Púca also gathered around River. Some of the shape-changing demons had chosen to protect her after their seal fell. They couldn’t speak, but they could take on the form of animals or humans.
Most of them had chosen the shape of dogs as they slunk through the fighters, taking out the legs and throats of their enemies before feasting on their blood. They formed a wall around us to keep the enemies out. No one knew the púca’s original form, and I’d prefer not to know as the silent creatures were disturbing while they desiccated their victims.
“It’s the horsemen and fallen angels!” River shouted. “I spotted Death in the trees with one of the angels, but before we could get close to them, he vanished into the woods.”
“Have the drakón torch the woods,” Kobal said to River.
“Does anyone live out there?” Wren demanded.
“No,” Kobal stated.
“Are you sure?” River asked.
“Yes, but if there were people out there, they’re dead. The angels and horsemen aren’t going to leave anyone alive. Torch the woods.”
River nodded before lifting an arm into the air. She waved her hand until one of the drakón spotted her and banked back toward us. I kept my hand on Aisling’s arm, and we all fell back when one of the drakón pulled up to hover overhead.
Dirt and debris kicked up from the ground to pelt my face and body. When Aisling lifted her arm and bowed her head to shield herself, I wrapped my arm around her head to protect her from the wind and rubble. Cradling her against me, I surveyed the battle as more fell and the bodies piled on top of each other.
One way or another, I would get her through this.
The drakón settled on the ground, and its blue flames went out when River stepped close and rested her hand against its skeletal head. If I wasn’t watching it with my own two eyes, I would have believed it impossible, but the thing was more like a cat as it lowered its head and turned into her touch.
I’d known they were protective of her, but I hadn’t realized how close their bond had become while we were traveling the Wilds. Bale glanced at me while River talked with the creature. She’d learned a lot more of the demonic language over the past year, and the drakón was listening to her. When she finished, she patted its cheek and kissed it before stepping away.
My eyebrows were in my hairline, and when it turned its head toward her, I swore the thing smiled.
“My God,” Aisling breathed.
The drakón unfolded its wings and, with a flap that kicked up more debris, rose gracefully into the air. Its encompassing blue flames burst over it as it swept toward the woods. I didn’t get the chance to watch its destruction as higher and lower-level demons broke through the wall of púca and rushed toward us.
Chapter Nine
Aisling
Before the demons could reach us, a wave of fire erupted from Kobal’s palm and blasted into the front of their line. From out of the shadows, a hellhound pounced onto the back of another and tore its head off. It gulped down the head. With the size of the creature, I doubted the hound considered it anything more than a small snack.
When River rested her hand on Kobal’s arm, a burst of golden white light flowed from her palm and took out three more of the demons. While I was stationed at the wall in Virginia, the king and queen came to visit once, but I only caught a brief glimpse of them on their tour of the wall.
Since I arrived here, I’d seen more of them, but I’d never seen them unleash their abilities, and I didn’t know how anyone could turn those skeletal dragons into a pile of mushy goo. And somehow Hawk, a man who seemed more human than demon in some ways, was involved with them.
Then it hit me why his name sounded so familiar. He was their friend and one of the leaders of the mission to clear the Wilds of the demons who escaped the gateway. I’d heard a little about him and the others from the troops stationed here.
Another lower-level demon charged at me. Needing a break from swinging the heavy sword, I dropped the tip to the ground, pulled out my gun, aimed at its chest, and fired. The impact of the bullet striking its heart lifted the creature and flung it backward. I shot at the bastards who rose up to replace the thing until my gun emptied.
I holstered the gun and lifted the sword. Grim determination settled over me as I prepared to slaughter anyone who came near us. I’d killed demons before but never in this number and never in this endless wave as still more of them emerged from the woods. I would not give in to the hopelessness trying to rise inside me.
I would take out as many of these monsters as possible, and if I was lost in the process, then so be it.
A horde of demons broke through the dogs and raced toward us with a bone-chilling battle cry. They were ugly and bloodthirsty, but they didn’t have much in the way of brains as they charged heedlessly forward.
Hawk seized the first demon and tossed it aside as a black missile dove out of the sky. I almost screamed at Hawk to duck, but at the last second, the bird switched course and sank its talons into the flesh of a demon. The raven transformed into an angel with black wings who snapped the demon’s neck before tearing it off.
Caim.
I’d heard about the fallen angel who turned against Lucifer to join Kobal and River. I knew he could transform into a bird, but I’d never seen it before. I swallowed to get saliva back in my throat as I realized my heart was galloping in my chest. I’d assumed he was going for Hawk and… and it terrified me.
I steadied the tremor in my hands as I swung my sword at the next demon. It leaned back to avoid the arc of the blade and launched a punch at me. Unable to recover my balance from missing him, I couldn’t dodge it.
Another hand shot out between us and seized the fist. It pushed the demon’s hand back and bashed it into the creature’s face. I gaped as Hawk stepped in front of me and severed the demon’s head from its shoulders. He glanced at me over his shoulder, but before I could thank him, or hug him, or…
I had no idea what I wanted to do to him, and I didn’t have time to figure it out as more came at us.
