To Kill a God by C.S. Wilde

Chapter 5

Mera’s powerthrummed in her veins, following the rhythm of the waters. Taking a deep breath, she ignored the pit in her gut, and the fear pricking her chest.

She was going to die today. No doubt about it.

An alarm wailed in the distance, telling people to find high ground. Winged fae zinged toward the mainland, while those who couldn’t fly kept hurrying away. Crowds disembarked the nightbringers half-sunken in the sloshy sand, soon leaving the iron beasts empty.

Mera’s only purpose now, her only duty, was to buy Tir Na Nog time.

Raising her arms, her power expanded in a pulse that connected every bit of her being to the sea before her.

A school of fish swam peacefully on the far end of the horizon, unaware of the tidal wave that hurtled toward them. Miles beyond Lunor Insul, a forest of algae flailed violently as the tsunami rushed by it. Where the wave had already passed, far in the deep sea, turtles swam through the currents as if nothing had happened.

They were all stamped in her essence, for Mera was the ocean and the ocean was Mera.

Her eyes soon spotted a line rising above the edge of the horizon. It grew thicker while it approached Lunor Insul, and then the wave slammed against the invisible dome. Water piled atop itself, rising higher and higher, until it tilted over, engulfing the entire island.

Lunor Insul was inside the protection zone, an area covered by a spell that disintegrated any waterbreaker who dared cross it. Technically, a magic barrier wasn’t necessary, but the Night Kingdom stood too close to the open ocean. Corvus’ father hadn’t trusted Tagrad to protect his people, and thanks to that, he had just saved them.

The same wouldn’t work in the mainland, of course. Tagrad was simply too big, and even the most powerful of shields couldn’t cover it entirely. Besides, the protection zone had been enough for centuries.

Until now.

Corvus’ island disappeared under the wave, but the tsunami didn’t lose momentum. It kept hurling toward Mera and the mainland, almost as if it had a will of its own. The wave rose into a mighty wall that had to be hundreds of feet high, with a shoulder that stretched as far as the naked eye could see, nearly following the entire shore.

The port was now empty. Silent.

The rush of water roared closer, along with the caws of seagulls flying above, trying to escape the ocean’s wrath.

Mera’s own voice split into several, whispering words she couldn’t understand, except for one phrase.

“It’s time.”

Her muscles clenched when she pushed the ocean back. Saltwater droplets sprinkled atop her as the tsunami rushed closer, drenching the port in shadows and blocking the sun.

The wave was too massive, its weight too grand. She couldn’t do this. Mera was a puny ant holding back a falling tree.

She would fail.

Regardless, she would try.

Her power slammed violently against the water, creating giant ripples on the tsunami’s wavering face.

At first, the ocean didn’t listen, but when she let out a siren’s shriek, the sonic boom slammed against the tidal wave. It spread throughout the length of the shore, bringing the tsunami to a halt.

Mera kept pushing her power forward as the shriek slowly died in her throat, her head pounding like it would explode. When she clenched her lips shut, the wave didn’t move forward.

Panting, she looked up at the giant waterwall that halted a mere fifty yards from where she stood. For a moment, she wondered if she’d stopped time itself.

“It worked,” she croaked, her breaths rushed and labored.

Her victory only lasted a moment, though.

A figure emerged from the crest of the sea; a man with no hair on his head. His strong, corded muscles spread across his body, and though he was a waterbreaker, he didn’t have fins on his ears or gills on his neck.

Inky runes ran across his gray flesh, covering his entire trunk, chest, and arms. The dickwart wore black pants that clung to his skin; the same stretchy fabric Atlanteans used for their bodysuits.

Azinor wobbled slightly atop the streams that swirled underneath his feet.

“You never cease to amaze me, Daughter,” he shouted, his deep tone reaching her as if he stood right next to Mera. He must have been using magic of some sort.

Mera’s eyes narrowed to a green light blinking from a silver chain around his neck. It had to be the magic enhancer, but it used to have a red ruby encrusted in its middle. Now, it pulsed with lime-green light in the way of a beating heart, which meant the asshole must have synchronized his magic with it.

“You needed an enhancer to create a tidal wave, but I stopped you on my own.” She sneered. “You’re pathetic, Azinor!”

His proud smirk vanished. “Power isn’t all that matters, especially if you don’t know how to use it. Do not mistake your fleeting luck with victory. You have not won this battle, and you will not win the war, child.”

Mera winced as the weight of the water tried to crush her to the bone, pressing into her power, eager to squash it.

“I must admit,” he continued, “I do need you to take down your uncle’s reign, not because you’re essential, but because you would spare me a great deal of time.”

