“Well, at least now I know why you’re all in such a good mood,” he said slowly, his tone cold and cutting through my bones. “Whatever hopes you have, I suggest you abandon them. A little Druid and his silly magic tricks will not bring me to my knees.”
He moved toward the staircase opening in the floor at the northern end of the platform, and glanced over his shoulder before he went down.
“This world is mine,” he added.
Phoenix, Vita, and I glanced tentatively at each other after he disappeared. Draven had gotten Azazel so mad that he’d postponed whatever punishment he’d had for us, forcing him to leave the platform and probably put pressure on his Destroyers.
I had a feeling he was going to ramp up his defenses below. But brute force wasn’t going to be a problem for our allies. They’d spent their whole lives fighting treacherous incubi and Destroyers. They were all ready to slash down anyone who stood in the way of our freedom.
My main concern at this point was Jovi. I knew he’d be in touch as soon as he got Nova out, but he faced plenty of dangers in the process. I was worried sick, and each minute that passed seemed longer than the one before.
“Now what?” Phoenix asked, looking around.
“I guess we wait some more,” I replied, a hint of sarcasm in my tone. There wasn’t much else to do until someone got us out of the glass bubbles.
I decided to distract myself by analyzing the platform, its open spaces and weak points. All of Vita’s visions pointed to a massive fight here, on top of the castle. The least I could do was take in all the details and use them later in my fight strategy. Because I knew that once I got out of this damn bubble, I would dive directly into combat.
I stretched my legs and arms, taking deep breaths and scanning the area, preparing for my imminent release.
Not much longer now…
Serena
We managed to stay undetected until we reached the river leading up to the castle. It was the same river that Draven, Hansa, Sverik, and I had swum down during our escape from Luceria. The drums were getting louder as we shortened the distance between our garrison and Azazel’s ground troops.
Based on what we could see from our angle, at least a couple hundred Destroyers were out, circling the castle and hissing menacingly. We slid off our horses and moved upstream, leaving them behind and following the river path. Willow trees provided good cover as we moved forward, their cascading foliage whispering in the wind.
“We’ll stay beneath the trees,” Draven said as we trekked across the smooth river rocks. “We can enter through the pipe system in the south-east.”
I’d watched him mutter under his breath less than an hour earlier, seen him glow white while projecting an image of himself directly to Azazel. I’d been getting more anxious as the distance between us and the castle decreased, and he’d felt my concern, occasionally glancing my way and giving me a reassuring wink.
Jasmine was right behind us, while Jax and Hansa led the way, with Anjani bringing up the rear. The Bajangs, the White Tribe succubi, and the Mara wards were darting through the woods on both sides of the stream. I could hear leaves rustling and branches breaking as they moved forward.
“Do you think it was a good idea to reveal yourself to Azazel like that?” I finally asked Draven.
“He’s angry and scrambling for more defenses now,” he replied. “The more rattled he is, the higher the possibility of him making mistakes.”
“That’s a double-edged sword, dear nephew,” Jasmine chimed in from behind. “He’s most likely even more vicious now.”
“It’s not his viciousness I’m concerned about,” Draven replied. “I already know what a ruthless monster he is. I need him tense; I need him furious. An unhinged beast might be more unpredictable, but it’s also easier to bring down, more prone to errors, and, in his case, extremely desperate to prove an unwavering self-confidence. He’s been droning on about how invincible he is for so long, and yet, when I confronted him, he was shaken. He didn’t expect it. He’s used to having control, and now it’s all crumbling down. Believe me when I tell you we have him right where we want him.”
“I trust your judgment, Draven, don’t get me wrong,” I said. “But Azazel does have a habit of surprising us in the most unpleasant ways.”
“We’re not playing it safe anymore,” Hansa said over her shoulder. “We’re out here, bringing the fight to him. It will get messy one way or another, but it’ll be better for us if our opponent is more neurotic than usual.”
