To Kill a God by C.S. Wilde
Chapter 29
Bast didn’t havetime to wonder how Azinor had entered the mainland with a fucking waterdragon without being noticed, because he had to dodge a scorching plasma burst. The green substance—a mix of molten lava and gas—missed Bast, yet bulls-eyed a Summer Sidhe who’d been flying next to him.
The poor bastard didn’t even scream. His flesh had already melted, and when the green storm faded, only his charred bones remained. They clanked against one another as they dropped to the ground.
Explosions boomed from the distance, coming from the waterline. One by one, the nightbringers guarding the shore blew up in red clouds. When Bast narrowed his eyes, he spotted a second beast zinging above the sea. It spewed green blaze at the remaining ships, enveloping the akritanas on the surface in a deadly stream.
“Mera!” he bellowed, ready to get back to her.
“Broer, wait! I need you here.” Corvus shouted from above, then addressed a group of Sidhe behind him. “Divide!”
Half of the sky battalion rushed toward the sea, flying past Bast. He thought he spotted Fallon leading them, but he couldn’t be sure.
The waterdragon began to go after them, but Bast shot a gush of night and stars at the beast, calling its attention, and Azinor’s. The suket glowered at him as his pet turned.
Halle, Bast’s magic hadn’t even made a dent on his shield. The creature zinged toward him, its wings flapping loudly.
Corvus was right. Bast had to stay. If he wanted to help Mera, he needed to defeat Azinor and his waterdragon there, on land.
His darkness rose around him, his hands fisting. He was ready.
A group of Autumn Sidhe on the left suddenly shot their magic at the beast, halting its advance before it got to Bast. Their orange and golden power slammed against the invisible shield, but failed to pierce it.
When a loud boom came from the distance, one of the things called jets zinged closer, firing mercilessly at the suket and his beast, giving the sky battalion a good advantage.
“Shield wall!” Someone yelled down below, a witch clad in black ops clothing, who led a battalion of twenty Evanorians near the stony breakwater.
The runes tattooed on their hands, arms, and faces glowed all colors of the rainbow, and then a magic shield that looked like a soap bubble enveloped most of the promenade.
Bast wondered why they’d done it, when he spotted automatons emerging from the water. They ventured through the beach slowly, each step heavy against the sand. Their eyes shone bright red, a stark contrast to the blue irises from the machines programmed by Beta Three.
The few automatons guarding the shore jumped down from the breakwater to battle their enemies. Beta Three’s machines fought bravely, but Azinor had ten times as many, and some of them walked right past the metallic bodies that grappled with one another. They climbed up the stones to discharge red plasma at the shield.
The witches’ magic took the blasts, protecting the soldiers inside it. It wouldn’t hold forever, but it would buy them time.
The troops inside it fired at the automatons’ heads, but new machines still bloomed from the water non-stop. At some point, the shield would crumble.
The jet kept firing phaser blasts at the waterdragon, along with the attacks from the sky battalion. Since they had things under control, Bast plummeted toward the beach, shooting spheres of darkness at the automatons. Yet as he neared the ground, his heart skipped a beat.
“Stella!” he roared.
His sister didn’t hear him. From inside the shield, she prepared her healer’s bag, then shoved a phaser in her belt’s holster.
Fuchst ach!
Was she going into battle? Had she lost her sarking mind?
Bald sirens with gray skin began rising from the waves. They stepped onto the beach, watching the breakwater and the shield. Marching between the automaton army, they pulled out their phasers and began to shoot.
War cries erupted from below as wolves, humans, fae, and witches jumped through the safety of the shield, charging at their enemies without fear or hesitation.
Some were met with red beams, others with phaser blasts, and some with the macabre—witches and fae didn’t need iron shields, but if a siren’s magic was greater than theirs, they were in trouble.
Stella followed after them, brave fool that she was.
“No!” Bast bellowed.
Again and again, he shot blasts of darkness at the enemies who stood in her way. Yet, his sister kept running toward a wounded human, never looking back, never losing focus, and completely missing a large group of sirens with two automatons that rushed closer to her.
Halle!
Bast’s darkness gushed from his palms, piling up into a raging cloud of night that burned the group beyond recognition. When his power retreated to his core, it revealed a crater on the sand filled with charred bones and metal.
The Tagradian soldiers down below cheered, and so did Stella, who smiled sweetly at him from the sand.
Some automatons whirred their heads toward Bast. Well, he’d certainly called their attention.
The machines’ maws opened, ready to burn him to oblivion, but Bast winnowed just as the red streams engulfed the spot he was occupying. He blinked back high above, next to Corvus, who shot his magic at the waterdragon along with the rest of the sky battalion.
“It’s looking good, broer!” the Night King shouted with an eager grin. The jet’s relentless phaser blasts, aligned with the rushing bursts of magic muffled his voice, filling Bast’s ears.
Perhaps too good.
Among the chaos down below, a bunch of sirens glanced to the sky. They locked eyes with Bast, and the flying Sidhe and witches trying to stop the beast.
“Raise your defenses!” he bellowed, but a witch in the battalion had already popped into a red cloud, macabred to death. So did the fae next to her, and the one right after.
“Keep attacking the fucking waterdragon!” Corvus’ magic burst harder from his palms, but it didn’t stop the beast from discharging green blaze at the jet, swallowing it whole.
