by Linsey Hall
“Ready?” Bree asked.
“So ready.” I wanted to get rid of my tainted magic. Hurl it at the Stryx and use what they wanted against them.
I fitted the rock into the slingshot pouch, then pulled back. I leaned hard away from the railing, getting as much tension as I could on the slingshot. We needed this thing to fly far.
My muscles trembled as I pulled. “Now.”
Bree yanked the battery cord free. “Ten seconds!”
I released the slingshot, and the rock shot forward. I held my breath, praying my plan would work. When the rock sailed through the barrier, I couldn’t help but grin.
It had worked.
The Stryx had wanted my magic. Well, they’d get it. And a whole lot more.
I counted down the seconds, praying the explosion went off. Silence reigned as everyone stared forward. Waiting, waiting.
I bit my lip, staring hard into the darkness.
Finally, it came. The flash of light nearly blinded me, followed shortly after by a boom that made my ears ring. I blinked through the brightness, spotting dozens of blue streaks of light coming from the middle of the crater.
They shot toward the domed barrier, lighting it up. They threaded through the dome, making it look like a cage.
“It’s weakening,” Bree said.
“But it hasn’t fallen yet.” I frowned. “Maybe we could run through it, but…”
The bolts of blue light crackled within the dome. The energy in the bomb was breaking down the barrier, but it wasn’t quite strong enough. It needed more juice.
An idea came. It was crazy, but…
“Ana, stop the buggy!” I shouted.
“Are you crazy?”
“Yes! But I have an idea.”
She pressed on the brakes, and I grabbed the railing of the front platform for support. As soon as the buggy stopped, I jumped off the platform.
“What are you doing?” Maximus shouted.
“Don’t worry.” I shook the chain that was tied around my waist. “I can’t get far.”
Then I called upon the lightning within me. It streaked through my veins, making me light up with energy that tore through my muscles. Pain followed, but I ignored it, letting the lightning crackle through me until I was a human lightning bolt. When I was sure that I was as lit up as I could be, I sprinted for the barrier.
I plowed through it, feeling it crackle and break as I plowed through. The chain pulled me up short, and I stopped, panting.
I let the lightning fade from my body, immediately feeling the pull of the Stryx. They called me to them, making my muscles want to move in their direction.
I fought it, breathing deeply as I looked up.
The barrier was breaking away.
My lightning blast had given the spell the last bit of energy it needed, and the dome was retreating. Blue light from the bomb still crackled within it, and it was beautiful.
Slowly, the pull of the Stryx faded.
Oh, thank fates.
“Rowan!” Bree shouted. “Let’s go!”
I felt a tug on my chain, and turned. Everyone watched expectantly from the buggy. All around, members of the Protectorate and the Order of the Magica flowed down the hill into the crater.
With the barrier gone, the fight could begin.
I sprinted back to the buggy and scrambled up onto the front platform.
“Their pull has disappeared,” I said, yanking at the chain around my waist.
Bree helped me get it off, and Ana hit the gas, speeding forward. Though the barrier was gone, the Stryx hadn’t stopped their digging. Explosions still tore through the night, the sound deafening. Debris flew into the air from their operations, dark smoke and tiny bits of volcanic rock raining down. I squinted through it, trying to spot our enemy.
When I did, I gasped.
There were so many.
Demons of all varieties. Big and small, skinny and muscular. Some with huge weapons and others with magic glowing around their claws, ready to be hurled at us.
“Slow down!” I shouted at Ana. We were about to reach the spot where the crater bottomed out and we’d lose our height advantage for reconnaissance. “We need to find the Stryx.”
Ana slowed the buggy, and we searched through the shifting smoke. It moved as giant clouds, concealing and revealing the demon army.
To our right and left, fighters from our side sprinted toward the demons. Ali and Haris led the charge, the two djinns running full out. They sprinted straight at the two biggest demons. Before the monsters could strike, the djinns ran straight into them, possessing them. Immediately, the giants turned on the demons around them, swinging their massive clubs at their fellow soldiers. The clubs sent the demons flying like they were dominos.
Caro followed, holding out her hands and shooting water straight into the chest of a demon who ran for her. The water was so fast that it struck the demon like a blade, plowing through him and coming out of his back, tinged pink with blood.
I searched for the Stryx, finally spotting them through the haze. I pointed. “There!”
“Got it!” Ana hit the gas, and we surged forward.
Hundreds of demons stood between us and the Stryx.
Bree stepped forward, hands raised. Lightning struck from the sky, clearing a path right in front of the buggy. Demons ran, and the buggy plowed through.
They attacked from the sides, firing bolts of magic toward us. A blast of fire headed toward me, and I dived low, skidding on the front platform as it zipped over my head. The heat singed my hair.
Two more demons leapt toward the front platform, grabbing the railing and trying to climb on. As I jumped to my feet, I conjured a sword and swiped at their hands, cutting them free. They howled as they fell.
Time for the show to start! Romeo leapt off of the buggy, clinging to the head of a demon.
The beast roared as Romeo went for his eyes.
Eloise and Poppy followed, both pulling a similar trick on two more demons and going for their eyes.