I nodded. We continued our trek along the riverside, moving deeper into the woods as we got closer to the castle, its massive black façade casting its shadow over us. The wards did a good job of mind-bending nearby hostiles into staying away from the riverbank, and several Bajangs were sent out as decoys to deflect enemies away from our position.
“Your wards are truly extraordinary, Jax,” I gasped as I used my True Sight to check our surroundings.
I could see them up in the trees, planting suggestions in the heads of incubi and Destroyers who were less than a hundred yards from us. They started brawls and had the Destroyers chasing random noises in the woods, farther away from us.
“They work better in teams,” he replied, a sense of pride in his voice. “They’ve spent centuries perfecting the mind-bending technique. Even I’m in awe of them, sometimes.”
“We’re less than five hundred yards from the sewage opening,” Draven said, checking the map, then looked at me, his eyes flickering black. “Are you ready?”
“You’re damn right I’m ready.” I gave him a confident grin.
The pipe system allowed us to get through most of Luceria virtually undetected. Knowing Azazel, the opening on the ground level was most likely heavily guarded, but Jax had already assured us that the wards would have that part covered by the time we got there.
I used my True Sight again, and, as we got closer to the sewage opening, saw the wards falling back and moving ahead, one by one, their sights set on the twenty Destroyers slithering back and forth in front of it.
My body was tense, my nerves extensively stretched.
I wiped the sweat from my forehead as the wards directed the Destroyers away from the opening, making the creatures think we were coming in hard from the west. They slithered into the woods as we came in from the opposite direction.
I could hear them hissing a few yards away, busy on a wild goose chase while we infiltrated Azazel’s castle, one by one. I climbed up that large round stone pipe, my feet splashing the dirty water pouring into the river we left behind.
The deeper we went, the darker and colder it got.
But it was also quiet, which boded well for our mission. We’d gotten past the guards undetected, and we were slowly but surely making our way up to the higher levels. My mind immediately wandered to Phoenix, Aida, Vita, and Bijarki.
Hold on, guys. We’re coming…
Jovi
I ran after Patrik, Thadeus, and my two mutated shifters disguised as snakes until we came to a halt at a corner. The Druids morphed back to normal, peeking around the corner, then frowning at me.
“What?” I whispered.
“Four Destroyers guarding the door,” Patrik said.
“That’s new,” I muttered. “Aida didn’t see any guards.”
“Azazel’s tightening his defenses.” Thadeus shook his head.
“What do we do?” I asked, moving up to Patrik’s side to get a better look.
He bent forward, muttering something under his breath and reaching out a hand, wiggling his fingers. He sent out an invisible pulse, knocking torches off the wall at the far end of the hallway. It caught the Destroyers’ attention, and they slithered away from the door in the opposite direction before hissing and vanishing around the corner.
“That should keep them busy for a bit,” Patrik said as we darted toward Nova’s room.
“Ah, there’s the damn purple tree,” I mumbled at the sight of the potted tree that Aida had mention
ed.
The door was unlocked. We ran into the room, and noticed the key on the other side. I locked the door behind us and stilled, my eyes nearly popping out of their orbits at the sight of Damion and Nova staring blankly at us.
The shifters rose to their feet, back in their original form, growling and putting out the green fire candles in the wall fixtures. Patrik and Thadeus moved closer to Damion, who drew his sword, equally shocked and cringing. I guessed he hadn’t expected to see Thadeus back in Druid form, and especially not next to Patrik, both of them buck naked.
“Nova, honey,” I said gently to the Daughter sitting up in her bed. “You might want to cover your eyes for this one.”
“What… What are you doing?!” Damion hissed, consternation imprinted on his face.
“What does it look like we’re doing?” Thadeus smirked. “We’re free.”
“How… How did you break free? This is treason! Azazel will kill us all!”
“Damion, we can help you,” Patrik said, raising his hands in a peaceful gesture.
“No one can help me!” the Destroyer snapped, then lunged at Patrik with his sword above his head.
