Raven stroked Charlie’s hair back from her eyes. “The spell did work. I saw Aitna rise. They must be fighting it out up there.” She pointed to the palace and the source of the loudest rumble.
Clarissa dug in Nathaniel’s pocket and handed him his pipe. “This would be a great time for some teleporting, Nate.”
Nathaniel lit the tobacco and took a few puffs. “I’m afraid that isn’t an option. Not with our large number. May I suggest we use our wings and the door above the stairs?” He pointed toward the remains of the flight that led to the main level.
“Great. It would figure the only way out is up, where we face Mommy dearest,” Alexander said through his teeth.
Xavier lifted Avery into his arms. Her injuries weren’t healing as quickly as her sister’s, and Colin remembered her magic made it impossible for her to swallow a dragon’s tooth. They needed to get her out of here. She probably needed a healer.
Gabriel hauled Marius to his feet. The eldest dragon looked wrong, hollow somehow, like the shell of a fruit that had been eaten from the inside out. But Colin followed Gabriel’s lead and swept Leena into his arms. Together, they ascended and burst into the palace proper.
“The veranda!” Sylas yelled over the rumble of shaking earth and cracking stone. “We’ve got to get off this mountain before it comes down around us.” But when they reached the aerial entrance to the palace, they pulled up short and took cover behind whatever debris they could find. Colin tucked Leena more tightly into his side.
What once was the palace veranda was now a war zone. The entire first floor had been destroyed, leaving nothing but partial walls, heaps of debris, and cracked stone to indicate where rooms once stood. Even part of the ceiling was missing. A portion of the mountain had crumbled and was melting into lava that flowed over what used to be the palace gardens. The only recognizable thing still standing was Eleanor’s red velvet throne, its ornate but blocky frame cracked and missing part of one armrest but still there.
Eleanor now towered over them, at least twelve feet tall and wielding a lightning whip that crackled through the night air toward Aitna. The true goddess repelled the electric magic with a flaming red sword that gave off an acrid sulfur scent. The red glow of flowing lava and the two full moons backlit their battle. Eleanor thrashed. Aitna slapped the magic away with her sword and thrust forward, slicing into Eleanor’s cheek. The wound healed almost instantly.
“We have to find a way to help Aitna,” Raven said. “There has to be a way to give her the advantage.”
Colin whirled. “I don’t understand. How are there two goddesses? Shouldn’t Eleanor lose her power now that Aitna is back?”
“There are no rules for this. Hera ascended Eleanor. We revived Aitna with energy we siphoned from all of you. The two goddesses are equally matched. They’ll fight until all of Ouros burns if we don’t do something.” Raven studied her daughter and then Gabriel. “I think I know what has to happen. Gabriel, I need your help.” She turned to Avery, but seeing her pale and injured in Xavier’s arms, she turned next to Leena. “Can you take Charlie? It’s too dangerous.”
“Of course.” Leena bravely jaunted out from Colin’s wing and lifted Charlie from her mother’s arms.
Colin watched his mate take the child tenderly and swelled with pride at her bravery. Raven led Gabriel deeper into the palace.
Leena cast him a worried glance. The only thing that separated them from the warring goddesses was the tattered remains of a wall. “Where do you think she’s going that is more dangerous than this?”
Colin shook his head. “I have no idea.”
It didn’t take longfor Raven to return and pull Colin into her plan. Leena remained huddled behind the piece of wall with Charlie in her lap. She was surprised to find she still had her satchel with her, the scrolls safely inside. She had done what she said she would do. She’d guarded the scrolls with her life, and although she planned to leave the order and fully become Colin’s mate if she survived this ordeal, as of today, she remained a scribe.
“It’s okay, Charlie. We’re going to hide right here, and you are going to help me write down everything that happens so that future generations remember.” She dug her spare quill and a blank scroll from her bag, thankful they were both enchanted, the quill to never run out of ink and the parchment to never run out of room. Who knew how long this would go on? With Charlie’s back against her chest and one arm holding her gently in place, Leena positioned her satchel under the parchment on her legs and began to write.
Obsidian Palace
Paragon
Year of the Goddess: ?βιθ, Capricorn 6th
I,Leena of Niven, scribe of the Order of the Sacred Pools, record the unprecedented war between goddesses as it unfolds at the entrance of the Obsidian Palace. Eleanor, empress of Paragon, having used the blood of the child of Raven and Gabriel, drained the power from the true goddess, Aitna, to the point her celestial energy ceased to exist. Hera then ascended Eleanor, making her a goddess of equal power and strength. Eleanor used her newfound power to rain hellfire down on Paragon, turning the tide of the war in favor of the dragons, who can withstand the volcanic heat.
Under the leadership of Raven, the three sisters were able to revive Aitna using the combined magical energy of the Treasure of Paragon. Each of the heirs and the diamond heart of Marius were placed in a circle at the heart of the mountain. The three sisters used their extraordinary power to funnel their energy into Aitna’s remains.
Although the spell worked, Aitna is not strong enough to regain control. Now the two goddesses fight for the mountain. The battle appears to be a stalemate, and the heirs, along with the three sisters, have a plan to tip the scales in Aitna’s favor.
The witch, Raven, has taken charge, giving each of the heirs a part to play in the attack she has orchestrated. Her efforts can’t come soon enough. Eleanor has succeeded in lassoing Aitna in her magic, and the true goddess has fallen to her knees, her fire extinguished wherever Eleanor’s electric whip touches it.
The plan starts with Rowan. She distracts the empress with a story from her youth, how she lost her virginity to a stable boy at sixteen. It doesn’t succeed in breaking Eleanor’s attack on Aitna, but it keeps her from noticing what’s happening behind her.
Alexander draws a large symbol on the obsidian floor behind his mother. Given his work as an artist, this is suited to his abilities. It’s a triangle of Nathaniel’s design with ancient runes at its three points.
Raven motions to Colin. Something is happening. The twins are attacking. While Eleanor struggles to contain Aitna, Sylas and Colin dive and stab at her like biting flies. Eleanor’s attention slips for a moment, and Aitna breaks free, her fiery fist landing a scorching punch to Eleanor’s face. The true goddess has one foot under her. She rises off her knee.
Eleanor’s snapping magic connects with Sylas, and he goes down, but Xavier and Tobias are there to take his place, broadswords swinging. Xavier blocks her magic with an iron blade—his mate’s blade, Fairy Killer. The iron is specially enchanted against some forms of magic.
Gabriel loops a length of chain around Eleanor’s neck and pulls her backward toward the symbol. Alexander joins in the tug-of-war while Nathaniel uses smoke from his pipe to weaken her. Aitna stands, tries to push Eleanor. But the empress is strong. She holds her ground.
