Nearby, a Sentinel and a Shattered Crown soldier collided—steel against steel, rage against rage. Another pair followed, then more.
In the chaos, war ignited like dry tinder—swift, brutal, and all-consuming.
A strong arm grabbed me, hauling me out of the carnage.
Bodies hit the sand around us—blood-slicked limbs and lifeless eyes swallowed by the chaos.
“Move!” Leo shouted in my ear.
I ran, shoulder-checking through the crush of bodies as the converging armies tore into each other, mindless with destruction.
“Elira!”
Finn’s voice cut through the noise. I looked up—Mother still had him, her arm locked around his throat, a knife pressed to his skin.
But for the first time… she looked afraid.
“I have to get to Finn!” I gasped.
“Okay!” Leo snapped—but before he could take a step, a hulking Shade in silver-grey raised a hand and hurled Leo backward like a ragdoll, his body crashing through a stack of crates with a sickening crack.
I barely had time to scream Leo’s name before another figure burst through the smoke and chaos—Slade.
Twin blades spun in his hands like silver lightning, carving a path through the melee. He reached Leo just as the Shade advanced again, cutting him down in one clean, merciless arc.
Leo groaned, pushing himself up, blood on his lips. Slade flicked his fingers and the collar around Leo’s neck snapped off and reformed itself to a blade that went flying.
“I’ve got him!” Slade shouted, planting his stance wide, blades raised. “Elira—go!”
I hesitated.
“GO!”
Across the room, fire exploded—bright and furious. Phoenix, his hands ablaze, was blasting a wave of flames toward a cluster of advancing Sentinels. One caught fire mid-step and collapsed screaming, but Phoenix didn’t stop. He was cutting his way to me, one burning strike at a time.
He cut his way through and stood before me, like he would guard me to the ends of the earth.
“I’ve got your back. Lets go get your friend.”
I turned toward Finn.
And I ran.
Chapter 41
Slade
Leo was on the ground, bleeding and barely breathing. The grey-cloaked Shade that threw him had turned toward Elira— big mistake.
My blades spun once in my hands, and I moved. Steel met flesh. The first man dropped. The another. Soon the bodies began to pile up.
I crouched beside Leo. "Stay down."
He groaned something that might've been'Thanks.'
I stood—and then everything in mefroze.
Across the arena, the crowd parted—not because they fled, but because somethingdarkermoved through them.
