AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The words faded as quickly as they left my lips. I doubted anyone could hear me over the cacophonous roar of the craft.
A terrifying thought stole my breath: were we under attack?
Chapter Twenty
Zoei
This was not quite how I envisioned it.
They said that death comes to those who seek it, but I’ve never once peered into the promise of darkness. I was not in a hurry to reach the abyss. In the journey of life, I’d rather take the scenic route.
But it seemed as though the Goddess was in a hurry to receive me in paradise.
In mere seconds after my vision was compromised, the hovercraft took a dive, pitching swiftly towards the unyielding ground. I reached out, grasping the handrail for balance, but I was shoved back against the seat by the cruel fingers of gravity, then thrust upwards, flush against the metal roof.
A handful of heartbeats, and it was over.
Except it wasn’t.
I heard Olympia’s voice, too close and terribly far away at the same time. She yelled my name, over and over, until I was left without a choice: I had to push past the muggy haze of nothingness, or risk spending an unknown length of time with her unbearable shouting.
Opening my eyes to reality was a harsh awakening.
I was under the mangled wreckage of the hovercraft, stuck beneath its hull. The twisted shards of metal and shattered glass surrounded me like a deadly shroud. I tried to move, but every muscle in my body screamed in protest.
Pain surged through me, a relentless reminder of the ball of flame that had crashed into the hovercraft out of nowhere.
Puffs of smoke obscured my vision one second, and was blown away by wind the next.
“Zoei!”
Olympia’s call was laced with desperation. A hard tugging sensation caught my attention.
As I blinked, it slowly dawned that the world was upside down. Olympia was standing above me, peering down, one long arm extended. It dangled above my head like an angler’s hook.
“Take my hand! Zoei, please,” she yelled, the ends of her red brows dripping with sweat. “Let me pull you out.”
Even in a haze, I touched my hand to hers, feeling familiar fingers curl protectively over mine. With her strength, I pushed myself out of the ground, pondering the odd numbness around my leg.
“What—” I began, surprised by the croak in my throat. “What happened?”
“We were attacked,” Olympia said, brushing the dirt off my tunic. “The right side of the hovercraft was blown to bits, and we took a dive into the forest.”
“Gerald?” I coughed, sitting up with much effort. “The pilot?”
“They aren’t here,” she said, her worried gaze meeting my own. “They were sitting on the right side of the craft. I figured…”
“Shit,” I cursed under my breath, falling back on the ground. “Did you see Cameron’s craft? They were right behind us.”
She shook her head. “I don’t know if they were hit. I couldn’t hear anything, and I haven’t seen anything else either.”
I exhaled sharply. “But you’re all right?”
She nodded. “Mostly, anyway. The hovercraft fell into a cluster of trees, and I crawled onto a branch before it hit the ground and burrowed into the pit.”
Her lower lip quivered. “I thought I’d lost you—I was so sure of it.”
“Well, I’m still here, aren’t I?” I said gruffly.
