by Ciara Graves
Seneca’s head fell back, and I rushed to grab her arm, stopping her from collapsing to the ground. When she breathed harshly and shook her head, her emerald eyes were back. “I’m fine. He’s gone.”
I released her quickly and turned to face the part of our army standing behind me. “Macron,” I called over their heads, “make ready. The rest of you, on me. Stay together; stay as one. When we’ve drawn them out, when the fighting truly begins, the fae will attack. We just have to give them a chance.” I searched the faces around me and spotted Wendall. “You know what to do, as soon as the path is clear.”
He ducked back into the ranks, and I took in every face of the vampires and demons standing there with me. I never imagined this day would come, that we’d stand united as we were. And here it was. There wasn’t anything to say, not really. I was never one for grand speeches or optimistic talks. Not like they seemed to do any good for Seneca.
I gave them all a firm nod, drew my two short swords, and turned to wait for our enemy.
Vampires, witches, shifters all looked back at us as even more poured out of the front gates of that hellish fortress. The place where I was tortured for so long, where Seneca nearly lost who she was, where countless were mutilated and killed. It had come here. I looked beyond the number of soldiers ready to tear us apart to the figure who appeared atop the wall. Rudarius. He wasn’t even going to fight on the main lines. Figures.
Beside me, Seneca hissed as shadows slipped from her rings. They twisted and churned, shifting into a short sword. She held it in both her hands and broke it into two. She set her feet, and the thought struck me that I was very glad she was on our side.
For now, at least.
Rudarius’s arm shot into the air, and a burst of red fire shot from the fortress behind him. The totem, it had to be. I waited for the fire to come for us, but instead, it rained down on his army, lighting them on fire, but sadly not killing them. Not burning them to crisps.
“What did he just do?” Owen growled from my left.
“It would appear he’s bolstering his army somehow,” I replied with a hiss. “This won’t be easy.”
“Like it was going to be easy before?”
“Easy is boring,” Seneca replied, and we both turned to look at her. Though her eyes remained green, the hunger for blood within those depths was not her. Not even close. “I prefer a challenge.”
Our last kiss flashed through my mind, what she tried to make me promise, and I was suddenly more than ready to spill some blood. I didn’t want Seneca to disappear because of the power coursing through her veins, but she was right. Turning into the monsters we were, the visions of nightmares might be our only way to survive this day. To be bloodthirsty killers who showed no mercy. There was no room for weakness or second-guessing. This day, right now, was about surviving.
Rudarius shouted, his yell carrying to us over the vast field. His army surged forward. And we waited. The mages managed to set only three traps, but they were large. If we ran into them, Macron assured me we wouldn’t be harmed.
We waited.
A bit longer…
A few more moments…
I yelled and blurred into the fray, those behind me picking up my call and following. Seneca stayed to my right and just as we were about to meet the first line of Rudarius’s army, a bright burst of pure light exploded out of the runes drawn into the dirt. The first line was obliterated with no time to even scream. Another trap to the right and left went off when they were too slow to stop themselves from running right into them. As the dust cleared, I waited for a burst of hope to fill me that maybe the traps would give us some sort of advantage right off the start.
But the army beyond them looked just as large and even more pissed off. The fire they’d been touched with flared, making them appear as human torches, but there was no stopping now. We clashed like two storm fronts colliding in the sky. I ducked and dodged beneath attacks from blades and claws. Chaos consumed the battlefield, and it was all I could do not to be swept up in the tide of madness.
The fighting was brutal. Warm blood covered me in seconds. I tore at a vampire’s throat with my teeth, spitting out a chunk of his throat as I dropped his corpse to the ground and spun around in time to meet a witch, a spell of attack ready on her lips. It slammed into my chest, and I plowed through those around me, hitting the ground and rolling hard back to my feet.
