Total pages in book: 401
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 390373 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1952(@200wpm)___ 1561(@250wpm)___ 1301(@300wpm)
Within seconds, no ceeren remained inland or in the bay. But…
But something else did.
Something ancient and forgotten was pulling itself from deep within the crevices of the seafloor. Something that had once existed in the lakes of fire found within the Abyss.
I could feel it.
My descent picked up as I dragged in a breath. It stung my throat and scorched my lungs. Feeling returned to my limbs just in time for me to land. The impact was jarring, and I staggered, my legs feeling nearly boneless. Black spots scattered across my vision.
A strong, warm arm caught me around the waist. “I’ve got you.” Casteel’s rich, deep voice was soft against the crown of my head.
Heart thumping, I clutched at his shirt, the black spots dancing in my vision. I blinked rapidly, trying to clear them away. “Cas,” I gasped. “Something is coming.”
We turned just as the entire wharf shook. Structures groaned and creaked, and fissures in the Rise cracked like thunder. The sound of screams rose from Wayfair’s courtyard.
Kieran was suddenly at our sides, his arm against my back as the bay started to froth and bubble. The water boiled.
Without warning, the realm seemed to heave with a violent force, hurling us into the air. My breath punched from my lungs as I hit the ground hard. Stunned for a heartbeat, I managed to turn my head, discovering I was several feet from Casteel and Kieran.
Dragging in a ragged breath, I rolled onto my side as the ships in the bay rocked until the hulls rose completely from the water—the retreating water.
That wasn’t good.
Not at all.
Soft fur brushed my cheek as Delano appeared at my side. He crouched over my waist and legs as the water continued to race away from the shore—
A wave shot into the air as a massive, bone-white and rotten limb—a tentacle covered in brine—whipped out of the water, slamming down on the exposed damp soil littered with dead fish. The edges smashed through a pier as another tentacle lashed through the air. Beneath its shadow, men scrambled along the deck—
No. No. No.
I summoned the eather, but it sputtered weakly. I tried again, horror shaking my breath.
The tentacle exploded the ship, flinging wood and steel beams in every direction. Eather pulsed weakly in my chest, responding to the sudden deaths—
The creature—a leviathan—came aground, its bony tentacles crashing through the tin roofs of warehouses, sending brick and boards flying.
Poppy. Delano’s fresh, springy imprint brushed against my thoughts as slivers of something I rarely felt from the wolven scraped at my skin.
Bitter fear.
I tore my gaze from the remains of the ship to see the horizon bulge—no, it wasn’t the horizon. It was the towering wall of water rising as high as the city’s Rise.
I’d never seen anything like it.
A deep, thunderous roar filled the air as the wave surged, racing toward the shore—toward us.
“Run,” I whispered to Delano. It was a desperate plea, one I knew wouldn’t matter. No one could outrun that.
“You need to run,” I told him anyway.
Never.
“Delano,” I gasped, my heart twisting as I tried to summon the eather to shadowstep us, but it only flared and then faded.
Terror wrapped itself around my heart as I willed myself to move. To get up. My muscles trembling, all I was able to do was grab a fistful of fur and hold on to Delano. Even that caused me to pant for breath.
“Please,” I whispered, my vision blurring as I twisted my head to the side, searching for Casteel and Kieran. Both were scrambling toward us as Delano sank low, pressing his body against mine.
“Poppy!” Casteel shouted, his figure blurring as he started to shadowstep.
It was too late.
Even if they made it to my side, it wouldn’t matter.
It was too late.
CASTEEL
A sudden burst of silver light lit up the wharf.
The draken—the female, Aurelia.
She dove over Wayfair’s inner Rise, her greenish-brown wings grazing the tops of roofs as she released another stream of silver-tinged flames at what I knew was a leviathan—a kraken—but my brain refused to accept it. The creature roared, shaking the ground as it turned, slamming its limbs down. The deafening crack of another building exploding thundered through the air. The fiery eather seemed to do little to nothing to the beast.
“Fuck,” Kieran gasped. I caught a flash of gold—pure golden light.
My head snapped toward him. Gold eather swirled along his neck and cheeks. I followed his stare, and my gut clenched.
“Run!” Kieran shouted, twisting toward Sage. The wolven was on the wharf, frozen. “Godsdamn it, run!”
Sage jerked, letting out a pained howl as she turned and darted down an alley, dodging debris flying through the air.
I’d seen that kind of wave before as a young boy. The ground had shaken, and then a massive wave came inland, washing away the small city between Aegea and Evaemon. There had been no escaping it. Nothing to be done.