Page 16 of The Gods We Defy (All Gods Must Die #2)

CHAPTER 16

“ W hat’s the plan?” Hunter says, appearing behind us. I didn’t even hear him approach. He’s stealthy. Something that I guess will come in handy.

“There are more crystals on the back of the sea dragon,” Oryn says, sharing a look with me.

“What are you talking about?” Indira asks.

“Along its back, halfway down. Look for yourselves.” Oryn and I move back out of the way while the others take turns looking.

Yasmin curses before sharing a worried look with Indira.

“I’m not drawn to any of the other ones, are you?” Oryn asks them.

“No,” Indira replies, voicing what the others must be thinking.

Hael groans, scrubbing a hand down his face. “So, what are we going to do now? We can’t distract it and lure it away.”

“Can’t we?” I ask, and the group turns to look at me. “You all just said that you’re drawn to them. If that’s the case, we only need one person to retrieve them. The others can still distract it.”

“Okay, so who is going to volunteer to be the retriever? Because I sure as hell do not want to be the one climbing that thing,” Yasmin says.

“Two should go. One in case the other… fails,” Hael says with a wince, but he’s right. If we’re going to pull this off, we need to go with the best plan.

“What mix of powers do we have to work with?” Hael asks, and Yasmin immediately answers.

“Indira and Seren’s Sidus net are not strong enough to hold something that large. I can’t shadow in this cave, and I doubt any weapons we create or have will harm it.”

“So, a distraction,” I say. “Something big enough to draw its attention.” I look out and glance up to the ledge the sea dragon is on. “If we can get up onto that ledge while it’s moving down, two can climb on its back.”

They all look at me like I’ve lost my mind, but what other options do we have?

Yasmin shakes her head, trying to clear it. “Say any of that works. What’s our distraction? How do we even lure it away?”

“The crystals,” I tell her. “The shiny ones scattered around the cave. Vidarr said it’s the sea dragon’s treasure. I doubt it will want anyone touching them. If we can take enough of them, it will surely follow.”

Indira chokes out a laugh. “So my two options are, be chased by a massive sea dragon or try to climb on top of it?” she asks with wide eyes full of fear and shock.

“Looks that way,” Hael says with a chuckle. “Come on, it will be fun. When are you ever going to get to say you’ve ridden a dragon?”

“Who in their right mind would want to?!” She narrows her eyes on Hael. “I’m leaning more toward the possibility that you are psycho. Just not in the way we originally thought.”

The light in his eyes grows. “There are plenty of other versions of my psycho that I think you might enjoy.”

Indira clears her throat before glancing away, making Hael’s chuckle grow.

She peeks out of the cave again before looking back at us all with a frown. “I hate both options, just so you know.”

“I don’t think we have a choice,” Yasmin says to her softy.

Hael rubs his hands together. “Let’s—” A thunderous roar that bellows out around us cuts his words off, shaking the cave's foundation.

Our plan quickly falls apart as a group of chosen appear. They don’t notice us yet, too focused on the sea dragon.

I have to admire their bravery, or complete stupidity, as they spread out around the cave while the sea dragon rears up.

A male chosen with a pure gold mask stands at the edge of the water. He waits patiently as the dragon roars in anger before it moves down from the ledge and shoots into the water.

“Look at them. They’re completely ignoring the other crystals and focusing on the sea dragon. How did they know? We only just figured it out,” Oryn asks with a frown.

“Vidarr probably gave them a heads up,” Hael answers, his eyes not leaving the scene in front of us.

I watch and wait to see what their plan is. Maybe they can be the distraction we need. The others seem to think the same as we share a silent look.

At soon as the dragon slams into the water, the chosen who is waiting at the edge of the water places his hand on its surface and it immediately ices over, trapping the sea dragon in the middle of the room. It thrashes against the ice, breaking it over and over as it forms anew. But as soon as it cracks, more ice forms growing thicker and thicker until the creature can barely move an inch.

The sea dragon sends out another angry roar. And although it’s unable to move, the cave around us feels its wrath as it trembles and shakes. Chunks of rock fall from the high ceiling and the walls begin to crumble.

“I guess that’s one way to do it,” Indira says, still watching the chaos unfolding before us.

“You wanted a better option,” Hael says, glancing at her. “Here it is.” He moves out of the cave without a thought or a plan and makes a running jump, landing on the back of the sea dragon.

The other chosen spot him and move toward the dragon. But Hael is quick and starts prying the crystals from the dragon’s back. My eyes widen when I spot the gold masked chosen creating ice daggers and directing them toward Hael.

I run, throwing my sword and blocking one of the ice daggers aimed at his head, revealing our hiding spot to the other chosen.

Hael quickens his pace, throwing a dark blue crystal each to Yasmin, Indira, Oryn, and Nevan. He gets another off before the ice weapons move from the dragon to target us instead.

I spin out of the way, and the others scatter while more and more ice daggers, spears, and swords shoot toward us.

