EIGHTY-TWO
CAZ
“For Vakeeli we fight!” I shout, pointing my sword ahead. All the armies unleash a battle cry, and the war ensues.
I fly forward with Hassha and Korah, swinging my sword as the creatures flock our way. I slice into them, through them, while searching for my target.
The sooner I get to Selah, the quicker this will end.
I look down, and our army is charging ahead, weapons raised and ready to attack. They clash into Selah’s army, cutting, fighting, guns going off, swords scraping and clinking.
Dragon on its way, Yuri warns.
I fly out of the way just as one of Selah’s dragons hurtles toward me with its mouth wide open.
Before it can fully pass, I grip it by the tail and snatch back so hard its spine rips out. It falls to the ground and crushes several of Selah’s creatures.
The giants dodge the dragon, still stomping toward our army, but Korah swoops down with her sword, going through them like they’re water as she slices their heads off.
They crumple, landing in bloody heaps.
I hear a familiar shout and spot Rowan and Killian fighting back-to-back, swinging their swords and shooting where they can squeeze in a bullet. They work in harmony, and I’m even more surprised to see Devlin jumping in the air and cutting too.
Valden and Alora work their way through the giants, dragging their blades across their ankles while the Gilded handle combat in the air.
“Caspian!” I find Hassha’s voice. “With me!”
I start to fly her way, but something slams into me. A winged creature digs its talons into my armor and gnashes its slimy teeth, trying to bite me as it flaps.
“Gun,” I command.
When I feel it in my palm, I point the barrel at its belly, and it explodes.
“You’d better not let any of those fucking guts get on me,” I grumble to Yuri.
He chuckles in the hollows of my mind and spares me.
I teleport to Hassha, and she points ahead of her.
“Selah will hold back as long as she can,” she says, panting. “She’s waiting for us to use most of our energy before she attacks. I will go after her, wear her out as much as I can. The weaker she becomes, the weaker her creatures do too.”
I nod, and Hassha darts across the sky in a flurry of blue. More dragons aim for me, but I shoot orbs of fire at them. Creatures surround me, claws out, ready to attack.
Allow me.
My hand is lifted on its own, and the shield is replaced with a stream of fire. Spirals shoot out like cannons from my hands, and the creatures evaporate in rapid waves. The dragons aren’t so easily taken down with the fire though. One smacks right into me, and I grunt, flailing.
“Allow you to do what, exactly?” I counter, catching myself and glaring up at the dragon. “Fall back, Yuri. I’ve got this one.”
Be my guest, oh grumpy one.
I shoot higher in the sky until I’m on the dragon’s back. One of the dragons ahead is spouting fire at our army, sending it in trails.
Should probably kill that one.
“No shit!” I yell.
I dig my fingers into the dragon beneath me, and it screeches. I dig deeper, my eyes growing hotter, until finally I feel it under my control.
I force it to fly in the direction I want it to, and when the dragon shooting fire at our army is near, I reel back, forcing my dragon’s mouth open. The flames light up the other’s metallic skin, and on the opposite side of that dragon is one of Korah’s.
Purple entwines with red, and the dragon cries out before it’s obliterated to ash.
The dragon beneath tries shaking me off. It won’t let me keep control for long, so I climb up, conjure a sword, and jam it through the neck.
Flying off, I watch the lifeless dragon sail to the ground.
You wouldn’t have been able to do that without me.
“You gonna talk the whole time or be of more assistance?”
Your cousins. Assist them.
“Fuck!” Killian’s voice catches my ear.
I tunnel in on him and Rowan who are now surrounded by hordes of creatures. The heat swells in my palms and I fly down, landing with my brothers and drawing a sword and a gun.
As Killian shoots and Rowan swings, I do both, taking them down in numbers. The faster they come, the faster I move.
One manages to pounce on my back, but its head is swiped off. When I look to see who did it, it’s Danica. She flings her blade, getting rid of the tarry blood as she pants.
With a smirk, she leaps in the air, bringing forth all her skills to kill more of them.
“Look out!” I hear Devlin yell.
The ground thuds as a giant stomps toward us, swinging a massive fist down on a few warriors. Danica and Rowan dodge it just in time, but Killian isn’t so lucky.
“Killian!” Rowan and I shout in unison.
The giant raises it’s fist again, but I shoot up, slicing through its wrist. It unleashes an agonized bellow as its hand detaches from its body, but that doesn’t stop it from trying to use the other. I fly around him, conjuring chains and wrapping them around his throat.
While I yank back, Danica and Rowan run to assist Killian who still lies on the ground. Sun and moon warriors take their places, fighting off the creatures with bursts of light.
The giant grunts, trying to grip the chains, but I pull tighter until I hear the crack of bone. When it stops fighting, I remove the chains and kick the giant toward another one attacking the Luxorians and Whisper Grovians. The other giant tumbles forward and collapses, and I’m grateful the armies run before they both can fall.
I fly back down to check on Killian, relieved to find him standing again. His mouth is bleeding, and red is seeping from his shirt.
“Kill?” I breathe.
“Good—all good brother,” he says through ragged breaths.
“You’re not good. That thing almost completely crushed you.”
Killian winces as he staggers. “My rib. It’s my fucking rib. I think it’s broken.”
“Here. Let me see.” I press a hand to his right rib, where it seems a bone is protruding.
Help me heal him, Yuri. Come on.
When the heat appears, Killian roars in pain, but the bone pops back in place.
He’s healed. Now duck.
I drop down with Killian just as a glowing red spear appears above us and shoots forward, jamming into the mouth of a winged creature.
“Keep it steady.” I look between Killian, Rowan, and Danica while we have a clear second. “I need to find Hassha.”
“We’re on it, brother.” Rowan raises his gun to unleash a round of bullets at an oncoming herd.
I fly upward, dodging creatures and searching for Hassha.
But as I fly, a wall appears in front of me. I turn, but another sprouts up. When two more appear and close me in, I raise a hand and send a beam of fire, but it doesn’t burn through it.
A roof forms, as well as a floor. I’m completely closed in. Sconces on the wall appear, flickering with blistering orange flames. My breaths are erratic as I look around, trying to figure a way out.
“Let’s see how great you are when you have to face your worst nightmare.” Selah’s voice thunders in the confines of these four walls, causing the flames to dance. Menacing shadows appear on the wall, and they soon merge.
I stand on the ground, wielding a sword and gun as the shadows seep to the floor and form into a figure. No, a person .
And not just any person.
With a thick black beard, beady black eyes, and pale skin, the man sneers at me, flashing one tooth made of rubies. He holds a club with spikes, and he slams it into the wall hard enough to make it crumble.
But just as quickly as it crumbles, it’s restored.
I raise my gun at the man I’ve wanted to kill with my own bare hands but was never given the chance to.
A man who caused me nothing but strife.
The man who killed my mother.
Magnus Harlow of Blackwater.
My father.