Page 35 of Crimson Skies

Doorways to other worlds ripped open at his divine command. Wilcox squinted and shielded his eyes as dazzling radiance burst across the park.

Lachesis, Megaera, and Clotho came out of the three portals that had opened between Earth and the realms they had traveled to.

Tisiphone beamed. “Sisters!”

Atropos visibly relaxed, her relief palpable.

The three Goddesses swooped down toward the hill, their expressions joyous as they beheld their kin.

The brightness in the sky finally faded. The mayor gaped. Even Morgan had to admit that their allies made for an impressive sight as they crossed over into their world.

The first ones to emerge from their gate were the Dryads. Their troops came fully dressed for battle, armor gleaming and weapons glinting where they sat astride their giant golden eagles. At their head was the royal delegation led by Leiv and Cedric Esteban, the crown and second princes of the Dryad kingdom, as well as Galliad Fenhorn and his wife Thalia. Elwyn Tremaine, the Head Mage of the Dryad court, was with them.

The princes and the mages wore their official diplomatic attire while Thalia was decked out in the uniform befitting her station as the chief commander of the Dryad forces.

Next came the Nereids atop their winged seahorses. Their queen Thetis led the army, her gold-trimmed, royal regalia and trident resplendent and her coral crown bright against her red hair. The Sea Goddess was accompanied by her sisters Dione and Menippe.

Daphne’s translucent wings glittered like diamonds under the sun when she came through the portal from Argent Lake with a legion of Naiads.

Surprise had Morgan stiffening in the next instant. He’d just felt a strange resonance in his soul core. One he’d never experienced before.

“It’s because you ate the Golden Apple,” Cassius told him quietly. He met Morgan’s startled stare with a faint smile. “It contains the same power that runs through their veins. I can feel it too.”

He slipped his fingers inside Morgan’s hand.

An incoherent sound left Wilcox.

A giant, black, three-headed dragon had materialized behind the Naiads.

Sitting upon the beast being carried by the wind were the surviving Hesperides, Arethusa and Hesperia. Their golden bows and quivers gleamed on their backs and their iridescent wings cast bright reflections on Ladon’s scales where they clung to their offspring. Morgan’s pulse quickened when their divine force echoed with the energy of the fruit of resurrection he had absorbed inside his soul.

Lachesis, Megaera, and Clotho alighted beside them and hugged their sisters.

A large shadow flew over Morgan as the otherworldly armies started their descent into the park. Violent gusts buffeted the hill. Wilcox stumbled and would have fallen had Strickland not taken hold of his elbow.

Leiv’s golden eagle Asteria landed atop the knoll with a thud that shook the ground.

The mayor made a strangled sound. Morgan swallowed a curse.

Asteria’s sparkling gaze focused on Cassius. She rushed over with delighted croons, snatched the demigod from Morgan, and tucked him to her chest with a wing. Her eyes shrank to happy slits as she rubbed his hair tenderly with her beak.

Cassius’s face softened. “Hello, Asteria.”

He stroked the eagle’s head. An ecstatic trill left her.

Morgan scowled. “Don’t encourage her!”

Leiv slipped off the giant bird.

“It’s like I’m not even here,” the prince said morosely.

Cedric landed beside his brother and gave him a look of commiseration. “I see her passion for the Awakener remains unabated.”

Galliad, Thalia, and Elwyn joined the princes. The five Dryads bowed deeply before Morgan’s sisters.

“Goddesses, it is good to be graced by your presence again,” Leiv said solemnly. “I wish the circumstances of our second meeting were better than our first.”

“Please, rise,” Atropos said kindly.