Seneca’s scream reached me, but I couldn’t find her through the mass of bodies pressing in around me. I cursed, attacking with a new fury, but the enemy wasn’t going down without a fight. Someone screamed to my right as the flames jumped from the vampire to the demon and consumed his body in a blink.
“Really?” I muttered in disbelief because this fight wasn’t hard enough already, we had to deal with a fire that could devour our forces.
Another burst of red fire appeared over the fortress, but this time, it was coming for our side of the battlefield. I yelled a warning and took cover as the fireballs struck the ground, igniting the dried grasses and a number of our people and Rudarius’s own. A flash of red hair caught my eye a second time, but then it was gone, pushing through the throng of attacking vampires.
I took down another shifter and straightened, spinning around until the front gate of the fortress came into view. The army had stopped pouring out, meaning they were all on the field now. The signal, I had to give Marlie the signal to attack from the trees. It was an easy enough plan, but I was in the center of the field now, with no easy path back to Macron, or one to the trees, but if the fae didn’t join the fight soon, we’d be overrun and slaughtered. I searched through my coat pocket for the coin Macron enchanted and gave to me a few hours before the battle. All I had to do was whisper the word and throw it into the air.
Then someone crashed into my back, and the coin rolled away through the mud.
With a curse, I threw myself after it, straining to keep it in my sights as it passed between legs and finally came a stop on a small tuft of grass. I bent to snatch it when a shifter snarled right in my ear. I whirled around, ready to stab him through, but his face was already scrunched in pain. He shuddered then fell to the ground in a heap. Seneca stood behind him, her shadowed blades dripping blood. Her eyes were hard and mostly black now. She nodded then took off without me getting a chance to say anything.
I’d take it as a good sign she hadn’t let me be mauled to death.
With the coin in hand, I whispered the word to trigger the spell, then threw it as hard as I could. The coin exploded like a firework of blues and greens. Some of the vampires nearest me paused in their fighting, when arrows shot from the trees on both sides. The fae archers’ aims were true, and the enemy dropped in clusters. There was a yell from the rear lines, directing the forces toward the trees, but the onslaught of arrows slowed them down, giving the main army a chance to regroup in the center and attack again.
But the fires blessing Rudarius’s army were taking more of our number down than we could hope to kill of the enemy. A familiar shout sounded close by, and I whirled around. I spotted Nathaniel, currently engaged with three vampires. I jumped in to assist him, running a vampire through his heart as Nathaniel decapitated the other two with one swing.
“Run back to Macron,” I yelled. “Tell him he has to do something to put those fires out.”
Nathaniel looked reluctant to leave.
Two witches charged from behind him, and I threw him back toward our lines, shouting for him to get a move on. My blades slashed through the air, pushing the witches back. I decked the one on the right as she tried to speak then kicked the second in the gut. She stumbled backward, but the spell went off anyway, and I found myself unable to hear anything around me. I worked my jaw as if that would somehow help, but I staggered around, deaf to the fight.
As terrible as the situation was, being without hearing made it seem that much worse.
All around me, I saw fighting, saw members of our army fall, even as the fae finally had to br
eak from the cover of the woods and run in to join the fray. If we couldn’t put out the fires protecting Rudarius’s forces, we’d never make it to the damned fortress.
A raindrop fell on my cheek, and I glanced skyward. More drops fell, icy to the touch.
My hearing slowly came back. The gentle shower turned into a full-on downpour, turning the already muddy ground into a sloshy mess. But as I watched, the flames Rudarius set went out.
“Macron.” He’d done it. He’d found a way to end the enchantment.
Hoisting my sword high, I shouted and blurred through a line of witches, slashing through them all in one strike. Far to my right, a flash of red hair drew my gaze. Seneca was surrounded by a ring of vampires, but she took them all on, not breaking stride for a second. With blood on her face, hands, and clothes, she looked like a demon pulled from the depths of hell. I fought my way toward her, but my path was closed off almost as soon as it appeared.
