Chapter 32
Raiden
“What are we doing?” Eryk whispers, even though I had told him to keep his mouth shut.
Arina had asked me to let him stay with her, citing his knowledge of the castle as an asset we required. But there was no chance I was leaving him there. No fucking chance.
If he dies in battle, we’ll find another way in. If he survives, then I guess everyone wins.
After listening to her beg all night long, I relented to take Arina to her mother’s house prior to coming here.
It physically pains me to leave Arina in her childhood home, even with the people I trust most to help keep her safe, but Gideon is expecting me, and it’s time to prove myself worthy of leading this shithole back to glory.
We land just outside the spot where Eryk informed me the queen keeps her army. I’m surprised to find there is only a small squad of soldiers stationed here. It’s a vulnerable part of the castle, and previous scouting missions have proven that Invidia keeps it protected.
“Doesn’t look like she’s expecting much of a fight,” Eryk says after I blur us to the other side of what will be the battlefield where King Gideon has hidden his troops.
“Sir,” I greet the king in his strategy tent where I find Trisay and her second as an added bonus to this uncomfortable exchange.
“How are things on your side?” Gideon asks, getting straight to business and jumping right over the discomfort.
“Quiet.” The majority of the soldiers in Spoikos seem to be on our side. It seems all it took was Invidia exposing herself as the monster she is to have them running for safety.
Still, something seems off. Invidia is a demon-goddess with the underworld on her side. Where is her army?
I’m going to voice my concern to them, but Trisay speaks first, “There’sss sssomethin’ not right here. The magic feelsss wrong. Unnatural.”
“It’s dark magic. Unlike anything I’ve ever known aside from when I feel it here. Invidia is a demon-goddess. She comes from the underworld.”
Trisay’s anger is palpable, almost thicker than the Smog. “Dark magic isss fuckin’ right! If the god of the underworld sssendsss hisss monssstersss up here to defend her, we’re all right fucked, is what.”
I don't know that I’ve ever seen the pirate captain scared. Whatever monsters she speaks of must be formidable.
“Let’s hope he’s on our side.”
We rally the camp, spreading word to head for formation tent by tent until every member of the Clestrayan armada is up and ready to fight.
The first wave of soldiers and trolls lines the battlefield. The Smog provides extra darkness and cover, even as the sun attempts to rise. The stale air chokes us all, and I worry what effect being thrown into this curse will have on the abilities these soldiers rely on.
Across the field, at the foot of the castle, Invidia’s pathetic excuse for an army is less than a third of ours. I squint and can barely make out a dark outline of a figure on the battlements, watching.
The ground cracks without warning, leaving a gaping, jagged hole in the earth just before Invidia’s army.
Her men scramble from the spot, and it’s a miracle none of them are lost. The crevasse is so deep that it exposes glowing orange magma that hisses when the Smog creeps down to touch it.
As the earth separates, stretching the length of the battlefield and spiderwebbing further into the trees than I can see, my legs shake beneath me.
Heat emanates from the hole, and the Smog does nothing but conduct it further, dragging it across the battlefield until sweat drips from my brow.
One giant shadow of a creature climbs out from the fiery mouth. It towers above the trees, almost as tall as the highest turret of the castle. Inky shadows slink off it and onto the ground, forming smaller black creatures that mimic their maker.
I guess we have our answer. The god of the underworld is no friend of ours.
“Demonsss. Ssshadow demons,” Trisay hisses, and the trolls waver, stepping back in preparation to retreat.
“How do we kill it?” I yell over my shoulder, hoping Trisay has an answer for this.
The beast is multiplying with each breath I take, covering the ground in a black wave that’s rushing our way. I’ve never faced such strong dark magic or any creature from the underworld, and panic climbs its way up my throat.
“Trisay!”
“I don’t know. I'm thinkin’!” she shouts, but she’s standing right beside me now.
“Ahh!” The troll pirate snaps her long, blue-gray fingers. “Sssunlight!”
She’s got to be fucking kidding. “Don't know if you noticed, Tris, but we’re fresh out of sunlight in this realm.” I point up to where the Smog shields the sky.
She holds a hand out toward me, like I’m a feral animal who might turn on her any second.
“Okay. Okay. I know! Fire! Burn it!”
I shake my head. “That fucker came from the deepest depths of the underworld. It was born of fire. Fire won’t kill it.”
“Maybe not. But I don’t sssee you comin’ up with any ideasss.” She points the end of her cutlass at my chest.
“What if we smother it?” Eryk asks quietly beside me.
The smaller demons have multiplied now, and the battlefield is crawling in shadows. They’re moving so fast that they will reach us before we can reformulate a plan.
