Chapter 28 #4
He snatched our arms and then he was bursting us several feet away by the side of the mansion, As he stilled, I spun around and saw a mammoth concentrated blast of Celestial power shooting by—the remaining living twenty-five Dark Fae wielding it were pouring it all into one stream.
I jolted as I watched it rip right through the fabric of the pocket dimension, tearing a massive hole in it, and darkness from the world outside became visible.
The Dark Fae shifted and zeroed in on us.
And then Sylas growled and bolted forward, thrusting his palms out, his red fire raging.
The stream hit and he staggered, but held his magic steady as he shielded us from it.
Lightning sparked, as he swept his palms into an arc, forming an oval shimmering crimson shield. Flash lightning intensified all over it as he uttered through gritted teeth, "Mors omnes tangit.”
Death touches us all.
It was the same high-level necromancy he’d used before to hurt Cassius once, to make a Celestial being bleed.
But Cassius was an Immortal, a Fallen. This power… some of it had been drawn from True Celestials.
Shit, there was no way he could hold it.
I heard a pleasurable cry from Morien and looked to see his palms upturned and held out either side of him, wisps of crimson magic now visibly being pulled from around Sylas, as he fed off it.
He was pulling on Sylas at maximum power.
Morien grinned out at Sylas, who hissed at him.
Then the psychopath thrust his gray magic toward the remaining hostages, all one hundred or so of them.
The first five it hit started screaming, and I looked on horrified to see that Morien was using a necromantic ability known as Desiccation Curse, which did the obvious, their skin turning a gray tinge, as he began to turn them to ash.
Sylas let out a roar, freed his left hand, then thrust up a shimmering red barrier that cut off Morien’s power, sparing them.
My dad called out to his unit to hurry with the evacuation.
Now a hole had been torn in the place, his magic-wielders were able to teleport them out, and even open a couple of portals.
They worked in concert with the vampires so that it all happened swiftly.
Relief flooded me when they’d removed all the hostages.
But that was offset by the fact that it left the three of us and my dad’s remaining ten agents only facing off against Morien and thirty majorly souped-up Dark Fae psychopaths. The other agents of The Shadowed that he’d had with him were taking care of the evacuation from the other side.
Morien let out a laugh. “You see, boy, no matter how hard you try, you cannot hope to win against me.”
Sylas grimaced in disgust as he took in the red veins travelling along Morien’s fingers, up his neck—Sylas’ power he was stealing part of.
I went to move from around the shield, intending to take out some of the Dark Fae to take the load off Sylas, but my dad pressed his hand to my chest.
Before I could protest him stopping me, whips of harsh wind tore through the area, and then his remaining ten vampires were hitting the Dark Fae gathered so close so they could feed that stream at Sylas, coming from the sides and the back.
They snapped necks and ripped out hearts—shrieks, squelching and cracks sounding—managing to take out a dozen before they were suddenly slammed into by a wave of Morien’s gray power.
Before they could recover, he invoked Undead Domination and levitated them all several feet off the ground, their bodies unable to move even a fraction of an inch.
Sylas grunted and forced sparks of his magic to his free hand that was trembling violently. Then, with a pained roar, he flung the power at the field trapping the vampires.
It shattered, shards raining down everywhere, and utterances of relief sounded as the ten landed in deep crouches, fangs dropped and hissing at Morien, already prepared to resume battle. That was my dad’s well-trained soldiers for you.
Sylas was sweating profusely, his brow slick with it, beads even trickling down his neck.
He went to bring his other hand back into play to help against the Celestial stream, but he hesitated at the look on Morien’s face, the look that said Sylas had to keep that hand free for the bastard’s next move.
My dad stepped forward and told him, “Channel me.”
“What?” Sylas rasped.
“You heard me. You need additional power.”
Sylas’ gaze flitted to me and I saw his regret, before he looked away. “No.”
“I am an Ancient Vampire with centuries of amassed power. I’ve lived through more pain, brutality, and torment than anyone alive. You couldn’t ask for a better battery.”
“If I do this, draw from you, as a necromancer to a vampire—”
“I will desiccate. I am aware.”
No. This was not happening. Morien was forcing them both into impossible positions, things that would break us.
Sylas grimaced, then held out his hand, and my dad grabbed it firmly.
And then he was jolting as Sylas’ free hand glowed with his vibrant crimson, as he drew from my dad.