More demons surged for the back platform, so many that they were climbing over each other to board the vehicle.
“It’s too small to fight from here!” Lachlan shouted. Magic swirled around him, and he shifted into his black lion form. He jumped off the vehicle, straight into the crowd of demons. He was so powerful that blood began to fly immediately.
Cade followed, shifting into his huge wolf form. Together, they made a formidable army. Maximus stayed on the back, his sword drawn and always moving. He was so fast and so graceful, cutting down the demons before they could board.
Ana kept her foot on the gas, plowing past the demons who attacked.
As we neared and the dust cleared further, I saw that they weren’t alone. Three massive figures surrounded them. They were three times the height of a normal person, and looked haggard and angry.
“Holy fates, they’ve got some of the titans.” Ice chilled my skin as I surveyed the scene.
The titans surrounded the Stryx like a barrier. Within their protective circle, the Stryx operated something that looked like a giant ray gun. It was sitting on legs that had been bolted into the ground and fired blasts of magic into the earth. Every time it fired, magic exploded out of it, shooting straight into Tartarus.
As I watched, horrified, another titan climbed out of the earth. Holy fates.
“We’re too late,” Bree said. “They’ve got them out already.”
15
“They’ve only got four,” I said. “There are still a lot more.”
Bree called upon her lightning, directing it at the titan nearest us. The bolt struck him right in the head, but he just grinned. He looked like he was hewn from rock itself, so the effect was eerie.
“Crap.” She scowled.
Beside us, a continent of mages from the Protectorate advanced on a troop of demons that stood between them and the titans. The mages threw blasts of flame and ice. Their barrage was so forceful that the demons were forced backward. They
piled up in front of the titan that Bree had attacked with lightning.
He grinned again, a horrible facsimile of a smile, then raised his foot and stomped on the demons. He crushed five of them with one step, then raised his foot again and crushed some more. Within ten seconds, he’d killed forty.
“Holy fates.” My skin paled. He was enormous and fast and bloodthirsty.
And we were screwed.
“How are we going to get past them?” Ana shouted.
We couldn’t. There was absolutely no way we could fight our way past that titan and survive. Especially not since there were now four of them. At least one of us would die.
But I could get in.
I turned to my friends. “I have an idea.”
Ana frowned. “I don’t like the look on your face.”
“They need me. They’ll let me in. I’ll disable the drill if you’ll distract the titans. Bree and Ana, could you provide support from the air?”
“No.” Maximus’s voice was hard. “It’s too dangerous.”
“It’s the only way to get past them.”
“It’s not.”
“It’s the only safe way. You can still try to fight your way past once I’m in. But I need to get in there now. More titans will come out. We can’t let that happen.” I leapt out of the buggy, ignoring their shouts.
As fast as I could, I raced toward the Stryx. I knew I had to do this. Maybe it was premonition or something, but I knew.
All around, the battle raged. Mages against demons, our side against theirs. With the titans overseeing it all, protecting the Stryx and stomping on anyone who got too close, it was a lopsided battle.
I was going to change that, however.
I drew my shield and electric sword from the ether, blocking a fireball sent by a flame red demon. The force of it reverberated through the shield, and I grunted, nearly going down to one knee. A second later, a lightning bolt struck the demon who’d attacked me.
Bree.
I sprinted faster, cutting through the horde of demons. Massive boulders that had been blasted out of the ground provided cover, but not much of it. I darted around them. Ahead of me, dirt heaved upward, rolling over the demons who stood in my way. A path was formed, right to the Stryx. Ana was moving the earth.
My sisters might’ve thought I was crazy, but they had my back.
As I neared, a titan turned its red gaze on me. I swallowed hard, fear icing my skin.
Holy fates, this was scary.
“Hey, you bastard!” I shouted, trying to catch the attention of the Stryx without being too obvious about it. “Come at me! I’m an Amazon! A freaking DragonGod!”
Yeah, it was a lot of bragging, but it made it clear who I was. And I’d bet that bragging wasn’t out of the norm for the Stryx, so they probably wouldn’t think it was too weird.
The titan growled, and it sounded like boulders rubbing together. He raised a foot right over me, and I started to dart out of the way.
“Wait!” The shriek carried across the battlefield, so powerful and loud that I winced. “We need her! Bring her to us!”
Jackpot.
I ran a bit to make it look real, but when the titan picked me up, I grinned. As the titan’s hand squeezed me, terror drove the smile, but this was all part of the plan. I just had to remember that.
Please work, plan.
The titan’s grip was strong, and I could barely breathe as he swung me toward the Stryx and their giant magical drill. Even up close, it looked like a massive ray gun propped on sturdy metal legs, pointing right into the ground. From up here, I could see straight into the scar in the earth where they’d drilled toward Tartarus. It glowed with red and black magic, stinking of sulfur and rage.
The titan tossed me on the rocks near the magical drill, and I rolled, pain singing through my shoulder and hip.
I leapt upward, but was too slow. The Stryx grabbed me by both arms and thrust me toward the drill. Chains whipped out from the drill and twisted around me, tying me to the body of the thing.
“Let go!” I thrashed, trying to break free, but the Stryx just laughed in unison.