Finding a boulder, I duck behind it while the cave continues to crumble. Hearing something above, I glance up and find an enormous, jagged rock shaking loose. I run and dive, barely making it out of the way before it smashes where I was hiding.

Glancing over at Hael, I watch him slip sideways, trying to avoid an ice sword. I make a move toward him when my body is yanked backward into a crumbling cave wall, back and back until I slam into another.

I slump to the ground as sharp, tight pain slashes across my back, making it impossible to draw a breath. The loud ringing in my ears makes me dizzy and clumsy as I try to get up, quickly slumping back to the ground with a gasp.

Black spots fill my vision as the world spins and sways around me. I wait a minute for it to pass and try to get up again, but the world quickly dips once more.

Squeezing my eyes tight, I try to shake off the dizziness and clear my vision. It takes another couple of minutes, but the swaying slows down to a stop. Using my hands, I push up against the ground and get to my feet.

Steadying myself, I take a step forward when a terrifying roar sounds out around me. I grab my head as the sound shoots straight through me, making it throb in pain.

Focusing outside the pain of my body, I try to get my bearings but quickly get lost trying to make my way back to the others.

Another roar rings out around me and I wince, realizing I can use it to pinpoint their location.

Stumbling my way through the crumbling cave, I stop and listen for each howling roar and following the sound I make my way back to the sea dragon’s cavern.

It takes far longer than I hoped, but I eventually find the spot where I was thrown. Stepping over the broken rock, I move into the cavern only to freeze, my stomach dropping and twisting when I find it empty.

No chaos. No chosen, including Yasmin, Indira, or the others. No one.

There are no bodies, which is also a relief. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re all alive.

I swallow hard against the lump in my throat. Oryn and the others are strong. They made it out of here. They had to.

My gaze finally falls on the mountain of ice in the center of the cavern, my chest tightening when I realize what I’m looking at.

The sea dragon. There are ice spears, daggers, and swords sticking out of every inch of its immense body.

Following the lines of red falling from its wounds, I move closer and gasp in horror when I spot the pool of deep red that flows around it, seeping into the ice.

It groans, a low, deep sound that breaks my heart. It’s going to die here, suffering and in pain.

They didn’t have to kill it. They already had it trapped. They could have easily taken the crystals just as Hael did.

The Olliphéist groans in pain, a deep, low, sorrowful sound that makes my heart ache for it.

Without thinking, I take a step toward it, moving onto the thick ice. It watches me silently, the pain in its eyes only drawing me closer until I’m standing in front of it.

Groaning and keening, it lifts its enormous head with effort, but it doesn’t attack. It just stares at me silently for a moment.

I reach my hand to it, and instead of biting it off, it leans in, closing its eyes.

Something warm spreads across my chest, spreading through my limbs and body before seeping in and around my head and every pain and ache disappears.

It healed me. But why?

“Thank you,” I whisper to it and its eyes open, silently staring at me once more. The warmth in my chest gets warmer and warmer while its eyes begin to glow shimmering gold. They get brighter and brighter, but I’m unable to look away. My chest gets hot, my body trembles. No longer able to stand, I drop to my knees in front of this gorgeous beast, breathing heavily.

The glow in its eyes finally dims, releasing me from its hold.

Groaning, it moves to the side and dips its head toward its chest. Opening its mouth, it breaks off something before placing it before me.

Sending out another sound full of mourning, I watch on in horror as its body grows darker. More red floods the water and the ice around us and with one last soft roar, the Olliphéist closes its eyes.

Shock and sadness fill me as I watch the beautiful creature turn to stone before my eyes. A heavy tightness now replaces the warmth that filled my chest moments ago.

A crack of ice opens across the water as the dragon slowly sinks. It grows larger and larger, parting to give way for the sea dragon’s final resting place.

Scrambling to my feet, I grab the object it placed before me and quickly make my way back over to the cave floor.

“May the light guide you, the darkness lead you, and the night welcome you a safe passage home,” I whisper.

When the dragon has sunk beneath the depths, I glance down at the item it left for me and clear the dust from it. My heart picks up speed, thundering in my chest and ears when I realize what it is.

A crystal. But unlike the ones on its back. This one is completely black.

Relief fills me the longer I look at it and can feel how much it draws me to it.

I still have a chance to make it out of here. The others had their crystals, so I can only hope they are able to make it out alive.

A rumble shakes the ground beneath my feet, quickly dragging me away from my thoughts. I glance up and watch the cave around me crumble once more, but this time with a vengeance. As if the cave is an entity of its own and is mourning the sea dragon.

Quickly pocketing the crystal, I silently thank the Olliphéist before finding the nearest open passageway, hoping it will lead me out of here.

The floor beneath me trembles once and it cracks open. I push my body to its limit and run, jumping from one ledge to another.

Quickly glancing over my shoulder, my eyes widen when I see the destruction that is following me. I push my legs faster, but foolishly misjudge the next jump I make and fall through the opening crack.

I call on my Sidus light to catch myself, but it’s too late. The ground opens its mouth wider and wider beneath me, swallowing me whole.