Chapter 20 Kieran
KIERAN
Alfemir as I knew it was gone.
The city I’d grown up in was nothing but ruin: some streets reduced to rubble and others melted under the heat of the Seraphim, buildings collapsed in on themselves.
The air had become so thick with ash I could barely breathe without coughing from the inhaled dust. Even here, in the outer rings, the heat from the two Seraphim blistered against my skin and wings as units fanned out.
Gabe shifted on my left, shouting orders to the soldiers as they advanced toward the next cluster of traps to the west. Steele stood silently on my right, his focus razor-sharp, eyes flicking constantly toward the sky for Dominions circling overhead.
We needed to ensure the traps held and to coordinate the strikes from below—and the farther our teams pushed inward, the less control we had over timing and precision.
Many of the traps were automatic, triggered by movement, but others required a Caster’s magic or an Elementalist’s surge of power.
And every ground strike against the Seraphim demanded eyes on all sides, not only to make it count, but to ensure we didn’t lose any of our soldiers in the process.
The second part was to aid in the destruction of the Seraphim. While Bastian maintained control of the cages, our forces pushed forward toward them, aiming to unleash everything we had to tear the Seraphim apart before they could break free.
Above us, Dominions tore through the smoldering haze, every burst of power igniting the sky and casting light over the devastation gripping Alfemir as the last of the sun disappeared.
A sudden explosion flared in the distance—a Dominion hurling a sphere of fire into the streets, straight toward a section we’d just sent a squadron into. Shit. I raised my voice, forcing command through the chaos. “Move forward! We need to provide backup!”
Our unit—nearly twenty strong, a mix of defensive Casters and offensive fighters from across several factions—moved fast through the outer rings. The blackened air rolled over the streets in waves as the ground shook with detonations around every bend.
“Careful,” Steele said, his voice low and sharp. “Trap on your right.”
I shifted left without hesitation, trusting him without needing to look or confirm myself. One wrong step in our trap-laden city, and you’d be incinerated before you even blinked.
Suddenly, Ronan’s voice cut through the bond, precise and steady. “Dominion unit advancing—next street over.”
“Watch your right for a trap and get ready to fight at the next corner!” I shouted, raising my voice over an explosion from the next block over. “There’s a cluster waiting!”
Our unit moved as one, pressing forward head-on through the smoke.
Above us, three Dominions moved through the air in a loose formation, wings throwing off turbulent gusts of wind that churned the smoke each time they banked.
I tracked their movement as we approached, trying to gauge which ground unit they were hunting.
Most of their focus stayed on the wyverns and our aerial units, but every few passes, one would break formation long enough to dive—throwing bursts of fire toward anything that moved on the streets below.
Casters climbed onto the rooftops, straining to keep their own shields up—domes of gold flaring whenever a Dominion hurled power their way. Elementalists raised walls of earth and rock from the ground, buying their comrades seconds at a time with enormous shields.
Then, through the burning haze, one of our mixed Elementalist units caught a Dominion mid-dive.
Air Elementalists twisted the wind around its wings, forcing it off balance while earth Elementalists raised a wall of rock straight into its path.
The collision sent the Dominion spinning, and Casters struck next—electrifying its armor with magic as it crashed into the street.
Our ground forces joining from the adjoining streets didn’t hesitate. Infantry surged forward, blades and spears finding every gap in its armor until the Dominion stopped moving.
Holy shit. We were actually hanging on in this fight.
The realization had a warmth of hope seeping through my chest. For the first time since war filled the horizon and the siege began, I let myself believe we might actually succeed.
While I’d always wanted to believe in our careful preparations and combined forces, there was always a doubt in the back of my mind I tried to ignore, that we were no match for the power of the triad.
The history books and wars they’d been in made it sound impossible for us to overcome.
Through the bond, hope pulsed between Steele, Gabe, and me—a quiet, steady current that kept us moving, pushing the line forward against the Dominions overhead.
I could also feel Ronan’s sharp, controlled focus in combat radiating through the connection.
Niz’s presence was wilder; I’d never experienced the mate bond while he was fully shifted, but it was fully predatory and razor sharp.
