Page 96 of A Warrior's Heart

“Someone make him stop,” Shar said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “He’s giving me anxiety with his constant moving.”

Reif grabbed my tail fin and prevented me from swimming. “Got him.”

Sighing, I crossed my arms and floated on my back in the water. Hearing a distant rumble, I shot to an upright position. “What’s that?”

Ervin’s eyes widened. “The temple is shaking.”

“Shaking?” I swam forward, only to be caught by the tail again by Reif. “As in it’s going to collapse? But they’re still inside!”

The rumble intensified as one area of the temple caved in on itself. Dust clouded upward as the stones fell. Reif pulled me against him as he swam away from the building, shielding my body from any falling debris.

“Lorcan!” Alek screamed, dashing toward the entrance. Ervin and Nereus yanked him backward, and he fought against their hold, his voice cracking as he yelled, “Release me! I have to help him!”

A cry tore from my throat as more of the temple collapsed. Two of the people I loved most in this world were inside. “Malik!”

And then I saw it, a flash of gold.

Malik burst through the opening with Lorcan secured in his arms, exiting as the rest of the temple fell behind them. One second later and they would’ve been trapped inside. Crushed.

Shaking with relief, I shoved away from Reif and swam toward Malik, desperate to reach him.

“I’m okay,” he murmured as I threw my arms around his neck.

Alek had attacked Lorcan much the same, holding Lor close to his chest.

“The trident,” I whispered in awe as my gaze fell to the weapon in Lorcan’s hand.

The golden spear had three points at the top, and symbols were etched into the shaft. I had no magic in my veins, yet I could still feel the power of the trident. My scalp prickled, and the hairs on my arms stood on end.

Alek ghosted his fingers along the three points. “I’ve never felt such power.”

“That’s saying a lot coming from you,” Reif said in his gruff voice. “You used to hold the power of ten mages inside you.”

“My old power pales in comparison to this.” Alek lowered his hand. “It’s infused with arcane runes and blood magic. A weapon meant for a god.”

“Or the son of one,” Lorcan said.

“Let’s return to the others.” Malik rested a hand on my back.

“What do we do now that we have the trident?” Nereus asked as we made our way back to the portal to leave the lost city.

“Return to Avalontis,” Lorcan answered. “James’ army cannot reach us there. We need to gather the commanders and formulate a plan.”

“Maybe once King James knows we have the trident, he will rethink the war.” I peered over at Malik. “Right?”

“Unlikely,” he responded. “The trident is powerful, yet I doubt it can stop an entire army by itself. We have the advantage, but the war isn’t won yet.”

Ervin nodded, silently agreeing with Malik.

I breathed a sigh of relief once we passed through the portal and returned to the open sea. The murky water of Atlantis was gone, as was the overbearing weight that had pushed down on my chest while inside the city.

I had once imagined the city to be wondrous, but the reality of it was far from amazing. I could only describe it as tragic.

Fish joined us on our journey back to shore, swimming around Lorcan a moment before dashing off in the other direction. Even moving at a swift speed, it took a while to reach the land. Once we did, we shifted back to our human forms and walked onto the beach.

Something in the sand caught my eye, and I knelt to study the smears of red. “Blood?”

A decapitated head landed in front of me. I screamed and jumped backward. It was one of the assassins who’d stayed behind. Marlin, maybe? Lusca? Tears welled in my eyes as fear struck my heart.