Chapter 19
Nyssa
My soul knew the moment I’d passed through the nothingness of the space between places. It lurched within me, twining around our tether with relentless vigor.
Caelus was somewhere north of here; somewhere deep in the heart of beastly screeches, the din of warfare, and the haze of smoke.
“For Ephemeron!” a mortal general called — Demetria, I thought — as she led the charge.
A band of warriors followed her with fearsome war cries, swords raised skyward, spears in front, as their feet pounded the cobblestone street.
They ran toward a glittering tower — The Dayspire — where a chorus of snarls and writhing shapes could be seen against the backdrop of the white marble temple.
Once-ethereal stained glass windows were now mostly shattered, multicoloured shards littering the base of the sky-piercing sanctuary that paid homage to Apollo.
Apollo’s face fell as he beheld it — all twisted metal and shattered stone — his mouth dropping open in a soundless snarl, one part wrath, one part agony.
I grabbed his arm before he could leap over the crumbled stone and throw himself thoughtlessly into battle. Swinging him round to face me, I signed with my free hand. Ignore the temple! Stone and glass can be repaired, but you cannot.
Movement in my periphery had me instinctively moving, jerking us both into a side alley, just as some scaled beast born of nightmares barrelled past with a thick, clicking, snapping tail.
After it passed, my gaze landed on two armoured figures huddled together against the side of a crumbling building across the street
What are they doing here?!
I glared at Apollo, madly signing my next command. Take Aphrodite and Hestia — find a nearby building and prepare yourselves to tend to our wounded. We need you, Apollo. Go, now!
His eyes flicked once more to the ruined spire, before facing me, newly forged resolve etched across his features. Nodding sharply once, he dashed across to the pair of cowering goddesses, dodging masticating tails and gnashing teeth, decapitating one foul creature before reaching them.
I had no time to give them any more thought, trusting them all to follow the order and for Apollo to keep the foolish pair safe.
Why did they come?!
Vel nudged my left side, sensing my building fury built on a foundation of fear.
Because they worry, too. A pause. And because your Blade gave one hell of a speech enticing them to.
A snort escaped me as I levitated into the harness upon her back, courtesy of the looping shadows around my feet — the fastest way I’d found to reach my seat.
Ignoring the cries of men, and what it might mean for the beginnings of my army, we shot into the air to gain a clear view of the battle below. What we saw with a dragon’s perspective sent a chill down my spine.
There, surrounded by a sea of undulating black, was Lykos, snarling and snapping at the monstrous shapes. And by his side, my silver-eyed storm-wielder.
Caelus shot bolts of violet-tinged lightning with one hand, swinging Ceraunos with the other. He beheaded serpentine creatures with apparent ease, ducking and darting around those who sought to defeat him only to skewer their brains with his weapon.
As we neared, his gore-covered face became clearer, golden ichor mixing freely with the inky black blood of his foes.
Rage enveloped me — they had harmed him.
My soul-bonded.
My heart-bound.
My everything.
I unleashed Death herself. Bones became visible beneath my transparent skin, darkness bleeding from my pores. It encircled the ocean of sable creatures and the army who fought them, ensnaring every soul who was caught between my wrath and my love.
His eyes, lit from within against the backdrop of black, snapped to mine as we hovered above the city-turned battlefield.
A breath snatched in my throat as I realised exactly how many souls I held in the grasp of my power — and how many I didn’t.
I released the magic as easily as exhaling.
What’s wrong? Vel asked.
The creatures possess no soul, I confessed, concern now lacing my ire. I cannot defeat them with magic.
Teeth and steel it is then, she snarled back, landing with a roar atop a squirming mass of black.
I leapt from her back in a tempest of dark fury, my shadows both catching and shrouding me as I moved. Using it to my advantage, I cleaved Nightbreaker through thickets of scaled bodies, assaulting them from that which they dismissed — the darkness.
I relished their serrated cries of pain, and laughed as, one by one, they fell silent altogether.
The heat of Velira’s flames warmed my back, the bright flashes of violet guiding me forward.
In no time at all, it felt like I was once again in the arms of my love, our enormous companions shielding us for a brief moment of respite.
“You’re late,” Caelus remarked, the whites of his teeth flashing through the blackened gore of his bloodstained face.
I struck down an errant serpent-creature with a grin, explaining, “Aros was too busy rousing warriors with glorious speeches.”