Not essential.That was the story of her life when it came to Father and Mother.

Well, at least now she knew his plan. Azinor wanted to take Mera. Attacking the mainland was just a bonus.

“Fine!” she bellowed, even though she didn’t have the need. The magic he used seemed to work both ways. “End the tsunami, and I’ll go with you.”

He shook his index finger. “There’s no fun in that.”

Dickface!

His plans suddenly unraveled right in front of her, and her heart skipped a beat. “You want to use me as bait.”

He merely grinned while a second figure rose from the water next to him, breaking through the crest.

Mera blinked. No. Her eyes must have been playing tricks on her.

No, no, no…

A woman with russet hair and a scaled wine-red bodysuit stood next to the prick. She wore the Crown of Land and Sea atop her head, and when she spotted Mera, she shot her a hateful grin that seemed too big for her face.

Mother.

Azinor had rebuilt her.

Last time they’d clashed, Mera had turned the bitch into a mushy pile of goo, and yet, there she stood, looking better than ever. If not for the hole in her left jaw, which showed tendons and teeth, and the fact that her right hand was still made entirely of bone, Mera wouldn’t have been able to tell she’d died… twice.

A sharp pain stole her breath, and tears swelled in her eyes. Ruth’s death, Julian’s painful transition into a vamp; they had been for nothing. Ariella was back. She was fine, and Ruth was gone.

“No,” Mera spat through clenched teeth. Warm, angry tears strolled down her cheeks.

“Your uncle would do anything to save you, sweet Me-ra,” Mother spat with that bitter, arrogant tone of hers; a voice that always made Mera’s blood boil. “His weak heart will be his demise.”

“I’ll fucking kill you all over again!” Mera barked, teeth grinding as she continued to push against the tidal wave, yet her fury threw her off.

The tsunami rushed forward a few yards, but with a siren scream, she shoved it back. Tears freely streamed down her cheeks, and she clenched her jaw so hard that her skull pulsed.

“You won’t last much longer,” the queen stated the obvious.

She was right, but Mera’s goal had never been to come out of this alive. She only had to keep them distracted; buy the people of Tir Na Nog time to escape the wave. And then, the massive water wall could crash upon her.

She doubted she would feel any pain.

Azinor’s eyes narrowed, and he seemed to see right through her plan. “We’ve indulged her enough. Bring our daughter to me.”

The queen began sinking through the crest, but stopped midway when two loud booms exploded from the sky, the sound bursting into Mera’s eardrums.

Two arrow-shaped devices the size of school buses lunged forward, hovering several feet above Azinor and his dead pet. Made of what resembled smooth, pearly silver, they circled the wave’s crest non-stop.

Flying machines.

Peter had mentioned Clifftown would send help, but Mera had never expected this. She’d heard the rumors of course, but she still couldn’t believe her own eyes.

The device’s engines blew air at the crest, making the queen’s locks flail in different directions. Their sound was deafening, as if thousands of buzz-saws had been turned on at once.

“This is a warning.”A voice that seemed too neat to be human boomed from the speakers in the machine’s wings. “Surrender or face the consequences.”

Azinor merely watched, unfazed. Giving the aircrafts a ferocious grin, he yelled, “We’ll face the consequences!”

The flying machines—Mera once read an article that called them jets—fired at the dickface and Ariella with thick bullets that resembled tiny comets.

When the bullets crashed merely a foot from Azinor, they splattered into oblivion, but not before showing the thin, blue plasma shield that protected him and the queen.

Only then did Mera notice the two metallic stingrays that swam just inches below the crest, their glowing blue eyes shining without a soul within.

Atlantean technology.

The stingrays were generating the shields.

“Fly away!” Mera bellowed, but whoever operated the jets couldn’t hear her from so far away, especially with the engines humming.

The stingrays whirred a strange, thrumming sound, before shooting blue plasma streams toward the aircrafts. The jets exploded with a mighty boom that enveloped the crest in flesh-melting fire. Immense heat stung Mera’s skin, and she threw a hand in front of her eyes.

Maybe that did it. Maybe the explosion had killed Azinor and Ariella, though that might have been wishful thinking.

As the heat receded, Mera’s ears rang with a continuous, beeping sound. Teeth clenched, she fought to keep control of the tidal wave, her body on the verge of giving up.

She looked up to the sky to find the crafts completely gone, pulverized out of thin air. Nothing had fallen on land, not even a tiny piece of metal.

Azinor stood proud and unscathed at the top of the wave. Glancing down at her, he let out a mad, hungry grin.

“Where were we, child?”