She was so proud of Rhyss in that moment that she almost forgot the pain.
Her hearing was returning, the ringing evening out into a small, tinny sound. Maybe she hadn't hit her head too hard. She wasn't honestly sure if she had actually hit her head, but at least she didn't seem to be bleeding. Heln had a cut above one eye, but he was getting to his feet.
The dragon hissed, reared back its head and yanked itself into the room by smashing through part of the wall. Its back legs and tail were still on the steps but the room still felt like it was mostly dragon. It spread its wings and effectively cut off any chance of escape.
For the first time Bel really, honestly thought about just lying there and giving up, but something made her get to her knees. She had to breathe for a moment, every breath a rattling gasp, before she pushed herself to her feet. She had no real magic left, her side throbbed like it was full of knives every time she moved, and her left arm didn't seem to want to cooperate. She curled it up against her chest like she could protect it. The cleaning script had effectively scrubbed half of the dragon's face off, white skull poking through ruined flesh, but that hadn't really deterred it too much. If she could do it right next to the power core, it might finish what the light construct had started.
"Rhyss, the cleaning script!" she coughed and her vision wavered again. She staggered back against the wall, leaning heavily against it.
"I can't get close enough!" she yelled back.
The dragon turned to her and all Bel could do was let her good hand drop to her side. She couldn't dodge it—if it shot fire now they were quite literally toast—and she didn't see a way out. Even if they were somehow able to leave the chamber the dragon would follow them. Heln and Rhyss might make it out, but she couldn't run.
She could at least go with dignity, standing up as straight as she could.
Heln was suddenly in front of her; Bel hadn't even noticed him crossing the room. She stared at her brother's shoulder blades, completely dumbfounded. Heln spread his arms, standing his ground.
The dragon lurched forward and Bel realized she couldn't watch. She had a million things to say to him, but Heln was knocked back into her and all she could do was grab a hold of him. She didn't care how much it hurt. She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her forehead against Heln's shoulder.
Nothing happened for what felt like a long time but was probably only a few seconds. Heln had gone tense in her hold, but he wasn't trying to move. Bel peeked with one eye, expecting to see half of a dragon face right in front of hers.
She had to open both eyes when that wasn't the case.
A dark, shadowy wall had formed between them and the dragon. It must have been what knocked Heln into her.
The dragon started making its clicking noise on the other side of it. She felt the room heat up, but before the fire could kill them all the darkness converged to a single mass. Tendrils of shadow whipped out of it and wrapped around the power core, yanking it out like it was a loose thread and tossing it to the side. It fractured a panel where it landed, glowing dimly for a moment before it faded out.
The dragon wobbled, claws scraping the floor. It crumpled to one side, and even with Bel's hearing still dulled out the sound was horrific. Its remaining eye stared up at the ceiling. The glow in its chest faded and the darkness became almost complete.
Rhyss stood up, slowly forming an illumination bubble over one hand. The shadows curled back from it and something white gleamed through the darkness. At first Bel thought it was a piece of stone, then she realized exactly what it was.
It was a dark figure, taller than even the light construct had been, with a deer skull instead of a head.
It was a skull that was far too big to have ever belonged to a living deer, each one of its too sharp teeth highlighted by the script. A yellow gleam like a firefly flared to life in the socket. The antlers branched up and fading to mist and shadow far above them, nearly brushing the ruined ceiling.
Its body was mostly lost to the dark miasma that settled around it like a cloak, but that didn't matter. She still knew exactly what it was. She'd been afraid when they faced the constructs and the magic eater, terrified of the dragon, but nothing compared to the dread that lodged itself in her throat.
It was the forest god.
Chapter Nineteen
Heln had heard stories since he was little.
The crowned one, the bone peddler, the forest god. He'd heard all of the names before. They were always used as a warning and never, ever sworn by. To swear by the forest god was to give it power. If it ever returned their city would be razed to the ground, their bodies crushed, their souls and bones enslaved. It was why no one left the City or strayed long near the barrier protecting its outskirts. It was dangerous, yes, but what was more dangerous was the thought of his presence lurking in the shadows of the trees.
The only sound was their harsh breathing.
The god's body was shrouded in black, maybe a cloak or possibly an aura, it was impossible to tell. It looked like it might be vaguely humanoid underneath it all, but then something shifted and Heln wasn't sure.
The skull twisted to one side, like the god was tilting his head, considering them. It was just far enough away that without his glasses the god should
