by Ciara Graves
I gritted my teeth and dove headfirst into the battle.
I slashed through fur and muscle, dodging claws and canines ready to chomp down on my neck and tear me apart.
Rafael fought by my side, the two of us carved a bloody path through Shuval’s oncoming forces. The siren continued its cry, calling out the enemy to attack.
A gargoyle swooped in low.
I dove to the ground, avoiding its outstretched claws, then rolled back to my feet in time to meet a hybrid blade-to-blade. He hissed at me, fangs dripping saliva.
I grunted as I pushed him off and brought my other sword up to relieve him of his head.
He rolled into the oncoming path of another hybrid. I never had a chance to run him through. Rafael’s blade protruded through his chest.
The hybrid sagged on Rafael’s sword.
Rafael kicked the body free and nodded to me, ready to continue on our path to Shuval.
We had a way to go to reach the fortress, and my hopes for our half-assed plan began to crumble.
The enemy numbers were too great. Our entire fighting force was inside the sector, but they were already surrounded by the Shuval’s army, cutting off any chance we had of a hasty retreat. There would be no leaving now. It was either fight or die.
A strange, red glow appeared in the sky.
An eerie silence fell over the battlefield, even as the fighting went on.
The storm clouds parted to reveal a massive full moon rising over the horizon.
The Blood Moon was here.
As it reached its highest point in the sky, an overwhelming rage filled me. We were running out of time.
Shuval. We had to get to Shuval, if it was the last thing we did.
And after looking around, I sensed it just might be.
Rafael looked at me, determination in his gaze.
With another yell, we took off toward the fortress, cutting down anything that fell into our path.
Chapter 14
Rafael
I hacked off another hybrid’s head and kicked it away.
Mercy slashed through a shifter attempting to bite her hand. Blood dripped from her fresh wounds—mine too—but we pushed on. There was no other choice.
She had her mage fire, but I’d told her before the fight to save it for when she needed it most. At some point, we were going to face down Envy, as well as, Shuval.
“Rafael!” she shouted.
I spun around in time to catch a dragonborn’s sword ready to cleave me in two. I kicked him in the chest, then followed him back, our swords clashing in a wild dance until I cut down his front. When he didn’t go down, I spun around and relieved him of his right arm. He screamed as it hit the ground. I ran him through the heart for good measure. As his body fell to join the rest of the dead, I caught sight of the action in the streets behind us.
Our fighting force had been swarmed the moment we stepped inside Sector 13. We were far ahead of the others, pushing to reach the fortress and Shuval. I thought I saw Bowen blurring from one target to the next. Horace’s yell reached my ears, but I couldn’t make out where it came from.
And hovering over all of us was that damned Blood Moon.
“Rafael, let’s move it!” Mercy yelled.
I sent a prayer to whatever god might be listening to watch over our friends, then took off after Mercy. We sprinted down one street, then another, only stopping long enough to kill anything that stepped into our path.
We’d just finished off two more dragonborn when Bowen blurred to our sides.
“We have trouble,” he muttered.
I was about to ask how it could get worse when screams erupted behind us. We spun around to find several of our soldiers on the ground, their bodies surrounded by a red aura.
“The ritual,” Mercy whispered. “No!”
She rushed to them.
I yelled for her to wait.
Something heavy crashed into our backs, sending us catapulting through the air. We rolled across the concrete and landed back toward the main mass of fighting.
I shook my head to clear the blurriness. Bowen was nowhere in sight. I hauled myself upright, scrambling for my sword.
As I turned, I spotted Quin Nolan, blood red cloak blowing back from his body with the force of his power. Black fire swarmed his hands, and the murderous look in his eyes said he wasn’t about to go easy on us.
I took my eyes off him for a second to search for Mercy.
Both swords in hand, she clenched her jaw, ready to attack.
A reaper appeared behind her. He placed both hands at her temples.
She screamed, her body trembling.
The reaper was feeding off her life force.
I roared, taking one step forward to help her when a black fire surrounded me. It wrapped around my neck, choking me as it dragged me toward Nolan and away from Mercy.
“Did you truly believe you would succeed?” Nolan clenched his fists. “You are all going to die for nothing.”
The fire collapsed, crushing me.
Mercy’s eyes rolled back into her head. Her swords fell from her hands.
“I’ll let you watch her die first. Then I’ll finish you off,” Nolan said, now only a few paces away. “It’s the least I can do for all the trouble you’ve caused me.”
It couldn’t end like this.
I willed Mercy to fight, but black spots filled my vision. My bones ground against each other as the fire squeezed me like a damned snake. I wasn’t even going to see Mercy die. I’d pass out first.
My demon rage had my muscles bulging and my fangs out, but they didn’t do any good against this evil magic.
Mercy’s head fell forward.
Nolan cackled with delight.
My heart sank, but then it lifted right back up again.
Mercy’s hands fisted at her sides. She raised her head. Her eyes glowed with red mage fire.
Unlike the other times I’d seen her use it, when it was wild, this time, she controlled it. Fire sparked to life in her hands.
