She looked down at the bundle he held. Nexus lay still in his arms, fur soaked with blood. She searched for a pulse, relieved when she found a faint one. His feathers came away in her fingers, and she realized with horror that they had torn off his wings.
If the Vareth were anything like the Seraphs…
Alora shut her eyes, drawing out a drop of white light from her veins and let it fall on him. May that be enough.
She found the strength to stand as Lord Zuma charged up the hill with some of his Horde. “Your Majesty.”
“Lord Zuma,” she said, meeting his gaze with a tired smile. “Argyle will remember what you have done tonight.” She guided Theia and Rihan forward. “I place my family in your care. Take them somewhere safe. Seal the doors with Night Ash and do not open them again until the Blood Moon has waned. Do not answer any voice that may call out. Not even mine.”
Zuma bowed his head, crossing his Nightstone axe over his heart. “I will protect them with my life. My Horde will defend the city.”
He held out his hand to Theia, and she gripped his arm as he hoisted her up onto his back with practiced ease. “Come, Your Highness.” Then he gently picked up Rihan. Her brother choked on a sob as he was carried toward Argyle’s castle, followed by a guard of Minotaurs.
Alora turned away, swallowing down the emotion in her throat.
He would be safe.
Below the hill, the battlefield had descended into carnage.
Power answered her without hesitation. Black armor stitched itself over her body in seamless plates veined with molten red,settling like a second skin forged in war. The air shuddered as a glaive formed in her hand, its edge humming.
Alora turned to Deimos. “Rune?”
His tail lashed with agitation. “Sire is bound by divine chains. If not the Heavens, then only you can break them.”
She looked up at Karag Dûr in the distance. Storm clouds spiraled over the peaks, flashing with lightning.
Alora moved to go to him, but screams rang across the battlefield as more of their court died. She couldn’t leave yet.
But when she took a step, Deimos stepped in front of her. “You’ve been weakened by the siphon. Sire would not want you in danger?—”
A violent blast scorched along her nerves like a brand. The Sloth host broke first as Wrath cut through them in a roar of flame and iron, the ground vibrating beneath their charge. Somewhere to her left, Hadeon battled Ira, his presence a steady burn against the inferno.
To the right, the lithe Succubus of the Lust host crept low and insidious, silk-thread spells slipping between ranks, seeking weakness. The Greed court wavered under it, gold and fear tangling together as Nexia struggled to hold against Morvenna.
Alora’s jaw tightened and she searched the ridge for the sun sorceress. The beacons had all been destroyed. The sound of a frightened screech drew her to spot Lady Solara flying among the clouds on her griffin, dodging the snapping teeth of Drakon while returning fire.
The fae fought well against the Gluttony host, but any who fell were torn apart and gobbled into gaping maws. Balgor was tearing through the ranks, making his way to Zinnia.
“Deimos,” Alora gritted her teeth. “You have your Queen’s leave.Unleash.”
The Harbinger’s mouth curved sharply. He drew a pair of wicked blades from the shadows at his back and vanished in smoke.
Alora hated standing there. She cut down any stragglers that came at her, but she was torn between joining the fight or going after Rune.
The toss of bodies and frightened cries rang out as a flash of magic detonated. Demons and mortals fell to a slew of glowing webs, falling to pieces.
Sal’vathar cleaved through the Pride host without mercy. Killing many with every swing of his spidery limbs, his manic laughter rising above the cries of the dead.
Sensing the turn of the tide, half of the Envy host split off and charged like a black sea toward Calla and Argyle’s depleting cavalry.
Hadeon screamed her name and the distraction cost him. He went down beneath Ira’s hammer. Calla was already speeding toward him before Morvenna hit her with a blast of crimson magic.
Horror crested through Alora.
The air shifted.
Light rolled off her skin as she leaped into the air. The force carried her over the battlefield, and she hit the center of the Envy host with aboom.