Their dark hair floated around their heads and their purple eyes gleamed with satisfaction. They were dressed for battle in black fatigues, clearly having updated their wardrobe.
At my back, the drill continued to shoot blasts of magic into the ground, breaking away the earth that formed the gate to Tartarus.
“You’re just what we needed.” The Stryx on the right grinned evilly as she reached up toward the body of the drill and pulled something down. I couldn’t see it, but when she jammed it into my arm, I sure felt it.
“Ouch!” I tried to lash out at her, but my hands were bound down by my stomach.
“Stupid,” the Stryx muttered.
She backed up, and her sister followed. I looked down at my arm, my heart thundering. A glowing crystal blade had been plunged into my bicep, and it hurt like hell.
“What the hell is this thing?” I demanded.
The Stryx ignored me.
All around, the battle raged. On one side, I spotted some of my sisters’ friends—women I liked, though I didn’t know them well. The FireSouls from Magic’s Bend. Cass, Del, and Nix. They fought a titan, keeping him occupied with illusions of another giant who was out to get him. I could see Cass casting the illusions from behind the cover provided by a pile of rocks. Nix conjured huge boulders for the titan to trip over, while Del stayed demons all around him.
To my right, Cade and Lachlan fought one of the titans in their wolf and lion forms, respectively. They leapt for the beast’s throat, distracting it with their agility and ferocity.
Caro, Ali, Haris, and Jude distracted another titan. The women attacked with water and an electric whip, while Ali and Haris tried to possess the great monster. If they could manage, that would be a major coup for our side. I didn’t have time to watch and see.
The last titan battle caught my eye.
Maximus fought one single-handedly. He charged at the one who’d stomped on all the demons, leaping up into the air to land a solid kick to the giant’s chest.
The titan toppled backward, overpowered by Maximus’s strength. Maximus then began to push the demon toward the pit that led to Tartarus. I almost cheered him on, but then a stab of pain sliced through my arm from the blade.
It sucked at me, pulling at my magic. Feeding it into the magical drill.
Oh, hell no.
That was why they needed me. My magic was supposed to power their gun, probably to break away the last bit of barrier to Tartarus.
I struggled to tear free, unwilling to let it happen. The Stryx watched with delight as their dumb machine broke into the earth. My heart thundered as my mind raced for an escape plan.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the buggy, which had been abandoned in the middle of the battlefield.
Help was coming.
I looked up, searching for my sisters.
They hovered high above, Bree with her silver Valkyrie wings and Ana in her giant crow form.
As if on cue, they dive-bombed the Stryx.
Ana led with her beak, going for the head of one of the Stryx, while Bree swiped her sword at the other.
I left them to it, struggling to reach for my potion belt. If I could just get that little vial…
I strained every muscle, reaching for it. The sound of battle raged as my fingertips closed around the vial. I pulled it free, struggling to uncork it. The stopper popped out, and I nearly wept with gratitude.
As carefully as I could, I poured a droplet of the liquid on the chain that wrapped around my waist and wrist. It burned through it immediately, a droplet falling on my leg.
I hissed at the pain, then forced it from my mind. I had a little more movement with my arm now, and I managed to pour a couple more droplets that freed me entirely.
I broke away from the chains just as the Stryx fired massive blasts of flame at my sisters. I yanked the stupid blade from m
y arm that was sucking out my magic and screamed, “Go!”
Bree and Ana darted for the sky, avoiding the fireballs by inches.
I sprinted for the Stryx, my arms outstretched. They looked the worse for wear from my sisters’ surprise attacks. A gash decorated the cheek of one, and another wore an ugly wound on her shoulder.
They stood so close together that I managed to grab them both at the same time, bowling us over in a pile.
I didn’t even hesitate as I called on the power of Hades. I had to weaken them enough that they couldn’t attack me with their magic. And they wouldn’t see this power coming.
Immediately, my death magic sucked on their life force, draining it out of them. As it flowed into me, I gagged.
So dirty.
I nearly let go, but the fear in their eyes kept me going.
This was working.
I could kill them this way.
But their life force…
It was disgusting. I nearly choked as I kept it up, trying to drain them dry.
Beneath me, they bucked, struggling to break free. They shrieked for the titans, but none came. All around me, I could hear the battle raging as my friends distracted their bodyguards.
I clung to them, desperate to finish the job.
Terror gave them strength, and they finally managed to throw me off. I landed hard on my side, the wound in my shoulder burning.
The Stryx leapt up and scrambled away, terror widening their eyes. The one on the left threw a huge blast of flame at me, but I managed to roll away just in time.
The one on the right dug into her pocket and withdrew acid green charms. She hurled one of them to the right, and I caught sight of it fly toward a titan who was still battling Cade and Lachlan.
The charm slammed against the titan’s back, and he disappeared.
Shit! They were running for it.
“Intercept the green transport charms!” I screamed as I scrambled to my feet, but I knew it was too late. My voice couldn’t compete with the roar of battle, and the Stryx were fast.
They hit two more titans, who disappeared immediately, but they missed the one that Maximus shoved back into the pit into Tartarus.