Chapter 36
DARK CAPITAL
Idirhalla is an island of ghosts.
Silence lurks, and even the shadows seem to cower.
The capital island is a mass of darkness, except for a few blazing fires shining into the blackness when we breach the shores.
Smoke overpowers the crisp sea air. Evander, Elowen, and Mina slink out of the shadows and help drag our boat onto land.
The only sound is our boots sinking into the thick sand.
“Okay, so we need to make it from here,” I mark an X on the sand as we crouch down on the shore, “to the Great Hall.” I drag my finger in a winding motion. “Once we get there, we need to be prepared for a few different scenarios.”
Mathilda, Tane, and Lachlan nod along, already having heard my plan on the boat.
“Hopefully, it will be a swift takeover, and they will just relinquish the throne. If that’s the case, any guards that you trust need to set up a perimeter around the palace in case there is pushback from the citizens who have decided to stay.
” Evander’s eyes flash to mine, the moon shining on his stern face.
“But more than likely, this will be the first battle of many. Mina, Evander, Tane, and Mathilda divide the hallways amongst yourselves to guard against the reinforcements they will call in. Leave Odessa to me. Got it?”
In the dim light, Lachlan’s eyes burn with rage. “Julius is mine.”
Tane and Mathilda share a subtle smile. Mina grins wildly, the moonlight reflecting off her dark hair as she nods.
Evander stares up at me, pride lining his face before he slowly smiles. “Got it, Your Majesty.”
Surprisingly, my nerves have yet to reappear, but the air around us seems to crackle with anticipation.
“Alright, let’s stick together and follow the main road up. We’ll work as a unit, but if it gets chaotic, we might need to split up and meet at the Great Hall by the training grounds.”
As quietly as possible, we stalk from the shore and onto the road, using the buildings as cover.
As we sneak up the main road, we come to some buildings that are partially ablaze or are already in smoldering cinders.
I share a look with Lachlan. What happened here?
Whole streets are pitch black, and where lanterns should have been lit, there’s nothing but darkness.
The destruction grows as we continue on.
“What the hell is going on here?” I whisper to our group.
Mina responds, “The eclipse must’ve brought the civil unrest to a head.”
“But where are the guards?” Elowen asks, her brow furrowing.
Wood cracks loudly from the devouring flames, not too far from our hideout. The unexpected sound has me flinching. But that’s the only sound. There are no other sounds, no screaming, no yelling of “fire.”
There are no people at all.
Evander and Lachlan both wear masks of fury as they take in the ruins dotting the streets.
“Where are the people?” Mathilda whispers.
“I don’t know—this is all wrong,” I reply, looking around. “There’s nobody here at all.”
Lachlan shakes his head. “The guards should ha’ been ordered to patrol.” He pauses. “It should ha’ never gotten this bad. I’m going to shift and fly ahead to check our path. Stay here,” he orders.
But nothing happens. His wings stay tattoos, and his brow creases in concentration.
“What’s happening?” I whisper.
He puffs his cheeks out with the effort before grunting. “I canna shift. There’s something blocking my power.” His breath comes out in a long whoosh.
“Has that ever happened before?” I ask barely above a whisper.
“Nae, I’ve never had issues performing before,” he says, rolling his eyes.
I snort loudly at his obvious joke and then freeze, clapping my hands over my mouth before shooting a glare at him.
“This is not the time.”
But Lachlan winks at me. “You needed a second to breathe.”
He is right, and his joke eases some of the tension that had begun tightening my shoulders.
Growling rumbles from up the street, and my stomach bottoms out. As the tallest, Tane has the vantage point we need to see over the building debris. “It’s—holy gods,” Tane swears. His skin goes a sickly pale color, and his eyes widen with fear before narrowing into slits. “We’re under attack.”
My blood stills in my veins as I make eye contact with Lachlan.
“It’s demons,” Tane breathes, his face frozen in horror.
“Change of plans,” I order. “We stick together and we work as a team. Mathilda and Tane, you guys take the right side of the street, Elowen, Evander, and Mina will take the left, and Lachlan and I will take the middle.”
I’ve never faced anything remotely this terrifying in my life, but I force myself to stay calm and rely on my training.
Slipping out of our cover, we fan out on the street.
One heartbeat.
We’re trampling through debris.
Another heartbeat.
We’re hurtling towards the demons that have spotted us.
