Including me.
Arach finally burst free of his bindings and shot into the sky beside me. I bared my teeth at my husband, and we dove together, claws extended and wings tucked along our bodies like falcons. We were nearly upon Marduk when a burst of light flashed out from his entire body and sent all of us tumbling away. Amid the light were tiny particles of soil. They condensed as we rolled and formed solid slabs of rock that slammed onto Arach and I seconds after we hit the ground.
With the wind knocked out of me, I struggled to get off my back, claws scratching at the stone. Ominous sounds echoed around me; booms, screams, and groaning. The rock grew heavier and began pushing me deeper into the soil. I was being forced into the territory itself, earth caving in above me. Buried alive.
I roared and struggled harder but it was like quicksand; the more I fought, the deeper I went. I heard Arach shouting as if from beneath water. But I knew it wasn't water that covered him, it was earth just as it was with me. The sounds of battle dulled, and I knew that my army was being buried along with Arach and me.
Help me! I begged my star in my mind. I'm making a wish. That's all you need, right? I wish for victory. I wish for our survival and Marduk's death. Help me!
The Trinity Star flared inside my chest, giving me strength from the combined force of all of my magic, but nothing else happened. I was on my own. But I was more than my magic. There was a way out of this, I just had to think of it. As soil cut off my air, I began to panic but a lack of air wouldn't kill me. It might, however, kill Arach and any of our fire faeries who had been sucked below ground with us. Faeries can be killed with an element not their own. The fastest way is to send that adverse element through their heart, but encasing them in it could work too. So, I needed to act fast.
Despite Marduk's strength there and the power of the Tablet of Destinies, he was still only a god. I had defeated him easily when I was the Dark Star. Of course, I had unlimited power then but the point was; he could be defeated. If I took Marduk's head, he'd die. I just needed to find a way to get back to the surface to do that.
If I can't go up, I'll go sideways, I thought.
I began tunneling through the soil and soon worked my way out from beneath the slate. It tumbled into the space I left behind. I could feel Arach nearby, just ahead of me, and I followed the magical cord that connected us straight to my mate. Claws scraping, soil falling to fill in the tunnel behind me, I dug like a mole toward my lover. I hit scales suddenly and a claw reached out to tangle with mine.
“A Thaisce,” Arach growled through raining dirt as he clambered into the hole I'd made, “you brilliant woman.”
We started digging straight up, our massive talons making short work of the packed earth. Arach and I reached the surface in seconds, bursting through the last few feet to come screeching out of the ground like zombies. Blood and bodies drenched the land around us and terrible shrieks echoed in my ears. I roared and shot into the air, shaking off soil as I flew. My heart stuttered as I saw the bodies lying everywhere; Intare, Froekn, Egyptian, Greek, and Fey. I cried out when I noticed Pan lying beneath a boulder. I started to veer toward him, but Arach angled beneath me and nudged me toward Marduk.
Marduk was free of my illusion, the magic having failed when I'd started focusing on survival instead of it. He stood on the palace steps, casually bashing back every god who dared to approach him. Then he spotted me and his expression hardened. Lightning slashed past me, and Arach roared in pain. He toppled, one wing torn, and fell to the ground with an echoing crash. I shrieked furiously but kept going. Arach would survive that fall, but only if I stopped Marduk from making a second strike.
I needn't have worried; Arach wasn't Marduk's main target. As soon as my husband was out of the way, Marduk focused on me. He sent lightning sizzling toward me, but I dodged every bolt. Tucking in my wings, I missiled toward him. Marduk grinned at my rapid approach and slapped his palm on the Tablet of Destinies. I narrowed my eyes. One bite through his neck or a slash from my claws and he'd be dead. I could simply land on him and that should do the trick. I just needed to keep going.
No matter what happened.
But as I plummeted, pieces of me started to tremble. My scales rustled and lifted, my wings creaked and pulled at their joints. Inside me, my star buckled, its points shrieking as they were once again pulled apart. I screamed and it was human, no trace of dragon inside it. My body betrayed me and shifted without my permission. When I crashed into Marduk, I did so as a woman.
Marduk rolled us so that he straddled me. I laid naked and bleeding beneath him on cold stone—the landing just before the palace doors. Marduk chuckled low in his throat as he stretched out over me, his armor digging into my vulnerable skin. I grimaced but made no sound, only glared at him as I fought to keep my star in one piece. Marduk slapped me, sending my cheek to the stone and cutting my mouth on my teeth. I licked blood from my lips and angled my face back to his.
“You
