Looking up, Izzy smiled. "Rhi."

"You need to get up. Now."

"Just let me sleep a little longer."

"Please, Iz!"

"Ssshhh."

Izzy rolled to her side and tried to get back to sleep, but someone strong grabbed her shoulder and rolled her to her back.

"Oy! Cousin!"

"Talwyn?"

"Time to wake up, bitch." Then her cousin slapped her. Hard.

Izzy sat up, the sword that had been aiming for her head, ramming into the ground instead.

Raising a brow, Izzy snarled at the human acolyte over her, "Missed me." Then she swung her fist, knocking the bastard out. Getting to her feet, she yanked the sword from the ground. The thing with the tentacles, which Izzy was beginning to believe was once something human, had drawn an hysterically screaming Vateria close to its gaping maw, blood, drool, and shit pouring onto the floor around her.

Disgusted but not having much choice, Izzy charged forward, ducking under dragon tails and Minotaur fists and centaur hooves in an attempt to reach the bitch she absolutely hated.

She was nearly there when she saw dirt and rock pour down from the ceiling. It distracted her for a moment, a moment she desperately couldn't afford.

A dragon tail swung out and rammed into her, sending her flying to the side. She waited to hit a wall but instead flew into one of the zealot dragons.

It sniffed and smiled. "Aaaaah. Iseabail," it whispered as she dropped to the ground in front of it. "Daughter of Talaith, favored among Rhydderch Hael's worshippers."

Crawling backward, Izzy tried to get to her feet. But she was weakening fast. Losing her strength from the battering her body was taking. She feared she wouldn't last much longer if she didn't find a way to . . .

Thinking fast, Izzy recalled something she'd heard her mother chant once. She got to her feet and raised her hand.

"I call upon the powers of . . . um . . . Rhydderch Hael," she screamed up at the zealot, shrugging at invoking that idiot's name.

"You?" the zealot snarled. "You dare try to put a spell on me? You have no power here. Among us. With our god!"

"Oh . . . uh . . . Rhydderch Hael. Bring destruction down upon these . . . uh . . . bad people."

"Kill her, Vincent," another zealot ordered. "Show her what real power is."

The dragon raised his fist, chanted something, and Izzy watched a ball of power shoot from the center of his claw and ram right into her.

eibhear punched through the last bit of stone and metal and into the chamber beneath. As he crashed through, he saw what could only be Izzy flipping across the stone floor.

Changing course, he raced toward her, but he heard Vateria scream and remembered what he needed to do.

He wanted to go to Izzy. He wanted to rescue her. Take her out of here. But something, he didn't know what, something told him that would be the exact wrong thing to do. He knew it with every fiber of his being. So he changed course again, spinning around in midair to face Vateria and . . . and whatever had hold of her.

Good gods . . . are those tentacles?

eibhear shook off his disgust, lifted his hammer, and raced toward the enemy Iron that needed his help.

Brannie, having heard the fighting, screaming, and roaring nearly a mile away, charged into the chamber once she reached it, her sword and shield at the ready. As she did, she saw two things at the same time. First, she saw Izzy fly by her, heading into the far wall. Then she saw eibhear crash through the ceiling and rush toward Izzy.

But then her cousin stopped. He stopped and instead of going for Izzy, the woman she was sure he loved, he turned and faced Vateria and . . . and whatever that was that had hold of the bitch.

Brannie had no idea what was going on, but she'd be damned if she'd let Izzy die because her cousin didn't have his gods-damn priorities straight.

"In here!" she called out to the humans following her. "Hurry!" They could help with all this. She'd help with . . . with . . .

"Izzy?"

Izzy was no longer flying but walking with purpose back across the floor toward what Brannie was guessing were the zealots Iz had told her about. And even though those zealots didn't have eyes, one of them still cocked his head like he could see. Like he was looking right at Izzy.

"You?" the zealot said in a raspy whisper. "You still live. How is that possible?"

"Kill her, Vincent! Kill her now!"

The zealot lifted both claws and unleashed a flash of powerful Magick that even Brannie with her non-Magickal existence could easily see.

And that Magick rammed right into Izzy, but this time, she didn't fly anywhere. She just stopped, shook her head, cracked her neck, and moved forward.

"Combine our powers!" Another zealot screamed. "Now!"

"No! Use something else. Kill her!"

While they were busy arguing, debating, Izzy kept moving forward. She swiped up a dragon's short sword that lay on the floor. One of the soldier dragons ran at her, but she dodged his weapon and him, then dragged the blade she held against his back leg, severing the tendon. The dragon dropped to the ground with a scream and Izzy kept going.

Someone else threw more Magick at her. And this time Izzy didn't even pause. Instead, she suddenly sped forward and right at the first zealot. When he saw her, he panicked and swiped at her with his claw. Izzy caught hold of it and went with it when the zealot's arm swung up. Iz pulled back the dragon sword she held and rammed it forward, slamming it into the side of the zealot's neck, bypassing his hard scale and tearing open a main artery. Izzy flipped her body up onto the zealot's head, yanked out the blade, and charged across, leaping to the dragon beside him, seconds before the first zealot crashed to the ground, dead before his head hit the floor.

"Oh, that's right," Brannie said, laughing a little. "Iz doesn't need my help."

But, she realized, looking down at the humans Izzy was descended from, who threw themselves into the battle with a gusto any Cadwaladr would appreciate, Izzy's kin did need her help. And with great pride, she gave it.

Using the hammer he was beginning to appreciate more and more, eibhear battered at the tentacles that had hold of Vateria.

"eibhear!" he heard Aidan bellow.

"Get Vateria!" he ordered. "Pull her out!"

A tentacle slapped across his snout, acid from it leeching past scale and into flesh. Snarling-because he knew that would scar-eibhear battered the tentacle away.

