From Ashes and Dust (Book One)

Chapter 30.1

"Where are the others?" Hisato asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," Vatra said. She withdrew her godkiller and headed for the boarding ramp. "Keep watch out here. There's no point in all of us crowding inside the ship."

Everyone gave small nods of agreement, and Vatra approached the Agkistrodon with caution. Her heart was pounding.

She entered the vessel with her blade at the ready. The interior was quiet. Aside from the usual beeping of electronics, there weren't any suspicious sounds. She almost would have preferred to hear something. It wasn't like Spyro to abandon his assignment.

Vatra cleared the upper level and the cockpit of the ship. There wasn't anything out of place. It didn't look like any of the beasts made it on board, either. There surely would have been damage to the ship considering their size.

Where the hell are you, Spy?

Descending the ladder to the sleeping quarters, Vatra immediately discovered why Spyro hadn't been out to greet them. He was unconscious in the middle of the hall, a small gash on the back of his head.

 She rushed over to make sure he was still alive, biting her tongue to keep from shouting out his name. Vatra crouched over his body and looked around. Then, she heard something rustling in one of the rooms.

Vatra stood up, slowly, and neared the door the sound was coming from. She realized it was from her own room. Preparing all possible scenarios for what was on the other side of the door, Vatra steeled her composure as much as she could before opening the door. She certainly didn't expect to see Enyalius and Revna on the other side.

Both of them turned, expressions of shock and guilt tugging at their faces. Clutched in Enyalius' hands was the tank that held Aspi.

As she looked at them, Vatra pieced together what was going on. Enyalius was trying to take back his godkiller. After his conversation with Ares, he knew what would happen if Vatra used his godkiller against him. He would die. And, looking at the god, watching the tears well up at the corners of his eyes, she saw someone who didn't want to die.

How ironic.

"What the actual fu-" Vatra started, but Enyalius cut her off.

"I can't let you kill me, Vatra!" Enyalius shouted. He had the tank in his arms like he was cradling a baby.

Vatra's eyes widened, her mouth agape. "Have you actually lost your mind? Who the hell told you I wanted to kill you? We could have talked about this like rational people, you know."

Enyalius and Revna exchanged a look of confusion. "You had a plan-" Enyalius started.

"A plan?" Vatra laughed, anger boiling in her veins. "Shit, I never have a plan. Someone knew my plan before me?"

The god relaxed his death grip on the tank. "This wasn't the intended distraction, but I need my godkiller. Once we heard about the loophole, I couldn't let you have it," Enyalius said.

"All right." Vatra lowered her dagger. "Why didn't you talk to me about this before?"

"We heard about your plan," Enyalius paused, "and I didn't know if I could trust you."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Vatra questioned.

Both Enyalius and Revna looked past Vatra at the same time, their faces darkening. They looked like they'd pieced together their own deception.

Vatra turned, her heart erratic. She met gazes with Ares, towering above her just on the other side of the still open doorway. He held up Spyro by his left hand, holding him by the collar like he were holding up no more than a cat by the scruff of his neck. Though in his right hand was a heart, bloody and beating, ripped callously from the chest of Spyro's unconscious body before he even had a chance to fight back.

"You know what's nice about these new godkillers of mine?" Ares dropped Spyro's body, but held on to the heart. "I can punch through solid bone so easily now."

Raising her dagger, Vatra plunged it into Ares' chest. She held her grip on to the hilt of the godkiller, screaming as she forced the blade as far as it would go. Tears streamed down her face, blurring her vision to the point she couldn't even tell that her godkiller had barely missed Ares' heart.

The war god wrapped his hand around the dagger's hilt and withdrew it. He swung the blade out, cutting into Vatra's artery, and kicked her back all in one motion. With an added insult, Ares discarded the godkiller like a piece of trash at his feet.

Vatra fell back, clutching at her throat, watching with blurred vision as the last moments around her processed in her senses.

"Now that you have your godkiller, let's go," Ares demanded. He addressed Enyalius, who hadn't moved from the bedside with Revna since Ares entered the room.

Silence.

"Now!" Ares shouted.

"Get the hell out of here!" Enyalius shouted. Glass shattered. He'd dropped Aspi's tank, and rushed over to Vatra.