Chapter 14
Zorn
The colossal structure of the Faegate loomed before them.
Feelings of inadequacy, fear, and depression pressed on him.
Bria, behind him, moaned out her displeasure.
Someone growled in frustration—Thane, it sounded like.
The fringe would affect them all differently, intending to warn them away from crossing.
“See?” Lexi’s voice was totally unruffled.
Whatever she felt did not affect her, not when her kid needed her.
She was the strongest of them all in times like this.
She would see them through if anyone could.
“They have all this set up, and we have a few humans in uniforms trying to make a buck. Something is a little off on our side of the line.”
“I feel a little off right now,” Jerry grumbled. A few people nodded their agreement. “I won’t be of any help, Lexi. There’s no rock. Desert for miles—my magic is no good here.”
“You see desert?” Jack glanced back at him as they led the horses toward the hazy purple areas dotting the way.
They’d send all their traveling supplies back.
Zorn had to admit that despite it being a terrible idea to help the fae, it was a smooth system.
“I see a huge mountain of…like…briars or something. I feel like I’m going to shit myself, though.
Fuck, this isn’t ideal when going into a fight. ”
“It’s all part of the illusion,” Demigod Kieran said, only a tensed jaw belying his discomfort. Zorn could feel it through their blood link, though. He was fighting it the same as they all were. “Once we cross the border, this feeling will wither and we’ll need to fight off the Celestials.”
One of the spirits housed in a cadaver took the lead from Kieran and proceeded to walk jerkily toward the first haze of purple.
He veered, moving around it, so that the animals would follow.
At the last moment, he threw the lead into the air, over the invisible doorway, and the animals walked through and vanished.
He was one of ten fae spirits Lexi had convinced to help them across the fringe. She hadn’t had to threaten or force them—she’d simply offered to set them loose on the other side, allowing them to find peace in their afterlife.
So she’d said, anyway. What would likely happen was they’d fall in love with her style of leadership and want to see this through. They’d sign on to their team like so many had before them. She had a way about her.
Those spirits had given them a rundown on how crossing the fringe worked.
If another group of fae stepped out of this strange portal haze, it was kill or be killed.
Fight or run, depending on magical power.
After that, it was a mad dash to the Faegate.
And, very importantly, they were supposed to keep from killing the Celestials.
If they did, the Celestials would hold a grudge against the killer’s kin.
The Celestials could go fuck themselves.
“All right, let’s get to it.” Kieran stepped to a line that their head spirit guide, the most powerful of those they’d found, pointed out.
“Beyond this misty area we will run and fight. We are aiming for the third hole on the left. Stick together. Try not to kill a Celestial. We don’t need them following us across the fringe. ”
Zorn gritted his teeth. His adrenaline pumped, ready.
The small cluster of undead spread out to the sides, a haphazard crew in comparison to what they usually worked with.
Lexi stepped up next to Kieran, her face hard and her hands fisting and relaxing, over and over.
Two Demigods stealing across the fringe was probably a first. Zorn was incredibly curious about the power dynamic.
“Now!” Kieran burst forward, Lexi at his side. The rest of their team followed.
Winged fae hovered close, much closer than it had appeared a moment ago. They were swooping and diving at a band of fae ahead of them. The ground bucked and split as the fae ran, half dodging the Celestials, half raising their long staffs toward them.
Zorn couldn’t tell what brand of magic came from those staffs, but the ground acting the way it did hinted at the Emerald kingdom, which had an affinity for seeding and growth and all things natural.
That kingdom was supposed to be nestled deep in the wylds, hard to find unless one knew where to look.
It was yet another kingdom that was dabbling in the human lands. Zorn wondered if any of them weren’t.
More Celestials descended from the sky, their delicate wings catching the noon sun and sparkling with gold and pink and purple. Gale-force winds swept up around them from Demigod Kieran, blowing the would-be attackers away to the right.
Their wings curled and their limbs flailed, faces shocked. They hadn’t expected that level of power and magic.
In a moment, their team was running down the fae in front of them.
A staff went wide as a Celestial plunged with some sparkly bullshit magic.
Zorn didn’t much care about the specifics.