She tore herself out of the reaper’s grasp and smashed her hands to his head.
He shrieked as the fire raged through his body, consuming him. He turned into a pile of dust at Mercy’s feet.
She picked up her swords, engulfing the blades in her living flames.
Nolan kept a firm hold on me as she stalked closer.
“You will not win,” Nolan yelled, dragging me back with him.
Mercy’s lip twitched, but she said nothing. There was some sort of commotion happening behind us, but the black fire holding me wouldn’t give enough for me to turn my head to look.
Nolan stumbled over his feet. His eyes grew wide.
There was more shouting than before. And those growls. Some were shifters, but more of them were demons. A lot of demons.
Distracted by the commotion, Nolan didn’t notice Mercy’s red fire creeping toward me and up my body. It overwhelmed his black flames and pushed them back, shooting toward Nolan’s arm. They released me.
I fell to the ground, sucking in air as Mercy stood beside me. My sword lay close at hand. As my demon rage renewed my strength, I picked it up, and we closed in on Nolan. His fire sputtered out and fear flooded his eyes.
“None of this will make a difference,” he told us. “None of it, you hear me?”
Black flames sprouted in his hands, but just as he was going to unleash them on us, a gunshot cracked.
Nolan staggered back, blood oozing from a fresh wound on his shoulder.
A second shot hit his other arm. He turned to run, but a third and final one slammed into the back of his head. He fell forward, collapsing on the road.
I dashed toward him, raised my sword, and brought it down on his neck, just to be sure.
I wondered who’d shot him until I spotted the demons standing behind Mercy.
Demons I knew many years ago.
No wonder Nolan had panicked. These were the demons I led in revolt against the mages in Sector 2.
> The one holding the gun, who I assumed shot Nolan, nodded.
It wasn’t only the demons who’d caught me off guard though.
Beyond them, joining in the fight, was a solid line of dragonborn being led by Horace and Nor. These must’ve been the ones who stood against Shuval. They’d decided to fight after all.
They weren’t the only ones.
Another witch coven had arrived. As had a group of shifters being led by Curtis and Thomas, the new pack leaders from Sector 18. I didn’t know Mercy’d had a chance to contact them.
“The tide’s turning,” Bowen said as he appeared beside me.
Horace ran to us, face bloodied, but otherwise in one piece. “Reinforcements.”
“How?” Mercy asked, her mage fire burning brightly in her eyes and around her swords.
“You’re welcome,” Todd said as he appeared next to Mercy.
“Sorry we’re late.” Thomas panted, sprinting over. “I heard you two need to get to some fortress and kill Shuval.”
“We do. And we’re running out of time.”
With the added numbers, we were now on even standing with Shuval’s forces. Yet, the Blood Moon remained. More and more of our people were falling to the ground, cocooned in red auras. Many were already dead. Far too many.
“Then let’s get you there.” Horace raised his fist into the air with a shout.
Then we were off, sprinting through the oncoming army and toward the fortress.
The demons created a path for us, barreling right into the hybrids, reapers, and anything else that came at us. They took them down in droves, driven by a rage that finally had an outlet. Shuval was the reason my people had lost so many and been forced to live in slums.
I grunted in satisfaction at the number of dead hybrids I passed.
We slid around another corner, and there was the fortress. The Blood Moon hung directly over it, red rays making it appear as though dripping blood.
“Go,” Horace shouted, “we’ll hold them off as long as we can.”
Mercy and I ran for the fortress. We made it inside, and as I looked back to check on our friends, the door slammed shut behind us.
I crashed into it, testing it, but it held.
“Trap,” she whispered.
We had nowhere to go but forward.
I led the way, slowly at first, but when we met no resistance, I picked up the pace.
The air was thick, and Mercy’s flames flickered down her swords, struggling to stay lit.
It was worse than when I was here to rescue her.
The evil pressed in on us, making it difficult to think clearly.
I lost my way, but Mercy nudged me, and I followed her down the several flights of stairs to reach the ritual chamber.
When we reached it we found that the black doors hung off the hinges.
Mercy hesitated as we neared. This was not only the place where Shuval tried to change her, but also where Damian had died. The floor and ceiling were cracked and scorched from the blast.
Mercy gulped, but pressed onward, into the room, and toward the doors Todd had told us about.
Shuval must’ve ordered the fortress emptied once we’d broken through her outer defenses. With any luck, we’d only have to face her.
Together, we kicked in the doors.
I waited to be blown back. Instead, they exploded inward, and we rushed inside.
“I wondered what was taking you so long,” Envy said with a sneer, only yards away.
Behind him was a dead tree. Gnarled branches reached all the way to the domed ceiling.
Standing at the base of its trunk was Shuval. Her arms were outstretched. The tattoos on her body writhed and moved as if alive. Protecting her was a dome of green light.
To get to her, we’d have to kill Envy, something we’d failed to do before.
Mercy swung her swords casually. “Ready to die, Envy?”
Though one-armed, Envy still remained a challenge.
