With Eno’s help, Rayne regained his feet while both Drayce and Haru shifted into their dragon forms. Rayne didn’t look pleased, but he couldn’t deny that the fastest and safest way to Erya’s lines was to fly.
“We need to hurry and spread the word that the emperor is dead. New Rosanthe forces are more likely to put down their weapons and surrender without further bloodshed if they are faced with a lack of leadership,” Rayne argued.
“We also need to get to Cael,” Eno added.
The words were barely out of Eno’s mouth when a massive explosion rocked the stone city, filling it with a blinding flash of white light. Both dragons pounced on them, using their enormous bodies to shield them from the force of the blast and the flying chunks of rock. Adrian clung to Haru’s arm, gritting his teeth against the debris he could hear hitting the dragon’s body. It didn’t matter how big and strong he was, that had to fucking hurt.
Adrian turned to find that Haru had tucked his head next to his. Lifting his hand, he smoothed it above the dragon’s large dark-blue eye. “Are you okay?” he asked. Not that he could do a damn thing about it if Haru wasn’t, but he had to know.
To his surprise, Haru snuggled his head closer to Adrian and used his arm to tuck him tighter to his body. Okay or not, Haru seemed happy just to have Adrian close.
Sighing, Adrian dropped his head on Haru’s. “You’re fucking crazy.”
“What the…” Eno whispered, his voice dropping off to nothing.
Adrian pulled away from Haru and turned to stare at the remains of the city. The stone buildings that had dotted the place were rubble and ruins now. Flashes of light punctuated the sky and sounds of intense fighting rose from the broken rocks.
The battle had officially moved into the realm of the gods, placing it beyond their reach.
The best they could do now was make sure Zyros’s followers didn’t try to interfere and pray that Caelan was strong enough to defeat the Goddess of the Hunt.
TWENTY-FIVE
Caelan Talos
Caelan rushed out of his prison cell to find Green Spring in utter chaos. The people of Zyros’s creation were running in every direction. Not one of them looked at him—their eyes were on the sky.
He gazed up and laughed. Dragons. He counted at least six dragons as they streaked across the city, a heart-stopping rainbow of colors. They came. He didn’t know if his grandfather had sent them or if his cousin had lured them into disobeying for a bit of adventure. It didn’t matter. They had come to save Thia.
What’s more, if the dragons were there, it meant that the rest of the Erya army had to be close as well. The Empire would be kept busy for the time being.
And still he hesitated, his eyes drawn in the direction of the massive camp outside the ancient city. Eno, Rayne, and Drayce were there. Everything within him screamed to leave Green Spring and the goddess behind, to find them and make sure they were safe before he continued. But he couldn’t. He had to trust that they would be okay, that they would find a way out or that Adrian and the dragons would reach them in time.
After everything they had been through, there was no question that his first duty was to Thia and stopping the Goddess of the Hunt.
Turning toward the massive temple where he’d first met Zyros, he threw out his hand, summoning his sword to his side. A few of the goddess’s minions tore their eyes away from the dragons and the growing sounds of chaos at the neighboring camp to attack him, but they never touched him. With his new power flowing through every cell of his body, he was faster than they could ever be. Each one was taken down with an expert stab or slash.
With every step or spin, he left a new corpse in his wake. Nothing would stop him from finally reaching his goal. And they would not be left free to harm his friends, his people.
“Caelan Talos!”
Zyros’s scream cut across the city from where she stood just outside her temple. Caelan tightened his grip on his sword as his heart skipped a beat. The goddess’s eyes glowed red and the air around her crackled with tiny red sparks of energy. She was fury and rage. A blood-thirsty beast that could not be reasoned with.
A step behind her stood Lore. His eyes were dead and his skin was a sallow gray. He seemed nothing more than a hollow husk. No spark of life. She’d sucked him dry of his essence, leaving the God of Wisdom a shambling shell of his former glory. And he’d let her in the name of love.
The goddess launched herself at Caelan, flying across the distance that separated them with her claws stretched out in front of her to tear at his flesh. Caelan braced his legs and summoned up the energy within him, his sword raised to deflect the attack.