Now reformed, the Colossus stretched and flexed. It took one look at the unit and raised its island-sized fist, ready to smother them all in a meteor of corpses.
As the fist started its descent, a cracking rumble echoed from the peaks above. It sounded like thunder, but there was no lightning. Cole chanced a look above. A rolling landslide charged down to greet them, carrying boulders larger than houses. It was coming too fast. There was no time for a spell. His Rage was the only thing that could save him, but not the others.
Cole threw an arm up, pulling the tiny ashen body close with the other. It thrashed eagerly, greeting the death that bore down on them all. But death didn’t come. The rocks cracked and roared past them, missing the unit entirely as if guided by unseen forces. Grotton smirked at the landslide, throwing a lazy munisica out to block the onslaught. A boulder the size of a Morthainian ship caught him dead on, sending him to the depths below. Every pebble of the falling mountain sailed harmlessly over the unit, seemingly hell-bent on striking Grotton’s Harbinger.
Through the chaos, Cole felt the beaming star of Goran flying down the valley wall. The landslide thinned and Cole looked up, locking eyes with his friend for the first time in months. Cole’s jaw dropped. Goran had gone through another transformation.
Flaming Ruby eyes larger than a man rushed towards them. They burned with intelligence, giving Cole a look of acknowledgement before setting their ferocity upon his next enemy. A mass of brindle fur sailed over them as Goran lunged for the Colossus. He was only half the size of the titan, but what he lacked in stature he made up for in violence. The two bodies collided with enough force to split a mountain. The valley shuddered, filling with the giant’s thunder as Sorronis’s clouds dissipated.
After triple-checking his bond, Cole rubbed his eyes, making sure that the massive beast really was his friend. Goran towered larger than the trees of The Sill, each of his brindle stripes wider than a city street. His white mohawk appeared to be made from snow, and his paws looked more like toothy peaks of the Fangshards.
Goran smote the Colossus, showering the valley floor with thousands of chosen, sending it careening onto its back. Though Goran seemed to be handling himself at the moment, Cole was eager to jump down and help. Perhaps their combined strength would be enough to fell the two gods.
A mournful keen pierced the battle-din as Lileth placed a hand on Cole’s shoulder. “We must leave this place. Decreath could show at any moment. Three gods is too much.”
As if in answer, a thudding of wings drew their attention as a massive creature descended from the sky. Gale landed roughly upon the ledge, chirping in desperate bleats. Cole let out a sigh of relief. He’d worried the winged feline had long abandoned them. Gale gave a soft chirp as he rubbed Alvani’s body with his feathery head. Valen clambered up onto his back, nestling Alvani in the beast’s plumage.
“Hurry, get on!” Valen cried.
Exhausted, Cole joined the rest of the unit on Gale’s broad back, taking up a spot in the rear with Lileth sitting between his legs. He stuffed Lexy’s charred body into a large saddle bag, ignoring her thumping racket as he buckled it shut.
Lileth leaned into him, pressing her body against his as she wove a hand up through his hair. She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and whispered into his ear, “You are very important to me, Cole.”
Cole blinked, squeezing tears free as he pulled her closer.
They stared into each other’s eyes, indulging in the quiet of the moment as Gale sidled up the edge of the ledge.
“You sure you’re up to this?” Sitra asked, giving Gale an encouraging pat on the flank. “Can you carry six of our fat asses out of this mess?”
Gale released a defiant bugle as he spread his wings and charged into open air. Cole turned, gazing down at the giants below him. Fortunately there was no sight of Roth, or as he was now known, Grotton.
Goran towered in a victorious posture over the prone Colossus, his arms, which looked to be made from blocks of granite, stretched out to his sides. Cole dove into their bond and attempted to convey their retreat. Goran heard him, but there was something greater, something far more important stirring within the gargantuan mirak.
Sensing Goran’s intentions, Cole snapped his head forward and shouted with both his voice and mind, “Fly high! Get us out of the valley!” Cole readied himself to take flight with Wisdom, but Gale surged upwards. Hopefully the flying beast was fast enough. Cole looked back to Goran.
Great columns of rock shot from Goran’s paws, embedding themselves in the valley walls. The mountains around them groaned as the Fangshards began to shudder. The valley walls moved. The pass was closing.
Cole grabbed hold of his Passion and brought all of its wild power to his hands, slapping his glowing palms into the feathers beneath him. Gale threw his head back and trumpeted his cry to the stars, snapping his wings with such force that it nearly unseated the lot of them. They rose higher as the valley walls drew closer. When he was sure they were clear, Cole glanced down once more, grim acceptance washing over him as the Fangshards snapped shut.
The saddle bag thrashed against Cole’s leg as Lexy stormed her Hatred at the world. Cole gave the bag a sad smile, knowing that she would soon be freed of her torment. Lileth hugged him tightly as the others cheered in victory. They had escaped. They had survived two of The Three.
Sitra roared over the wind, raising her munisica to the stars, “Take us home Gale!”
End of Book 2
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From the World of Aeneria
Saving The Dark Side
Book 1: The Devotion
Book 2: The Harbingers
Book 3: The Unbound
The Swindlers And The Squall
Her Gift, For You
From the Author
Greetings Traveler!
I've been writing sporadically for most of my life. However, it wasn't until January 2016 that I began to take it seriously thanks to one of my closest friends. While I'd like to be writing full-time, I (like most independent authors) have a day job, which is a logistician position in the National Guard. I joined in 2005, deployed twice, and have been active duty since 2012. The military lifestyle has had a tremendous impact on my life, filling it with more ups and downs than I can keep track of, as well as some lifelong friends.
My days are spent at a desk or bumbling around in a humongous truck. After work I get myself to a gym and do battle with my inner fat kid for a couple of hours, then rush home and hopefully start writing before 8 pm. I nurture a love for performance arts, especially plays and local stand-up. During summers I don't ride my motorcycle nearly enough, and the same goes for my snowboard during the winters. At least once a year I'll go abroad, usually your typical over-indulgent Caribbean cruise, though recently I spent a week in France, where I had the privilege of officiating at a wedding for two dear friends.
The stories I enjoy the most usually leave me shaken for a few days, not because I'm a glutton for masochism, but because they resonate with the wounded parts of me that I wouldn't ordinarily take notice of. With a somewhat busy lifestyle where stoicism has become my go-to survival tool, I need those stories that derail me from my daily grind, that kick me in the gut and make me feel something.
As of writing this I'm 30 years old and live in Manchester, New Hampshire.
-Joe
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
From the World of Aeneria
Dedication
Contents
Chapter 1: Safe and Sound
Chapter 2: Judgment
Chapter 3: The White Sands
Chapter 4: Metamorphosis
Chapter 5: Beneath the Clouds
Chapter 6
: Warbreak
Chapter 7: Madness Dripping
Chapter 8: Desert Titans
Chapter 9: Transient Solace
Chapter 10: Sin Blossom
Chapter 11: Fire Dancer
Chapter 12: Oberon City
Chapter 13: A Whisper of a Hope
Chapter 14: The Council’s Compromise
Chapter 15: Grotton’s Promise
Chapter 16: Bonds Broken
Chapter 17: Tabula Rasa
Chapter 18: Strength and Humility
Chapter 19: Shadow Tide
Chapter 20: Enter Evil
Chapter 21: Confronting the Swarm
Chapter 22: Coronation
From the World of Aeneria
From the Author
Saving The Dark Side Book 2: The Harbingers Page 51