Sun Broken (The Wild Hunt #11) - Yasmine Galenorn Page 0,88

grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, trying to pull it off.

“It’s sunk its teeth into his shoulder!” Kipa shot a glance at Trinity. “What can kill it besides brute force?”

“Blinding light will send it running, and fire can harm it.” Trinity edged back, looking wary.

“Close your eyes,” Merlin shouted.

I shut my eyes, turning away.

“Begone!”

The word thundered around us, as though Merlin had suddenly manifested a bullhorn. I could hear rockfall nearby, but I kept my eyes shut. I was glad I had because a second later, the feeling of brilliant warmth engulfed me, and even through my closed eyes, it was as though the sun had suddenly flared to life mere inches away. My skin felt hot and I realized I was instantly sunburned.

“There, that takes care of that,” Merlin said.

Shaking, I opened my eyes and immediately looked for Herne. He was standing there, blood flowing from his neck, looking slightly dazed. Morgana moved to his side and placed her hands against the wound, whispering. A sparkle of light emanated from her fingers and Herne let out a sigh of relief as she backed away. The wound was still there, but it had partially healed. I had never seen Herne hurt in any significant way before, and the thought that there were creatures out there who could injure the gods themselves scared the hell out of me.

“I’m all right,” he whispered as I threw my arms around him, looking up for reassurance. “I’ll be okay. But if that thing returns, get out of the way. It would kill you and Viktor immediately.”

He turned to Kipa, clapping him on the shoulder. “Thank you. You distracted it long enough for Grandfather to chase it away.”

“Chase it away, my ass,” Merlin said, arching his eyes. “I sizzled it to a crisp. But we must hurry. We don’t want to attract any others. I don’t have an inexhaustible supply of energy.”

And so, we began the final climb to the summit of the mountain. As I followed Trinity, I wondered about him. Where had Herne met him, and was he planning on bringing him into the agency? Trinity seemed less than enthusiastic so I had my doubts about the latter, but I had learned to avoid assuming anything. Right now, though, all I wanted to do was rescue Raven. If Pandora hasn’t been working her over yet, a voice whispered inside me.

“Please, no,” I whispered, struggling over a patch of loose rock. But at that moment, Trinity motioned for me to join him as he stepped to the side. As I did, I found myself staring down into a crater-like valley. The same valley I had seen in my visions. As I realized that I was really here, I saw an opening to one side in the rock, far below, and I knew that we were about to go up against a goddess. And who knew what kind of protection she had with her?

Chapter Twenty

I wanted to run down there, to barrel into that cave to find Raven, but I knew better than to act without thinking. I turned to Herne. “What now? I’m assuming she’s down in that cave, since we saw the car in the parking lot and it had her signature on it.”

“You’re probably right.” Herne glanced at his mother. “What do we do? You and Grandfather are our only defense against Pandora.”

Morgana glanced up at the sky. “Pandora prefers to work in the darkness. Father?” She looked at Merlin. “Can you…?”

“I can, but it will drain me a great deal and I must prepare. You’ll have to take over the assault.” He raised his staff. “Are you ready?”

She nodded. “I am. Wait till I give the signal.” She glanced at the rest of us. “Kipa, stay up here and keep an eye out until we call you. And don’t argue. You’re too emotionally involved in this. The rest of you come with me.” She slowly rose up into the air, about a foot above the steep rocky slope leading down into the valley, and began to glide toward the center of it.

Herne turned into his stag form and I clambered up on his back. He began to race down the slope, following his mother, hooves barely meeting the ground. Viktor followed, nimble on his feet for his size, but the half-ogre was born and bred to wander the mountains and was right at home in this element. Trinity was making his way down the slope, and finally, Merlin followed