"eibhear! Axe!"

eibhear lifted his claw and caught the axe Uther threw at him. He brought it down, cutting off three tentacles at once, but another three slithered out from . . . well, he didn't want to think about where they slithered from.

"We've got Vateria!" Caswyn yelled.

"Get her out of here! Now!"

Knowing Caswyn would take care of Vateria, eibhear moved forward. He needed to cut off something more important than a tentacle. But before he could get close enough to anything important, tentacles slipped around his throat and arms, pulling him away. Holding him tight while what he assumed was a really vile-looking tongue slithered out from what he was guessing was a mouth, across the floor, and headed right for him.

eibhear struggled against the tentacles. But as soon as he yanked one forearm or leg free, another tentacle caught hold again, holding him in place. The tongue neared him, slithering across the floor, blood, slime, and shit spreading from it as it did.

Gods, the smell alone made him want to vomit.

eibhear opened his mouth to unleash flame but the tentacle around his throat tightened, choked him. Still, he didn't stop fighting. Uther dropped onto the thing's back, raised his second axe above its head, and began hacking away, but still it didn't release eibhear. Aidan came at it from the side, using a broadsword to stab it through its thick skin. And still, nothing.

But eibhear didn't care. He only fought harder. As did his comrades. He knew they wouldn't stop until they all took their last breath . . . which they might be very close to doing.

That tongue was close now, nearly under him. This eibhear wasn't looking forward to. Especially when the tip of the tongue slowly began to lift up, too close to the important parts of him. Blood, shit, and death dripping off it and onto the floor, the smell making eibhear gag. But still he fought. Still he- A bare foot rammed down on that tongue, holding it in place on the floor, and a sword lifted up and plunged into it, pinning it to the ground with one hit.

The thing screamed out and released eibhear so that it could attack the new threat.

eibhear hit the ground, his sword still in his front claw. He looked down at the one who'd pinned that disgusting tongue-and smiled.

"See how I have to protect you?" he demanded with a smirk. "What if I wasn't here? To . . . you know . . . protect you?"

Izzy rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah, you're right. Don't know what I'd do without ya." She motioned to the thing with a tilt of her head. "Look, you lot kill . . whatever that is. Me and Bran will take care of the rest. And then I'll see you after."

"Aye," eibhear promised her. "You will."

They smiled at each other, knew the truth in those smiles. And, with love in their hearts . . . they proceeded to kill absolutely everything in the chamber that wasn't a loyal friend, kin, or Imperial Guard.

Chapter 42.

"So I'm a prat?"

"No," Eirianwen corrected her mate while she stepped over the bodies from the recent battle in Sefu's sewers in search of souls she could use. "I said you were a bit of a prat. A bit."

"It's all about semantics with you, isn't it?"

"Semantics, my darling mate, is what makes war gods' lives full and wonderful. Destruction of entire territories has been based on semantics."

Rhydderch Hael leaned against a wall. He was in his human form today. She didn't mind. She loved seeing him in any form he chose. "You interfered again, Eir."

"I didn't go near Izzy. Not once."

"You know what I mean."

She faced him, waved her forefinger at him, only to realize she'd lost it at some point to someone's battle axe. In fact, she'd lost half her hand.

It didn't help when her mate chuckled.

Quickly lowering her hand, Eir said, "eibhear is mine, Rhy. Mine. We agreed. The M-runach come to me upon their deaths. To me. So stop acting like I stepped over some boundaries only you can see."

"First Annwyl," he reminded her.

"You'd already given her up to the Minotaur. She was mine to take."

"Then Talaith."

"She wasn't yours in the first place and her human gods had deserted her long ago."

"Now eibhear . . ."

"Also not yours. But Izzy . . . she's all yours. I haven't touched her." Although Eir liked the human female and the clan she came from. A warrior breed Eir had begun before she'd been tossed from the human pantheon of gods. "She'll serve you well."

"Well, she's clearly so open to that," he said with great sarcasm.

"What do you expect when you're a bit of a prat? She's loyal and you keep fucking with those she's loyal to."

"Whatever."

Seeing that her mate was about to fly off in a pouty dragon rage, Eir walked toward Rhydderch Hael, crushing a few skulls beneath her feet. Using her unmarred hand, she pressed her palm to his cheek. "Don't ever think for a moment, my love, that the games we play change how I feel for you. How I'll always feel. I love you with all of my hardened warrior heart."

"You'd best. My feelings for you, Eirianwen, have not and never will change. If I thought any of this truly angered you, that I might lose you-"

She pressed her body against his, kissed his chin. "Never. Haven't you realized that yet? Besides, what we do now dictates what happens with Chramnesind later."

"I've noticed he hasn't been around."

"He starts things, then flitters away," she said off-handedly. "His lack of vision has always bored me."

Rhy gazed down at her, one eyebrow raised in that oh-so-handsome face-and Eir gasped. "No, no! I mean his lack of creative vision and how it affects the universes we rule. Not his lack of actual . . . vision. I don't mean that! I'd never say that!"

Rhy laughed. Not a chuckle or a mocking laugh, but a true laugh, from his gut. It was so very good to hear because he did it so rarely. And although horrified at what she'd just said, Eir joined in, hugging her mate tightly while she laughed into his neck.

eibhear glanced up at the ceiling. "Thunder?" he asked Aidan.

"I don't know. Do they have thunder here? Do they have rain?" He looked at Maskini. "Do you lot get rain?"

"We have a rainy season. It makes the rivers overflow."

"Oh. That's unfortunate."

eibhear stepped around his friend, watching Izzy mount Brannie's back, his cousin taking to the air.

"Oy!" he called after them. "Where are you two off to?"

"We'll be back in a bit," Izzy promised.