Page 282 of Caelum

Gulping, I bit off, “Is that what I think it is?”

“A feathered serpent?” Samuel rasped, his eyes skyward as were ours.

Even the mesmerized Ghouls appeared fascinated by a display that belonged in some kind of Spielberg movie! Except this was real. This was happening. And we were a part of it.

The creature was massive. Its tail long enough to shroud the temple in its might if it coiled around the edifice. The feathers that crestedits tail and head were like a rainbow, except this rainbow was so much more than anything I’d ever seen before.

There were colors there that didn’t exist. That were close to impossible to describe because I’d never seen them before and, truly believed, I’d never see again.

The snout was that of a giant lizard, something that was reminiscent of a dragon of old, and the wings that seemed to be too small for the giant form clung to shoulders that were hidden beneath the plume of feathers. Teeth and beady eyes peeked out of the feathers, making it one of the ugliest, most beautiful things I’d ever seen in my entire life.

As the tail wrapped itself to the temple, using it as an anchor, the Ghouls were knocked aside and decimated with an undulation of its massive body.

Meaning we were safe.

I wanted to drop to my knees in thanks but didn’t, because the war hadn’t even started yet, and for whatever reason, Eve was still singing.

A song that didn’t affect any of her mates.

With our attention skyward once we realized we were safe for the moment, we stared at the giant feathered serpent as it used its grip on the temple to launch itself into the air. The wings beat faster and faster, using the wind that kept the crow in its territory to gain momentum.

When it was airborne, we watched as the serpent circled the crow that was tiny in comparison. Its endless tail moved around and around in a manner that was so reminiscent of what had happened with Drekavac that we knew what was about to occur.

The wind disappeared as quickly as it had stormed into being, and as the serpent finally tightened its tail around the bird, there was a huge bang that seemed to shake the earth itself.

The serpent and the bird in its embrace exploded into flame. The fire was like the one that had consumed Drekavac, burning so hotly that the air itself seemed to heat up and the sweat on my body had nothing to do with the sun, but with the conflagration taking place over fifty feet above me.

Eve’s song finally faltered, and she whimpered as the fire consumed the serpent, but we weren’t surprised when what went up came down, and with another huge bang, both burned corpses sank to the ground.

This time, the earth quaked for real. The temple beneath us began to shudder as though it were being shaken from the inside out, and maybe it was.

As the wind appeared once more, separating the bones of the serpent from the bird’s ashes, the latter soared into the air, spinning in a wide circle.

From the remnants of the serpent—and the Toltec warriors who’d coalesced into the beast—the light that Eve had given it appeared once more, and it poured into a beam that shot forth. When it collided with Eve, she staggered back, her belly glowing once more as the amulet on her form began to pulse. But the light was too much, and as it combined with another quake from the earth, she stumbled backward.

Reed tried to grab her. Fuck, we all did. We rushed toward her, thegouille’swings springing forth from Nestor’s back as he leaped for her, but she tumbled down the plateaus, the hard brick providing her with no cushion.

We ran after her, but we made it too late. The stairs almost tripped us up since they were so narrow, but we made it without injury. Around us, the world went to shit as the Ghouls that had been tossed aside when the feathered serpent had lashed them, flaying them into pieces, surged into flame, but our focus was on Eve who lay like a pile of broken bones on the ground.

There was no time for basic first aid, no time to process what the hell was happening. The earth quaked again, and this time, the temple began to groan as though it were about to shatter into a thousand pieces.

“I’ll carry her,” Dre called out amid the chilling sounds of an ancient building collapsing.

We had no time to reply as he shifted into his bear. The creature had seen far too few moments in the light and had no chance for further exploration. Instead, it hunkered down, hauled his mate into his arms, and took off at a run that would astonish any passing scientist that was an expert on bears.

We took off after them, running around the fires that burned so hotly that it was no wonder humans were terrified if all in Raum’s line were perishing in the fiery flames, which could only be this hot if they were a weapon from God himself.

The fifteen-minute walk took five minutes at a swift run, and all of us were feeling the tough pace as we sprinted back to the church where we’d parked the car in its lot. Not only was it so hot I felt like my skin was broiling, but the ground beneath us trembled and quivered, making the placement of each foot vital as we ran. If we weren’t careful, we’d fall. If we weren’t fast enough, we’d get caught in the chaos.

Behind us, it sounded like the world itself was coming to an end as the scent of fire hit our nostrils and the heat hit us like a blanket, even though we were a good mile away from it.

Was this fireand brimstone?

The scent was like nothing I’d ever smelled before, and though I wished it were the last time I’d ever experience it, I knew there was one more Original to go.

But, until that time, we had to get Eve the hell out of here.

She was, as always, our priority.

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