ADRIAN WESTERGREN #2
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.
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. ”
Adrian’s heart ached for Tyche. His kind weren’t numerous, and he was forced to watch them get picked off one after another. “Ty, I’m sorry—”
“Looks like the others are heading back now. We should get Haru and return to the Omari clan. They’re going to want to know what happened.”
Adrian grunted, dropping his condolences. There was little point. The faster they got this mess with the Order taken care of, the sooner Tyche and all the peoples of Thia would be safe.