“Alright,” Lily said, finally catching her breath. “My father is not a cartoon lion. Nor will anyone here be dressing in drag and doing the hula.”
Eliza snorted—actuallysnorted—then doubled over laughing while the rest of us just stared at each other. “Could youimagine?” she choked out. “Rathiel facing your father while dressed in a grass skirt, shaking those hips?”
Lily slapped a hand over her mouth, eyes wide, shoulders shaking. Calyx blinked at Eliza like she’d grown a second head.
I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t know what that means, but I’m certain I don’t like it.”
That only made both women collapse into fresh laughter.
Calyx sighed, and it was a sound I thoroughly empathized with. After a few moments, Lily pulled herself together and wiped the corners of her eyes with the back of her hands. The sight of her—pink cheeked and happy—made me smile. But then her gaze strayed past us to the enemy forces waiting across the field. Her laughter faded, her grin vanished, and steel hardened her eyes. In the span of a breath, the woman making jokes was gone, and in her place stood a general. The one I had trained. I only hoped she was ready.
She squared her shoulders, lifted her head high, and turned to face her army.
“This is it,” she called out, her voice carrying over the wind. “The last march. The last battle. Everything we’ve done, everything we’ve sacrificed, has led to this moment!”
Her ranks stirred as they, too, straightened under the attention of their leader, their princess.
She marched a straight line in front of her soldiers. Those in the back wouldn’t hear, but there wasn’t anything we could do about that.
“My father believes this ishisrealm! He thinks your fear makes him strong! He believes cages, chains, and cruelty give him power! To disobey him is to die!” Her expression hardened. “Well, no more! We willnotbe caged! We willnotbe chained! And his cruelty willfeedus! We fight today not for fun, not for the bloodshed, but totake back this realm!To return it to its rightful state. To giveyou—the corrupted souls of Hell—a chancetocontinue on! You are fighting not only for your freedom, but for your eternal souls! To finally be free of this place, to move on and win a second or third or fourth chance at redemption!”
Her army cheered and thrust their hands into the air.
“Crowns can fall! Cages can be broken! And we? We willwinthis battle!Thisis where we make our last stand!”
The answering roar was deafening. Fists pumped, weapons clanged, wings unfurled. Every soldier, every beast, every resurrected soul felt it—the moment locking into place.
I didn’t cheer. I didn’t need to. My chest swelled with pride, with a kind of faith I hadn’t dared feel in centuries. Lily had given them more than orders. She’d given them hope.
The roar of the army still echoed across the plain when Lily turned, her eyes seeking the ones who mattered most. Us.
Her gaze locked on me first. For a heartbeat, she didn’t say anything—just looked at me, steady and unflinching. I knew what she was thinking. We’d spoken of it last night, when the others had drifted off to sleep. Her worst-case plan. My promise.
“Rath,” she said, voice quieter now, but no less firm. “Remember your promise.”
My chest tightened. I gave her the smallest of nods. No one else needed to know what she meant.
She moved on before anyone could question it. “Levi.” Her eyes cut to the angel, sharp as a blade. “Keep your distance at the start. We’ll need your wings in the air when Gavrel unleashes his chaos on us. He’s your target.”
Levi inclined his head, calm as ever.
“Eliza.” Lily’s tone softened, but only a fraction. “Stay close. The lines will break, and when they do, I need you where I can see you. No wandering off, no heroics. Your daggers belong in my shadow. Don’t be afraid to use your voice if you can do so without affecting our ranks. We need Lucifer’s forces distracted. Not ours.”
Eliza gave a quick salute.
“Calyx.” She shifted her attention, and the fallen straightened. “You hold the flank. If they press us, you cut through them. Fast. Clean. No mercy.”
For once, he didn’t grin or quip. He just gave a single, grave nod.
Finally, Lily turned to Mephisar. She pressed her palm to his scaled side, her voice dropping into something close to reverence. “You’re with me. I need you to protect me while I find Lucifer.”
The hellwyrm rumbled his agreement low in his throat.
Lily stepped back then, sweeping her gaze over us all. “We don’t get another chance after this. So be sharp. Be ruthless.” No one spoke. No one needed to. The weight of her words sank into us like steel driven deep.
And then, as if she hadn’t just handed out life-or-death orders, she exhaled once, squared her shoulders again, and turned back to the field.
“Just one thing,” Levi said. He stepped forward and caught Eliza by the waist.
