A Storm of Shadows (Fates and Fables #3)

53. Dryston

Chapter 53

Dryston

O nora had fucking left.

“Calm down,” Enid said as she and Kaemon circled him. He was busy strapping weapons to his body, ready to fly to the forest.

“She left long ago,” Kaemon said. “She left for a reason. Because she thought it was too dangerous. The best thing we can do now is march with the soldiers and hope to give her support.”

“She may very well be dead already!” he growled, and everyone in the encampment stopped packing to look at him as his voice echoed.

“We have to believe she’s not. She has others with her.”

Dryston swallowed, hating what that did to the pit of his stomach. “Why didn’t she take me with her?”

Enid raised a bemused brow. “Really, Drys? Pray tell, what would you have done if she told you of her madcap plan?”

Dryston opened his mouth to respond, and then promptly shut it. He would have stopped her. He would have tied her up and thrown her over his shoulder and told her no.

“Exactly,” Enid said. “Let’s go and support her the best we can now.”

Killgan had projected that travel would take a day to get them where the soldiers needed to be. But by some miracle, perhaps everyone pushed on by the need to get to Onora quickly, they accomplished it in a little over half a day. They were exhausted, every part of their beings aching, but ready for battle.

He flew overhead with the other demons, scouting. There were so many soldiers outside Venatu. He drew in a shaky breath, a feeling of fear coming over him that was uncommon. Most battles he’d been in, they had been smaller scale, the demons had plenty enough soldiers, or they were just skirmishes. There were so many. Far too many. They would be slaughtered.

“Well, we have to try, still,” Kaemon said, seeing his expression. “We have to hope she can stop it all.”

As he spoke, cries rose up from the people on the ground as the earth rumbled, and in the forest a blue light shot into the sky.

Shit.

That couldn’t be good. But at least he knew where the temple was now.

Human warriors cried out in joy, many marching toward the forest.

“We have to hold them off,” he said. If Onora had seen that, she would be heading to that exact spot. They needed to buy her time.

Killgan’s men and the others seemed to have the same idea. They charged toward the ones at the front, and Dryston and the demons swarmed overhead.

Dryston cupped his hands, holding them out in front of him, letting a blast of shadowfyre leave his hand, hurling to the soldiers on the ground. Arrows whizzed past, and he rolled, tucking in his wings, ducking and twirling out of the way. He heard a grunt and knew another arrow had hit one of his warriors.

He didn’t have time to see who it was as another volley of arrows flew at them. His wings curled around, and he ducked and dodged, but two struck him—one in a wing, the other his arms. He grunted, ignoring the lancing pain, and tried to stretch his wing out. He had little control over it with the arrow in it and he couldn’t get it out himself. He’d have to land and fight on the ground before it gave out and he crashed to the earth. He tucked his wings in and dove.

He landed to the ground with a thud, immediately bringing his sword up to block a blow from a human. He thrust back and the man stumbled, crying out angrily, coming at him again, only for Dryston to dispatch him with a quick, short swipe from shoulder to hip.

He became lost in the battle, his blood pumping fiercely, blocking out the horror of it all, protecting the people fighting alongside him, using his shadows where he could.

Suddenly, he was surrounded, having been separated from the larger mass of warriors on his side and the few around him falling dead at his feet.

Well, shit. He was too far to run and join the fray there. He’d have to try his hardest and take them out. Or as many as he could before he died.

But something curious happened. It started with one man, his body lurching forward as shock rippled across his face, blood coming out of his chest as a phantom blade burst through. Then another, and another and another, making others cry out and retreat.

Then Enid appeared in front of him, dripping in sweat, covered in blood and mud.

“I’m always having to save your ass,” she quipped, the humor, somehow, still in her eyes.

They both rejoined the fray, fighting frantically, astonished by the grit and skill of the humans they fought against, when, suddenly, the earth trembled again. A blast of magic hit, the humans crying out as the power coursed through them, being absorbed, then lightning arcing and splitting across the battlefield, hitting others indiscriminately. One sliced up Enid and she cried out, a searing burn slicing across her face.

Killgan blew the horn, a rallying cry, and his warriors cried out, the shouts resounding with the demons, humans, and elves joining in as they rushed forward, catching the other soldiers off guard, but not for long. The fight became more intense and Dryston sustained cuts and bruises and gashes that he would take stock of later—if he survived.

He clashed swords with a man, a helmet obscuring his face, and the man shoved back hard, the force of his hit making Dryston stumble back.

Fuck.

He was strong.

Lightning arced across their blades, leaping off one and onto the other.

“I’ll finally be able to kill you,” the man said.

Brayden.

Dryston readied his stance, both of them circling the other. “You can certainly try.”

