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)
“That is…disgusting,” I muttered.
“Sera!” Ash shouted. “Behind you!”
I spun, coming face-to-face with a shadowstone blade wielded by a dark-haired goddess. A wave of fiery pain went down my arm as I lurched to the side.
Ash’s growl tore through the air a second before a stream of shadowy eather smacked into her.
“Are you okay?” Ash was at my side in a heartbeat.
“Yes.” I breathed through the pain. “Just a scratch.”
He stared at me for a moment, then snapped forward. Pinching my chin in a gentle grip, he thrust his sword, catching either a ceeren or a Revenant as he kissed me.
He lifted his head and pulled his sword free. His hand dropped to my hip, and he nudged me to the side, gripping the hair of what turned out to be a ceeren. It snapped at him, and he dragged his sword up, disemboweling it.
Above, roars shattered the skies when our draken met Kolis’s. Flames of eather licked from their jaws as they descended upon his draken. Talons dug in, ripping through hard scales.
I dragged my attention away, scanning for any sign of Kolis. A ceeren came at me, the cloth she wore dripping pinkish water. Her full lips peeled back over bloody teeth. I parried a blow aimed at my heart.
Another charged, and I threw out my hand. Eather powered down my arm. The burst of Primal energy slammed into the ceeren. He stumbled back, looking down at the charred hole in his chest. His knees buckled, and I clenched my jaw against the throb of death.
The female ceeren screamed, drawing her sword back—
A shadowstone blade sliced through her neck. Her body went in one direction and her head in the other.
Ash stood there, more fresh blood dripping from his sword.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” His gaze turned to the sky as a red-and-black draken dug its talons into the back of a smaller, brown one. “Fucking Diaval.”
I inhaled sharply as Diaval tore into the draken’s throat, ripping through scales and bone. Aurelia let out a staggering, mournful call when the brown draken fell, shifting into his mortal form.
Ehthawn crashed into Diaval with a thunderous clap. They were a spiral of wings and talons, tearing into each other. Behind them, another draken plunged into the ocean, sending a geyser of water shooting into the sky.
I staggered at the haunting sight, forcing my gaze away. I couldn’t let it get to me right now.
Ash prowled toward the cliff’s edge. Scanning the sky for Naberius, I joined him.
Down below, I saw Phanos take a hit of Primal essence, throwing him back as Attes stalked forward, eather dripping from his fingers.
“Kolis is still here,” I said, my chest rising and falling sharply. Rhahar leapt over a dakkai, slamming his sword through a crimson god’s head.
“And so are the rest of his armies.” Ash lifted his blood-soaked sword, pointing at the forest line.
My gaze lifted, and the air fled my lungs.
A wave of crimson flowed out of the trees like an unforgiving tide. Thousands swarmed the field, just like the dakkais on the bluff had. And they kept coming.
“The bulk of their armies wasn’t on the ships,” I whispered.
“No,” Ash growled.
The sea of crimson swept over the field, causing my heart to stutter. There were too many, especially with Theon’s forces still battling the ceeren. I flinched as Phanos struck Attes, knocking him into a dakkai’s path—
A fair-haired soldier snapped forward, blocking the dakkai from reaching Attes. Kars. It was Kars who jabbed out with his blade. He was quick but…
The dakkai clamped down on his throat.
“No!” I shouted, lurching forward. A shudder went through me, warming my palms.
Ash caught my arm, but I barely felt his grip as both the dakkai and Kars went down.
Attes stumbled and grabbed the dagger, tossing it aside. He was frozen for a second, almost like he was thinking the same thing I was. What had Kars been thinking? He was a godling. Attes would’ve likely handled the dakkai, but it didn’t matter. It was too late. Attes stepped back. His free hand fisted, and he turned his head toward Phanos. A scream of rage erupted from him, and he flew toward the other Primal just as two draken spiraled to the ground below, locked in a deadly embrace, blood and fiery eather pouring out of them both.
“Crolee,” Ash rasped. They hit the rocky shore, the impact an echo of finality that caused my body to flash cold and then hot.
A buzzing started in my ears, muting Nektas’s call of sorrow. I pulled my arm free of Ash’s, the sword I held slipping from my fingers and clanging off the ground.
More crimson soldiers surged forward from the mouth of the forest, their armor and swords not yet bloodied by battle. I could barely see our people among the crimson gods—could barely hear Ash’s voice as he grabbed a ceeren, snapping its neck. I looked down the bluff’s rocky hill, seeing gods in crimson scale the peak. I thought Ash was calling my name as an eather arrow struck the first god who crested the rise.