Page 162 of Blood of Olympus

I found myself nodding.

A jarring screech tore my attention from the wolf to the skies above Hellespont. Bursts of black flame spewed from the mouth of Kronos’ nightmare-beast as it dove over various parts of the city, interspersed with violent white explosions from somewhere else. The brothers were working in tandem to ensure every inch of the coastal city burned to ash and dust on the wind.

The silence that followed spoke of only one thing: Kronos cared naught for his army on the ground — he only sought to destroy ours and the hopes of all mortal-kind along with it.

“Retreat,” Nyssa mumbled dozily. “You just sent that as a mental image, Caelus. Call for a retreat,” she said louder, prompting Aros, Athena, and the other soldiers into motion.

Aros snatched a warhorn from the belt of a nearby warrior and blew it. Three bellows later — the signal for ‘fall back’ — and the entire army, or what remained of it, were moving.

“Caelus, do you have the strength for a shadowgate, or do we attempt a retreat to the Temple of Ares?” Aros asked with clear urgency.

I checked on the level of darkness consuming me. As if understanding our urgency, it was replenishing quickly, if a little unstable.

“I think I can hold it.” He nodded, already moving until I grabbed his arm and forced him to stop. “But no longer than five minutes. And that’s being generous.”

His amber eyes flicked between mine measuring the truth in them. “Got it. On my call then.”

I nodded once, clutching Nyssa tightly to my chest as I stood. Aros shouted orders and people rushed to obey him, clustering in one large group behind us. Indecision shifted my weight from foot to foot until he noticed and took pity on me.

“You’ll be needing your hands,” he offered with a wry grin, extending his arms out to me. Even knowing the depth of his loyalty to her was basically as deep as mine, I still found it hard to relinquish her care to anyone.

“Guard her⁠—”

“With my life, Caelus. I know.”

Years of unspoken messages passed through our gaze in the span of a few seconds. Aros had earned my trust time and time again, and vice-versa. If there was a single person I could entrust her care to, in any realm, it was him. I nodded again and twisted to face the desolate terrain of the Hadaros Desert.

Inhaling deeply for good measure, I closed my eyes and concentrated solely on my designated task, readying myself for Aros’ command. I felt the tendril of darkness coiled around my heart like a dozing serpent sunbaking in the warmth of my lightning.

Come on, little guy. Let’s get our girl to safety.

At the mention of Nyssa, the darkness — which had been uncurling lazily — rushed to the surface of my skin, waiting and willing to commit hell itself to protect her.

Ten heartbeats later — I counted — Aros yelled, “Now!” and I threw my arms out, opening a shadowgate the length of the arena back in Aetherion. My eyelids snapped open just in time to see him lead the retreat into the writhing darkness of the void, followed by what little remained of our army. I tried not to count, tried not to look for familiar faces. I didn’t want to know who had inevitably fallen while I still had a job to do. Lykos guarded my back while I held the gateway open for as long as I could, and the last few trickles of wounded and refugees vanished into it.

One notable absence gave me pause.

“Where the hell is that bloody dragon?”

Lykos’ golden gaze snapped to mine.

“Nyssa will flay me alive if anything happens to her purple menace,” I grunted.

She was injured in battle — that’s why she left Nyssa stranded in the middle of it.

“How do you know that?”

The warriors speak very loudly. Particularly those dutybound to the service of Apollo.

“Well, where did she go?”

West.

I stared out at the large expanse of golden sand beyond the steadily shrinking shadowgate. The darkness inside me was strong, but not infinite — and it was dwindling by the second.

Fuck, I cursed, seeing no glint of violet scales nor any sign of purple flame.

Suddenly, Lykos’ attention diverted east — behind me. A growl began deep in his throat and a sense of urgency pervaded the bond.