Chapter 18
Nyssa
Keep flying straight, Vel! I yelled internally, negating the roar of the wind.
Aegis is westward—
We’re not flying the whole way. Aim straight and prepare yourself for a quick landing.
I relinquished my hold around her thick, scaled neck, remaining seated with only sheer grit and the strength of my thighs.
Inhaling, I raised both hands outward. Exhaling, I thrust my power out into the open sky.
A large, abyss-dark circle appeared in the air a hundred metres ahead.
It took Vel all of two seconds to breach it, catapulting us through a dark void for the span of a blink, then out into the airspace directly above Aegis Academy.
She banked hard to the left — a move that would have thrown me off a week ago — tucked her wings in tight, and angled down.
The ground approached rapidly, blurring in a wash of green and grey.
If I didn’t trust her completely, I’d have been terrified, but Vel’s wings snapped open with a resounding crack, extending in plenty of time.
They flapped a few more times while she circled the spired buildings to land in the open training field.
Soldiers scattered with shouts of alarm, though thankfully, none were harmed in her haste.
I dismounted in one jarring leap, shouting as I hit the ground.
“Aros! Athena! Fucking anyone!”
My gaze snagged on a frozen mortal, his hands raised in surrender despite knowing I was no enemy laying siege.
“You! Gather the gods — NOW!” I shouted, terrifying him into action.
“Nyssa? What’s wrong?” A familiar husky voice called from the opposite end of the field.
“Aros?” I darted around Velira’s large frame searching for the fiery red hair belonging to the warrior god. He sprinted towards me from the treeline, with Evie and Erato just behind him.
“Kronos has launched a second attack,” I recounted, unable to keep the worry from affecting my voice. “The Dayspire in Meloidia is currently under siege.”
“What’s attacking them?” he asked, his tone as sharp as a blade’s edge.
“Unknown.”
“Where’s Caelus?”
“He shadowstepped directly there.”
“That explains the look on your face,” he quipped, raising a solitary brow.
“What look?”
“It’s all scrunched up,” Evie offered.
“Like you’re constipated,” Erato added.
“Or you just smelled fresh shit,” Evie finished.
“Thanks,” I said, deadpan. “Gather everyone, we have to leave at once.”
Erato straightened, banging a fist to her armoured chest. “Yes, majesty. To the temple portal?”
“No — here. I’ve no way of knowing if the Dayspire’s arch remains intact, which leaves us one option.”
Aros winced minutely. “Shadowstepping.”
I nodded. “It’s much less violent than Hermes’ method of travel, I promise.”
“It better be,” he muttered as Erato sprinted into the main building.
A minute passed.
Then two.
“Quit that, you’re giving me hives,” Aros grumbled.
“What?” My gaze flicked to his absentmindedly — I was more inclined to glare at the gargantuan buildings with still no sign of emerging gods.
He grabbed my right hand roughly, tugging it down to reveal the patchwork of crisscrosses on my left arm. Some scratches were so deep, I’d drawn blood without realising.
“Oh.”
“Mmm. I take my oath very seriously, Nyssa. And I will protect you from all who seek to harm you — including yourself, if necessary.” His amber eyes pinned mine, succinctly getting his point across. “How is he? Can you tell?”
I shook my head stiffly. “The distance is too great to discern his emotions or communicate directly. I can tell he’s alive, nothing more.”
Two red brows shot upwards. His mouth popped open soundlessly a heartbeat before words formed on his tongue. “Temporarily ignoring the fact that you can communicate mentally, take solace in the fact that wherever he is and whatever he’s doing, Caelus lives.”
A small, grateful smile graced my lips. “You’re right. It would take a Furies-damned host of monsters to take Caelus down… and I’m not entirely sure he can fall unless I fall first.”
Rufus bounded up with a mournful howl until Aros scratched the space between his lion ears.
“No, buddy. Nyssa’s not going anywhere. Not if I have anything to say about it.”
He speared the last part at me.
Vel snarled, the sound curling deep at the back of her throat.
“Or her,” Aros ginned savagely.
Lykos appeared behind her, sneaking up with the dexterity of an apparition. He looked at my dragon and at me, then back again. Growling, his large, wet nose nudged the centre of my cuirass — right where Caelus’ emotions usually lingered.
“I know. I’m desperate to get to him, too,” I said, scratching at the base of his jaw. “But we can’t do it alone. Give us two minutes then we can go to him.”
Thankfully, the sounds of many quick feet echoed behind us half a minute later.
Finally, they had come.
“Do we have a plan, Majesty?” Aros asked quietly.
“Aside from jumping right into the chaos? No,” I replied with a grimace.
“May I?”
I waved a hand. “By all means.”
He stormed over to address all who had answered my call. Every shiny Olympian was dressed ready for battle, and several dozen mortals had come, prepared to fight — and die — too. And they all listened, captivated, as Aros addressed them.
“We know not what we face but that it comes from evil. It bears malice in its heart and seeks to cause us all harm. Kronos has deemed it necessary to attack mortal cities with no regard for innocent blood spilled — knowing only that it pains us gods by doing so.
Make no mistake — today, we go to war. Today, we fight for those unable to defend themselves; for those who have been deemed insignificant by the Titan lord; those who have been overlooked as mere pawns.
We fight for our families, ourselves, and our futures.
We fight against the tyranny Kronos would sorely love to impart.
Some of us may take our last breath minutes from now, and to those I say: eis to epanidein.”
“Eis to epanidein,” they repeated as one.
‘Til we meet again.
“If you find yourselves free of pain and the clamour of battle,” Aros continued. “Fear not for you are already dead.”
Murmured laughter was shared between them.
“But if you live? If you live, then glory will find you this day.”
That familiar and unmissed sensation of ice in my veins and glass in my lungs returned. I was desperate to reach Caelus — to take my place by his side.
“We will defeat our foes this day!” Aros shouted.
The thump of fists on breastplates answered him.
“We will defeat the evil sent to harm us!”
Thump.
“We will cause Kronos to think twice before coming for us again!”
Thump.
“Wrap it up, time to go,” I whispered.
“Dynami kai timí!” he roared.
“Dynami kai timí!” they echoed, frantically pounding on their chests.
“Strength and honour,” I breathed, summoning the might of my shadows and forming an enormous arch in the centre of the field.
Lykos wasted no time, bounding to the gate in one gigantic leap.
“To war!” I cried.
“To war!” they answered, running towards my darkness without a sliver of hesitation.
“Nice speech,” I tossed over my shoulder.
Aros smirked. “Thanks, I’ve been practicing.”
I huffed a sharp laugh as I watched them all disappear.
Led by Athena and Apollo, every single Olympian god, and every mortal soldier, along with all of their bonded companions, threw themselves at my mercy and hurled themselves through my conjured gate.
Aros paused momentarily, with Evie at his side, weapons drawn. With a hand extended toward the portal, he asked, “Shall we dance, my Queen?”
A savage grin split my face.
“We shall.”