Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“Here they come,” Ash said, unhooking the short swords from his chest.
The air thrummed with tension as the ground beneath us vibrated with pounding footfalls. I couldn’t think of Bele, Rhain, or anyone flanking us. I had to focus.
Without warning, a figure leapt from one of the jagged cliffs above, his silhouette outlined against the sky for half a second. There was a glint of something dull and white.
He landed before me with a thud and rose as several more figures came over the cliff. My gaze locked with the one before me. His eyes were a pale, milky blue, framed by wings painted in crimson.
Revenants.
I had to give it to Kolis. Sending the ones who couldn’t easily be killed to the Temple was clever.
Darting to the left, I dipped under the Revenant’s swing and popped up. My sword cut through the air, cleaving the Revenant’s neck. Blood spewed as he fell forward.
“Not the head.” Ash kicked a Revenant back into the rocky wall. “We need their mouths or, at the very least, their throats intact.”
“Whoops.” My gaze went to the shard of bone the Rev had dropped. It was more like a spike. I saw then that the Revenant wore gloves.
Damn, we should’ve thought of that.
“They have Ancient bones,” I shouted as Ash withdrew his sword from a Revenant’s chest.
“I see that.” Ash grunted, sending a Revenant over his shoulder.
I picked up the fallen bone, wincing as it burned my left hand. I didn’t hold it for long. Without hesitation, I thrust it into the Revenant’s back, hoping it would keep the fucker dead until it was removed—like it incapacitated a Primal.
Ash snapped the bone of a Revenant’s arm. Its Ancient-bone spike hit the rocky soil as Ash grasped him by the throat. “Where is Kolis?”
The Revenant said nothing, and energy suddenly ramped up, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.
“I will only ask you one more time.” Ash lifted the Revenant into the air. “Where the fuck is Kolis?”
Slowly, I turned toward the eastern mountains. White, puffy clouds thickened, darkening into steely gray before turning a deep charcoal. They rolled over the peaks and the forests of the Bonelands, casting an ominous shadow. The temperature started to drop, and I knew Ash was only partially responsible for it.
My heart slowed. My breathing evened out.
Awareness throbbed in my chest as eather pulsed hotly through me.
Kolis was here.
A loud rumble echoed through the skies like heavy thunder, muffling the sharp clang of blades striking against one another.
“Finally,” Ash muttered, dropping the Revenant.
Off the cliff.
Well, that was one way to get rid of a Revenant.
A dark shadow glided through the churning clouds over the field. My grip on the sword firmed. The pulse of death continued to flare from the battlefield below.
A large draken broke through the clouds, casting a foreboding shadow over the valley. I knew this draken, recognized the onyx scales that looked as if they’d been dipped in crimson.
Naberius.
I felt Nektas draw near as the draken’s battle-worn wings swept out, slowing his descent over the cliffs above. His hind legs touched down on the ridge above us, shaking the land when his forelegs lowered. Talons dug into the rocky ledge, sending soil and rock tumbling. The draken, with his crown of immense horns arching back, turned his head toward us. Snarling, his lips peeled back over sword-sharp teeth. Nab snarled and lowered himself, revealing the—wait. My mouth dropped open. There was no way, but unless I was hallucinating, the figure in crimson astride his colossal back was Kolis.
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing as I sheathed the short sword. Glancing at Ash, I saw that he didn’t look surprised to see Kolis riding the draken.
A rush of powerful air flowed up the side of the bluffs behind us as Nektas made his presence known. His wings swept over Ash’s and my heads as he landed beside us, shaking the ground and the Temple ruins. He prowled forward, wisps of smoke wafting from his nostrils when he lifted his head toward Nab, releasing a long, low rumble of warning.
Nab huffed, his eyes narrowing—his crimson eyes. I stiffened as I stared. The irises encircling the thin, vertical pupils were still red. That didn’t make any sense. All the draken—
Then it struck me, filling me with another wave of disbelief. What Ash had said about Naberius being as old as Kolis now made sense. Nab wasn’t a normal draken.
Naberius was the bastard’s version of Ash’s Odin.
The true Primal of Death and the true Primal of Life didn’t ride upon horses. I should’ve known that, but the information had been buried with all the other stuff I’d learned during my Ascension.
My eyes widened again as another realization slammed into me. That meant that when I was ready, and that cuff magically appeared, it wouldn’t be a horse I summoned—