Some of the sentinels were rounding up the remaining Heralds and started leading them towards the citadel dungeons.
One lonely figure was separating themselves from the circle of Gods and started walking towards the water. It was hard to see from the distance who it was, but the figure appeared to be female. Nobody minded her and she moved without any hurry. My attention went back to the sentinels and the prisoners. My heart kicked up a notch as I spotted Ignara. She was on her knees like the rest of them, her hands behind her back.
But the way she looked at Auretheos and the others gave me the chills.
Her stare was icy, but there was a cruel smile on her face.Her lips were moving, although it didn’t appear like she was talking to anyone. The uneasy feeling in my stomach grew, I knew I was missing something. My gaze jerked back to the figure I had seen walking towards the water.
She had disappeared from the shore, like she had disappeared into thin air. Suddenly, she resurfaced, quite literally, from the waves of the ocean. Her arms were raised in the air, and I felt a pang of magic wafting over to me.
It hit me then, who was standing in the water, unnoticed by any of our Gods: Thalora, the Goddess of Oceans and Tides, who had been at the library a few weeks ago. She had told us about where the Heralds would attack and now she was here, in the water, working some sort of magic. I didn’t think twice and grabbed a pen.
“Theo! Look towards the water!”
The second I had finished writing, Theo’s head shot up and he looked towards the sea. He called out to Thalora in alarm, but she stayed where she was.
The surrounding water was reverberating, sending ripples of waves in all directions. Theo and the other Gods unsheathed their swords, and Ignara’s smile was deepening. She had known what was about to happen, because she had orchestrated this “loss” of the Heralds. They had drawn our army towards the water because something or someone was coming from these waters.
Theo shouted commands and the stunned soldiers looked towards the water but obeyed. They left the Heralds standing before the Citadel with their hands bound and raced towards the rest of the army. The Gods formed a united line, theDreadshade Legion close behind them.
Ignara jumped to her feet, signaling other Gods to do the same. They rose to their feet from where they had been hiding between the Heralds, but I did not recognize either of them. Instead of joining Thalora though, the Fraction Gods disappeared into thin air.
Theo called out again towards Thalora, but she looked like a stone pillar and didn’t react to any outside noise.
Lythandra separated from the group and raced towards the water, ten men from the Dreadshade army by her side. Before she could reach Thalora, a blaze of energy erupted around the Goddess of Oceans and Tides. The ground was shaking beneath my feet and the air vibrated with a dark kind of power that I had never felt before.
The waves of the ocean were rising. Was she planning on flooding the battlefield?
It turned out that what she had in store for us was much worse than that, because out of the depth of the ocean a roar echoed through the sky.
A roar so loud and deep that I felt it deep in my bones, raising the hairs on my arms and back. And then all hell broke loose, as a giant monster broke through the surface of the water, rising up high into the air and sending out another booming roar that nearly knocked me over.
What were we going to do now?
Chapter 35
The monster was huge, towering above the bay, looking as if it could easily wipe out our army with one swipe of its tail. The creature’s scales seemed to shimmer with a dark, oily hue, constantly shifting between shades of black, deep blue, and green, as though the sea coursed through its skin. Its head was a terrifying sight: long and serpentine, with multiple sets of glowing, slitted eyes running along the sides of its skull, burning like molten gold. It had a gaping maw filled with jagged, razor-sharp teeth, each the size of a small ship’s mast, designed to shred anything that crossed its path.
Running along its spine were massive, bone-like spines that rose out of the water like jagged cliffs, dripping with seaweed and barnacles as if it had slumbered for centuries in the deepest abyss. It lifted its tail up into the air, only to slam it back down so hard that waves of water were rushing towards us. One of the Gods put up a shield to stop the water from hitting the soldiers. That seemed to anger the creature even more and it started moving towards our army, towards Theo.
I jerked when suddenly I felt a hand on my arm and drew the dagger.
“Maelis, it’s me!” The Abbot held his hands up.
I released a sigh and put the dagger back into my boot.
“What is this thing?” I asked, looking back to where the monster was now approaching slowly.
The Abbot’s face was an unreadable mask as always, but his voice was hard and cold.
“The Leviathan is a creature of ancient chaos, resistant to most divine attacks. Its size and power can cause tidal waves, it can summon tempests and its presence may start to corrupt the battlefield.”
I looked towards him, “What does that mean?”
The Abbot watched as the Gods summoned their powers to attack.
“There is no telling what it will do. Waters could turn toxic, and even the land could crack and warp under its chaotic influence. The Leviathan was chained in the depth of the ocean because of its horrendous power, but these stupid mortals and the traitorous Gods freed it.” The Abbot spat out those last words and hate twisted his features.
“So if you are here, does that mean we have no chance of defeating it? Are you here to harness my powers?” I whispered.