“Great suggestion. Just one question … how?” I try not to sound overly condescending, but he’s not exactly being fucking helpful.
“I don’t know! Don’t any of you have powers? You’re telling me none of you have the ability to snuff this thing out? Like throwing a blanket on a fire.” He’s waving his hands madly at the ground to mimic covering a fire.
Shit. The blond fucker has a point.
I look to Gideon, his eyebrows are furrowed, and I’m praying he can still access his magic.
“Can you throw a ward around it?” I ask.
His tired eyes are clear and bright for a moment, and he rests a hand on my shoulder.
“I think so. But you’ll have to act quickly. I’m not sure how long my powers will last here.”
The field is electric, and I signal for the soldiers to hold steady.
They wait for my cue, and for the first time I think I can truly sense what being a commander is like.
I haven't even been in charge of my own people, and I've never led an army into battle.
I've worked from the shadows, stealing lives in the dark.
This is different. This is life or death for everyone in my kingdom. And it is my kingdom.
The moment Gideon’s ward is over the giant demon, I drop my arm and let out a bellow. With my permission, our army moves in.
The smaller demons creep forward until finally the two forces collide.
Purple blood sprays from the first few trolls who meet the demons, and it registers that the black creatures were born as shadows, but have solidified into solid forms with blades in their hands. Their skin is slick, shining obsidian, and there is no soul behind their colorless, glassy eyes.
Blood pounds in my ears as I cut down one after another. Everywhere I slice my sword, one more demon loses its lifeforce. Thick, black gore sinks into the ground, staining the soil where the demons fall.
Gideon’s ward stops the demons from multiplying, and the shadows stuck within are shrinking, evening the playing field for just a breath. The closer I get to the hole and the monster, the warmer it becomes.
The hairs in my nose burn, and the acrid scent slices my throat with each breath.
Invidia’s army is safe behind the crevasse. But they’re pacing and shouting, and the fear on their faces has me wondering who they’d be fighting alongside if they were able to join the melee.
“Raiden!” Gideon yells, voice shaky, and I turn my back on the battle just long enough to find him. Those in his army who had been guarding him have either fallen, or are fighting off the hoard. They’ve broken formation, and the king is exposed.
He’s surrounded, and I have to make a choice. He’s holding the ward, and I can blur to his side and protect him. Or I can blur to the monster and end this.
“It has to be now!” Gideon yells after taking out three demons. He bows his head, and I make my choice.
When I blur, it feels like flying. I cease to exist for precious seconds.
I land so near to the hole that I almost lose my balance on the edge. Rubble crumbles beneath my boot as I jump back and come face to face with the original shadow creature, but shrunk down. He still towers a solid head above me, higher if I include his curled horns.
He bares his rotting, sharp teeth through a lipless gob and thrashes his head. The thing is still within Gideon’s ward, so I wait. Sword in hand, but poised to attack, I check over my shoulder for my signal.
I wish I hadn’t.
A demon climbs up Gideon’s body, and in slow motion I watch as the man who raised me and provided a home for me as a young boy has his throat ripped out. He falls to his knees, and lands face first into the hard dirt with a silent thud that etches itself into my core.
I cannot hold back the agony. The scream that rips from my lungs hits the air like a tidal wave and ripples across the battlefield.
There’s nothing I can do. Gideon’s ward falls, and I charge at the monster.
“Get the fuck back down where you came from, demon!” I swing my sword and blur at the same time.
When I land, I have cleaved the monster in two.
Black eyes stare, unseeing, but the demon grins as I shove him into the pit.
Both parts of his body tumble over themselves, hitting the edge of the hole before landing, sinking into the magma.
As quickly as they had come, the demons who had materialized from the original creature vanish, sinking into the ground without a trace. Called back to the underworld.
Gideon is gone, and there isn’t a soul alive to restore the wards if we fail.
His words ring in my mind. “Defeat is something you allow.”
I cannot allow his death to slow me down. Grief must wait.
When the dust has settled on the battle, I take stock of the death we’ve left behind. So many wasted lives.
The trolls collect their wounded and the bodies of those they lost, and carry them back toward camp.
By some cruel joke, Eryk has managed to survive the carnage, and I find him with his hands deep in the side of a troll. The soldier does his best not to react to the stench and gummy sensation of the troll’s innards as he holds pressure.
“Leave this to another,” I tell him with one hand on his back. “Our fight isn't over.” And the pull to get back to my mate and ensure Invidia hasn’t sent more of these monsters out after my people is impossible to ignore.
A few other trolls slide in to take his place, and I have to pull the male back. He stares at his blood-covered hands without blinking. Stunned by the purple stains left behind.