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NATALIE
Lucian, the Goddess, and I stepped out of the portal and entered a war zone. Once more, the City of Souls was burning, only this time, it was worse. Although it was night, the burning buildings and forest offered enough light for us to see exactly what was happening.
Above us were towers of the virus, like giant octopus tentacles. Some were wrapped around souls, dangling them high off the ground. I watched in horror as the virus crawled into their mouths and eyes, before they were dropped.
“Goddess,” I whispered, as if she wasn’t standing right beside me.
The Goddess had told us how the virus had attacked the White Tower, even with all the gods present, how it had been like a living thing, consuming everything in its path. Now I was seeing it for myself.
The various patches of soil where the virus had infected the ground now held pools of crimson liquid, and the towering tentacles were extending from those pools and lashing out at souls.
Beside me, Lucian started to shift into his final form, white fur covering his body in seconds as his bones broke and rearranged. Looking past him, I saw a human child, perhaps fifteen years old, attacked by the virus and lifted into the air.
I held my hand out, reaching out to the virus and taking hold of it. I frowned when I felt its thirst for utter mayhem—it was like a living thing with a mind of its own.
Blades made of chaos flew from my hand, severing the tentacle wrapped around the girl.
She fell, her blue hair billowing around her as she screamed, and Lucian ran forward to catch her.
The virus wailed, and its high-pitched screeching made my eardrums throb, just like it had back at Cedric's castle. Lucian placed the girl on the ground, and she ran to a woman nearby whose face was drenched in tears.
A tentacle reached out for him, and I severed that one, too.
We were at the junction between the Wanderers Forest and the city, and with a flick of the Goddess's wrist, an infected fawn charging our way crumbled to the ground, his neck broken. When the virus started seeping from its mouth and its eyes to crawl towards another soul, I realized this would be an endless fight.
“This won’t end,” I said to the Goddess. “This virus will leave every host we kill and find someone else.”
“Then we just need to get all these souls away before they’re infected,” the Goddess replied.
Several explosions went off, and the Goddess and I ducked. Lucian was still in my line of vision, and ice shards sprung from his hands in rapid succession, encasing the virus. But that only lasted for a few minutes before the virus broke free again.
Still, it allowed several souls to get past without being snatched up, but those patches were growing in size by the minute. For those souls trying to get to safety, it was like running through a minefield.
The Goddess moved from my side, and opened a portal for two faes and a centaur who had a human child riding on her back. Their faces contorted with terror, they stepped into the portal. And the virus, like angry whips, reached out for the Goddess.
As I had before, I sent a blade flying towards the tendrils before they could attack her, and the Goddess kept teleporting souls while Lucian continued to use ice to slow the virus’s progression. Using telekinesis, he threw several of the slower souls into the portals, helping them narrowly escape the waking death of being infected.
I was their cover, keeping the virus off them so they could continue saving lives, but we really couldn't keep this up. What was happening elsewhere in the city? The explosions were getting worse, buildings were in flames, and the screams grew louder.
"Natalie!" a familiar voice called, and Brian appeared by my side, splashes of blood covering his body.
He was in his hybrid form, which I'd only ever seen once before, so I was in awe. The blood contrasted with his dark skin, and he blended perfectly with the pockets of shadows around us.
Behind him, Elinor and Will came running as well, but I couldn't stop what I was doing. The Goddess or Lucian would get hurt.
"Will! Brian! Help them!" I yelled, and both men did so without question, joining the fight alongside the Goddess and Lucian.
Souls were whisked off their feet by Brian almost faster than my eyes could track. He practically threw them into the portals that the Goddess kept opening and closing. Will pummeled through the infected, giving them swift deaths, and Elinor stood by my side as my cover.
“Your pack?” I yelled to her. “Where is your pack?”
“Everyone’s at the Goddess’s temple,” she replied, her fangs grazing her bottom lip. “So far, the virus hasn’t appeared there. But they won't be safe for much longer!"
Was that Cedric’s doing, I wondered? If so, why? Did he have a soft spot for the Goddess still?
No, that man didn't have a soft spot for anyone.
When an infected werewolf tackled Lucian, my familiar, Luna separated from my body, making Elinor step back in shock. The white phoenix took to the sky, her screeches adding to the chaos, and Elinor stared at me, surprised.
