“Waste no time in searching,” she said. “Just fly with your eyes wide, and trust that either they see your wings, or you see theirs. If you reach the mansion without finding them, put an end to your search. Our island needs every Seraph on defense. We can’t spare you for longer than that.”
Bree quickly nodded in acceptance.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you so much.”
Rebecca waved a dismissive hand. Not daring to wait lest the leader change her mind, Bree powered on her wings and looked to Olivia.
“Let’s go,” the woman said, her own wings thrumming. Together they soared into the air, Olivia taking point. The older Seraph adjusted their angle twice as they flew, taking them along the main road leading from New Galen to the holy mansion. Bree saw Seraphs glimmering all around her, each with their own part of Weshern to defend. Knowing the size of the island, and how few Seraphs they had left, made the task feel borderline hopeless, even with the military guard helping.
The people will defend themselves, Bree told herself to ward off such dire thoughts. Knives, swords, shovels, anything they can. The fireborn aren’t invincible. They’ll die tonight, every last one of them.
Easier to believe than to do, though, and the scattered fires across the horizon were a strong reminder of that.
After a few miles, Olivia swung closer and grabbed Bree’s arm to stabilize their flight together. With her free hand, she pointed to her left.
“Knights!” she shouted. Bree followed her finger, saw a distant flicker of gold wings piercing the smoky night.
“Where are they going?” Bree asked.
Olivia hesitated a moment before answering.
“They’re not helping the people,” she said. “I’d guess they’re on the way to the Crystal Cathedral.”
The thought put a fire in Bree’s gut. The knights, who’d sworn to protect Weshern against any and all threats, would flee to their fortress at a time when the people needed them most? Bree couldn’t decide which stung worse, the cowardice or the betrayal. Never before had Center’s true allegiance been so clearly displayed.
Towns vanished beneath her, each and every one bearing signs of fire. Worst was a field not far from New Galen, dozens of acres consumed with billowing flame. A steady stream of people flooded out of the town to combat it, but Bree couldn’t imagine what they could do against such a blaze. Rebecca’s words calling her selfish echoed in her ears as she witnessed the destruction. Though her desire to find her brother had not wavered, she found she agreed with Rebecca.
The longer they flew the more Bree felt guilty for her request. Every fire they passed felt like one more opportunity to help, lost forever. Over Elan Village, while Bree was pondering abandoning their search, she saw a sign of hope.
“There,” she said, pointing. Two sets of wings glowed silver in the night. It had to be the group with the Archon. No other Seraphs had yet come so far from New Galen. The pair dipped down into an alleyway, and with an excited burst of speed Bree led the way straight for it. The alleyway neared, and instead of feeling relief, Bree’s heart flooded with fear. A nightmare of a monster lumbered through the street, fire and obsidian given life, a crown of horns protruding from its forehead like a sick joke. For the briefest moment Bree felt her mind blank, refusing to believe what she saw. What in all her training taught her how to battle such a creature? What could mere swords of steel do against something so gigantic?
Kael stood guarding the Archon, who lay injured on the ground behind him. His shield lifted, light blazing off it in defiance of the fireborn’s flame.
Don’t think, Bree’s mind ordered as her fear formed a noose about her throat. Just go. Go, damn it, go!
Her thumb cranked her throttle, flaring her wings as she blasted toward the giant. It swung its arm, and a boulder ripped from its body, flinging to the alley like a comet. Clara, Saul, and Sig took to the air, their elements blasting the fireborn, but Kael stood his ground, a torrent of ice flowing from his palm into the center of the flaming boulder. It slowed the attack, but not nearly enough.
Despite knowing it madness, Bree aimed her gauntlet for the boulder. She had to do something, no matter how desperate. The boulder passed below her, so close she felt its heat on her skin. Her gauntlet jerked backward, wrenching her shoulder as the fire blasted downward, striking the boulder. The push wasn’t much, but she didn’t need much, especially with Kael’s ice already slowing it down. Instead of landing atop of Kael, the boulder fell lower, striking the ground with an explosion of stone. The ball of liquid fire rolled forward, slamming into Kael with the last of its momentum. Bree screamed, certain she was about to see him crushed, but his shield flared with light so brilliant Bree had to squint and turn away.
