Chapter 36
Jack
There was no time to think, and even less time to come up with a plan. As soon as Jack and the others stepped through the portal Amber had made, they were greeted by scene after scene of madness.
To their left, an impossible steel monster swatted Sloan through the air, leaving her to land amidst an ocean of black-clad New Hope vampires. Witches battled in the sky, while a female warrior wielding a large, blue blade cut down the metal beast.
Jack’s heart caught in his chest as his mind registered who was with her. Abigail cleaved at the right leg of the beast with a white mage sword in each hand. Already the gigantic monster was stumbling.
“They’ve got things handled!” Marcus’ shout brought Jack back to their present dilemma. “Sloan’s in trouble right now. On my back! Follow me!”
Marcus went to all fours, transitioning into his lupine form. Jack jumped onto his back before considering what he was doing.
Marcus let out a wild howl and charged. Followed by the rest of his pack, they sprinted over the short distance toward the rear of the vampire army, their battle cries lifting to the heavens and drowning out the clamor of war.
They struck the rear of the unsuspecting vampire army with such brutality, Jack almost felt sorry for the surprised soldiers from New Hope.
Almost. Werewolves tore into the vampire soldiers with precise killing moves.
It seemed in Term they had realized the best way to deal with their enemies, and now they went for their heads, and in some cases even completely severing their skulls from the rest of their bodies.
Jack jumped off his father’s back when he saw Sloan, who was pulling a white mage sword from her shoulder with a grimace of pain. Commander Steel’s body lay broken beside her. He was missing his throat.
Jack extended the wand in his hand into a staff. Green light blazed from his weapon as he struck out left and right, fighting his way to Sloan’s side.
“Look out!” Sloan pointed over Jack’s shoulder.
A blue-suited man with dark hair and a strangely sincere smile held a ball of energy in each hand. The sparking power he held wasn’t exactly magic; it was something else altogether.
BOOM!
An explosion from the sky caught the attention of nearly every single warrior on both sides of the conflict. Jack looked up to see Leah Eckert caught in a magic orb of yellow-and-black. A moment later, she was melted from the outside in and disappeared in another blast of magical power.
“Oh, that sucks.” The man in front of Jack allowed the power in each of his hands to dissolve. “There’s nothing for me to gain from being here now. A different time and a different hero, maybe.”
Jack was so confused, he wasn’t sure what to think. On his part, the man winked at Jack and retreated into the maelstrom of war that had renewed around the battlefield.
“Where did he go?” Sloan severed the head of a vampire to her left. Another soldier came at her with an overhead swing. She sidestepped it before planting her white mage sword into his chest. She moved the blade down and then up, separating her opponent into two parts. “Where’s Dominic?”
“I’m not sure. He’s gone.” Jack sent two balls of green magical fire from his staff and lit a pair of charging vampire soldiers on fire.
Sloan let out a roar of anger as she threw herself into the fight once more.
But it was already over, whether or not the New Hope army understood that—leaderless, with their will broken at the sight of the mage engine now lying like a useless pile of scrap metal, its head cut from its steel body, courtesy of Abigail Ahab.
Hundreds of vampires died by the second as the Azra guards shouted in victory, pushing through the gates.
Jack and Elizabeth joined the fight, cutting down vampires.
As the sun rose over the horizon, the day brought the surrender of the New Hope army and the victory the city of Azra had so desperately fought for through the night.