Page 81 of Destinies of Diamond
“Retreat!” he shouted. “Withdraw now!”
We didn’t have to be told twice. Ever single ship started to pull back, flying away as quickly as they could.
The chimera didn’t chase us. It roared, flailed, sending uncontrollable fire all over the place, without actually seeking any targets. But that didn’t change the aftermath of the battle. As the ships reached a tentatively safe zone, the chimera exploded, taking a good chunk of the moon with it.
“Tartarus help us all…” Prince Archibald said over the coms.
I agreed with him, but even as he spoke, an image of Selene’s smile popped into my head. It might have crushed me, but there was something else, another figure, another woman I immediately recognized.“Believe in yourself,” she repeated.
The side-effects of this would be devastating. The moon was more than just a base for The Grand Judiciary. It affected the tides and the weather on Terra.
But even the most difficult paths had to start somewhere. And in that moment, I believed. Like the Great Mother—Gerema—had said, we had a future. We just had to fight for it.
****
August
It was hard to explain the panic I felt in the aftermath of the battle. It reminded me of the time when Charybdis had gone dormant in space, leaving me at the mercy of the void. Everyone was in shock, reeling from grief, fear, and loss. Our forces had taken a significant blow and countless had died in Hades Base.
But there was no time to focus on that. The explosion had also damaged the array of satellites nearby, which meant Tartarus Base was in trouble. And so, less than a day after Brendan had taken the throne of the Chimera dynasty, we were landing the Venom next to New Washington.
The larger, transport ships that hadn’t been in battle had survived without issue. Countless people were waiting in orbit, needing shelter now that it had become too dangerous to stay in their homes in space.
But our unit had another reason to come here—and that was the identity of the chimera that had destroyed so much.
“I told you to relax, hatchling,”Charybdis tried to reassure me.“Selene will be fine.”
“I’d be more inclined to believe that had I not sensed her in the giant monster we just killed.”
“Bodies are just shells, August. They can be rebuilt. You have bigger problems.”
“If you’re trying to be reassuring, it’s not really working.”
“I don’t need to reassure you. The only one who can do that is Selene, and that will happen soon.”
Charybdis was right. The moment we arrived at Gaia’s Temple, Selene rushed out of the building. “Brendan!” she cried. “What happened up there?”
She looked pale, but otherwise unharmed. If I hadn’t known any better, I could’ve sworn I’d imagined what I’d felt when we’d been on the moon.
But I did know better, so I pretended along with everyone else. “A gigantic chimera attacked us,” Brendan explained. “We don’t know where it came from, but because of the damage, we have to relocate here.”
“Of course,” she replied. “We’ve been expecting that. My mother is unfortunately not present. We’ve had some structural damage too. But I’m helping coordinate things in her absence. Please, follow me.”
We did. The temple was filled to the brim with staff, both men and women running around, trying to figure out what was going on.
It was kind of refreshing. This was supposed to be the female section of the city, but that no longer mattered.
Selene made a beeline for her mother’s office. As soon as we were behind closed doors and in private, she plopped down on the couch with a groan.
“Well, that was very unpleasant. Let’s not do it again. Ever.”
“That was you up there, then,” Knox offered tightly.
It wasn’t a question, but Selene answered anyway. “You know that it was. I’m sorry. I didn’t plan on things happening this way. The opportunity just… came up and I had to take it.”
Things like this didn’t just come up. They happened for very good reasons. But now was not the time to have that argument.
I knelt in front of her and took her hand, threading our fingers together. “Don’t apologize for doing what you had to do. Are you okay?”