A green whip of fire fell from his hand, coiled on the floor at his feet. “You first.”
Chapter 15
Mercy
The whip of fire lashed toward us.
Rafael and I dove in opposite directions as it came down where we’d been standing.
Stone exploded on impact.
I rolled to my feet as it came at me again. I warded it off with my blades, the fire in them straining to remain strong. I willed my desire to live into my mage fire, and the swords glowed with renewed energy.
The whip wrapped around both blades and then I was being dragged toward Envy.
“Your death is one I will relish.”
He continued to pull me in closer and closer, until Rafael used his sword to slash down Envy’s back.
At the last second, Envy shouted and whirled around, catching Rafael in the side of the head with his flame-encased fist.
I charged in, ready to decapitate him.
A burst of green fire shot from Envy’s center and threw me into the far wall. My swords slipped from my hands.
I shook my head. That damned fire closed around my neck and lifted me off my feet.
Rafael went after him again, but it appeared Envy didn’t need two hands to kick our asses.
Rafael was launched across the room. He slammed into the green dome.
The smell of burning flesh hit my nose as Rafael’s growl turned into a bellow. Electrical currents washed over him, holding him in place.
If I didn’t get him away from that dome, he’d burn to death. I grabbed hold of the whip pinning me to the wall. Red fire swarmed my hands and inched its way down the whip toward Envy.
He grunted, clenching his teeth in effort as he tried to force my magic away.
I was not going to be beaten, not this time. I bellowed as I drew on all my strength. My red fire pushed me to my feet. I approached Envy.
His green flames retreated in my wake. He dug his feet in when he began to slide across the stones.
“No,” he seethed.
With another shout, I sent a burst of fire straight toward him. It blasted him off his feet and had him careening into the wall.
I sprinted to Rafael and yanked him away from the dome. His back was scorched, but he was able to stand.
“We can’t waste time,” he grunted through the pain.
“Got something in mind?”
“I do.”
“Am I going to like it?”
His furrowed brow said probably not. “You need to go after Shuval. I’ll deal with Envy.”
“What? Are you insane?”
He turned to the dome and using his claws, pierced Envy’s barrier of protection that surrounded Shuval. His muscles bulged as he forced the magic to part for him.
I had no choice but to scoop up my blades and wait for the timing to be right.
The moment the hole was big enough, I dove through.
Envy let out a battle cry, and then he and Rafael were engaged in combat.
I longed to watch and make certain Rafael lived, but there was no time.
Shuval needed to die. The ritual had to come to an end.
She hadn’t turned around yet.
I crept closer, tuning out the sounds of the fight outside of the dome.
I raised my blades, aiming to take her head in one fell swoop.
The ritual seemed to have her in some sort of trance. She might not even have realized I was in there with her. I let out a shaky breath.
Just as I brought my blades down, Shuval whirled around, waving a hand.
My swords were ripped from my grasp. Her other hand grabbed me by the throat.
Shuval’s eyes were solid red with vertical black pupils. Her claws dug into my skin as she lifted me off my feet.
Foreign words tumbled from her mouth as the tattoos writhed across her skin.
I scratched and beat at her arm, but she only dug her nails into my skin.
I gasped from the pain.
“You truly believed you would win?” she muse
d, her eyes glowing.
“I made you a promise,” I sputtered.
She tilted her head. “Yes? And that was what?”
“That’d I’d rip your heart out.” I pulled back the best I could and headbutted her. The blow didn’t make her drop me, as I’d hoped, but her grip loosened. I raised my foot and kicked her square in the chest.
She stumbled away.
I hit the floor, hurrying to get back to my feet.
A sudden ray of red light surrounded her. Her eyes darkened. Her hands spread to her sides and she began a chant of some sort.
It seemed that the ancient magic she’d used had a strong pull on her and that she would only be able to fight me in bursts.
A noise pulled my attention away from her for a brief second. The sound of a crack, much like lightning.
The dome crackled as Envy was thrown into it.
Rafael was covered in fresh wounds, but he was holding his own.
I pulled on my mage fire and circled Shuval, lashing out, creating two whips, not unlike Envy’s, except mine were made of my red mage fire. They wrapped around Shuval’s body, squeezing her and her chants cut off with a gasp.
“You insolent child,” she screeched. She grabbed my whips of fire, sending a jolt of evil magic through them.
It struck me dead center. I was thrown into the dome’s wall, landing in a heap.
“I will deal with you later.”
I wasn’t having that. “Oh no, You’re going to deal with me right now.”
Without giving her time to recover, I rushed her. My whips changed to blades of red fire. I lashed them across her back, drawing blood as they ate through skin and muscle.
She screamed, spinning around and swiping at me with her claws.
I ducked under her first attack and slashed my sword across her thigh and side.
She staggered, but remained standing.
I had my blades ready to drive through her back when her foot came out of nowhere and connected with my face.
With my concentration now disrupted, my swords went up in smoke.
Her fist caught me under the chin.
I had no chance to put my hands up to block her flurry of punches.
