He shook his head. “Harnessing your heka is our last resort. Auretheos and the others are strong, and the Leviathan can be defeated. Let’s give them the chance to work their powers first.”
I nodded and as if on command, blue light erupted from one of the Gods, hitting the creature in full force. It was halted in its tracks and roared in pain, but recovered quickly , moving towards the shore again.
Another blast of light erupted, this time the light was lightyellow.
The Leviathan was hit, but it did not even stop in its advance. It lifted its tail and brought it back down, causing the ground to crack upon impact. The earth was shaking, many of the soldiers were falling over and the fear on their faces was apparent.
I heard Lythandra then, who had turned towards the soldiers. Her voice carried over to me:
“We won’t back down! Keep the lines! Wait for my command to attack.”
The Gods assembled at the front line, swords ready. The Leviathan hit land and Veridus raised his hands first. White light erupted from him, magic vibrating in the air and flowing out from his palms. For a second I smiled because I imagined what would happen if he told the creature to go and make a sandwich. But my smile quickly faded when the light hit the Leviathan without doing any damage at all.
It was like a snowflake landing on his skin, disappearing between its oily scales.
“Their magic isn’t working,” the Abbot breathed.
“What are they going to do now?”
He didn’t respond, he didn’t have an answer either.
We weren’t prepared for this. In all the time we had done our research we had never considered that the Heralds knew how to summon dark magic. I had never even heard of the Leviathan until today.
“They are going to fight for as long as they can,” was the only answer he could give me.
The soldiers had recovered from the small earthquake and had gotten back up quickly, but their stances were not as sure as they had been an hour ago. The beast roared andeverything happened at once. It seemed to take a deep breath and the Gods looked up in alarm. Theo managed to cast a protective shield, but it wasn’t big enough to encompass the whole army.
Because when the Leviathan exhaled, dark greenish fumes escaped from its nose and mouth, hitting the army in record speed. The soldiers underneath the protective globe stood tall, but the unlucky ones who got hit by the fumes were screaming in agony.
Their skin blistered as if they had been burned and their armors seemed to melt. Their screams were horrific, some of them calling out in different languages, crouching on the ground and trying to shield themselves. When the fumes had cleared, only some of them were still moving, crawling towards the Citadel in an attempt to save themselves.
Theo removed the shield and a row of Gods started riding towards the Leviathan with their swords drawn. Two of the Gods, I recognized them as Kytheron, the God of Forgotten Paths and Lost Travelers and Syranna, Goddess of Distant Winds, were firing arrows towards the Leviathan, hitting it across his neck.
The arrows must have possessed some magical quality, because they actually penetrated its scales. The beast roared in pain and responded with a swipe of its tail, taking out Kytheron and some sentinels behind him. The Gods didn’t stop their approach and launched their spears and arrows towards the Leviathan. One of them hit the beast in the eye and it whirled around in pain. Another Gods launched their magic towards it.
This time the creature had no chance to avert the attack, and the magic hit its target hard and fast. The beast stumbledbackwards. More of the Gods now came forward in a second and third wave, hitting the beast with their powers.
Theo was the last of them to race towards the beast, his purple magic coming in fast and powerful. The Leviathan was retreating towards the ocean, but taking quite a few of the Gods with it. It was impossible to see what was happening to them, some resurfaced, others disappeared in the waters.
Too late I lifted my gaze towards the forest on the other side, where Ignara and about 20 other Gods had appeared. For now, they came riding forward, effectively cutting off the Gods from the rest of the army. But they did not attack the soldiers, they turned towards the Gods who were now trapped between the Leviathan and the Fraction.
Theo understood what was happening first and called out to stop the advance towards the water. It was too late, Ignara had already raised her sword and let loose a wall of fire towards the Gods.
Auretheos was the first to get hit, the heat of the fire burning his arms and legs. He fell off his horse, but got up quickly and responded with a surge of power of his own. Some of the Gods had turned and were sending out their power towards Ignara and her conspirators, while others were still fighting the Leviathan. But with the power of the Gods now split up between two fronts, the Leviathan was winning ground again.
My gaze flew back to Auretheos, who had drawn back and was now kneeling on the ground, surrounded by a ring of Gods who seemed to protect him.
“What is he doing? Why isn’t he fighting back?” I asked the Abbot, confused.
He had a strange expression on his face.
“He is going to sing the Song of Creation.”
And that’s when I heard it. It wasn’t a song with a melody, but I could hear Theo’s deep voice repeating ancient charms, growing louder with each second.
The Abbot jumped up, like he couldn’t sit still any longer.
“The Leviathan was present at the world’s creation, meaning it can be bound or controlled by the Song of Creation. It’s a divine melody that holds the fundamental magic of the universe. Only the God of Wisdom may know the correct verses to sing,” he breathed in awe. “I never thought I would get to hear this sacred vow.”