Caim transformed back into a raven and flew away as another demon swiped at me. Ducking, I dodged the beefy hand that would have knocked my head from my shoulders and thrust my sword up through its chin. I jerked the blade down, placed my foot in its chest, and shoved it back to face the next one coming at me.
Hawk caught the creature I pushed away and finished it off as River’s golden light pierced into three more of them. We never got a breather as they climbed over each other and the bodies to come at us.
Blood splattered my face and coated my clothes until they stuck to my skin. Despite all my years of training, the countless drills I’d run, and the hours I spent wielding weapons, my arms and legs grew tired as the night progressed toward day.
The beat of wings drew my attention to a creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human, or maybe it was a demon head. It opened its mouth as it dove toward me. As it neared, I saw the three rows of its piranha-like teeth as I moved my sword in front of me.
I had no idea what good a sword would do against this monstrosity, but I had nothing else. I focused on its orange eyes while its body plunged toward me. A woman cried out and staggered back when a demon shoved her back and in front of me.
The creature’s scorpion tail plunged into the woman’s chest and burst out the other side. I recoiled when warm blood splattered my face. It took everything I had not to start screaming and hacking at the tail with my sword, but I’d only succeed in carving the woman up if I did so. But when the creature plucked her off the ground and into the air, I realized she might have been better off if I killed her.
“Are you okay?” Hawk demanded as he grabbed my arm and spun me toward him.
Was I okay? Not at all. But I had to be okay because there was no other choice. “I’m fine.”
I tried to wipe the woman’s blood from my face, but I doubted it accomplished anything as the blood of so many others coated my hands. The beat of wings dre
w my attention to the sky as more of those things soared overhead.
“What are those things?” I demanded.
“They’re manticores,” Hawk said. “And I hate them.”
I could understand why as another one of them dove into the crowd and speared three palitons with its lethal tail. Still in raven form, Caim landed on the manticore’s back and ripped its head off with his beak. Raphael took out three more of them while River destroyed another one as it plummeted toward a group of humans.
Though their wings continued to beat above me, I focused on the demons coming at me. I couldn’t watch the skies and the ground successfully, and I had a better chance of killing the demons on the ground than the ones in the air. Still, I found myself flinching and bracing myself every time I felt a shift in the air current.
We struggled endlessly on, somehow gaining ground against the demons as the drakón’s fire lit the night sky. I didn’t know more demons were still coming from the woods; I could only see the glow of the burning trees from here.
As we worked to gain ground, I couldn’t help admiring Hawk’s fighting style while he carved his way through the enemy. He was powerful, fast, and extremely well-trained with an excellent technique. Whereas I felt about ready to collapse, he didn’t tire as he sliced the head from one demon before taking out the legs of another.
No matter how many of them came at us, he stayed by my side as the sky lightened toward dawn. I barely recognized him beneath the layer of dirt and blood covering him, and I knew I didn’t look any better. In the distance, the smoke from the burning forest was so thick it blocked out the rising sun.
Normally, the morning was my favorite time of the day. Often, I’d slip out of my tent at dawn and walk to the edge of the hill to sit and watch the sunrise. The sweet songs of the birds would float around me as they woke to greet the day. It was such a peaceful time, and it was my time.
And now, instead of the birds’ songs, the screams of the fallen greeted the sun. The gunfire had stopped; the drakón couldn’t rain fire on their enemies without annihilating their allies too. They soared overhead, chasing the manticores while protectively circling their queen.
Our progress across the field slowed as the bodies littering the ground made moving more difficult. I stumbled and almost toppled onto a pile of dead, but Hawk caught my elbow and pulled me back. Unable to stop myself, I leaned against him as I steadied my wobbling legs beneath me.
River hit the last manticore with a blast of energy that sent it spiraling down. A pack of demons pounced on it and tore it apart. I wiped a strand of straggling hair from my face as Hawk took out another demon, but their numbers were dwindling.
I felt numb as I gazed around the blood-drenched, body-covered field. I couldn’t quite process that many of these bodies were people and demons I’d talked with, laughed with, and worked with yesterday. We’d always known there was a chance of an attack, but I’d never imagined one of this magnitude, and after years of living at the wall, I’d stopped believing it could happen.
And now… well, I didn’t know anything about now. I was too exhausted to process what happened, never mind what would come after. I took out the knees of a demon and wiped away the sweat trickling into my eyes, except it wasn’t sweat. I closed my eyes and tore my attention away from the blood on the back of my hand. I didn’t think it was mine, but I couldn’t know for sure.
Nausea twisted in my stomach; I was trained to fight, I’d killed before, but this level of carnage was something I’d never expected to see.
This was… this was… Hell.
When the sun rose beyond the smoke, its rays did little to dry the blood soaking the land. With the sun came the increasing stench of death, and when I glanced toward the sky, shock gripped me as I spotted the pristine blue above us.
How could it be so horrific down here yet so beautiful above us? The incongruity of it caused my eyes to burn. I must be more exhausted than I thought if I was trying not to cry over the blue sky. And then I realized I wasn’t struggling against tears because the sky was blue; it was because I was still here to see it when so many others weren’t.
