Eight. Seven. Six. Five?—
I exhaled.
Four. Three.
Two.
One.
The second the Ferro moon took over, Dahes’ monsters appeared in the sky. The illusion dropped, and we were surrounded.
I swallowed as I took in the full breadth of them. Hundreds of thatchers were dropping sentries into the village.
“You should leave,” I called to Jaxs over my shoulder. “I can’t be killed in this form,” I said, trying to sound steady, “but you?—”
“Relax, ghosty, we’re covered,” Jaxs grinned.
I glanced over my shoulder to see a mountain of water hovering behind him.
My eyes bulged out of my head. I still hadn’t fully grasped the fact that drakins possessed powers. I was getting comfortable with Hael’s magic, but to know every single rider possessed something was still shocking.
“There’s a lake behind the mountain pass,” he smiled, noting where my eyes went. “Let’s see if these demon-spawns can swim.”
I didn’t get a second to respond as we were swallowed up by a swarm of monsters.
Ghost.Real.Ghost.Real.
I kept switching between my two forms, keeping myself in my transparency right until I made a kill.
Dahes only sent thatchers and sentries into MonClem, which was both good and bad.
Good news—there weren’t any Talliks or other creatures from Hell, yet.
Bad news—Bluey was the only one who could take out the sentries. Jaxs and I couldn’t kill them. The daggers I donned wouldn’t pierce their metal bodies and Jaxs couldn’t drown something that didn’t have a mouth or a nose…
I was thankful Jaxs’ dragon was here. I wasn’t sure if we would still be breathing without him. Jaxs confirmed what I thought with Aura—that the sentries were made from imported metal that was Ferro-made—which made dragon fire the only thing hot enough to melt them.
I was happy he was burning them to ash. Not only for our sake, but for whatever remnants of a soul was left in Dahes’ mindless foot soldiers. It wasn’t a life worth living. Even though most of them begged for it, had pleaded to serve Dahes rather than face death, I was almost certain all of them regretted their decision once they learned the price.
Hopefully they’d find peace in the After. I always felt like they were a physical version of myself, of my deal. I knew they didn’t have a choice in their actions, just like I didn’t.
The thatchers though—I had no problems killing them, and neither did Jaxs.
I was standing knee-deep in water as Jaxs kept pulling from the lake.
I only knew Jaxs was still alive whenever a wave tumbled over my head, but I couldn’t risk a glance to see him. We were swarmed. The more thatchers we killed, the more that kept coming.
Whenever I materialized into my physical form, I was sweating, completely drenched from head to toe. The warm air grew smoldering as Bluey used his fire to incinerate the sentries.
His flames scattered over the surface, heating the water to an unbearable temperature.
My stomach turned, praying we didn’t send the drakins into a trap, or worse, what if Hael had already killed Elion…
Hael was only safe as long as Elion was still breathing.
I gritted my teeth as a thatcher’s talon scraped across my abdomen before my Token came on.
“Jaxs,” I called.
