Water? I ask. That might do something.
But before Hyperion can respond, Thunar pivots, and a horrifyingly large pillar of flame leaves his body, aimed right at my chest. As it hits me, punching into the center of my body, I prepare to die. The flames are so hot they’re blue. Only, the flames don’t harm me any more than ours seemed to hurt him.
Have we leveled up?
I’ve barely had the thought when Thunar flips his wings up vertically, stopping like a wall, and twists, slamming me with his massive, extended claws. I might withstand the extreme heat he can create better than I expected, but I’m not invincible to the brute force of his mauling.
His talons rake enormous furrows down the side of my body, slicing through my scales like a schooner through the ocean. Blood sprays like water, probably thanks to the heat he just hit me with. But as he finally disengages, his claws rip past my wing, shredding the end of it.
No matter how hard I pump, I can’t seem to fly properly, not anymore.
Now I’m the one who’s about to see how I do with being submerged in water. As I careen downward and the waves rise to meet me, I realize I’m leaving Hyperion to fight him alone.
No, Liz says. Don’t die!
I’m not, I say. Or at least, I don’t think so. I’m not much of a swimmer, but now Hyperion’s up there alone. I snap my head up as my body hits the water, and I can barely make out Thunar blasting Hyperion. I assume he’ll do the same thing to him that he just did to me. Soften with flame, slice with overwhelming force.
After hitting the water like a freight train, I plow downward, down, down, down. Things are moving alongside me—fish? Other blessed? Whales? I have no idea. I’m going too fast, and it’s too dark, and I don’t love the water. The ribbons of blood streaming away from my body aren’t a great sign, but most importantly, I have to figure out how to slow my motion downward. . .and then move my way back up.
Hyperion needs me.
Here. A strange pulse of magic rushes through my bond after Liz’s message. Heal your body and your wing. Go help him.
I’m not sure what we can do. Even flaming back and forth repeatedly, we can’t harm Thunar.
But you can wear him down. Remember what happened to Gaia after building your wedding platform?
When I was planning on mating with Asteria.
It was a terrible time, but she’s brilliant. We don’t have to kill Thunar. We just have to survive while he burns through his energy reserves while not yet bonded to a human. Another pulse of magic shoots through the bond. Where’s that coming from?
The heart stone. I ran in and got it.
I wish she was just hiding, but I appreciate her help. I shove raw magic at my wing, and it starts to heal just as I start to choke on the salt water all around me.
Turns out, water and flame aren’t the best mix.
For an all-powerful demon with wings, you’re kind of pitiful, Liz says. Portal out. Kick your thick, squatty legs. Do something, anything so you don’t die under there, you big lump.
Kicking proves ineffective, and I start to feel. . .not great. Portaling requires a clear image of where I’m going, and the wherewithal to?—
You’re lecturing me on magical theory right now? The bond practically bristles with irritation. Hyperion’s DYING. Figure it out!
I try, and I thrash, but everything I do shoves me down farther in the dark, confusing water until. . .Euphrasia shoots past, spinning around me in a tight circle. She does what she did when I was much smaller and somehow sends me breathable air under here. Then another blessed joins her, and another, and within a few beats, I can breathe easily again. It’s so much easier to heal when I can actually process the air around me.
The water blessed each take one part of my body—a ridge, a claw, the joint where my wing meets my back—and they begin pulsing upward, dragging me along with them. As we move up, it grows lighter and brighter, and I feel less buried.
He flew out over all this water for a reason, Euphrasia says. He knew if he could simply knock you under. . .
He’ll do the same to Hyperion.
Euphrasia has gotten me back up to the top of the ocean. He just did. We’ll go help him next.
Then he’ll attack you.
Euphrasia blinks, seemingly unconcerned. I’ve lived a long time. I’m willing to take the risk.
As am I, a water blessed I don’t even know says.