I want to scream. On the page, they were scary, but in real life, nothing compares to the horror right in front of us. Their skin is the mottled gray of corpses with blackened veins visible beneath the lifeless flesh.
Their lipless mouths are stretched grotesquely wide, and their pointed teeth gleam in the firelight as they hurtle over the flames. But their most petrifying feature by far is the hollow black pits of their eyes. No light reflects back from the depths of hellish darkness.
Like a wave crashing on the tide, our forces collide.
With a mighty scream, I slice my ax through the neck of the first demon I encounter. It’s black blood sprays my face as it collapses to my feet. The warmth and odor are enough to make me gag, but the next demon is already racing for me.
It manages to slash at me with its elongated claws. The sharpened talons screech across my breastplate, gouging deep scars into the metal before my sword thrusts through its belly.
Its death scream pierces my ears and has me grinding my teeth as I push harder through its muscles and bones before withdrawing my sword.
The metal of my blade makes a grisly sound as it comes free. Its body crumbles to the ground before me, and I whirl around, ready for the next, but there is none.
With a final savage swing, Lachlan decapitates the last demon of the pack. Its head squelches against the cobblestones. The smell is so putrid that I resort to inhaling through my teeth to avoid the stench. I scan my friends to make sure we’ve all remained unscathed.
Mathilda kicks at the lifeless demon in front of her.
Her face twisted with disgust. Tane’s eyes are on her.
Relief coats his features when he’s satisfied she’s uninjured, and he steps over a corpse and towards her.
There are three demon bodies littered around him.
Mina wipes her throwing blades off on her leather-clad legs, smearing the black blood.
Elowen stares ahead, her face set in a mixture of wrath and disgust. Evander is monitoring the street behind us, his blade still out in front of him.
“What the fuck was that?” I seethe.
Lachlan counts the lifeless demons at our feet. “There are thirteen demons here.”
Tane shakes his head. “How did they even get here?”
Mina pipes in. “And are there more?”
Silence pulses down the street, the only sound coming from the fire still consuming buildings.
“Let’s push on,” I order. As the others move forward, Lachlan pulls me to a stop, his eyes still shining with adrenaline from the battle. “Are ye okay?” His words are soft.
“I’m fine,” I breathe out. My first real battle is now behind me.
“We got more incoming!” Mathilda yells.
We sprint to our positions in line with our friends. Creatures claw towards us as they cling to the walls of buildings that are still standing. Some are on all fours as they run. It’s like there’s a beacon on our position as they swarm us.
We’re severely outnumbered.
I glance to my right to see Mathilda, her knuckles turning white, as she grips her sword tightly in front of her. Tane is angled slightly ahead of her, his brow set in fierce determination. Lachlan’s jaw clenches as he eyes the incoming horde.
I look to my left. Evander has both swords at the ready in front of him, while his bow remains strapped to his back, waiting. Mina takes a deep breath as she slides into a ready stance. Elowen twirls her sword in her hand, a feral grin growing on her face.
They’re upon us in seconds. We hack through the incoming horde. Bodies of the demon foot soldiers begin piling up at our feet as we push our way forward. But just as soon as we cut one down, two more take its place.
“They’re coming from the Great Hall,” Mina yells over the chaos.
I can’t even chance a glance in that direction as a demon grazes its talon across my cheek. The ripping of my skin sharpens my senses as I force my blade through its neck.
“We need to get Lena and Lachlan to the throne room!” Mathilda shouts, and her blade cuts through the demon’s skull in front of her.
“Evander, get to the roof and cover us!” Lachlan orders.
My eyes follow Evander as he slips out of the fray and to the building to our right, an arrow knocked and ready.
A shove forces me roughly to the side and almost off my feet.
Elowen screams, the sound slicing through the sound of the surrounding chaos. I watch as her body disappears beneath trampling talons.
Mina and I converge over the gap Elowen and Evander’s absence has caused. I hack and slash towards where I saw her body last.
She’s fine, she has to be fine.
My breathing comes out choppy as I fight through the exhaustion rapidly slowing my movements. I’m too slow, and a demon lunges for me before it stops in midair. Fletching from Evander’s arrow pokes from between its eyes.
Blood rains across my face, and the creature falls to the ground in front of me.
On top of Elowen. My vision blurs. Blood gurgles from between her lips, her gaze on the night sky above us.
Lachlan yells my name as he runs my way, avoiding the dead bodies now piling up between us. I fall to my knees.