Page 146 of Fallen Stars

Adrian gave a strangled cry before launching at the Star. An unrivalled fury rippled through him—anything he had ever felt before paled in comparison—as every muscle in his body begged to kill the god before him. Adrian was no longer a man as he wielded steel and water, cleaving a path to the god and striking against Scorpius’s trident.

Adrenaline and hatred coursed through him as Scorpius fought back. This Star was the reason he was exiled. The reason he couldn’t see his family or touch the damn ocean. All because the god had been threatened by his powers. It washis beastthat had branded Adrian with the tentacle across his chest and arm, a scar that would haunt the pirate forever.

No, this… This was personal.

He bared his teeth like an animal as power flooded through him, cool and blue, urging and replenishing him. He suddenly felt invincible as he struck once more, forcing Scorpius onto the defence as he slammed his sword into the trident again and again.

As he pushed Scorpius towards the edge of the deck, the god wide-eyed at just how much he had underestimated the pirate, he took note of any gap in Scorpius’s shield that he could.

He couldn’t kill a Star; he knew that. But he had many other ways that he’d make Scorpius pay.

Scorpius grunted as Adrian slammed his hilt into Scorpius’s right side—the side he left open repeatedly. He nodded in satisfaction as Scorpius hissed in pain, staggering.

Adrian’s confidence built, as well as his anger, whereas the god was weakening, his blows clumsy and off target.

Finally, Adrian had him cornered, dodging one of Scorpius’s strikes.

But he had just fallen right into the trap that Scorpius had laid.

With a vicious grin, as Adrian crouched low to avoid the blow, Scorpius drove his trident up, up, and straight through Adrian’s eye.

Adrian howled, clutching it as he crumpled to the floor. He heard Elara cry his name from where she was lying, saw Enzo and Leo curse as they ran forward to help.

“No,” Adrian croaked. “Stay back.”

Scorpius hauled himself up by his trident, laughing darkly as it began to glow green, and Adrian roared in pain as his eye throbbed. Blood ran down his cheek, he could feel its sticky warmth. And more than that, his vision had completely vanished, only one eye still open.

“What is this?” Merissa asked hoarsely as she looked to the churning waters next to Adrian, turning a vivid, sickly green.

“God of poisons,” Elara hissed as Enzo continued to shield her body.

A fetid, acidic stench began to waft to them as he saw the silver glimmer of fish bounce in the moonlight, escaping in shoals.

There was a sharp lurch as the ship keeled, sinking a step into the depths.

“What’s happening?!” Enzo roared, his light a shield.

“His poison is eating away at the ship,” Adrian rasped as Scorpius continued to grip his trident.

“Get the lifeboats,” he heard Leo roar from somewhere, any of his crew still alive and with him shouting and panicking as the ship sank another level. They were but inches above the water, and Adrian knew the moment they touched it that they would all die. He looked around desperately for Santi, seeing his friend crawling towards him, a wound in his side.

“No,” he croaked. “Santi, leave.”

Santi shook his head, the stubborn Altalunian continuing on.

“Santi,” he growled. “That’s a fucking order.”

Santi shot him a pained look, but Adrian wouldn’t have him anywhere near him. His head rolled back as another shot of pain stabbed through his eye. It felt like Scorpius’s poison was latching onto his very brain. He gave Santi one last threatening look as Santi’s face crumpled. Adrian’s first mate crawled back towards the ship’s edge and the rowboats waiting below.

“Take me,” Adrian panted after he’d seen Santi safely leave. A deep roiling nausea sweeping over him at Scorpius’s charm. “Leave them all and just take me. It’s me who you really want.”

“Oh, I will,” Scorpius snarled. “I will tie you to the bottom of your ship and force you to drown and come back to life repeatedly until you know nothing but the water you love so dearly.” Scorpius glanced at Enzo and Elara. “And I’ll take you two as well.”

Another wave of starlight burst out of Scorpius, and everyone in the vicinity fell to their knees as the poison spread.

Enzo spat, as though he could force the venom out of his system, lancing light out whip fast. Whatever Enzo’s magick was, it seemed to be the only one immune to Scorpius’s charm. Scorpius cried out as the light seared into his skin.

“You’ll pay for that,” Scorpius hissed as Enzo pulled his magick back to himself, fury in his eyes.