I held my sword high, but no more demons came at us. My arms ached from fighting, but I couldn’t bring myself to lower the weapon as I searched the field for more enemies. The last of the demons fell at the hands of the king.
Scattered throughout the battlefield were the exhausted humans and demons from our side. They looked as shell-shocked as I felt as they took in the carnage surrounding us. I lowered my sword and rested the tip of it on the ground.
“We won,” I whispered.
But at what cost?
I turned to Hawk when he rested his hand on my arm. I didn’t know him, but I was struck with the inexplicable urge to throw my arms around him and hug him. It was so intense I had to grip my sword in both hands to keep from making a fool of myself with him.
But it didn’t matter as Hawk drew me against his chest, and though I tried to resist it, my fingers twisted into his shirt. I ignored the blood coating him as beneath its coppery scent, I detected the sweeter aroma of something that reminded me of the brownies my mom used to make.
When I recalled sitting in the kitchen and watching while she melted the chocolate for the brownies, I realized Hawk reminded me of chocolate melting in a pan. He made me recall the days before the gateway opened when life was so simple and I was safe in my small world.
I was safe with him too. It was dangerous to think such things about a demon when he would move on, but in his arms, I didn’t care.
“Come on,” he said.
Reluctant to release him, my fingers uncurled from his back before I stepped away. He kept his hand on my arm while we carefully made our way across the field toward the king and queen.
I tried not to take in the remains littering the ground, but it was impossible not to notice the bodies when we had to step on them as we went. The hounds released a mournful howl while they prowled through the dead.
At first, I assumed they were scavenging for food, but then they pulled the remains of a hound from beneath some of the bodies. On the other side of the field, three more hounds removed the body of another one of their brethren.
Those annoying tears were back as the mournful cries tugged at my heart. They howled again, and one of them nudged a body in a way that let me know it had lost its mate. One of the drakóns still circled overhead, but the other had landed to sit protectively behind the queen.
From the other side of the king and queen, I saw someone else push through a group of demons as he walked toward the couple. It took me a minute to recognize Vargas beneath the blood coating him as the three of us arrived to stand near the king and queen at the same time. Once his leg was strong enough, Vargas started training with my team two weeks ago. I didn’t know him very well, but I saw recognition in his eyes when he nodded at me.
“Where’s Erin?” Hawk asked, and I heard the distress in his voice.
“She’s at the hall with the children,” Vargas answered, and Hawk gave him a questioning look but didn’t comment.
Turning toward the woods, I closed my eyes and rubbed at them as exhaustion pulled at me. I opened my eyes, and my vision blurred until I blinked it clear. I blinked again when a cloud emerged from the smoke. I thought exhaustion was causing me to hallucinate, but the cloud drew closer with every passing second.
“Oh shit,” someone said. “The angels.”
And then I recognized them as they swooped toward us with their wings spread wide while they soared low over the carnage. Survivors screamed and threw themselves to the ground, but some weren’t fast enough to evade the angels who tore off their heads or lifted them off the ground before flinging them away.
I was so focused on the angels that I didn’t realize the ground was vibrating until it shook my legs. Tearing my gaze away from the forty or so angels clogging the sky, I focused on the small section of woods that wasn’t on fire yet.
“Motherfuckers,�
� the king snarled.
I hadn’t believed it possible, but my exhaustion vanished. Adrenaline flooded my system as the nine remaining horsemen of the apocalypse barreled toward us, and behind them emerged a new wave of demons.
This wave was far smaller than before, but we were battered, beaten, and nearly broken. These bastards had waited until our troops were decimated before descending on us.
I hated and admired them for their cruel calculations.
My arms trembled as I lifted the sword, but I locked my muscles into place to keep it steady as I prepared for the next fight.
Chapter Ten
Hawk
Using its hind legs, the drakón behind River launched itself straight off the ground and into the air as one of the angels dropped a screaming woman. The woman would have hit River, but the drakón snatched her out of the sky and flung her away before closing its powerful jaws around the angel.
The second drakón turned in the air and raced toward the horseman as fire burst from its mouth. The flames streaked across the land, torching the bodies of the fallen as it closed in on the horsemen. Three angels crashed into the side of the drakón’s head, knocking it off course.
More angels descended on both drakóns until they were bashing against the sides of the creatures. The angels had to be getting burned by the drakóns, but they moved so fast the fire didn’t catch on them. The drakóns were so busy trying to fend off the angels that the horsemen and their troops closed the rest of the distance without a problem.
“If the horsemen get too close…”
Vargas didn’t finish his sentence. We all knew what would happen if the horsemen got too close. They wouldn’t have to fight us; Wrath and War would have us killing each other before we could do anything to stop them.
I seized Aisling’s elbow as a snarl rumbled up my throat. Her warm, deep brown eyes shimmered with fear when they met mine, but the determined expression on her face remained resolute.
“Achó!” Kobal roared and pointed at the horsemen before sending a blast of fire at a couple of demons who were bearing down on him and River.
Kiss of Death: Hell on Earth Series, Book 3 Page 6