“Thank you.” Phaedrus bowed graciously, steering me away.
“One more thing,” the commander barked. We froze, heeding his command.
I held my breath.
“Have you seen anyone else in these parts?”
Relief flashed across Phaedrus’ face before he slowly turned. I could see thoughts swimming in his sage green eyes as he quickly came up with an answer.
He never got to voice it.
A crimson blade whizzed past my shoulder, narrowly missing my arm before flying toward the commander’s chest. His lion intercepted it, leaping toward the blade and catching it in his mouth. Both the sword and the lion’s teeth dissolved into liquid blood upon impact.
A second blade whizzed over my head, bending mid-flight to soar around the commander before striking him in the back. Gritting his teeth, the commander yanked the blade out, and a thin trail of blood streamed down his side.
Blood blades. Could it be . . .?
Drawing his sword, the commander barked an order. “Take the woman alive!”
Yanking halberds from their backs, the Hades Knights spread out, surrounding us.
Phaedrus shoved me behind him. “Stay back,” he barked.Bloody vines rose through the air, whipping around him. One grabbed my ankle and tossed me away.
I hit the ground and rolled over myself, twigs and leaves catching in my hair. Pressing my palms into the dirt, I pulled myself up and tried to make sense of the chaos unfolding around me.
Blood whirled through the air as multiple chthonics clashed. Armored men darted between the trees—two slashed at Phaedrus’ vines while the commander lunged at a dark figure who burst from between the trees.
The steel blade crashed against the crimson longsword the dark figure clutched. A fourth ebony knight darted around the shadow’s back and slashed for his neck.
Fire burst through the trees as a flaming scythe whirled through the air and slammed into the knight’s back, throwing him off balance. Seraphim leaped over a fallen log and retrieved her weapon, red skirt whipping around her legs as she spun the scythe.
A knight broke away from the fight to rush me, but he stopped mid-stride, hands grabbing for his head. Specters swirled around him, moaning like the dead—it almost sounded like a haunting chorus.
Percy was somewhere nearby—that was his magic.
“Lady Aethra!” A familiar, calm voice called.
“Eleos?” I called back.
A man dressed in white robes skidded down a hill and landed by my side. He grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face him, soft face drinking mine in with relief.
His eyes gleamed sage-green, colored by the reassuring light his father’s lacked.
The relief on Eleos’ face vanished. Hauling me up, he threw me behind him and drew the sword at his hip. The scarlet lion pounded through the woods, heading straight toward us.
I needed a weapon. Feeling around on the ground, I searched for something. Anything.
Eleos held up his sword defensively as the lion pounced on him. They both crashed to the ground, the lion’s jaw locked around Eleos’ sword as he desperately tried to force its maw awayfrom its face. Blood dripped onto his skin and stained his robes.
How were you supposed to fight something not fully alive? No blade could harm a creature of blood.
The black-cloaked man flew to Eleos’ side, carrying a scarlet broadsword. He cleaved it through the lion’s side, rending it in half. The creature lost its shape, collapsing onto Eleos. Blood soaked his white robes before it streamed off his side onto the forest floor, where it began to reform.
A jackal mask covered the shadow’s face, but I recognized that sharp jaw and the hint of black waves sticking out from his hood.
Seth.
I ran to Eleos’ side, hoping to help him up. I was knocked flat as the lion slammed into my side, throwing me back into the dirt. Raising my head, I saw it leap for Eleos again, but Seth darted between them, shoving Eleos away.