Patrik dodged as Damion brought the sword down. Its tip hit the marble floor with a sharp clang. The Druid threw a heavy punch into Damion’s side, making him wheeze, while Thadeus moved around and jumped him from behind, wrapping his arms around the Destroyer’s neck in a tight chokehold.
“Stop it.” Damion struggled as his air was cut off.
Thadeus had a firm grip on him, making it impossible for the Destroyer to get free, his serpent tail flailing around the room and knocking into the furniture. He pulled Damion down to the floor. Patrik shushed him.
“We can help you!” he said. “Just let us help you!”
“No, he’ll kill me!”
“Do you want to see Cayron again or not?” Thadeus shot back.
Damion finally stilled, his yellow eyes wide. He looked at the Druids for a long minute, then nodded slowly.
“Then let us help you. Azazel’s reign is over. The whole of Antara is rising against him,” Patrik said. “You can hear the drums of war. That’s the sound of Azazel’s fear. He knows we’re coming!”
I drew closer along with the shifters, trying to get to Nova, who’d covered her eyes, listening quietly.
“Let us help you,” Patrik added.
Damion’s eyes flared green, breaking his attempt to go against Azazel. The Destroyer bared his fangs and coiled his tail around Patrik’s neck. Thadeus responded by tightening his chokehold on Damion, but it didn’t seem to work.
“I’ll kill you before he kills me!” Damion said through gritted teeth.
“I don’t want to kill you!” Thadeus retorted. “I’m trying to help you! Stop it!”
“You can’t help me! No one can help me!”
I moved toward them, thinking I could try to loosen the serpent tail from around Patrik’s neck. His face was turning white, his lips a dark shade of purple, and his eyes rolled back in his head. He was close to blacking out already.
“Enough!” I heard Nova shout.
I hadn’t even seen her when she’d snuck to Damion’s side. The shifters had been unable to keep her away, and were now growling by my side as we watched her grab Damion’s head and dig her fingers into his temples.
He stilled, and her eyes glowed violet. I’d seen this in Viola before. She was using her power to do something to him.
“What are you doing, Nova?” I asked.
“Making it stop!” She frowned, her gaze fixed on Damion, whose snake tail released Patrik.
The Druid fell back, coughing and choking as he gradually recovered his breath. Thadeus let go of Damion and stepped back. The Daughter’s fingers lit up in a bright pink. Damion grunted, his eyes shut. Beads of sweat bloomed all over his face.
His body shuddered, his arms twitching. The bones in his serpent tail began to crack, and he gasped from the pain. A green light flared out of him before his lower body returned to its original Druid form, two legs shaking against the cold floor.
Nova stood up, looking curiously at her hands as the glow in her eyes dimmed.
“How did you do that?” Patrik looked at her with genuine amazement, then at Damion, who was once again a Druid.
“I don’t know,” she mumbled. “I just wanted to make him stop. I think… I think I knew I could do it…”
“Well done, Nova!” Thadeus gave her a warm smile, which faded when the Daughter fell to the floor, too weak to get up.
She was pale and fragile, and her trick of breaking Azazel’s hold on Damion had clearly taken its toll on her. I hung the sword on my belt and set the shield aside to scoop her up in my arms, and she rested her head on my chest. Patrik and Thadeus looked at her with visible concern, before Damion’s groans caught their attention.
“What happened?” he asked, peeling his eyes open and wiping the sweat from his face. He glanced at us, blinking rapidly until he realized where he was and what had happened. He noticed his legs and gasped. “Oh! I’m… I’m back?”
Thadeus gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder, chuckling with relief.
“Yeah, you’re back, you whiny bastard! The Daughter helped!”
They all stood up, Damion leaning against Thadeus for initial support, getting reacquainted with his legs. He grinned as he looked down at his toes, while I turned around to shield Nova from the nakedness of now three Druids standing in front of us.
“Are you okay, honey?” I asked her, scanning her face.
