Growls and screams filled the caverns of my ears, but I couldn’t see anything aside from the luster of stars.
The magnitude of the power knocked me back into the dirt. Thankfully, my head hit the ground last, my ass taking the brunt of the fall.
For a moment I just laid in the dirt, praying to the gods that I had been successful while I sucked in air, catching my breath.
My eyes opened to find a hand outstretched in front of me, asking to be taken.
Sebastian pulled me to my feet, sweat dripping from his hair and onto his forehead. He sucked my lips into a brief, needy kiss, then turned my body to the steaming mound of Hykah flesh turned stardust.
“Oh thank the gods,” I breathed, hunching at my waist to catch my breath.
“How’s it looking in there?” Sebastian asked Sawyer while pointing through the archway and into the courtyard.
“They got it under control. That's why I came out here, to see if you two?—”
Sawyer's face fell flat, his skin paling and every muscle in his body tensing so much that he nearly looked dead.
My forehead creased. “What? What is it?”
Sawyer—who I didn't even know was capable of feeling fear—was shaking so hard that his finger couldn't even point directly at his target.
Following his direction the best we could, Seb and I looked out into a clearing in the forest, where a Hykah nearly double the size of the others had its marred toes planted in the ground as it rose from a deep crouch. Its seven jewels glimmered from even this distance, a perfect array of gems—all but mine.
“Holy shit,” Sebastian drawled, putting emphasis on each syllable.
He swept me back with his forearm as the Hykah threw a flame in our direction, though its aim was thankfully far off, crashing into the brick over our heads.
“Okay. So I take back what I said about the Hykah from earlier being the alpha. Thatthingis without a doubt the leader.”
“I’d say so,” Sawyer scoffed.
Without any warning, the Hykah scrambled towards us, its knees bending in a new angle and cracking with each step it took. Although it certainly didn't look like it, the Hykah was sprightly. It crossed the threshold that separated us from it in no time at all, suddenly close enough to reach its clawed fingers out and impale Sawyer's chest.
He screamed and threw his body back, ripping the barbed nail from his flesh. “Run back into the courtyard. Now!”
No one argued. We breached the archway, narrowly avoiding flames and shards of ice by launching our bodies onto the bloodied lawn.
The Hykah was much too tall to get through the entryway, but it wasn’t as stupid as it looked. It dropped to its hands and knees, crawling unevenly through the space, its tongue flicking around the inside of its distended, torn jaw.
I didn’t know how many Draemornian soldiers were left, if any, but I called out, “Everyone who's able, shoot your magic at this thing. Now!”
Vision became useless as arrays of colors shot through the air. Flames from Kade. A raging mini tornado crafted by Kohen. Sebastian wielding daggers of ice while Sawyer fired off a malignant surge of water. Even my father—magic-less—joined in the fight, ensuring that any leftover soldiers were taken care of while the rest of us took down the magnificent monster before us.
Saliva aviated. Roars echoed off brick. Claws scraped through the air. Magic from the gods lit up the sky from our soldiers' hands and the Hykah’s.
Using the technique I had practiced with Sebastian in the forest, I blocked off any unnecessary senses and swiftly drew in as much godly power as I could.
Any noise that didn't benefit me, I ignored. Any sights that frightened me were controlled by closing my eyes.
The tangy smell of blood and death was easily overlooked when the Hykah bounded off its hands and knees and dived at me.
Chapter
Fifty-One
What I expected to feel when being suffocated by a creature nearly five times my size, never came.
The breath should have been knocked out of my lungs. My vision should have been dark, fogged with blood. My bones should have been crushed and my muscles should have been torn. But they weren't. I felt perfectly fine aside from my sore behind and the wound on my arm.
