ADRIAN WESTERGREN
EIGHT
Adrian was beginning to question the wisdom of letting Haru accompany him to the beach and dock where they could see the approach of the Order’s battleship.
He’d thought that by allowing Haru to watch the events from a distance, he would remain calm and not let his imagination run away with his emotions.
They’d also brought along Mika and Shou to help if things didn’t work out in a peaceful manner.
Unfortunately, at their current distance from the ship, they couldn’t see much besides the fact that everyone had landed on the deck, only for Drayce to return to the skies a few minutes later.
“Do you think Caelan ordered Drayce to act as a guard from the sky?” Haru shifted from one foot to the other, lines digging deeper into his brow as he squinted at the distant ship.
“Nope.” Adrian extended one hand and pointed at the ocean. “Look at those waves. Drayce was probably getting seasick the second he landed on the deck. I bet Caelan ordered him to the skies so he wasn’t puking on the New Rosanthe sailors.”
“No way!” Tyche climbed up onto a rock on the beach as if the added height was going to improve his ability to see the events happening at such a distance. “I would never have guessed that dragons could get seasick.”
A low hum of agreement left Mika. “I would wager that most dragons get some seasickness; though it seems as if Drayce’s case is rather extreme. It’s part of the reason you don’t see any boats besides the prince’s. Dragons don’t like water.”
Adrian snorted. Haru liked hot baths just fine.
Haru shot Adrian a saucy grin as he added.
“We don’t like vast bodies of water like the ocean.
We will swim in rivers and lakes.” His eyes lit up, and he turned to Adrian.
“There is a mountain that has caves leading to some hot springs that are quite enjoyable. We could fly up there to enjoy those waters. My people believe they are quite healing.”
There was no stopping the answering smile that tugged at the corners of Adrian’s mouth.
He wanted to see those hidden hot springs, but most importantly, he wanted to see them with Haru.
“Let’s wait until we get those powers out of you and laid to rest. Then you can take me on a grand tour of all your favorite places around the island. ”
“What’s that?” Tyche called out, drawing their attention to where it was supposed to be.
Adrian’s gaze followed where Tyche pointed, and he spotted a tiny craft cutting through the water away from the battleship, moving toward the dock where Shey’s ship was resting.
It was moving fast, bouncing off the bigger waves to crash down again.
The wind picked up, sending Tyche’s long hair whipping out behind him and causing the waves to froth up even more.
“Do you think that’s an emissary come to meet with the rest of the dragon clans?” Haru inquired. He lifted a hand to his face, holding it above his eyes to shield them from the wind and sun.
Adrian’s stomach knotted as indecision surged within his chest. Would they send an emissary while Caelan and the others were still meeting with the captain?
He would think the king would prefer to finish talking with the people on the ship before they dared to send someone to discuss anything with the dragons.
Yet, as they got closer, it was easier to see that this wasn’t a suited individual who looked like a government official. Soldiers carrying weapons filled the small speedboat. Adrian was about to bark out a warning when Tyche’s next words sent a chill across his skin.
“There’s a god on that boat.”
Adrian’s head whipped around in time to see Tyche clamber from the rock he was standing on. He stumbled and landed on his ass, but he still couldn’t tear his eyes off the boat.
“What do you mean? Like you?” Adrian demanded.
Tyche nodded and shoved to his feet. His eyes remained locked on the bobbing boat as it raced closer.
“I-I can’t tell who it is, but I can feel power.
Wild and uncontrolled. Something’s wrong with them.
It’s…it’s all wrong.” He shook his head hard twice, as if trying to get his thoughts to clear.
“We can’t let them dock here. This…god can’t be allowed to step foot on the Isle of Stone. ”
“Shou!” Haru swung to his left and laid a hand on his clan brother’s tense shoulder. “Fly to the clan. Warn Rayne and the others that attackers will invade our land by boat. We will need more dragons to fight them and to assist in the rescue of Omari Nori and the others.”
“Got it!” In the blink of an eye, Shou shifted into a fiery orange dragon and flew off toward the Omari clan.
As Shou escaped the beach, a surge of wind gusted out of nowhere.
Adrian threw up his arms to shield his eyes from flying saltwater and sand.
The force of the wind had him stumbling until a hand pressed into the small of his back, steadying him.
