“Maybe not. But I don’t sssee you comin’ up with any ideasss.” She points the end of her cutlass at my chest.
“What if we smother it?” Eryk asks quietly beside me.
The smaller demons have multiplied now, and the battlefield is crawling in shadows. They’re moving so fast that they will reach us before we can reformulate a plan.
“Great suggestion. Just one question … how?” I try not to sound overly condescending, but he’s not exactly being fucking helpful.
“I don’t know! Don’t any of you have powers? You’re telling me none of you have the ability to snuff this thing out? Like throwing a blanket on a fire.” He’s waving his hands madly at the ground to mimic covering a fire.
Shit. The blond fucker has a point.
I look to Gideon, his eyebrows are furrowed, and I’m praying he can still access his magic.
“Can you throw a ward around it?” I ask.
His tired eyes are clear and bright for a moment, and he rests a hand on my shoulder.
“I think so. But you’ll have to act quickly. I’m not sure how long my powers will last here.”
The field is electric, and I signal for the soldiers to hold steady. They wait for my cue, and for the first time I think I can truly sense what being a commander is like. I haven't even been in charge of my own people, and I've never led an army into battle. I've worked from the shadows, stealing lives in the dark.
This is different. This is life or death for everyone in my kingdom. And itismy kingdom.
The moment Gideon’s ward is over the giant demon, I drop my arm and let out a bellow. With my permission, our army moves in.
The smaller demons creep forward until finally the two forces collide.
Purple blood sprays from the first few trolls who meet the demons, and it registers that the black creatures were born as shadows, but have solidified into solid forms with blades in their hands. Their skin is slick, shining obsidian, and there is no soul behind their colorless, glassy eyes.
Blood pounds in my ears as I cut down one after another. Everywhere I slice my sword, one more demon loses its lifeforce. Thick, black gore sinks into the ground, staining the soil where the demons fall.
Gideon’s ward stops the demons from multiplying, and the shadows stuck within are shrinking, evening the playing field for just a breath. The closer I get to the hole and the monster, the warmer it becomes.
The hairs in my nose burn, and the acrid scent slices my throat with each breath.
Invidia’s army is safe behind the crevasse. But they’re pacing and shouting, and the fear on their faces has me wondering who they’d be fighting alongside if they were able to join the melee.
“Raiden!” Gideon yells, voice shaky, and I turn my back on the battle just long enough to find him. Those in his army who had been guarding him have either fallen, or are fighting off the hoard. They’ve broken formation, and the king is exposed.
He’s surrounded, and I have to make a choice. He’s holding the ward, and I can blur to his side and protect him. Or I can blur to the monster and end this.
“It has to be now!” Gideon yells after taking out three demons. He bows his head, and I make my choice.
When I blur, it feels like flying. I cease to exist for precious seconds.
I land so near to the hole that I almost lose my balance on the edge. Rubble crumbles beneath my boot as I jump back and come face to face with the original shadow creature, but shrunk down. He still towers a solid head above me, higher if I include his curled horns.
He bares his rotting, sharp teeth through a lipless gob and thrashes his head. The thing is still within Gideon’s ward, so I wait. Sword in hand, but poised to attack, I check over my shoulder for my signal.
I wish I hadn’t.
A demon climbs up Gideon’s body, and in slow motion I watch as the man who raised me and provided a home for me as a young boy has his throat ripped out. He falls to his knees, and lands face first into the hard dirt with a silent thud that etches itself into my core.
I cannot hold back the agony. The scream that rips from my lungs hits the air like a tidal wave and ripples across the battlefield.
There’s nothing I can do. Gideon’s ward falls, and I charge at the monster.
“Get the fuck back down where you came from, demon!” I swing my sword and blur at the same time. When I land, I have cleaved the monster in two. Black eyes stare, unseeing, but the demon grins as I shove him into the pit. Both parts of his body tumble over themselves, hitting the edge of the hole before landing, sinking into the magma.
