Chapter 43 #2
“Hold,” Thane says as he stands preternaturally still, watching the Xalgrith intently as they fill the area beyond the gate.
There must be hundreds of warriors on academy grounds now.
They move with frightening speed, snarling and gnashing their teeth, their milky eyes fevered as they search for their prey.
“Now,” Thane murmurs to himself, and it’s like the clouds above open up.
Acid rain pours down onto the Xalgrith, and the enemy warriors scream as it burns against their skin.
I wince, watching as their bodies sizzle and melt away.
Hundreds of the Xalgrith fall, and some of the students cheer, their shadow whispers reaching my ears because they don’t dare shout out loud, or they’d give away their positions.
But I can’t celebrate. Even if the Xalgrith are the enemy, it’s a grisly sight.
“This is definitely going to haunt me,” I say to my mates, almost throwing up again.
“War is death, and the battles are torture,” Galen replies. “It will only get worse before it gets better, treasure.”
Some of the Xalgrith react quickly enough, lifting their armored shields in time to save themselves. The acid rain coats the white metal, dripping to the ground. I expect the metal to betray them and melt, but it stays intact.
“Holy crap. Their shields aren’t affected,” I say panicked to my mates.
“I thought that might happen,” Thane replies. “This isn’t the first battle where I’ve used my powers, and I recently used them in the Xalgrith realm. It seems they’ve found a solution.”
I know I shouldn’t be relieved. I should want as many of the Xalgrith dead as possible, but a part of me is glad that there will be fewer melting bodies. Seriously, I’m never going to get that image out of my head. It’s a horrible way to go.
The rain stops, and the surviving Xalgrith surge forward again.
They don’t see the cloaked spikes, and I grimace as the warriors impale themselves.
A couple dozen fall to the spikes, but the remaining warriors soon realize what’s happening.
They launch themselves into the air as they run, some of them still catching on the spikes while others clear the spikes entirely, landing on the other side.
“Archers!” Knox’s shadow whisper snaps against my ears, and I pull myself together, lining up my crossbow.
“Fire!” Knox orders, and the students in the forest release their arrows, sending them flying into the Xalgrith.
One after the other, the arrows find their marks, picking off the Xalgrith warriors a handful at a time.
My arrow sinks into a Xalgrith warrior’s ass, and he howls but doesn’t stop running.
Oops. Sorry! I feel bad for the guy, but another student sends and arrow into the warrior’s eye, and he falls like a stone mid-step.
I guess at least he’s been put out of his misery, I tell myself.
By the time the remaining Xalgrith warriors from the first wave make it to where my mates and some of the students are waiting, there are only a few dozen left.
I’m both horrified and impressed as my mates cut them down, darting and weaving, and spilling Xalgrith blood.
By the time the Xalgrith are all down, my mates are splattered with blood, but they’ve barely broken a sweat.
Holy son of a demon. Maybe we can do this after all. Maybe we can hold the Xalgrith back.
I turn my attention to the entrance, feeling a little more optimistic than I was earlier.
That is, until I see King Malgur standing where the academy gate used to be.
Professor Yevar is beside him, and they’re surrounded by the hybrid students abducted from the academy.
Crap. They probably think Thane won’t use his acid rain because of the kidnapped students. Which is likely true.
“Shade! Shade, it’s her!” Kenzie’s terrified whisper reaches my ears. “That’s Leira!”
I press my lips together. “That’s not her,” I remind my friend. “Not really. At least not while she’s under King Malgur’s influence.”
“But we have to save her!” Kenzie says.
“We will. But for now, we need to stay hidden.”
“Well, would you look at this,” King Malgur calls out toward us, beaming at his fallen warriors that litter the ground before him, like he’s pleased to see them like that.
“I’m impressed! I had thought you’d surrender easily, seeing as it’s clear your shadow queen has left you here to rot, but you’ve surprised me.
And here I thought Commander Yevar was overreacting, when he said taking the academy would not be as simple as I believed it would be. ”
My mates still stand on the other side of the spikes, but they’re no longer cloaked as they face the Xalgrith king.
Raith rests his bloody sword on his shoulder. “Well, that’s funny, because we were just sayin’ a similar thing. See, I was the one sayin’ you wouldn’t be stupid enough to attack us after seein’ what we did to your warriors back home.”