“Yes, I think so.” She blinked slowly. “Just tired, always tired…”
The little ruby pendant around her neck drew my attention.
“Azazel uses this to feed off your powers, doesn’t he?”
She nodded her response, clutching it in her little hand.
“He said I’ll feel worse if I take it off.” She sighed.
“He lied,” Damion replied. “It feels worse with it off, but that’s just to convince you to keep it on. You need to destroy it, and it’ll cut off the power link he made to you. I watched him set it all up with a spell.”
A moment passed as we all stared at him. He’d gotten so far so quick, going from the stubborn Destroyer to the helpful Druid in front of us.
“Look at you, so cooperative all of a sudden.” Thadeus smirked, then moved toward Nova and me. He quietly waited for her permission. When she nodded, he took the pendant off and tossed it on the floor.
He raised his foot, ready to stomp it.
“Wait,” I said, suddenly thinking about the repercussions. “Azazel will most likely feel the break.”
“He’s right,” Damion agreed. “Best to wait to break it until she’s out of here…”
“Where am I going?” she asked, half asleep already.
My heart broke to see her so weak, so exhausted, a victim of Azazel’s greed and desperate bid for power.
Damion stepped forward, looking at Nova and me. “I’ll get her out of here,” he said. “Thadeus and I have been looking after her from the moment we were turned. Thadeus can stay here and fight. I’m not strong or brave enough to face Azazel, but I can take her to Mount Agrith. I can take her to her sisters.”
Patrik, Thadeus, and I looked at each other—a brief and wordless exchange that ended in a collective nod. One of my shifters turned into a flying horse, spectacularly large for the size of the room. It reminded me of the proverbial bull in a china shop as it trotted over to the tall window, which was narrow but not enough to keep the horse from getting out of there.
The other shifter padded over to its mate and fiddled with the lock on the window until it was able to open it wide, then looked at me and stepped back. They never ceased to amaze me.
Patrik grabbed the bedspread and loosely wrapped it around Damion’s waist, a glimmer of amusement in his blue eyes. Damion gave him a confused look in return.
“You know, since you’re going to see the Daughters on Mount Agrith. At least make yours
elf presentable.” Patrik grinned.
“Ah, yes, true…”
“Get on the horse,” I said.
He climbed onto the back of the winged shifter, unable to take his eyes off it. I gave him Nova, whom he held affectionately close to his chest, then recovered my shield from the floor.
“How’d you get shifters to obey your commands like this?” he asked.
“One of Nova’s sisters helped.” I smirked, pointing at the flying horse’s glowing violet eyes.
“Oh.” He nodded, making the connection. He then looked at us, a pained expression settling on his face. “I’ll keep her safe and get her to Mount Agrith, I promise. It’s the least I can do, and not enough to right my wrongs.”
“It’s okay, Damion,” I replied. “Azazel’s hold is strong—you have every reason to be afraid. You’re free now. That’s all that matters.”
“Smash the pendant as soon as I’m over fifty yards away,” he said. “Azazel will sense it. You need to get out of here, too. He’ll be out for blood.”
“Got it.” Patrik gave him a curt nod.
The shifter-horse neighed and moved back a couple of feet. Damion grasped its mane while using his other arm to hold Nova. The creature then ran and jumped through the open window, expanding its wings and shooting upward into the sky.
There were plenty of Destroyers flying around, but none close enough to immediately notice Damion. The shifter was fast, too, covering the fifty-yard distance in just a couple of seconds. I immediately stomped my boot on the pendant, satisfied by the crackling sound. We all felt the pulse emitted by the crushed ruby, and looked at each other for a brief moment.
“I think Azazel felt that too,” Patrik muttered.
We ran out of the room and back around the corner in the direction we’d come from. Thadeus and Patrik took the lead, while the remaining shifter and I followed. My stomach tightened into a knot at the thought of a raging Azazel storming down here after us. We’d really kicked the hornet’s nest this time.
“Where do we go now?” Thadeus asked as we rushed down the hallway.
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