The oval shield flamed and strengthened, Sylas released a breath, and his eyes raged with his necromantic power at the Dark Fae.
The vampires moved in, speeding toward them, only to be forced back by Morien who fired upon them and then swept that Undead Domination wave toward them, keeping them away.
I burst into the fray while he was busy with them, leapt toward him from the side with my vampire speed and my wolf agility in one, then slashed my claws across his throat.
I didn’t kill.
It was a known rule of mine.
But he was gonna kill Sylas and my dad.
Sylas couldn’t hold that shield against concentrated Celestial magic for much longer, and channeling my dad was gonna kill him, just to buy a few extra minutes.
I had to… I fucking had to.
I heard my dad and Sylas cry out to me.
But my focus was on Morien as he staggered and clutched at his now spurting throat, blood absolutely drenching his hand as he put pressure on.
I screwed up my face at the awful gagging, spluttering sound that went along with it.
And… fuck… his blood… I could smell the toxicity and it was absolutely disgusting.
He turned and collapsed to his knees, his back to us, his body shaking as blood flowed fucking everywhere.
I heard shocked gasps from some of the Dark Fae.
Even my dad’s vampires, who started in on the Dark Fae again, some of the assholes spinning and breaking from the concentrated stream to turn it on The Shadowed agents.
I didn’t look over my shoulder at my dad and Sylas.
I couldn’t see the looks on their faces right now.
I also couldn’t see Sylas suffering and my dad desiccating.
I zoned in on Morien’s heartbeat as I moved in to finish it, about to burst forward and crush his fucking face in my hands to speed up his death.
But his pulse abruptly evened out.
Evened out when he’d lost that much blood?
No. it should be crawling now.
He should be almost—
He spun, firing a blast of his gray power at me.
Sylas and my dad’s roars filled my ears as it slammed into my chest and sent me hurtling into the wall of the mansion, stone cracking and breaking as a choked curse escaped me.
Bones cracked at the impact, and I felt my ribs shatter, puncturing a lung and making me wheeze.
Morien swept his hand to the side and it ripped me off the wall and shoved me down onto my stomach, making me splutter up blood and fight to breathe.
He was there in the next moment, wrapping a glowing gray hand around my throat as he wrenched me up before him, holding me off the ground by infusing his magic into his physical strength.
I couldn’t move.
I couldn’t move at all.
He had me paralyzed with that fucking spell.
“Remnant, bear witness now to the death of that which you hold dearest in this world,” he boomed.
“Go,” I heard Sylas urge my dad.
Wind whipped all around a moment later, and then my dad sped at Morien.
A chill rolled down my spine as he never made it to me—slamming into an invisible wall, that then came into view as that glowing gray the moment he hit.
It froze him there in Undead Domination like me.
Morien told us, “Black magic can warp a great deal, including a death blow.” He smirked at me.
“Vicious, by the way. In case you were wondering, you inherited that from your mother, not your father. He’s far too calculated to entertain that sort of wildness.
It’s why he doesn’t drop his fangs and feed in battle—it isn’t only about the mask.
He saves that wildness for when he’s defiling your mother.
” He looked at my dad. “So close to reuniting with her in the way you’ve wished for so long.
Building a relationship with your son only to have it cut short. All because you chose the wrong side.”
A bellow sounded from Sylas, and then he was collapsing to his knees, as he held the Celestial shield, then fired a massive bolt of power toward Morien with his free hand.
It slammed into his back and sent him spinning out into the forest.
It broke the Undead Domination, and I cried out as I collapsed, my body really fucked up, until my healing kicked in, something that had frozen while he’d had me in that spell.
My dad was there skidding to his knees in the next moment and cradling me, easing my head off the ground.
“Son,” he uttered, his emotion unchecked.
He just… couldn’t.
And I was right there with him there.
He went to ease me up more, to gather me and get me somewhere safe to heal, but a massive eruption of power tore through the trees where Sylas had blasted Morien.
And then the sadistic shit was literally levitating like a horror come to life, headed straight for us, arms outstretched and wielding blazing gray flame.
I saw Sylas’ eyes widen, even as he gritted his teeth, fighting to keep his free hand live with his power to protect us and the ten vampires, while still holding off the Celestial attack.
His shield was sputtering out.
“We are done here now,” Morien spoke, looking at his acolytes.
“Master?” a few of them queried while still streaming, others forcing back the vampires.