Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110079 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Shey opened his mouth to ask if Rayne had spoken with Queen Noemi before he left Stormbreak, but the words never left his tongue. Sudden darkness swamped the entire room as if something had extinguished all the lamps and the sun had fallen from the sky. A tremor shook the room, almost knocking Shey off his feet. Breaking stone and snapping wood filled the air. Cracks grew in the floor. The world was tearing apart.
“Haru!” Adrian shouted.
The dragon in white robes fell to his knees in front of a still-seated Nori and bowed his head low. “This is all my fault. I have forced our people into their first war in millennia. Our people will die because of my carelessness.”
“Haru—” Nori started in a gentle voice.
“Banished!” A second deep voice boomed above Nori’s voice, but it was still the clan leader’s voice, except younger and deeper.
Shey gasped as another Nori stepped out of the swirling miasma that filled the room. It was Nori, but he looked like a man in his thirties or forties. His long hair was black with only a few threads of gray, and most of the wrinkles on his face were missing. But there was a coldness in his eyes that felt grossly out of place.
“You have doomed your clan and all dragons. You are banished to the Chasm, Haru!” Nightmare Nori bellowed.
“No! Please! I can fix this!” Haru pleaded.
Adrian dived in front of Haru, grabbing both of his arms and giving him a shake. “Haru, that isn’t Nori. Not your Nori. It’s not real.”
“Haru, I would never banish you,” Real Nori reassured him in a calm, peaceful tone. “Because you would never do anything to force me to shut you out. You are my precious little sunbeam.”
Shey’s heart squeezed at Nori’s sweet words, but they seemed to make Nightmare Nori angrier. The fake dragon leader roared and drew a black sword. He raised it above his head and took a step toward Adrian and Haru. The dragon didn’t move. His wide, tear-filled eyes remained locked on the monster of his nightmares. Shey took a step, reaching for a sword at his side only to remember when his hand came up empty that he was unarmed.
Caelan hissed and zipped forward. As he moved, he tossed out his hand, similar to how Adrian conjured a knife, but it was a long silver-white sword that appeared in Caelan’s hand. A bright flash of light beat back the darkness as Nightmare Nori’s sword clashed with Caelan’s, stopping its descent.
Adrian dug his fingers into Haru’s arms and shook him. “Haru! You need to get control! You must protect your clan.”
“Adrian, I—” Haru started, but his voice broke.
“Fuck, this is gonna hurt.” Shey barely heard Tyche’s mumbled words.
The God of Luck darted to Haru and tapped the top of his head. In the blink of an eye, the shadows receded, and Nightmare Nori vanished. At the same time, Tyche fell unconscious, hitting the floor hard.
“Ty!” Shey lunged for the smaller man, falling to his knees. He pressed his fingers to the side of his neck while a knot blocked his throat. There was a pulse, but it was weak and uneven. He didn’t appear to be breathing. Panic gripped Shey by the throat and scrambled his brain. What could he even do to save the life of a god? “Tyche, wake up!”
Seconds ticked by, and they felt as though they twisted and stretched into hours. Tyche didn’t move, didn’t stir. He wasn’t dead. Couldn’t die. Not like that. Just in a flash.
A low moan trickled from between Tyche’s parted lips, and his smooth brow wrinkled. He lifted his head an inch only to drop it on the floor with a thump. The little god was conscious, but not much else.
“Tyche?”
Shey lifted his eyes at the sound of Haru’s confused voice. The dragon looked worse for wear, but his eyes were clear and the world around them wasn’t a nightmare, so Shey took it as a sign that he was in control of his emotions.
“What happened?” Shey demanded as he pulled Tyche partially into his lap.
Haru shook his head, still appearing a bit dazed. “I don’t know. One moment the world was falling apart and in the next, my mind was a placid pool of nothing.”
Tyche groaned again and rolled so that his forehead was resting in Shey’s palm. He let out a tiny sigh, and Shey could feel his tense body relax. “I forced a bit of raw magic into Haru. Just a touch of good luck I saw floating above his head.”
“Was that a good idea?”
Tyche cracked one eye open and glared at him. “Oh yeah, because it’s a better idea to let the nightmare consume a dragon while Mr. Happy Sword runs wild.”
“Mr. Happy Sword?” Drayce seemed to be close to bursting into uncontrolled laughter.