Page 141 of The Star's Sword
“Even weirder,” Simon said, narrowing his eyes.
“Not as I expected,” Ara said, flapping the purple wings I had given her, her lance loose at her side.
“Now that I think about it, Os aren’t you from the seventh realm?” Mor said.
Os nodded. “But I was raised by Gabe primarily and have never been up this high in the sky realms.”
“Got it,” Mor said.
“I don’t get it,” Griffin said. “I heard it was dangerous to ascend, but so far, it has been easy. I thought there would be winged lions like me and celestial armies.”
“I guess they’re so busy seeking adulation and tricking the mortals that they’re too busy to fight,” Simon said, with a smirk. Casting another worried glance beneath us, he started flying upward again.
Suddenly, I heard something so loud it felt like it broke the sky around us, as a bright streak of light struck down, hitting Simon as he flew.
Lightning. He’d been hit by lightning, I realized, as he began to drop, a burning, smoking, unconscious form.
“I’ll get him,” Griffin yelled, diving down to the clouds below after Simon’s falling body.
Was he even alive? Was Cayne? My heart hurt, but all the while, I had to remember my purpose.
Why Simon was fighting. Why Cayne was fighting.
I wasn’t ready, I would never be ready, but it was time to make sure the ninth-realmers could never come for anything I cared for again.
Please be all right, Sam, I called through our bond, though I didn’t get a reply.
Panic filled my body as I waved to my friends. “Higher!”
Zadis and Os flew up by me. Ara was still with us as well.
“Wait,” Zadis said, as a blue glow formed around his hands. Energy crackled and then he pointed it at each of us. I felt something cool coat my skin, and looked around to see my friends all lit with a slight blue glow around their skin, just like I had.
“Lightning immunity,” Zadis said.
“Good idea,” Os said. “I’ll do fire immunity.” His hands filled with purple energy, and he shot it at us like Zadis had. Another cool, soothing wave of energy moved over my skin, and all of us glowed slightly now with purple as well.
“No more time,” Ara said. “We’ve got to keep going, or everyone’s sacrifices will be meaningless.”
As we soared up through the clouds where Simon had been hit, lightning struck near us again and again, but we flew to the side, and it glinted off of us, due to our resistance.
I’d never been more grateful to have so many friends.
As we rose, balls of fire rained down from the clouds above us, forcing us to dodge once again.
“My guess is these realms only have automated support,” Os yelled back. “I doubt these high-level celestials worry about anything but maintaining their rank down with the mortals.” He looked round, and I took a moment to look down, which was a huge mistake.
We were so high I was dizzy. I could see the platform of clouds beneath us and the land below, spread out and looking so small by comparison to when I was down there. It felt like I was miles up.
“We’re almost to the eighth realm,” Os said, clearly in awe, as Mor flapped next to him. “I can’t believe it.”
“We need to reach the ninth,” Zadis said.
I swallowed. “But our friends.”
“We can’t think about that,” Os said, but just then, Griffin shot up through the clouds, carrying Simon on his back, unconscious.
“Cayne’s still fighting, but I got Simon,” Griffin said.