When her vision returned, she looked for his corpse. Instead she saw Kael standing before the royal family, bathed in steam, his shield shimmering white. A cracked and broken pile of debris was all that remained of the fireborn’s attack.
“Let’s go!” Bree shouted to him as she looped above, relieved beyond measure.
Kael saw her, and a grin spread from ear to ear on his face as he took to the air.
Olivia had joined the other three in swarming the fireborn giant, her lightning coupling with Sig’s. The electric strikes swirled off the demon’s obsidian form, seemingly doing little beyond angering it. Saul’s ice fared better, battering the giant again and again with thick chunks, the melting frost dimming the glow of flame in the creature’s crisscrossing veins. Bree closed in, wondering what good her flame might be against such a beast. The smaller fireborn were vulnerable to her naked blades, but this thing? Their situation dire enough to try anyway, she tilted sideways and slashed while passing over the giant’s shoulder. The fire on her swords flared, but despite their power she felt resistance reverberate through her hands. The steel cut a shallow groove into the obsidian, the inner parts oozing a deep red down its shoulder and arm.
“Little bees!” the fireborn roared, the sound of it terrifying Bree to her core. It blocked a lance of ice from Kael, staggered a step when twin blasts of lightning hit its back from Olivia and Sig. “Do you think your stings will harm me?”
Kael shot a boulder of ice in response. The giant caught it in both hands and immediately flung it back. Bree circled about for another charge, eyes wide as her brother dodged the retaliatory strike. The ice shattered behind Kael as he retreated farther down the street, safely out of range. Sig dove in from behind the giant, attempting to cover Kael’s retreat with a blast of lightning from point-blank range, but the giant’s reflexes were far faster than he expected. An enormous hand shot into the air, snagging Sig by the leg. Bree felt her heart lurch as the Seraph unleashed a desperate stream from his gauntlet into the giant’s hand. It only made its grip tighter, crunching armor and bone. Sig screamed, but not for long. The giant slammed him to the ground, smashing his body and wings upon the stone. Its foot lifted, dripping with molten rock.
“You monster!” Saul screamed, and he charged while releasing a massive stream of ice from his palm. The ice caked across the monster’s upraised foot, slowing but not stopping it as it smashed down on Sig’s immobilized form, burning him to ash and twisted metal. Saul shifted his aim to the giant’s face as Kael battered the back of the thing’s knees from the other side. The fireborn endured, pointing its fingers at the approaching Saul. Thin stones erupted from the tips, each the size of an egg. They numbered in the dozens, a massive spray Saul had no hope to avoid. The stones battered his body, dropping him blind to the ground. He knelt there on his knees, gasping for air as he tried to regain his bearings. The giant gave him no time, widening its palm like an enormous Seraph about to shoot.
“Saul!” Bree screamed.
He attempted to leap back into the air but his injured leg buckled. His wings lifted him, but his takeoff was uneven, and he shot more sideways than straight up. A flash of flame bathed Saul’s chest, and he collapsed before the entrance of the alleyway.
Th
e giant laughed as it took a step closer to Saul’s limp form, thick, sharp chunks of obsidian rattling across its form. Something about the way the creature moved sparked a thought in Bree’s mind. It stepped heavily, almost clumsily, like a beast wrapped in an enormous set of armor. And if those chunks of obsidian were in fact armor, then she just needed to find its weak spots...or create one. Bree circled around, zeroing in on the giant’s chest while trying to put her worry for Saul out of her mind. Best to go for an easy target, she decided, a spot the others could consistently hit. A blast of Olivia’s lightning hit the giant’s shoulder, spinning its attention toward her as it snarled. Bree came in from its blind side, rotating so she was close to its body. Fire bathed her swords as she slashed across its chest, both blades showering sparks across the street. Her speed carried her away before it could retaliate, an impotent cry of anger sounding behind her. Twisting about, she flew backward while dropping her throttle to survey the battle. Twin gashes of red glowed like angry veins where she’d struck the creature.
