“Eve! Stay down!”
She didn’t listen.
Typical.
She kicked one of the shadows off her chest and snapped up her backup pistol, three shots pointblank into its face. The thing folded in on itself like wet paper.
Jaden’s shout cut through the din. “She’s gone!”
I turned at the smell of blood. Faelin was motionless in the dust, her blood pooling like wine. Jaden knelt beside her, hands shaking, soil crawling up his arms as if trying to hold her here. But there was no pulse. Not even a hint of breath.
Normally, the beast inside of me would’ve lunged at the sight of mage blood when I had gone days without it. It didn’t even fight me this time, because it wasn’thers.
It wasn’t Ethalyn’s flames or her blood.
“Jaden,” Ashley said softly, interrupting my thoughts.
He didn’t answer. Just stood, dirt swirling around his feet like a storm barely leashed. His eyes found mine. “Either we kill them all,” he said, voice cracking. “Or we run, now.”
Lionel dragged Eve back to her feet, blood streaked across both of them. “We don’t have the ammunition for a stand.”
“Move. Now.” I growled.
I tore the air apart with new threads, thin, sharp ribbons of blood that cut through the encroaching fog. The demons recoiled, shrieking as my magic ate into them. Every pulse of power left a metallic taste in my mouth, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t.
Another wave of demons surged from the east, their numbers were great. Was this the army we had dreaded?
I aimed my magic towards them, but no matter how many I tore down, more kept coming. “Shit.”
“We’ll never outrun this many!” Nate shouted.
“Get closer, stand together!” Lionel shouted as our backs closed the distance.
Right when the demon army was about to swarm us, movement sounded behind us. I turned, were they flanking us?
No.
Humans with weapons held high and magic ripping through the air came, pushing the demons away from us. Reinforcements, the Ashen Corps and Aetherions, had finally caught up with us.
That’s when I saw Izera, the leader of the Ashen Corps, looking at me.
Her eyes widened, probably taking in the sickening sight of me.
“Sorry we’re late,” she said dryly, not happy to see me here at all.
“Better late than never,” I countered with a huff, calming somewhat at the sight of the promised reinforcements.
“Where’s the fire-wielder?” she asked, looking over our group as the cries of battle sounded around us.
“She’s been… taken,” Lionel said next to me, making my blood boil anew.
Izera’s eyes flicked to him, before returning to me. “I assume you’re aiming to rescue her?”
I nodded.
“We’ll cover you, we got the situation under control. Use this moment to push on!” she ordered as if I’d ever take orders from her.
But Ethalyn needed me, I was in no position to argue. I glanced over at the others who nodded in agreement.