Brayden lunged at him, their swords clanging, the sound like thunder clapping. Dryston ducked, getting into his guard only for Brayden to leap back, swiping down again. He dodged, coming up behind him and swiping, Brayden moving swiftly out of the way.

They continued like this for what felt like an hour, neither able to best the other. Dryston used his shadows and Brayden absorbed them, throwing them back, only for them to twine and curl back into Dryston’s. Magic wouldn’t work effectively here—Brayden was too slippery.

He would have to be smart about this. Brayden wasn’t a top Hunter for no reason. He knew what he was doing, even if he was a fool otherwise. Dryston threw blast after blast of shadows at Brayden, the man laughing derisively as none of them worked against him.

Their swords still clashed, but he kept it up, giving a noticeable pattern, letting Brayden fall into complacency. Then he threw another blast, followed immediately by another on the other side. As Brayden focused on absorbing those and blocking the hit of the sword he expected from Dryston, he didn’t notice how Dryston stepped to the left, swiftly coming behind and running him through with the sword.

Brayden grunted in shock, wriggling for a moment before falling limply, and Dryston pulled his sword out. The man fell to the ground, looking up at Dryston in shock, eyes blinking. He leaned down, making sure Brayden could hear.

“That’s for Onora.”

Then he left him to die, going back into the battle.

He fought alongside Kaemon and Enid. The demons above still sent out shadowfyre, focusing on the archers, when a horrifying sound filled the air.

People screaming from inside the walls of Venatu. Screaming and screeching and growling. The ground rumbled and the walls of the city cracked and the human soldiers cried out, stepping away from the fight to see. People climbed on the balusters, one ringing the bell for the warriors to retreat, to return. They looked at the enemies in front of them, slowly taking steps back, Killgan blowing the horn for their warriors to hold off.

The front wall of the city cracked, crumbling open, a pile of stone and detritus. Like a flood, creatures of the void descended on the battlefield. Beings like dogs, warped and decayed, bone and sinew alongside flesh of bark, baying and barking, only wincing at arrows that hit them. They devoured the soldiers from behind and the humans cried out, for now there were enemies on all sides.

Dryston knew what was happening in the city. The same thing that had happened in Evolis. Void beings unleashed on the world, devouring anyone they came across. The soldiers could defend themselves, but what of the citizens inside?

The humans turned, rushing toward the creatures with cries to defend the city, hacking and slicing, their soldiers falling in the same numbers as the beasts.

Dryston looked at Killgan. “We have to protect the people in the city.”

“It’s not safe.” Killgan shook his head.

“There will be children,” Kaemon said. “And the elderly and infirm.”

Killgan only frowned, looking forward at the mass of creatures wreaking havoc.

“They’re not safe either, and they won’t be able to protect themselves. And once they kill all these humans they will come for us—for your lands. You can refuse to join the fight right now, but it will come for you later.”

Killgan said nothing, his warriors looking at him expectantly. “They killed our children, our elderly, our infirm.”

“Not the people in the city,” Enid said, readying her sword. “You can debate all you want. I’m helping.”

She rushed forward, and Dryston whistled. The demons looked to him and followed where his hand pointed—toward Enid, toward the horde.

They flew forward, then Elgin and the elves joined, and the rebel humans as well, and finally, Killgan blew his horn three times—for them to advance and help the humans of Venatu.

They rushed to battle, fighting the beasts alongside the Hunters and soldiers of Venatu, no longer enemies, but reluctant allies, pressing on toward one common goal—protecting those who couldn’t protect themselves. A Hunter on horseback, a commander who had been marshalling his men, rode between the lines, looking over at Dryston, Kaemon and Enid. “There are schools where the children will be, the eastern seaside. Can your flyers get to them?”

Dryston nodded, and Enid shot in the air with Kaemon to tell the others without needing his command. They flew fast, soaring over the sky to the edge of the city, and dipped down. He shot a blast of shadowfyre into the fray, killing many of them, but the horde kept coming. It felt endless, as if they were multiplying as each one was killed.

When, suddenly, blasts of flame and balls of light hit the creatures, making them hiss and hurl. The flapping of wings beat overhead, and Dryston looked up to see seraphs, a host of them descending on the horde and on the city. And amongst them, he saw one with wings of orange and red and yellow fire—Axlan.

Axlan saw the beasts and seemed to immediately understand what had happened; he rallied his soldiers, and they descended on the city, the screaming now turning to that of the creatures, making way for the rest of them outside the city to go in, hacking away, slashing and killing any of the monsters.

Dryston, Jorah, and Aife canvassed houses inside the city walls, looking for anyone hurt and marking them or helping them as they could, calling out for the healers to help. As they helped the city, he sent up a prayer to whatever god would listen to protect Onora.