Chapter Nine
Aisling
Before the demons could reach us, a wave of fire erupted from Kobal’s palm and blasted into the front of their line. From out of the shadows, a hellhound pounced onto the back of another and tore its head off. It gulped down the head. With the size of the creature, I doubted the hound considered it anything more than a small snack.
When River rested her hand on Kobal’s arm, a burst of golden white light flowed from her palm and took out three more of the demons. While I was stationed at the wall in Virginia, the king and queen came to visit once, but I only caught a brief glimpse of them on their tour of the wall.
Since I arrived here, I’d seen more of them, but I’d never seen them unleash their abilities, and I didn’t know how anyone could turn those skeletal dragons into a pile of mushy goo. And somehow Hawk, a man who seemed more human than demon in some ways, was involved with them.
Then it hit me why his name sounded so familiar. He was their friend and one of the leaders of the mission to clear the Wilds of the demons who escaped the gateway. I’d heard a little about him and the others from the troops stationed here.
Another lower-level demon charged at me. Needing a break from swinging the heavy sword, I dropped the tip to the ground, pulled out my gun, aimed at its chest, and fired. The impact of the bullet striking its heart lifted the creature and flung it backward. I shot at the bastards who rose up to replace the thing until my gun emptied.
I holstered the gun and lifted the sword. Grim determination settled over me as I prepared to slaughter anyone who came near us. I’d killed demons before but never in this number and never in this endless wave as still more of them emerged from the woods. I wouldnotgive in to the hopelessness trying to rise inside me.
I would take out as many of these monsters as possible, and if I was lost in the process, then so be it.
A horde of demons broke through the dogs and raced toward us with a bone-chilling battle cry. They were ugly and bloodthirsty, but they didn’t have much in the way of brains as they charged heedlessly forward.
Hawk seized the first demon and tossed it aside as a black missile dove out of the sky. I almost screamed at Hawk to duck, but at the last second, the bird switched course and sank its talons into the flesh of a demon. The raven transformed into an angel with black wings who snapped the demon’s neck before tearing it off.
Caim.
I’d heard about the fallen angel who turned against Lucifer to join Kobal and River. I knew he could transform into a bird, but I’d never seen it before. I swallowed to get saliva back in my throat as I realized my heart was galloping in my chest. I’d assumed he was going for Hawk and… and itterrifiedme.
I steadied the tremor in my hands as I swung my sword at the next demon. It leaned back to avoid the arc of the blade and launched a punch at me. Unable to recover my balance from missing him, I couldn’t dodge it.
Another hand shot out between us and seized the fist. It pushed the demon’s hand back and bashed it into the creature’s face. I gaped as Hawk stepped in front of me and severed the demon’s head from its shoulders. He glanced at me over his shoulder, but before I could thank him, or hug him, or…
I had no idea what I wanted to do to him, and I didn’t have time to figure it out as more came at us.
Caim transformed back into a raven and flew away as another demon swiped at me. Ducking, I dodged the beefy hand that would have knocked my head from my shoulders and thrust my sword up through its chin. I jerked the blade down, placed my foot in its chest, and shoved it back to face the next one coming at me.
Hawk caught the creature I pushed away and finished it off as River’s golden light pierced into three more of them. We never got a breather as they climbed over each other and the bodies to come at us.
Blood splattered my face and coated my clothes until they stuck to my skin. Despite all my years of training, the countless drills I’d run, and the hours I spent wielding weapons, my arms and legs grew tired as the night progressed toward day.
The beat of wings drew my attention to a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human, or maybe it was a demon head. It opened its mouth as it dove toward me. As it neared, I saw the three rows of its piranha-like teeth as I moved my sword in front of me.
I had no idea what good a sword would do against this monstrosity, but I had nothing else. I focused on its orange eyes while its body plunged toward me. A woman cried out and staggered back when a demon shoved her back and in front of me.
The creature’s scorpion tail plunged into the woman’s chest and burst out the other side. I recoiled when warm blood splattered my face. It took everything I had not to start screaming and hacking at the tail with my sword, but I’d only succeed in carving the woman up if I did so. But when the creature plucked her off the ground and into the air, I realized she might have been better off if I killed her.
“Are you okay?” Hawk demanded as he grabbed my arm and spun me toward him.
Was I okay? Not at all. But I had to be okay because there was no other choice. “I’m fine.”
I tried to wipe the woman’s blood from my face, but I doubted it accomplished anything as the blood of so many others coated my hands. The beat of wings drew my attention to the sky as more of those things soared overhead.
“What are those things?” I demanded.
“They’re manticores,” Hawk said. “And I hate them.”
I could understand why as another one of them dove into the crowd and speared three palitons with its lethal tail. Still in raven form, Caim landed on the manticore’s back and ripped its head off with his beak. Raphael took out three more of them while River destroyed another one as it plummeted toward a group of humans.
Though their wings continued to beat above me, I focused on the demons coming at me. I couldn’t watch the skies and the ground successfully, and I had a better chance of killing the demons on the ground than the ones in the air. Still, I found myself flinching and bracing myself every time I felt a shift in the air current.
We struggled endlessly on, somehow gaining ground against the demons as the drakón’s fire lit the night sky. I didn’t know more demons were still coming from the woods; I could only see the glow of the burning trees from here.
