As we worked to gain ground, I couldn’t help admiring Hawk’s fighting style while he carved his way through the enemy. He was powerful, fast, and extremely well-trained with an excellent technique. Whereas I felt about ready to collapse, he didn’t tire as he sliced the head from one demon before taking out the legs of another.
No matter how many of them came at us, he stayed by my side as the sky lightened toward dawn. I barely recognized him beneath the layer of dirt and blood covering him, and I knew I didn’t look any better. In the distance, the smoke from the burning forest was so thick it blocked out the rising sun.
Normally, the morning was my favorite time of the day. Often, I’d slip out of my tent at dawn and walk to the edge of the hill to sit and watch the sunrise. The sweet songs of the birds would float around me as they woke to greet the day. It was such a peaceful time, and it wasmytime.
And now, instead of the birds’ songs, the screams of the fallen greeted the sun. The gunfire had stopped; the drakón couldn’t rain fire on their enemies without annihilating their allies too. They soared overhead, chasing the manticores while protectively circling their queen.
Our progress across the field slowed as the bodies littering the ground made moving more difficult. I stumbled and almost toppled onto a pile of dead, but Hawk caught my elbow and pulled me back. Unable to stop myself, I leaned against him as I steadied my wobbling legs beneath me.
River hit the last manticore with a blast of energy that sent it spiraling down. A pack of demons pounced on it and tore it apart. I wiped a strand of straggling hair from my face as Hawk took out another demon, but their numbers were dwindling.
I felt numb as I gazed around the blood-drenched, body-covered field. I couldn’t quite process that many of these bodies were people and demons I’d talked with, laughed with, and worked with yesterday. We’d always known there was a chance of an attack, but I’d never imagined one of this magnitude, and after years of living at the wall, I’d stopped believing it could happen.
And now… well, I didn’t know anything about now. I was too exhausted to process what happened, never mind what would come after. I took out the knees of a demon and wiped away the sweat trickling into my eyes, except it wasn’t sweat. I closed my eyes and tore my attention away from the blood on the back of my hand. I didn’t think it was mine, but I couldn’t know for sure.
Nausea twisted in my stomach; I was trained to fight, I’d killed before, but this level of carnage was something I’d never expected to see.
This was… this was… Hell.
When the sun rose beyond the smoke, its rays did little to dry the blood soaking the land. With the sun came the increasing stench of death, and when I glanced toward the sky, shock gripped me as I spotted the pristine blue above us.
How could it be so horrific down here yet so beautiful above us? The incongruity of it caused my eyes to burn. I must be more exhausted than I thought if I was trying not to cry over the blue sky. And then I realized I wasn’t struggling against tears because the sky was blue; it was because I was still here to see it when so many others weren’t.
I held my sword high, but no more demons came at us. My arms ached from fighting, but I couldn’t bring myself to lower the weapon as I searched the field for more enemies. The last of the demons fell at the hands of the king.
Scattered throughout the battlefield were the exhausted humans and demons from our side. They looked as shell-shocked as I felt as they took in the carnage surrounding us. I lowered my sword and rested the tip of it on the ground.
“We won,” I whispered.
But at what cost?
I turned to Hawk when he rested his hand on my arm. I didn’t know him, but I was struck with the inexplicable urge to throw my arms around him and hug him. It was so intense I had to grip my sword in both hands to keep from making a fool of myself with him.
But it didn’t matter as Hawk drew me against his chest, and though I tried to resist it, my fingers twisted into his shirt. I ignored the blood coating him as beneath its coppery scent, I detected the sweeter aroma of something that reminded me of the brownies my mom used to make.
When I recalled sitting in the kitchen and watching while she melted the chocolate for the brownies, I realized Hawk reminded me of chocolate melting in a pan. He made me recall the days before the gateway opened when life was so simple and I was safe in my small world.
I was safe with him too. It was dangerous to think such things about a demon when he would move on, but in his arms, I didn’t care.
“Come on,” he said.
Reluctant to release him, my fingers uncurled from his back before I stepped away. He kept his hand on my arm while we carefully made our way across the field toward the king and queen.
I tried not to take in the remains littering the ground, but it was impossible not to notice the bodies when we had to step on them as we went. The hounds released a mournful howl while they prowled through the dead.
At first, I assumed they were scavenging for food, but then they pulled the remains of a hound from beneath some of the bodies. On the other side of the field, three more hounds removed the body of another one of their brethren.
Those annoying tears were back as the mournful cries tugged at my heart. They howled again, and one of them nudged a body in a way that let me know it had lost its mate. One of the drakóns still circled overhead, but the other had landed to sit protectively behind the queen.
From the other side of the king and queen, I saw someone else push through a group of demons as he walked toward the couple. It took me a minute to recognize Vargas beneath the blood coating him as the three of us arrived to stand near the king and queen at the same time. Once his leg was strong enough, Vargas started training with my team two weeks ago. I didn’t know him very well, but I saw recognition in his eyes when he nodded at me.
“Where’s Erin?” Hawk asked, and I heard the distress in his voice.
“She’s at the hall with the children,” Vargas answered, and Hawk gave him a questioning look but didn’t comment.
Turning toward the woods, I closed my eyes and rubbed at them as exhaustion pulled at me. I opened my eyes, and my vision blurred until I blinked it clear. I blinked again when a cloud emerged from the smoke. I thought exhaustion was causing me to hallucinate, but the cloud drew closer with every passing second.
“Oh shit,” someone said. “The angels.”
