“How are we supposed to know, Willawood two?” Sawyer responded, running a hand over his face. “Those things are freakin’ugly.”
“Are there more?” I asked, peering through the semi-translucent icy barrier. The Hykah still wandered around the courtyard, its pointed snout sniffing the air. Gods, I hoped no one else was out there.
I turned to Delani. “Go warn Archer and the others.”
She nodded, taking off in a sprint down the corridor.
My bravery found me, swallowing me in one large gulp. “If it's the only one, we should try to kill it. Sure, we could stay hidden and hope that it leaves, but I’d rather not test our luck.”
To my surprise, Sebastian agreed with me. “I would imagine cutting its head off would work, but I don’t think my sword can reach the right angle that high. The thing is like eight feet tall.”
“Do you think it came with the Draemornians that followed Leighton?” Sawyer asked Sebastian.
“I would think it would have killed them. Or tried to, at least. Unless the Draemornians have a way to control it, which is possible, though I don’t know how you regulate something like that.”
Leaning forward, I peered back through the ice. The Hykah prowled around the courtyard, its arms dangling by its sides while it searched for its prey—us.
With a sharp jerk of its skull, black eyes locked on to mine through the icy glass, and every nerve in my body stilled.
Sawyer yanked me back just in time for a blast of fire to hit the barricade, burning a perfect hole in Sebastian's wall of ice.
“Fuck!” one of them cursed, backing us up further onto the staircase behind us.
“Do you think mental shields will work against it?” I asked, though I doubted it.
“Unlikely,” Sawyer replied. “Too powerful.Wayyytoo powerful.”
Sebastian extended his magic and reinforced his wall, filling in the gap with pointed shards of ice. “Stay out of sight,” he ordered, holding me back with his free arm and glaring down at me. “No one is dying today.”
“Someone is going to die if we don’t kill that thing first,” I stated. Maybe not one of us, but there were homes all over Lumosia, and that thing didn’t look like it had any intention of granting mercy.
“Any suggestions on how to do that?” Sawyer inquired with a snap. He unsheathed his sword. “If what Kohen suggested is true about them needing to be killed by a god, then we're fucked.”
I contemplated for a second before a thought struck me. “Maybethe powerof the gods will be enough. We're all gifted, therefore we all hold an element of the gods within us. Maybe that alone is enough to destroy them.”
“If we're going by that logic, then anyone without a jewel would be unable to kill them? What if they cut its head off, would it just regrow?” Sawyer asked, plain cut sarcasm laced in his voice.
I shrugged off the acidity of the comment. “Maybe, and forgive me because this is going to sound horrible, but maybe anyone ungifted doesn't stand a chance against the creatures anyway. I mean, if Delani approached that thing without any magic, it would kill her before she even knew what was happening.” I shuddered at the horrific thought, but it was the stone-cold truth.
“I don't like that,” Sawyer deadpanned.
“Let’s try the old fashioned way first,” Sebastian suggested, drawing his sword from his thigh sheath. “If that doesn't work, we can try the magic theory.”
“What a great time for trial and error,” I snarked, rolling my eyes.
I had a better idea, but neither of them would like it. I could potentially take care of this problem in a matter of seconds, but needed to throw them off.
“Wait. Since I have you both here,” I glanced between the two of them, “can you please apologize and make up?”
Their absolutely stunned expressions matched, and if we weren't on the brink of being attacked by a freakish hybrid, it would have made me laugh.
“Are you serious right now?” Sebastian deadpanned.
My nonchalance was forced. “Yeah. One of us could die trying to kill this thing. And it would be really unfortunate if it was one of you, and you two hadn't made up yet.”
In sync, they glared at me, each other, then back at me, not missing a beat.
Neither spoke.
