The bear charges.
Fury meets it head-on, hellhound versus ice-bear, fire versus frost.They collide with a sound like thunder, and the shockwave knocks me forward against Vex’s back.
Prophet’s voice cuts through the comms, steady and clear.“The seal site is close.The devourer knows.It’s throwing everything it has at us to stop us from reaching it.”
“Then we break through,” Blade snarls.“Chrome, Vex, with me.Everyone else, hold this position.Give us an opening.”
“On it.”Chrome’s golden eyes scan the perimeter.
Vex revs the engine.“Hold on tight.”
We surge forward, Chrome and Blade flanking us.Shades materialize directly in our path, but we don’t slow.Chrome’s sawed-off shotgun blasting those in our path.Blade’s bike has some kind of built-in flame thrower that reduces everything it touches to water and mist.
And Vex is poetry in motion, weaving between enemies with supernatural grace, never slowing, never hesitating.
The mark on my shoulder burns hotter with every yard we gain.
Behind us, I hear Scout shouting coordinates, hear the distinctive crack of Rooster’s guns, hear Fury’s hellhound roar as he tears through another wave of creatures.
We’re going to make it.We’re actually going to—
Kyler’s scream cuts through the comms.
The prospect, barely twenty years old, a Dhampir making him fast but not invincible has been separated from the group.Three shades have him surrounded, claws tearing through his leather, frost spreading across his skin.
“Kyler!”Blade’s voice cracks with something I’ve never heard from him before,fear.
Vex is already turning us around, but we’re too far, moving too fast to stop in time.
Scout dives for him, silver light blazing from his hands, but a corrupted eagle, massive and twisted, intercepts him, talons raking across gossamer wings.
Chrome tries to reach him, but the ice-bear Fury’s fighting turns, massive paw swinging, and he has to swerve or get crushed.
Time slows down.
I watch Kyler go down, watch the shades swarm over him, watch the light in his eyes fade as cold invades his body and stops his half-human heart.
Vex reaches him in seconds, but seconds are too long.
He tears through the shades with bare hands, ripping them apart with vampire strength amplified by my blood in his veins.But when he kneels beside Kyler, pulling the kid into his arms, I can see the truth.
We’re too late.
“Stay with me,” Vex says, and through the bond I feel his anguish.“Come on, kid.Stay with me.”
Kyler’s eyes find Vex’s face.He tries to speak, but blood bubbles at his lips—too much blood, turning to ice even as it flows.
“I’m sorry,” Vex whispers, and the grief in his voice tears at my heart.“I should have trained you better.Should have prepared you for this.Should have—”
Kyler’s hand finds Vex’s, squeezes once with failing strength.
Then he’s gone.
The light leaves his eyes, frost spreading across his features, and the boy who wanted so badly to be a King dies in Vex’s arms on frozen ground miles from home.
“No!”Blade’s roar is pure rage and pain.
Fury’s hellhound form blazes brighter, hotter, until the ice-bear actually backs away from the sheer heat of his fury.He tears into it with renewed savagery, ripping through ice armor until the creature falls in steaming pieces.