“Focus on the same spot!” Bree shouted to the others. “Weaken it enough and I’ll break you an opening!”
Kael and Clara halted their retreat and hovered in place. As one they braced their arms and shot streams of ice at the giant’s chest. It howled as the ice blasted into it, the ice initially shattering on first contact, then sticking as it slowly encased the fireborn’s molten armor. The giant lifted an arm as a shield, snarling at the two Seraphs. With its other hand it reached down, grabbed an enormous chunk of road, and flung it back at them. They scattered in opposite directions, narrowly avoiding the explosion of stone as the chunk collided with the ground and broke into pieces.
Lightning struck the fireborn’s chest, quick, rapid bursts ripping into the small space between Bree’s twin sword marks with surgical precision. The giant turned its attention to Olivia hovering above him, but when it grabbed a chunk of the street to throw, Bree had returned, her swords slicing across its fingers. The chunk dropped and hit the ground with a loud thud, followed by another angry roar. Bree zoomed away as a torrent of fire nipped at her heels. She circled higher, watching as Clara and Kael alternated boulders of ice. The giant blocked several with its arms, its feet sinking into the street as it fought to maintain balance. Anytime it dropped its defenses to attack, the ice would slam into its chest with a blistering crack.
The giant suddenly ran down the street toward them, bellowing as it rushed Kael and Clara. The two split, streaking away as the giant belched fire from its throat like a legendary dragon of old. Lightning struck the demon’s face again and again, Olivia taunting it as if it were a plaything. At no point could it assault her in return, for the moment it tried, ice blasted its chest. It was weak and angry, its enormous arms flailing wildly at them as if they were the swarm of bees it had mockingly named them. Mindless rage bellowed out of its throat, a horrifying primal cry that Bree refused to dwell on as she vaulted over the fireborn’s head. Her wings off, she passed upside down, swords swatting at its eyes. She didn’t expect to hurt it, just keep it distracted. Completing the turn, she landed on her knees facing the fireborn, which howled in anger. Another burst of ice shot over her head, four lances with blunted ends like battering rams. They weren’t trying to pierce the armor, just weaken it. The elements cracked and scattered into mist, but the impact sent the fireborn giant staggering back a step. It flung another boulder, its aim frantic and poor. A nearby house collapsed from the attack, its wood bursting into flame. Kael and Clara refused to relent, another barrage of ice flying over Bree’s head. The first few shots hit its shoulders and legs, knocking it off balance, and then the second wave battered its already weakened chest. It howled, and from overhead Olivia sent a stream of lightning down its throat.
The giant staggered on unsteady feet. Bree saw her opening and didn’t hesitate. Leaping forward, she ignited her wings and thrust with both swords. She crashed straight into the fireborn, her weapons sinking to the hilts in its cracked chest. So close to the creature she’d expected fire and pain, but either her affinity protected her more than she’d anticipated or the creature’s flame was too dimmed by their overwhelming attacks. Screaming to give herself strength, Bree put a foot on the giant’s chest and kicked off. Her swords tore free, and the dark stone tore with it. Pebbles showered the street as a bright orange liquid dripped from the opened wound, flickering with flame from contact with the air. Bree rose higher, swords to either side as she screamed victoriously.
“Take it down!”
The two ice Seraphs were now below her, and they lifted their arms and flared their gauntlets. Two enormous lances shot from their palms, and this time their points were long and sharp. The giant defended Clara’s with a swipe of its forearm, but Kael’s struck the heart of the weeping wound and sank deep inside. The giant’s body convulsed, chest jerking backward. It collapsed on weakening knees, thick hands sinking into the street to support its weight.
Olivia dropped from the sky, sword in her left hand, lightning swirling around the palm of her right. She pressed her hand directly against the wound, showing no fear for the creature’s fire. Her teeth clenched, her body tensed, and then lightning poured out of her in a tremendous explosion, every bit of her element’s power releasing in a blinding display. The giant screamed a sound like thunder. Its arms fell limp, the fireborn sinking down on its haunches. The shimmering red veins across its body dulled, the obsidian stone that made up much of its form now weak, cracking and crumbling. Pulling back her hand, Olivia slashed the thing across the throat, then kicked. Its head tumbled free, the horns of its crown breaking as it rolled to a stop farther down the street.