As the rain poured down, we rallied our forces and pushed forward, driving Rudarius’s forces back toward the fortress. As I decapitated another vampire, I spotted Wendall making a break for the fortress, several other vampires tagging along with him. Good. With any luck, he’d free the prisoners, and we might be able to have a third wave join the fighting.
A furious roar came from behind me, and I spun to see Owen and several other demons. Bodies were scattered all about their feet. He took a second to nod at me then charged headlong into a crowd of shifters barreling down on Marlie and Lark.
I looked around once more for Seneca, but there was no sign of her. Rudarius remained atop the wall, pacing back and forth as he watched the battle. I hissed, needing to get to him the same time Seneca did. Even as I thought it, a voice told me there was no way. She’d find him first, and she’d face him alone, just as she wished.
My thoughts darkened as I wondered how that fight would end.
One step at a time.
First, I had to survive.
I plunged my sword through a shifter’s head, kicked his limp body off my blade, and zeroed in on my next target.
Chapter 10
Seneca
I slammed my fist into the vampire’s face, breaking his fangs. He screamed in pain, but I didn’t stop. I followed it up with a second hit and a third, driving him to the blood-soaked ground. The shadows twisted and reformed in my right hand until a stake was formed. With a furious yell, I drove it down, into the vampire’s chest.
He clutched at it as his dying screech echoed over the battlefield. Then he was still, and I yanked it free, searching for my next victim.
As I straightened, shoving my wet hair from my face, I tried to see how we were doing. But until we killed Rudarius, there wouldn’t be an end to this fight. How could there be? Even with the vampire covens and the fae army, Rudarius’s forces outnumbered ours easily, ten to one. If not more. If we fell, there’d be no sunlight, not here. The darkness would spread until it covered the whole country, the continent. He would destroy every living being and rule this world.
He would if I wasn’t here to stop him.
Another vampire charged me, and I dodged to the right, but two more flew at me from the left. One bit down on my shoulder, and I screamed at the pain, but it wasn’t long until he was flailing, grabbing for his burning throat. I might be a fae of the night, but pure moonlight was enough to kill any vampire dumb enough to try and drain me dry. They should’ve learned that by now.
The second vampire grabbed hold of my arm and brought his fist around. I ducked at the last second and kicked out his legs. But there were five more vampires, maybe six, swarming me. The sheer weight of them slammed me into the ground.
I dug my nails into the mud seeking purchase, but couldn’t find any. They stopped trying to bite me, but a stab to my side had me growling in fury as the shadows within me swirled and grew.
“Seneca!”
Draven. He was close, but he wasn’t going to get to me in time.
You’re really going to let them bring you down? Weak, pathetic vampires?
I snarled at the voice, pushing up on my arms, but the vampires shoved me right back down as claws raked the length of my back. Warmth spilled out of the fresh wounds, and I caught a kick to the face, dazing me. Draven shouted again, but there was no use looking for him.
Get your ass up, Seneca, get up and finish what we started. You are not weak. Get up. Get up!
On the last shout, the power inside me sucked in a breath, then with my yell, it exploded outward. Whips of darkness wrapped around the vampires who’d pinned me and they were consumed by the darkness until nothing but ash remained. As I found my feet, I gritted my teeth, ignoring the new wounds, and pushed forward through the fighting.
Several shifters in their massive wolf forms rushed across the field through the torrential rains. My lip twitched in disgust and two short swords reformed in my hands, as living parts of me. I shifted my feet and as soon as they were close enough, ran right for them. I tore through their bodies like they were nothing but paper, blood spraying. Their bodies hit the ground with heavy thuds, and I moved on. The path to the main gate was blocked by a massive swarm of vampires and witches.
But there, standing atop the wall, glaring at me with those red eyes was the only monster I cared to reach. Rudarius.
His eyes flickered with red shifting shadows as his hands gripped the stone wall. The coward. Hiding behind his army when he should be down here fighting. I smirked, and he backed away, his lip rising to bare his fangs. His blond hair whipped wildly in the breeze. I held his gaze as I took a step closer, then another, as the fight continued around me.