The flicker of immense confusion that filtered through the soul-bond gave me entirely too much joy.
“I’ll explain later,” I shouted, severing another scaled head from another writhing neck. “What are these things? And where did they come from?”
Ceraunos sliced through the air with a faint whistle as Caelus cleaved another monster in half. “As best I can tell, they’re miniature amphisbaena,” he grunted, electrifying the unfortunate serpent who had made the incredibly unwise decision to sink its fangs into the god of lightning’s thigh.
Sure enough, a second head emerged from the whirling smoke, attached to its body where the first’s tail should be.
“Ugh, I swore off these beasts after Apollo’s trial,” I scowled.
Caelus’ dual-toned irises met mine briefly over the snarling mass he was battling. “I’ve got bad news and worse news, then.”
I ducked under Vel’s snapping maw, spearing my sword into the gaping mouth of yet another serpent.
“What’s the bad?”
“They’re all amphisbaena. At least a hundred, by my guess.”
I grimaced, decapitating the dim-witted beast who’d thought to lunge for Lykos’ left flank.
“And the worse?”
A horrendous screech rent the air, followed by a second, sharper echo.
I followed Caelus’ line of sight to the partly-visible frame of the Dayspire.
Coiled around its peak and braided through its broken windows, was a gigantic serpentine body.
So much thicker and darker than its desert counterpart, this mass of murky black scales ended in a dragon-sized head at either end of its sinuous body.
The creature simultaneously strangled the temple spire and snapped at every attack thrown its way. Nothing was able to pierce its natural armour, and it moved too fast for strikes to its eyes or open mouths to land successfully.
“The worse news is that that is likely their mother,” Caelus answered, his tone grim.
That one is mine, Velira snarled through my mind.
Ours, I corrected, a savage grin twisting my lips upward.
Make haste then, godling. We have work to do.
I sheathed Nightbreaker into place along my spine and launched back into the saddle with the aid of my shadows, buckling my thighs in tightly.
“Don’t do anything stupid, Nightshade,” Caelus lamented. “No foolish bravery.”
I shot him a wink. “No promises.”
“Nyssa!” he roared, palm raised, and sent a small but sharp zap of electricity into my right thigh.
Ouch! I jolted, glaring down at him.
We need you. I need you.
His face was a perfect portrait of grief and intensity, imploring me to relent.
I sighed, sensing the extreme anxiety coursing through him, distracting him enough to suffer bites from errant serpents that ordinarily would have been no match for him.
I promise.
Vel vaulted into the sky, pounding her long, leathery wings in thunderous bursts, like the rapturous beat of a war drum. Every thump matched the rhythm of my heartbeat; every snap heightened my resolve.
With a jarring shriek stemming from the base of her long neck, her head snapped around and those vicious golden eyes locked onto our prey.
The serpent failed to notice her, and by the time it had registered the larger airborne threat, one of its heads was engulfed in a stream of violet flame. The other loosed an earsplitting shriek so cacophonous I had to slap both hands over my ears to dull the sound.
My pain was echoed by those on the ground; my warriors crying out even as the mass of baby serpents thrashed with renewed vigour.
Something needs to be done about those creatures, I worried.
They’re being handled, Vel replied. See for yourself.
An image of the city-turned-battlefield below us flashed into my mind, with all the benefits of a dragon’s vision.
While the soulless serpents were still a writhing mass of black scales, Velira’s sight defined them.
Jade-coloured warriors pushed in from the north and south, whittling their numbers down one at a time as magenta flames barraged from the east and western flanks — Aros and Evie had discovered a weakness, exploiting it to great effect, driving them together from all sides.
And at the heart of them all: my storm-wielder and his wolf.
Caelus sat upon Lykos’ back, both hands raised in the air as if he could call the skies down to meet him. And when thunder cracked in the distance, when lightning streaked the sky beside us, I thought that perhaps he could.
Mercilessly, he incinerated beast after beast, meticulously sparing the remnants of our army, until naught were left to assail them.
The earth shuddered its relief as the blood of monsters quenched its undying thirst. Though, I knew it wouldn’t be long before it would thirst again; before Kronos would slake it.
He would not suffer defeat for long. It was only a matter of time — weeks, days, or perhaps even hours — before the Titan lord struck again.
One adversary still remained between us and today’s victory, however.