Bree lessened her throttle, gently drifting back to ground. Her swords were caked with the giant’s blood, and no amount of shaking seemed to clean them off. When she touched down, she beat both blades together. The brittle blood cracked and broke, pieces showering the ground at her feet. Bree stared at them, a sudden revelation striking her. The pieces of dried blood, they looked familiar, so familiar...
She knelt down and grabbed one of the pieces, rolling it in her palm. It was smaller, and weirdly shaped compared to what she was used to, but there was no doubt it was an elemental prism.
Demon blood, she thought, chilled to the bone. The theotechs harvest demon blood for our wings.
“Did we get it?” Saul asked, stirring Bree from her thoughts. He lay nearby, propped up by his wings. His hand pressed against his injured leg, his face locked in a permanent grimace as he stared up to the sky. Burns covered much of his chest. Bree smiled at him, trying to remain hopeful despite his wounds.
“Yeah, we got it.”
“Good.” He closed his eyes, shifted in an attempt to get more comfortable. “Good.”
A hand touched her shoulder, and she turned to embrace Kael, her brother looking tired and drained.
“Great timing, sis,” he said.
“I do what I can.”
Clara was with him, and she flung her arms around Bree’s neck next.
“Thank you,” she said. “I thought I’d lost Kael for sure.”
Bree hugged her back.
“So did I,” she said. “Thank God I’m more stubborn than smart.”
Olivia landed with them, her outfit blackened in places, her beautiful face blistering from the heat of the fireborn giant.
“Well done,” she told them. “Fine Seraphs, each and every one of you.”
Praise from Olivia was rare, and despite all the awfulness and insanity of the night, Bree felt proud to receive it.
“What do we do about them?” Kael asked, nodding toward the royal family. Olivia glanced farther into the alley, frowned.
“Wait here,” she said as she and Clara approached the royal family. For a moment she knelt down and discussed something quietly with Avila, then nodded. Conversation over, she returned to the three, with Clara remaining behind with her parents.
“I’ll send for others back at New Galen,” she said. “We’ll
have a Seraph carry Avila, and a stretcher for Saul and the Archon. Until I return, keep an eye out for more fireborn.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re in the clear,” Kael said. “It’ll be nice to catch our breath.”
“It’s not over yet.” The older Seraph flicked her throttle, powering up her wings. “With Isaac and Avila safe, we’ll need to turn our attention to the rest of the island.”
Bree pointed a sword at the smoking corpse of the fireborn, its form slowly disintegrating into rubble.
“We took down a giant,” she said. “After that, the rest of the fireborn don’t stand a chance.”
Olivia smiled despite her own exhaustion.
“Amen,” she said. “They can run and burn all they want, but this time, we’re the ones hunting.”
CHAPTER
27
The light of day was a most welcome thing to Kael’s tired eyes. The morning glow made it feel like the nightmare was almost at an end. Only almost, though. As Kael stood atop a roof, he gazed in all directions. The smoke drifting skyward was so thick it made a mockery of the morning mist. At his feet lay a dying fireborn, his sword still embedded in its chest. Blood bubbled out of it, slowly crystallizing as it made contact with the air. The color faded from its skin as its body ceased to move. Kael yanked his sword free, smacked it against his shield to shake off the dried pieces of blood still sticking to the steel.
“I think that’s the last of them in this town,” Bree said as she landed beside him. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and faint burn marks blackened much of her uniform. She’d handled the northern parts of the village while Kael scoured the south. Once the Archon had been retrieved, they’d spent the rest of the night hunting.
“Want to keep looking?” Kael asked. He pointed east, to a distant town with a particularly heavy haze of smoke above it. “Welton might still have a few lurking within.”
“Can’t,” she said. “Olivia sent word. Isaac’s ordering all Seraphim to join him and Johan back at New Galen.”
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