He fears you, the voice inside my head said with a cackle. And he should.
Yes, he should indeed. I didn’t even have to close my eyes to reach out to his mind anymore. In his determination to manipulate my mind, twist me around to want to be with him, even fall in love with him, he opened a doorway between us that would only close when one of us was dead. I used it now, saw it easily in my mind’s eye. His body stiffened as I found his mind and waltzed on in. A calm, collected Rudarius was not what I found this time.
His mind was in torment, watching the battle take place. And though his army was doing its job of taking us out, fear remained. Not of our army.
Of me.
I grinned, laughing as I came back to myself, standing in the middle of the fighting.
Rudarius hadn’t moved, but his smile caught me off guard.
Something heavy crashed into me from the side, sending me flying, rolling head over heels until I finally came to a stop. Shaking my head out, I stayed on one knee to see what the hell hit me.
The great monstrous beast had to stand at least ten feet tall, eyes red, foot-long claws on both hands. Its skin was ashen and pockmarked. Its deformed face was twisted and shifted, but from what I could tell, once upon a time, it had been a troll. And Rudarius took it home to his dungeon and messed it up. Its jaw fell open to reveal massively long canines as it roared at me. Spit flew from its lips and then it was lumbering in a face sprint across the field.
I glanced to the wall to find Rudarius’s smile even wider now. Probably thinking he was about to cause my death. Not happening. No way was I letting a troll kill me.
Two more swords appeared in my lands, longer than the first set, and I waited. The troll barreled through the fighting, not stopping for anything or anyone, not even those on his side. Vampires and shifters alike scurried to get out of his way. He raised his arm, ready to swipe at me, but I rolled under his massive arm and slashed at his side with both swords. His angry yell only lasted a second, then he spun around and grabbed hold of me with his other hand, faster than I’d have believed he could move. He squeezed his fist.
I gasped, my ribs threatening to splinter. But I drove both blades into his wrist, and he let me go, clutching at his useless hand. He stomped, trying to squash me, but I rushed around to his back and with a leap, landed on his shoulders. He scrambled to get me off, but I broug
ht the two blades together in my hands and plunged them into the beast’s skull.
I twisted for good measure, and its body shuddered then collapsed. I jumped off when it hit the ground and stared down the vampires and witches blocking my way to Rudarius. Wielding the two-handed blade now, I flashed them a wicked grin and darted forward, using my power to add to my speed.
There was no time to think of the others who were fighting somewhere on this field. Of Macron or Owen, not of my brother, or Shane. No one.
Not even Draven.
The only one who mattered now was Rudarius.
And getting to him.
I swung the blade wide, carving a bloody path through the vampires and witches, not slowing for anything. I punched and headbutted. Sliced through bodies and limbs, watched heads roll as the blade easily slashed through necks. The closer I came to the front gate, the more blood covered my body, matted my hair. The shadows closed in around me, acting like a second layer of armor. They lashed out, protecting my back as I fought my way forward.
More and more bodies were left behind me, and I spun to my right, catching a vampire’s neck with the blade. His head bounced to the ground and beyond him was the gate.
I glanced toward the wall.
Rudarius blurred out of sight.
“Seneca, wait,” Draven shouted. “Don’t go after him alone!”
I spared a second to glance over my shoulder to find Draven fighting to get to me, but there was no waiting. I sprinted inside the fortress, searching for the monster who’d started this all. I would kill him, and then everything could back to normal. I could go back to being just Seneca.
No, you cannot, the voice inside me warned. You are destined for greatness, Seneca. There is no more going back. There is only moving forward.
I skidded around a turn as I rushed inside the massive stone structure. I paused. Rudarius was close. His rage and fear pressed in around me as if to smother me. I changed my one sword back to two short ones and stalked the halls, unsure of where my feet took me, but letting them guide the way.
