Chapter 60 #2
She’d always been fascinated by the creatures, though she’d never seen one up close since she hadn’t visited Alavaar. I’d brought her a few books over the years about dragons as gifts, which she’d loved. Perhaps that was another reason she’d wanted to come along on this trip.
“The enemy will have to end the spell shortly before they attack, or it will affect them, too,” Aella said.
The dragon could understand us when we spoke, but she had no way to communicate back to us. “I was almost tempted to bring your sister since none of us can hear the dragon in our minds.”
Idwal glanced back up at the sky. “She knows what needs to be done, so I wouldn’t worry.”
Everyone double-checked their packs as the time grew closer. We’d had enchantment spells put on them before departing here, so they’d be protected from almost anything for the next few days until they wore off.
As I took a drink of water, the oppressive feeling of fear and dread died away.
Sometimes danger whispered, sometimes it roared.
This danger slithered and crawled as it came for us from every direction, silent as a spider ready to pounce.
Screams sounded in the distance. One by one, the lifeforces of our sentries extinguished from my senses.
We exchanged looks, everyone’s expression a mix of anxiety and resolve.
Two of the four dragon slayers moved to flank Aella and me with their swords upraised. They were our last line of defense. Idwal crouched next to us with a large, silver-hued shield he could use to deflect magic. Everyone else spread apart because the deaths we’d sensed came from everywhere.
Flame balls flew toward us first. Veronnian soldiers blocked them or flung them back with enchanted blades. Arrows flew overhead, but someone with wind power like Aella’s directed them away to land harmlessly in trees.
With the clarity stone in my hand, I could make out shapes in the distance coming closer to us through the brush.
Explosions went off as some of our enemies hit traps, ending their lives quickly.
Others hit a line of something—I couldn’t say what the faeries had set up exactly—but it broke their invisibility spells.
Our side began sending offensive magic and weapons at the dark elves as they neared us. Within a few minutes, the battle raged with flashes of light, fire, and weapons swinging. A dark elf made it through our line of soldiers and ran toward us.
He had his sights set on Aella and completely missed the blue dragon that swooped down and crunched her teeth over his torso. It happened so quickly that I never even heard the Karganoth soldier scream. She lifted him into the air, likely going to drop his broken body somewhere.
They’d sent so many troops at us that even the traps and our defenses couldn’t keep up. Dagra began setting parts of the forest ablaze to slow the tide. I was grateful that her flames burned only what they touched, without spreading farther. We didn’t need to become trapped in an inferno.
“Get ready, Aella,” Idwal shouted over the noise of battle. “The window opens in one minute.”
She pulled the string on a hefty bag of holmium fastened to her belt and shoved her hand inside. As soon as the time came, she could begin channeling.
A ball of fire arced overhead before landing on the pile of packs next to us. It extinguished as soon as it hit their enchantments, allowing me to release my breath. We hadn’t had time to test the protection spells before we left.
“Now!” Idwal yelled.
Aella thrust her free hand toward the large ring fifty feet away and began chanting as the various runes lit up. For this trip, ten were required instead of five. She’d memorized them as soon as Idwal gave them to her yesterday.
Several dark elves snuck through our line again.
Jax and Loden fended off two of them since they’d moved closer to us in preparation for leaving, but one female kept coming.
Using the move that required the least power, I sent her flying over the trees.
She would live, but she’d break a bone or two upon landing.
Aella, still chanting as the battle raged, bumped me once as a sign her energy was starting to wane.
She hadn’t even connected the portal yet, but had already almost drained herself.
Pocketing the clarity stone, I moved behind her and pressed her back to my chest. She leaned into me without hesitation.
I thrust out my arm and linked my fingers with hers, where they stretched toward the portal.
The more we touched, the more I could give her.
Concentrating, I found the mystical bond linking us and began pouring my magic through it to her.
She jolted a little at first, but then the transfer between us smoothed out.
I couldn’t say how much time passed as I gave her more and more, trying not to worry about the enemy attacking from every direction as we worked to establish the connection.
The dragon slayers were doing an excellent job of keeping attackers away from us, but standing still during a battle went against my nature. It helped that wrapping myself around my mate gave her an extra layer of protection.
Finally, a pop tore through the air, and the ring’s interior glowed blue.
It was a glorious sight I had almost thought we’d never see.
She’d just connected Paxia to Earth, despite the length of the galaxy separating the planets.
Aella stopped chanting and pulled her other hand from the bag, but we kept our arms up to continue the flow of power to hold it open.
“Throw our packs into the portal,” I ordered the two nearest Veronnian soldiers. They set to work on it right away, tossing two at a time.
Jax, Faina, and Loden had ended up farther away during the fighting, but they inched toward the ring now. They were only twenty feet from it when dark elves surrounded them. My sister’s fireballs had diminished, barely singeing her opponents, and she didn’t use her sleep magic at all.
I wasn’t surprised when she switched to her sword. My two friends had already done so. They were covered in blood and burn wounds as they hacked and slashed. I could only watch in helpless horror as every foe they took down brought two more to replace them.
They finally reached the blue glow and dove through it. I’d assumed the dark elves would turn around and attack the rest of us, but instead, they followed my sister and friends. Why would they do that? What could they hope to gain by heading to Earth?
