Chapter 3
Chapter Three
Less than fifteen minutes later, the Victory Goddesses’ temple rises from the horizon on the far side of capitol. The structure is just barely visible with the heightened eyesight I acquire when my wings are out.
As soon as I focus in, I wish I could retract my wings and clamp my now-golden eyes shut to block out the devastation.
Red streaks the white marble steps and walls, and debris litters the ground.
No, not debris. Carnage.
My heart pounds as I put on a burst of speed. Below us, people run around like scattered ants, the chilly winter air carrying their screams upward.
When I spot a massive entity moving within the crowd, my heart ceases beating entirely.
“Sterling!” I shout over the wind. “Look!”
Sterling’s jaw drops as he surveys the scene. “What in the three hells?”
Gleaming copper-colored feathers enter my field of vision as Agnar appears at my other side. Captain Fitz and his guards assume a protective formation around us.
As we approach, the picture sharpens.
Ziva save us.
The massive stone warriors sculpted centuries ago that stand outside the temple walls and symbolize the Victory Goddesses’ protection have come alive.
Granite limbs swing with speed and precision, cutting into the fleeing crowd like a scythe through wheat.
“The military should be right behind us.” In the face of such chaos, the words feel hollow. “The healers too.”
As we descend, a man unfurls his wings and attempts to soar upward. A giant fist immediately knocks him from the sky, and he plummets to the road below.
“Fuck,” Sterling growls.
My thoughts exactly. Help might be on the way, but we can’t wait.
People are dying.
As we near the destruction, the primal, raw-throated shrieks grow louder. They mingle with a harsh, stone-on-stone scraping noise that sets my teeth on edge.
The smell hits me next.
Dust, blood, and fear. A combination that flares my nostrils and stirs the magic beneath my skin. The reek of battle.
We take care to land well beyond the monsters’ reach. The temple courtyard stretches before us, the pristine white marble steps now slick with blood. Bodies lie crumpled at unnatural angles. Some twitch, reaching out with feeble limbs as we pass. Others are deathly still.
A knot forms in my throat.
“This isn’t right.” My voice cracks. “The Victory Goddesses always choose glory over bloodshed. They’re fierce but fair and favor honorable combat.”
Agnar tucks his copper wings in tight behind him and draws his sword. “Maybe someone needs to remind them, then, because they seem pretty bloodthirsty to me.” We watch a stone warrior pursue a group of fleeing pilgrims.
A thunderous crack rattles the earth.
With our weapons raised, we whirl as one to find another stone warrior shuddering to life. Then another. Cracks spiderweb across their immense bodies as the warriors wrench free of the pedestals that served as their centuries-old posts.
The ground trembles beneath my feet as the stone giants leap off those pedestals. Dust cascades everywhere. A fresh wave of shrieks pierces the air as townsfolk scatter in renewed panic.
Stone fists the size of newborn foals smash into the temple’s outer walls. Shattered masonry rains down and pelts the ground.
Another warrior stomps forward and backhands a knot of armed townsfolk escaping for the town gates. Their bodies fly through the air like broken dolls.
“Get inside!” Sterling gestures to the absconding crowds. “Any building! They’re only attacking people they can see.”
Huddling against a vendor’s cart, a mother clutches an infant to her chest and clings to a toddler’s hand. The father stands in front of his family, protecting them with his own body as a warrior pivots toward them.
Somehow, its featureless face manages to radiate malice.
The man attacks with strong air magic, but the powerful gust does nothing to slow the monster.
Heat rushes from my blood to my skin, and I thrust my hands forward. A blazing torrent of fire streams from my fingertips. The inferno strikes the warrior square in the chest, the heat so intense that it draws sweat to my own face.
I hold my breath as the warrior staggers, my flames licking across its granite body.
Please, please, please…
The creature doesn’t fall.
Instead, it swings toward me, blank eyes now gleaming with pinpricks of starlight arranged in patterns similar to those in the diamond waterfalls.
“Look at its eyes!” Sterling lunges forward, his hands slicing through the air to summon his water magic.
A stream disgorges, hammering the warrior with the force of a battering ram. The warrior totters backward, off-balance from the sudden pressure.
Sterling’s face contorts into a grimace I’ve never seen before. He stumbles, nearly losing his footing, and the water stream falters. “Something’s not right. The water, it’s—”
“No! Stay back!” Agnar’s horrified shout cuts through the battle, and the note of raw fear freezes my bones.
I spin, and for a moment, I can’t process what I’m seeing.
As Kaida takes off, a small figure squirms free from the enormous pack of emergency supplies on the ground. I was so intent on the stone warriors wreaking havoc, I didn’t even notice the black and blue dragon land.
Tousled blond hair flies as Rose skips into the gore-splattered street.
Directly into the path of an advancing stone warrior.
The flame over her shoulder flickers merrily, as if unaware of the impending danger.
“Rose!” I shout. “Watch out!”
I launch into a desperate sprint, already knowing I’m too far away to reach her in time. As I race toward her, I grasp for my dragonbond and convey my terror to Kaida. He turns mid-flight and heads back toward the battle.
The warrior raises a wicked blade, the edge glinting above Rose’s head.
Her eyes, though wide, stay oddly calm.
Then something happens that almost stops me in my tracks.
The flame familiar that hovers over Rose’s shoulder, that tiny sprite of living fire that follows her everywhere, suddenly expands. With an explosive burst, a shield of protective flames cocoons the child and blazes upward like a miniature inferno.
The stone warrior recoils.
Where the flames touch its arm, the stone thins and becomes almost transparent, revealing a void beneath. Not flesh or machinery, but a hollow space brimming with starlight and shadow.
Just like its eyes.
Rose remains motionless in the center of her fiery shield, her small face eerily peaceful amid the chaos. “They’re stone and yet not.” She speaks with that same serene tone she’s often used since I freed her from corruption with my phoenix fire, like an old soul trapped in a little girl’s body.
Sterling rushes to my side, his face pale with exertion. He aims his magic and creates a dome of water around Rose.
Instead of extinguishing her own personal flame, the fire expands to fill the dome, creating a shimmering, comingled barrier of water and blaze that shouldn’t be possible.
Another warrior lunges for the barrier.
The moment the stone fist strikes the water-fire shield, the creature rears back as if scalded. Cracks zigzag across its exterior, revealing more of that starlit void beneath.
“Get her out of here!” I pivot to find Agnar waylaid by two stone soldiers as he struggles to reach Rose.
“Can’t.” He’s battling both at once, his blade sparking against their giant bodies. “She’s safer with us than trying to run.” He ducks under a giant arm. “Fancy a merge? Earth and fire together should smash these fuckers.”
Merging magic strengthens the elements beyond their individual power. Merging also allows for blended types of elemental attacks. That’s how I managed to destroy Narc mid-resurrection.
That and my phoenix fire.
“Not yet!” Sterling’s strained voice interrupts us.
My heart seizes when I see the expression on his face. Pain mixed with confusion and more than a hint of fear.
“Are you hurt?”
My sense of foreboding rises when I watch him create a massive wall of water between a group of fleeing townspeople and their pursuers.
What’s he doing? Ice would form a much better barrier. And his water is moving strangely, almost sluggishly. Sections are shimmering.
Temporarily leaving Agnar to fight on his own, I battle my way to Sterling’s side, dispatching an attacker with a concussive blast of fire. “What’s wrong?”
At first, he doesn’t respond. The statue before him stumbles back, crushed by a torrent of water. Sterling stares down at his hands in horror.
They look normal enough to me. Strong and calloused from years of swordplay. “Sterling?”
“The water.” His wild eyes connect with mine. “It no longer belongs to me.”