He puffed into his gaseous form. The fae in front of them likely couldn’t see him or track him now.
The Celestials probably still could. He was a couple generations removed from anything fae, and human blood greatly watered down fae blood.
They’d be able to pick him out. He’d revert as soon as the fae in front of them were dealt with.
Kieran’s magic slammed into the fliers in front of them, only three trying to block a group of six fae. Paltry numbers. Heavy fog poured in, clouding the sky overhead and cutting down their visibility.
Before they could even reach the group of fae, one and all fell bonelessly to the ground.
Lexi really did make things boring for the rest of them when she just ripped out souls like that.
Then, one by one, the bodies started to shake.
They slowly got to their feet, confused, looking at their hands.
Lexi had stuffed their souls back in and was controlling them like a Necromancer would.
A spear shot down toward them. Donovan, a Telekinetic, flicked his hand. His magic batted it away. Lightning spiderwebbed through the heavy fog, and someone screamed above them. A body came twirling down, unconscious, wings fluttering uselessly behind.
“Catch it,” Kieran told Donovan.
Sparkly magic speared Zorn, blistering within his middle. It was just pain, though. It wouldn’t kill him, and it had nothing on the sort of feeling Lexi could administer. He ignored it.
She didn’t.
“Really?” Lexi looked up into the sky. “That’s the game you want to play?”
Her jaw clenched, and screaming sounded within the heavy fog. The Celestials were hidden from the naked eye, but Lexi could feel their souls.
Another spear sliced through the air. Donovan set down the body he’d caught to bat that one away. Arrows met the same fate. Donovan could do this all day. Had, on occasion, when they’d had to battle a team of Ares-type magic.
“Shit.” Lexi knelt by the limp Celestial, a gorgeous male whose hair was starting to curl within the moisture. They clearly straightened their hair for the aesthetic.
“Should I shield us from sight?” Boman, a Light Bender, asked.
“Yes,” Lexi said, bending over the Celestial. “Do these things heal at advanced rates?”
Wind spun around them and up into the sky. The fog pulled back for a bit, exposing five Celestials readying weapons and looking down. They didn’t plan to get that close and certainly didn’t plan to land. No wonder fae were coming and going. With a barrier like this, everyone was wasting time.
“I believe so,” Zorn said, visible and waiting near Lexi with his weapon ready. He was useless until they got closer.
Rocks blasted into the air. Jerry had found some boulders.
The first went so high and fast that the Celestial couldn’t dodge in time.
The boulder slammed into its arm and chest, knocking it through the air and nearly hitting another of its kind.
She grabbed her arm as she cried out, lifting higher into the air to put distance between herself and Jerry.
That hit would’ve broken bones. The next boulder was anticipated, and the Celestial darted away in time.
“I can dock his soul. It’s fine,” Lexi said, wiping her brow. “He’s trying to live. He just needs a moment for his body to heal. I’ve got it.”
“Sorry,” Dylan said. “I didn’t account for the moisture in the fog. I made the lightning too strong.”
Let him die, Zorn thought, looking skyward. The Celestials fought against Kieran’s wind. One flung out her hand. A hail of magic sliced into their crew, the feeling like a whip. Zorn knew from experience.
He ignored that, too. Pain was nothing more than a reminder that you were alive.
Henry, a Reflector, threw up his hands in retaliation. He had the power to assume the magic thrown at him and use it on the attacker. It wouldn’t be as strong, though. Still, it would help.
“How much longer?” Kieran yelled at Lexi, constantly changing the airflow and messing with the fog, keeping them guessing.
“Just two more prongs,” Lexi said. “The soul will stay in the body if he can keep just two more prongs from deteriorating.”
Kieran labored as more magic crashed down upon them.
“I sure would like to help out,” Bria ground out, knives in hand. “If they’d come closer, I wouldn’t feel like such a freeloader.”
“Ditto,” Jack said.
Another Celestial swooped and two more came in after her. There were about eight in the sky, half of them staying too high to engage in the fight. Watching, it seemed. Magic rained down from the four, and a deep pounding of pain and agony felt like it was twisting Zorn’s bones.