CHAPTER 20

You Are As Good As Dead

Maija felt herself fall. Her body felt weightless, disconnected from herself. The energy that had surged through her was very present and it made its power and strength known to her, but it hadn't been painful. She watched as the shock wave burst from Ishtar's top, traveling through the air towards them. Watched as it moved through Kaius, his body vanishing, leaving nothing but his coat, blown away by the ferocious winds that had torn at Maija's hair.

Her back hit the ship's deck first. Not Kaius's ship. A smaller one, made from wood. Raining down from the sky, other ships, much larger and heavier, fell. Trails of dark smoke following them down to their resting place either in the void or in an explosive crash against the island's top.

Maija's ship had been somewhat stable, steady although blown about by the wind. She made no attempt to get up from her sprawled out position. Her head hurt, blistering pain piercing through it with no more than a thought. The voice in her mind had quieted, it already told her what she didn't dare yet accept.

You have already lost. You are as good as dead.

END OF BOOK ONE