My eyes lifted to find Bastian. His power surged through the bond, violent and alive, a storm of magic and agony as he fought to keep the two Seraphim bound. I could feel the strain tearing at him, the cost of such a massive creation bleeding through the bond with every heartbeat.
The Seraphim fought back, their radiance slamming against the blood cage in bursts of blinding blue light. Each impact shook the ground beneath our feet, the sound rolling through the streets like thunder. Bastian’s energy answered in kind: unyielding, defiant, steady in its rise.
Until everything changed.
Bastian’s power burst outward toward the Seraphim, blinding light searing through Alfemir as his blood magic burned hotter, sealing the cage tighter around them.
The shock tore through the air like a physical blow, and every head on the battlefield snapped toward my Archimage.
For a suspended second, everything stopped—even the enemy combatants.
All at once nearly fifty Dominions shifted their focus—half rushing for Bastian, half dropping toward the city.
“They’re changing targets!” Steele shouted.
“Prepare yourselves! They’re coming for the ground!” I shouted as a group folded their wings and plunged like bombs, aimed straight at us.
“Spread out!” Steele’s voice cut through the noise. “Get into defensive positioning, now!”
We moved with the order, the air screaming with chaos around us as we sprinted, vaulting over wreckage as the first Dominions hit the streets behind us. The ground was unsteady beneath my boots as their power ripped through the alleys, zeroing in on us.
Casters within our unit threw up shields, domes of gold snapping into place to intercept the incoming strikes. The barrier shattered with a sound like breaking glass but held just long enough for us to dive behind a destroyed building and regroup.
Others tried to push the enemy back, layering containment wards around the impact sites to trap the Dominions where they landed. The effort didn’t last. The angels tore through each ward in turn, a blast of power burning the magic away as fast as it formed.
“Keep moving!” I shouted as a blast of fire swept through the street. Steele’s arm locked around my waist, keeping me tucked against him. “Don’t let them pin us here!”
A second later, a trap exploded across the street, scattering wreckage through the blackened air.
Our unit pushed deeper into the next block, forced onto the defensive. Every move was a reaction—dodging fire from the Dominions on the ground, avoiding dives from above, barely finding space to breathe, let alone strike back.
A white-hot glow lit up the night, turning the battlefield as bright as midday. At first, I thought it was another explosion. I raised an arm against the glare, searching the sky.
White and blue streaks cut through the darkness and my stomach churned with instant dread.
More Seraphim and possibly more Dominions.
But there was a light alongside those entities that ignited pure white, so intense it looked like the air itself was vibrating apart around it.
“What the…” Gabe’s voice trailed off. Through the bond, I felt the echo of horror ripple between us—even Bastian’s focus faltered for a heartbeat.
“Seraphim and Dominions!” I shouted to our forces.
My words were drowned out as one the balls of light cut low across the sky, close enough that the clouds tore open before our eyes. I couldn’t make out its shape, but I could feel it, an undeniable pull in my chest like gravity had shifted, like it was being drawn to me.
The wave of energy from more Seraphim and Dominions landing on Alfemir rippled through the air hard enough to throw me off balance. I caught myself against Gabe as the buildings around us shuddered, glass raining down into my hair.
For a heartbeat, the three of us were silent in shock as we stared up at the oncoming light. My feathers shifted with static as sparks crawled along my skin in warning.
Then Steele looked at both of us, the fear clear in his pinched eyes and lips.
“That’s not a triad member coming toward us,” he said, voice low and certain.
My head shook of its own will as I blinked back at him, my voice coming out softly, as the truth settled between us, “That’s a star. The stars are falling.”
My hearing went out as the world reduced to a dull ring and flashes of movement as reality crashed into me. I felt paralyzed as my worst nightmare came to fruition. Why now? Did the world want me to fail?
The noise rushed back in all at once. Screams of agony mixed with lethal explosions.
I didn’t know where to focus—there was too much motion, too much light, too much destruction tearing through the streets.
My chest rose and fell rapidly, my lungs struggling to expand fully with my breathing.
The pressure built inside my chest, pressing against my ribs, ready to burst.
Why the fuck were the stars falling now?
“Kieran.”