The Wild Moon by Riley Storm

Chapter Forty-Seven

This time, I lost the battle.

Seconds after we reappeared, I emptied what little there was in my stomach all over the ground.

“Sorry,” I croaked. “But you’ve really got to learn to warn me before you do that. This is all your fault.”

“You have to go.”

No apology, no remorse, nothing but stony dismissal from Vir.

“I just got here,” I said. “Shouldn’t we try to figure out why before you dismiss me?”

He lifted a finger and pointed. “You have to go. Now.”

I looked at where he was pointing.

We weren’t back in his lair like I’d suspected but instead were at the entrance to a tunnel, much like, if not the same one, I’d emerged from. Back when I was young and naïve and thought gods were nothing but stories and fairytales.

“The barrier,” I said, unsettled at the thought.

Vir nodded. “I’ll fight them off for as long as I can, but I cannot risk getting trapped when the warriors arrive.”

“Warriors?” I croaked, vastly unsettled at the way Vir, a freaking god, didn’t want to combat these foes. How dangerous were they?

“Get through the barrier, Dani. Now, before it’s too late.”

I swallowed nervously but nodded, making my way slowly down the tunnel, hands out in front of me, shuffling forward so I didn’t slam face-first into the barrier.

Frustrated by our slow pace, Vir thrust a hand out, and blue fire leaped forward, highlighting the barrier for me, perhaps twenty feet ahead.

“Thanks,” I muttered, moving swiftly to its edge, my fingers brushing against the invisible wall that blocked my path.

I grunted and pushed against it, determined to do as Vir asked. If he said it was dangerous, I had no reason to doubt him. The faster I got through the barrier, the sooner he could escape without drawing the so-far unseen invaders after him.

Like before, however, the barrier didn’t give. I pushed, and it shrugged my strength off. Setting my feet, I leaned into it, trying to get more leverage to push my way through the wall.

“Vir, this isn’t going to work,” I said, doubt entering my mind. “I don’t know how to do this.”

“You must,” he said. “You made it here. That means you got through the barrier.”

“I know,” I ground out. “That doesn’t mean I have any idea how, Vir. It just sort of happened. I was also in the middle of a fight with my stupid ex.”

“Your Soulbound mate, yes.”

I stared at the giant god. “You know about that?”

He stared at me.

“Right. God and all that,” I muttered, spinning a finger in the air. “Must be nice.”

Vir chuckled. “It has its perks sometimes.”

I nodded. “Vir, if you’re so knowing, can you tell me what the barrier is? Why is it there? Why can nobody get through, not even you?”

Watching a freaking god look troubled and unsettled was not an experience a mortal should ever feel comfortable with. Even when they were as sexy as Vir, the uncertainty he was showing was enough to leave me terrified. I much preferred the Alpha, all-knowing version of him better. It instilled confidence in me that this look did not.

“It protects the Earth,” he said quietly.

I didn’t have to know from what. It was quite obvious he was referring to the unseen enemy whose bones literally covered the ground around us.

“I don’t understand. I mean, I get that it’s a barrier that protects Earth. But where did it come from?”

Vin stared at me stonily. Some secrets were apparently not for human knowledge.

“What happened when it went up?” I asked.

“All contact with Earth was lost,” he said. “There was no way in, no way out.”

I thought about that for a moment. Vir had said the Direen had been a wasteland for a thousand years.

“That was why you became myth and legend,” I said quietly. “We didn’t turn from you. Nor did you abandon us. The city of Shuldar, the one on the other side of the barrier. It was built here because of this passage between Earth and the Direen, wasn’t it?”

Vir nodded.

“And when the barrier went up, nobody understood what happened. But without gods, they eventually denied your existence and the city lost its importance.”

“I would assume that’s true,” Vir said. “I was rather busy, though.”

“But why the barrier?” I asked. “Why couldn’t you and the other shifter gods stop them?”

Vir’s eyes looked down. “We tried,” he said quietly.

“Where are they now?” I asked, fearing the answer.

The giant god turned and walked back to the tunnel entrance. He lifted an arm and pointed at the nearest hill, similar to the one I appeared on in my dreams.

“Lorana,” he said, naming the shifter god of the shift.

His arm swung to another hill. “Irr.”

“The god of death,” I whispered.

Another hill. “Mino.”

And another. “Terrano.”

I stared, aghast, as his arm swung across the horizon.

“Rase. Shax. Kline.”

“They’re dead,” I whispered. “All of them?”

Vir nodded.

There was one god he hadn’t mentioned, I realized at the end, swinging to face him.

“What about Amunlea? Your empress? She’s supposed to be the most powerful of all of you.”

Vir turned without speaking, stalking back down the tunnel. “Come, it is time you left. We don’t have long. We shouldn’t have wasted this time.”

I hurried after him, the fire-ringed barrier staring at me. Taunting me.

“Are you sure you’ll be okay if I go?” I asked. “It must be…lonely here.”

“It is for the best,” Vir said, tilting his head at the barrier. “Now, go through.”

“What about Johnathan and the others?” I asked quietly. “If I go through, they’ll kill me. They’re probably waiting.”

“They’re gone,” Vir said. “Besides, they might kill you. The enemy will.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.

“And eat you, I might add.”

“Ew. Gross.” I stormed up to the barrier, tracing its outline, feeling for a weakness, a point with give. Anything.

“Hurry,” Vir said.

I looked over my shoulder to see that Giant Sex God was gone. In his place stood Vir, Champion of Amunlea. The golden spear he gripped in his right hand was easily as tall as I was, probably closer to seven feet long. The wolf head sitting atop his broad shoulders glowed with blue fire, while foot-long horns sprouted from the top of his head.

Golden armor appeared from thin air, draping his shoulders, secured around his torso. Bracers of some unknown dark metal protected his arms. I noticed a dagger strapped to his side.

No, not a dagger. A sword. It just looks like a dagger on him.

“Get moving, Danielle Wetter,” the Champion of Amunlea growled, his voice powerful enough to shake the cavern, pebbles and rock dust falling down.

I swallowed nervously. Less than ten feet behind me, a god was preparing to go to war. Somehow, I felt like this wasn’t something humans were supposed to be a part of. The power he contained was shimmering the very air around us.

“I’m trying,” I said, refocusing my efforts, pushing against the barrier, willing it to let me through. “Trust me. I’m trying.”

A ghostly wail filtered down the tunnel.

“We are out of time,” the Champion growled. “They are here.”

I was nearly knocked to the ground as Vir strode to the tunnel entrance to meet the enemy in battle. Each step released power, its energy washing over me.

Clearly, he was holding back when it was just the two of us.

A mighty roar filled the tunnel, nearly bursting my eardrums. I screamed.

“Let me through!” I shrieked, my wolf howling her agreement.

Nothing was happening.

Looking over my shoulder, I saw Vir battling the enemy. His spear moved so fast it appeared like a golden wall in front of him. Bits and pieces of whatever he was fighting sprayed around him, the spear spinning so swiftly everything was chopped into fine bits that adhered to the tunnel exterior.

“You must go!” Vir said. “Now that they’ve found us, the warriors will be here soon.”

“I’m trying!” I shouted.

“Try harder!” he bellowed. “Or we both die!”