He turned his head and gazed over his shoulder to see Haru glaring at the approaching boat while supporting Adrian.
The wind didn’t let up but grew stronger, making it almost impossible to remain standing where they were. Tyche was almost on his knees, trying to keep from sliding and tumbling along the beach.
“Is this from Shey?” Adrian demanded, even as he glanced up at the sky, which remained bright blue. If Shey were conjuring up a storm, there would be dark clouds rolling in and deep booms of thunder.
“No!” Tyche pointed a finger at the boat. “It’s that asshole.”
They stared at the vessel that was close enough to reveal at least a dozen men wearing black uniforms and masks that concealed their faces while carrying automatic weapons. Yeah. That wasn’t a peaceful party aiming to further negotiations with the dragons.
In the center of the group stood a single man with trimmed blond hair and pale skin in a white uniform.
Adrian suspected this was the god Tyche had mentioned.
Had the Order won a minor god over to their side?
Was there a god out there willing to take orders from humans?
That seemed kind of insane, unless the human had promised something that they couldn’t attain on their own.
But this wasn’t the time to figure it out. They had to keep the soldiers from landing on the Isle of Stone.
Adrian fought to take a step forward. With a flick of his wrists, throwing daggers appeared in both hands. However, the wind was far too strong for him to be effective at this distance.
“I’ll be right back.” Haru’s low growl rumbled through Adrian a second before his supporting hand disappeared. Adrian fought to catch his balance as Haru shifted into his dragon form. An eardrum-piercing roar erupted from Haru as he launched himself into the air.
The wind gusted up, knocking Adrian and Tyche to their knees.
The waves grew taller and more violent, crashing into the shore with the noise of cars smashing into each other.
Foam frothed up on the waves, gathering in dirty mounds on the sand.
It was as if a hurricane were marching toward them.
Yet, when he sneaked a peek at the ship where Caelan and the others were, it didn’t appear as if they were battling the same wind.
“That—” Tyche’s voice was cut off as he spat and coughed as if he’d gotten a mouthful of sand. He crawled to Adrian, his long hair whipping around him, nearly blinding him. “That’s not Brian!”
Adrian caught his words. Haru roared and flapped his wings wildly into the wind, but he was making little progress.
The boat was still approaching, though it had slowed quite a bit as the waves grew.
The dragon bellowed out a blast of fire, but even that was batted back so that it barely made it out of his mouth.
“Who?” Adrian demanded. Had he heard Tyche wrong? Who the fuck was Brian?
“The God of Wind! Brian! That’s not him!”
Once Adrian could get his mind to lurch past the notion that the God of Wind—whom he’d never heard of in the first place—had been named Brian, fear choked him.
If that wasn’t the god Tyche knew, did that mean that whoever was behind the capture and slaughter of gods had transplanted another god’s power into a human?
“Are you sure this asshole is supposed to be the God of Wind?” Adrian shouted, grasping at straws.
Tyche stared at him for a second as if he’d lost his mind. “What the fuck else could he be? The God of Sunny Days?”
Tyche had a good point. All this wind had come out of nowhere and was very centralized in its invisible attack. This was the work of the God of Wind.
Adrian’s legs trembled and gave out beneath him.
It had become too hard to continue standing against the wind.
Haru was roaring and shooting fire, but it wasn’t reaching the ship, which had now stopped its approach.
The soldiers in black gear were shooting at the dragon, but thanks to his thick scales, the bullets were bouncing off him.
It was a stalemate, but Adrian feared it wouldn’t last long.
Squinting his eyes to protect them from the flying sand, Adrian edged closer to Tyche, who was now kneeling on the beach, his side turned toward the water. “Is there a way to take advantage of the fact that he probably doesn’t know what he’s doing?”
Tyche was silent, his hand raised to shield his face. “We have to wear him out.”
“What?” The God of Luck was insane. He didn’t want to stop this minor god but to push him harder. “If this keeps up, he’s going to send tornadoes across the island, killing hundreds.”
“It’s the only way! That’s a human with too much power. He thinks it’s endless, but he’s going to use up everything he’s got and pass out or kill himself.” Tyche leaned closer to Adrian, his stare unwavering in the howling wind. “We need more dragons.”
That was a good idea.
And one they didn’t have to do anything about.