boat that made a shooter jerk to the side. As he did, he kept his finger on the trigger, causing the bullets to strafe through half his teammates.
Including the god in the center of the boat.
Just as quickly as the wind started, it died off to a gentle spring breeze. The dragons were on the boat in a heartbeat, coating it in fire. Those who weren’t killed by their own teammate were roasted to death. Whoever was driving the boat turned it around, but it didn’t get far. The engine sputtered as flames engulfed it.
“Holy shit! You did that,” Adrian gasped, twisting to stare at Tyche behind him.
The God of Luck held up a hand and, with a very modest expression, stated, “I helped.” Adrian snickered, and Tyche joined him. Tyche’s features became serious as he scowled at the spot where the dragons were circling the burning boat. “I don’t get it. What the hell were they thinking sending in such a tiny invasion team against dragons? Yeah, they had a god, but he didn’t know what he was doing. He was a human with powers he didn’t understand.”
Adrian frowned and ran a hand across his face, wiping off a thin crust of sand. “Because they weren’t meant to succeed. This was nothing more than a test of their new weapon.”
It went without saying that the Order also snagged a tidy justification for continuing to vilify the dragons. They would state that the dragons had attacked an emissary boat, killing all aboard. Naturally, they’d leave out the part about how they’d been armed to the teeth and attacked first with magic.
“That’s repulsive. Sending those men to their deaths. I—fuck!” Tyche cut himself off and cursed. He scrambled forward, stumbling on rocks until he was crawling on his hands and knees to get to the beach. “Don’t let it sink! Grab the body! No! Get the body!”
Adrian chased after the God of Luck, but Tyche stopped halfway across the beach, both of his hands resting on the top of his head, his fingers tangled in his messy hair. The dragons who heard him looked at Tyche as if he were a strange bug, and Adrian couldn’t blame them. The boat was sinking into the rough waters, a mix of white and black smoke billowing up as the saltwater extinguished the flames. All the people inside were toast. There was nothing to save, right? Why would he want the body?
Shit! The God of Wind’s powers.
“I’m guessing fire won’t destroy…” Adrian allowed the rest of his statement to drift off unsaid rather than risk someone overhearing them.
“No, it won’t.”
“And dragons don’t swim.”
“Right.” Tyche dropped his hands so that they slapped against his dirty pants.
Adrian frowned as the last of the fire went out and the boat sank under the waves, taking with it all the occupants of the boat and the God of Wind’s power orb. The waters were rough, cold, and deep close to the Isle of Stone’s shore. There was no way that any of them could safely retrieve it. Their best bet was for Caelan to send a professional diving team, but that would take days, if not weeks, to organize.
“Our best option is to ask the dragons to conduct extra patrols along the beach to make sure the Federation of Order doesn’t send a salvage team to sneak down to get it.” In Adrian’s opinion, the powers were better off lost, so they didn’t have to worry about someone else getting their hands on them or Tyche needing to escort those powers to Brightspire as well.
Of course, there was another aspect that Adrian had almost forgotten. There had at one time been a guy named Brian who had been the God of Wind. He’d lived for thousands of years but had been captured and had died at the hands of evil men. No one had been there to save him like Tyche.
He lowered his voice so that it was barely audible above the crashing waves. His eyes were locked on Haru as the dragon shifted into his human form. Several other dragons joined him. “Did you know him? Brian, that is.”
Tyche stared off toward the Order ship, which had stopped approaching them. His eyes never wavered from the ship as he spoke. “I met him a long time ago. Before kingdoms like Ilon and Erya existed. He was a pompous braggart. Liked to summon winds to carry him about. Made it appear as if he could fly. I didn’t care for him much, but he didn’t deserve to die.”