More of the enemy broke through our defenses and rushed into the ring.
I looked at Idwal, who remained next to us.
He’d said he would only go through when Aella did, so until then, he used his magic and metal shield to protect us from ranged attacks.
To his credit, he hadn’t let anything break through and hardly appeared winded.
He had a lot more power and battle skills than one would expect for a librarian.
“Why is the enemy going through the portal?” I asked.
He shook his head. “I have no idea, but we need to hurry before more make it.”
I guided Aella toward the ring, but a dozen dark elves killed the last of the Veronnian soldiers protecting our right flank. They lined up before us, not threatening or attacking. Simply standing like a wall to provide a safe path for their brethren to go behind them and enter the portal.
Weakness overcame my limbs, and my head throbbed. “I must call on the god’s powers now.”
If the enemy hadn’t blocked us, we might have made it without the deities’ help.
“Do it!” Aella shouted. Her body trembled with exertion, and it would only get worse.
I pulled a dagger with my free hand and cut my opposite arm.
As soon as the blood flowed, I called upon the God of Wrath.
His energy poured into me immediately, and I sent it straight to Aella.
Her knees buckled. I held her tightly against my chest, hating the intense pain I could sense from her.
She’d never experienced pure divine power funneled into her, much less at the rate I sent it, but we had no choice.
Keeping a portal open that crossed the galaxy was draining us swiftly.
Dagra dove from the sky and released a string of flames.
Before our eyes, the line of dark elves disintegrated into ash.
She lifted her trajectory just in time to avoid the trees at the edge of the clearing.
As much as I appreciated her help, she needed to get through the portal while there was an opening.
“Ori, go!” I shouted.
She didn’t look at me as she fought an enemy wielding a mace. “But we have to stop them.”
“We’ll kill any of them who get through on the other side,” I reassured her.
“Fine.” She kicked her opponent, then slashed her sword through the dark elf’s neck, beheading him. The shapeshifter was stronger than she looked, even while appearing as a male.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she dove into the portal.
More dark elves swarmed the clearing. The two dragon slayers who weren’t protecting Aella and me moved closer to guard the path to the ring.
Several faery warriors joined them, along with the handful of Veronnian soldiers who remained alive from the left flank.
I’d lost count of how many Karganoth troops made it into the portal before dragon flames put a stop to the flow, but we couldn’t allow any more. We needed to go.
With my free arm, I gestured at Dagra toward the portal.
Thankfully, she’d had her eyes on us. The massive blue beast banked before making a straight line for the ring.
We had to duck as she dove low, tucking in her wings at the last moment to squeeze through it.
I breathed a sigh of relief when she disappeared.
Fighting broke out to our rear. I twisted my head to find a fresh wave of dark elves coming for us, and we lacked enough fighters to stop them. Picking up Aella, I began moving us forward, but I couldn’t walk fast enough. They were getting too close.
When they were only ten feet away, the God of Wrath appeared in physical form, along with his wife.
Their power shook the ground around us. A dozen dark elves froze midstep before disintegrating into dust. I’d never seen magic like it before.
It would have terrified me if the ones who cast it weren’t on my side.
We can shield you so you can go, but it will cost you, he said, killing a few more who approached. Pain or pleasure?
I immediately understood what he meant. When?
If it’s pain, then it would be soon after you arrive on Earth. For pleasure, I can delay it to the winter solstice since it’s only a few weeks away. Aella will pay with you regardless of which you choose. She accepted the power transfer.
I ground my teeth. He’d failed to mention that when we spoke about this before.
“What’s…going on?” my wife asked through chattering teeth. Her face was far too pale, terrifying me.
I leaned toward her ear. “The gods are offering their protection, but we’ll have to submit our bodies to them for the next solstice.”
She shook hard now from the flow of power as I held her tightly. It wasn’t only Wrath pushing into me, but also the goddess’ pure magic flowing through us. We’d been holding the portal open for too long. It took two gods to keep it powered and repel our attackers.
“Say…yes!” Aella said, gut-wrenching agony in her voice. “Need…this to end.”
There was no time to argue the point. Our defense was overwhelmed again, and more dark elves reached the ring. They avoided the gods by coming from another direction.
“Agreed!” I shouted, hating that I had no time to negotiate.
The deity’s joined hands, and a wave of power exploded outward. It sent all the Karganoth soldiers flying across the clearing to slam into trees. Cracks reverberated across the forest from broken bodies and trunks hit with too much pressure.
I looked at the nearest dragon slayer. “Guard the portal until we return.”
He already had all the information, but I still needed to emphasize the point.
“Of course,” he said, nodding.
It said something that none of the four had died in this battle. They had a few nasty wounds, but they still stood and fought. The only thing they couldn’t do was be everywhere at once. I could hardly blame them for that.
“Go,” I ordered Idwal.
He didn’t hesitate to lead the way while I held Aella.
She didn’t drop her hand until we were a few feet from the portal, and to my surprise, the two gods followed closely behind us.
A few fresh Karganoth soldiers raced across the clearing, but they wouldn’t make it in time.
I cradled my barely conscious wife in my arms as we stepped into the portal and left Paxia behind.