A loud boom engulfed Bast’s hearing, and hot air blasted against his body. He tumbled downward with Corvus, spiraling out of control. As he and his brother steadied themselves, they stared at the fiery, orange cloud that expanded through the air high above them.
The jet had been blown out of existence.
Sidhe and warlocks kept shooting their magic at the beast, but with one swipe of Azinor’s arm, the waterdragon gushed a green cloud that ate through their magic shields as if they’d been made of air.
“Fuck!” Corvus shouted.
Explosions boomed from offshore, and Bast turned to the sea, anguish eating at his insides. He needed to make sure his hart was okay, but Mera was resilient, resourceful, and she didn’t give up easily.
“We have to keep the shig distracted.” Corvus tapped his shoulder, then pointed toward the ocean. “Poseidon can’t join that fight. They won’t stand a chance against two waterdragons.”
He was right.
Bast’s magic concentrated in his hands. He glared at the beast that now turned toward the promenade, uncaring about what remained of the sky battalion, which to its own credit, wasn’t much.
When it vomited waterblaze at the far side of the beach, it engulfed not only Tagradian soldiers, but the suket’s people as well. Azinor didn’t care about his own; he only wanted the world to burn.
The witches’ shields wavered, the magic shrieking like a dying animal. It wouldn’t withstand another attack. Not only that, but the waterdragon now approached the section of the beach where Stella healed wounded soldiers.
Summoning all of his power, Bast shot a scorching storm of night and stars at the monster. It had to be enough to break Azinor’s shield; the bastard simply couldn’t be that powerful.
Gritting his teeth, he kept pushing his magic forward, engulfing the beast and Azinor in pure, raging darkness. Red beams shot from the ground, but Corvus blocked the attacks with a large magic shield, covering Bast’s flank.
“Keep at it!” his brother bellowed, flinging magic blasts at the sirens who tried to macabre them from the ground, and at the automatons firing red streams in their direction.
Bast tried, but when his energy started to fade, he had to pull back. Panting, he watched as his cloud of night retreated to his core, revealing an unscathed Azinor and his pet.
“Fuck!” Bast mumbled to himself, breathing heavily. His wings flapped lazily behind him, and he could barely keep himself adrift.
The creature boosted toward them with its jaw wide open, and Corvus pulled at his arm, trying to drag him out of its path. “We have to go!”
Bast pulled at all the magic he had left. Raw power thrummed in his core, and a new storm of night and stars brewed inside him, eager to be set free.
He’d had enough. Let the malachai come.
“Go, Corvus!” He jerked his arm free, pushing his brother away. “Now!”
“You can’t take on that thing alone!”
Maybe, but he had to try.
Azinor was so close that Bast could see the evil smirk cutting across his cruel face. Instead of staying on track, however, the shig turned slightly to the left, toward… Corvus glared at Bast before a green, scorching waterfall engulfed him. The burning stream sent Bast spinning, the heat singing his skin.
The waterdragon pierced through the emerald cloud as if to check if his brother was really gone, then swept up in a loop to gain momentum.
Nothing remained of Corvus.
“Brother?” Bast mumbled, a void eating him from the inside out.
The creature shrieked again, calling his attention. From high above, it plunged toward him, ready to rip Bast in two.
Nightblood bubbled in his veins, taking over his thoughts. Anger and sorrow filled him with a maddening, bloodthirsty rage. Bast couldn’t think, couldn’t speak. There was no war anymore, no one and nothing else but him, Azinor, and the need to rip the shig’s head off his body.
His power thrummed under his skin, his breaths ringing loudly in his ears, and he clenched his teeth so hard that a jolt of pain went up his skull.
He would avenge Corvus today or he would die trying. Bast’s magic wrapped around him in a midnight-black blaze. With a howl filled with anguish and wrath, he boosted toward the beast.
Suddenly, a portal of night and stars opened next to him, and out zinged Corvus, flying side by side with Bast. His brother winked playfully at him as darkness concentrated on his hands. He didn’t have a single scratch on him.
“Miss me?”
Relief washed over Bast, and tears stung his eyes, but he didn’t have the luxury of shedding them.
Azinor watched them coming, a hint of something like fear in his eyes, before lightning birthed everywhere around him, making his green eyes turn a bright blue. The magic crackled loudly around the waterdragon; a storm of thunder ready to ram into them.
“It’s an honor to die by your side, broer,” Corvus vowed.
“We’ll get through this.” Bast increased the pace, though deep down, he knew his brother might be right.
They had almost reached the shig, when a red blast came from the beach and slammed against Corvus.
The Night King toppled over, plummeting toward the ground like a dead bird.
Bast plunged in a curve to catch him, forgetting all about the waterdragon. “Brother!”
Azinor followed them. His pet’s mouth opened wide and too close to Bast’s feet, but he had to grab Corvus before his body hit the ground.
A green glow shone from behind, and the heat of plasma licked Bast’s legs.
Almost there…
The second he grabbed Corvus, he turned around to stare at a blinding green light. It washed over him, mingling with the beast’s rotting breath. Sharp teeth loomed above and below him, the heat of its breath vaporizing the sweat on Bast’s skin.
If the creature snapped its jaw, he and his brother would be history.
Too late to winnow. Too late to run.
Forgive me, kitten.