Niall choppedthe head off a wendigo before spinning to face the warlock coming at him. The warlock pushed forth the air as he ran, so a wall headed toward him.
Bracing his legs apart, Niall lifted his arms and crossed them before his chest a second before the air crashed into them. He was able to deflect some of it and fling it back at the warlock, but the impact still knocked him back a few feet.
Lowering his arms, Niall swung out with a sword. His blade crashed into the warlock’s weapon before the murderous bastard could plunge it into his heart. The clang of metal filled the air as their weapons collided while they moved back and forth in a macabre dance that could only end in death.
The ground beneath his feet trembled as a giant approached. The impact of its footfalls caused the earth to rise and fall.
Overhead, the sirens emitted a high-pitched shriek before one of them spiraled out of the sky. Over the warlock’s shoulder, the siren plowed into the ground with enough force to leave a dent.
When the warlock lunged at him again, Niall jumped to the side and swung down with his blade. It caught the warlock across his arm; he released his weapon as Niall punched the back of the man’s head. Gripping his sword in both hands, Niall brought it down across the man’s neck, severing his head.
Dragons roared overhead as they joined the battle. A wave of fire erupted across the land and sent the sasquatches running while the witches grabbed some unicorns by the manes and leapt onto their backs to flee the flames.
They’d hoped the dragons would follow Lexi to the palace. While some might have, the others had returned to do the Lord’s bidding.
They could retreat now. It was something they’d agreed to do if things started looking too bleak, but returning to the portals was a dangerous journey. And if they ran, the Lord’s army would follow.
Plus, he didn’t see anyone retreating. They’d all known when they entered this realm, it would be the final battle; they were all here to make sure their side emerged victorious.
“Kill them all!” Maverick shouted over the screams, crashing of metal, grunts, and the other inescapable sounds of war.
Niall spotted the tall alpha as he towered over many of the others. Maverick had been pushed back toward the portal Lexi created, but he wouldn’t go through.
Orin and Varo were only twenty feet away from him and taking on the group of wendigo encircling them. Niall’s attention was drawn away from his friends when the ground heaved again.
A giant ran toward them as fast as the lumbering beast could go. Though it covered a lot of ground, its movement was cumbersome, but then, they were far from graceful creatures.
Everyone scattered out of the giant’s way as another dragon swooped down and swallowed a wendigo. The dragons didn’t care who they killed or what side of the fight they were on.
It wouldn’t astonish him to learn that all the dragons wanted was foreveryoneto get out of their realm. They were probably tired of being led by a madman and having to do his bidding.
Pixies zipped in and out of the fray. They flew into the faces of their enemies, poked the Lord’s men in their eyes, smacked them on their noses, and pulled their hair. Some were batted away, but most of the tiny creatures were so fast they were there and gone before anyone could react to them.
They provided enough distraction that some of their army destroyed those the pixies attacked. Niall had never considered the pixies useful in war; now, he wished they’d always been fighters.
When the shadow of a giant fell over them, Niall sprinted out of the way as the giant closed in on them. As he ran, he spotted Beatrix exchanging a volley of fire with a warlock who was bearing down on her.
He’d gotten to know her a little bit while guarding her, and he liked the woman and her child. He especially liked Morgan, something he never believed possible as he’d always considered children little more than a nuisance.
Morgan was quiet and stayed mostly by her mother’s side as she clung to Beatrix. He was sure her near-death experience was probably still affecting her and she wasn’t always so reserved, but he liked the girl who followed her mother everywhere.
And Beatrix was fiercely loyal to the child she loved so dearly. He couldn’t let that child become an orphan; it would break her.
Beatrix held her ground as she caught two balls of the warlock’s fire, heaved one back at him, and rolled the other across the land, so it left a trail of flames behind. Distracted by the fire moving toward them, the warlock jumped over it. When he did, Beatrix wiggled her fingers, and a wave of dirt rose from the ground. She heaved it at the warlock and knocked him on his ass.
But Beatrix didn’t see the giant coming at her as she was too focused on the warlock. Pouring on speed, Niall thrust out his sword to take down a transformed lycan that tried to pounce on him.
The sword sliced across the lycan’s open mouth, severing its tongue and causing the creature to yelp as it fell in front of a berserker whose face was apocalyptic. The man’s veins stood starkly out against his flesh as he lifted the lycan and heaved it out of his way.
The wolf soared over the heads of the fighters. Before the berserker could come after Niall, Elvin drove a battle-ax through his head, severing the berserker in half to his ribs.
“Get out of the way!” Niall shouted as Elvin pulled his ax free.
Elvin turned, and his jaw dropped when he saw the giant was nearly upon them. The older dark fae sprinted out of the way as Niall wrapped his arms around Beatrix’s waist. They crashed into the ground together, and he rolled as fast as he could to avoid the approaching giant.
They couldn’t get far enough away as the giant veered to follow them. Keeping hold of Beatrix, he rolled one more time and flung her away from him. She bounced across the ground and out of the way of the approaching beast.
Niall jumped up to run in the opposite direction, but it was too late; there was nowhere for him to go as the giant’s foot loomed over him. Thrusting his sword up, he had a split second of satisfaction as it embedded in the fucker’s flesh before the giant's foot came down on top of him.
