“Good.” Kaelen released me and spun toward her forces. “Malzaun, you’re on escort! Move out!”
Twenty elite soldiers peeled away from the main force, forming a protective wedge around me and Daemon’s core team. Captain Malzaun took point, his scarred face grim beneath the torchlight.
“Stay close,” he barked. “Kill anything that gets in the way.”
We plunged into the burning streets.
The capital had transformed into something unrecognizable. Buildings that once housed merchants and craftsmen now spilled smoke and screams. Corpses littered the cobblestones. Dark magic coiled through the air like living smoke, thick enough that I could taste it coating my tongue. It pulsed with wrongness and hunger.
We moved fast, weaving through alleys and side streets that Daemon navigated from memory. Kael and Kane flanked wide, clearing intersections with brutal efficiency. They took out any soldiers but incapacitated civilians possessed by the Devourer’s power. Zephyr moved like the wind itself, there and gone, appearing at key moments to eliminate threats before they could fully materialize.
A group of corrupted soldiers stumbled from a collapsed tavern, weapons raised. Squad Seven cut them down without breaking stride.
“Left here,” Daemon called.
The resistance flooded through the gates like water breaching a dam. Unstoppable, furious, and hungry for justice. I stood rooted as warriors streamed past me, their war cries splitting the smoke-choked air. Boots hammered against cobblestones. Steel rang against steel. Somewhere behind me, the massive iron gates groaned shut with a finality that reverberated through my chest.
"Seal it!" Kaelen's voice cut through the din. "Lock them out!"
Fae soldiers moved with practiced efficiency, dropping the reinforcement bar into place and wedging debris against the mechanism. Outside, voices erupted in fury. King Aeron’s reinforcements, which had approached from both sides during the assault, pounded against wood and iron that had turned against them. They’d reach the secondary entrances eventually, but precious minutes had been bought.
Minutes that might be all we had.
Kaelen turned, her face streaked with soot and blood that wasn’t hers. She caught my eye across the chaos, and her expression hardened with singular purpose.
"Battalions two and three! Hold the perimeter! Four, clear the western approach! One, you're with me!" She closed the distance to me in a few strides. "You need to move. Now."
I opened my mouth, but the words tangled in my throat. Around us, civilians scattered like startled birds. Some fled while others turned on each other, violence and corruption blazing in their eyes. A woman screamed as her neighbor dragged her toward a burning storefront. Two children crouched in a doorway, filthy and wide-eyed with terror.
"Seris." Daemon's voice settled against my ear, low and urgent. "Look at me."
I did. His face was spattered with blood, shadows coiling restlessly at his shoulders, but his eyes held mine steady.
"This won’t stop until we reach the source. Every second we delay, more people die."
My stomach twisted. He was right. I knew he was right. But knowing didn’t make it easier to turn away from the woman being dragged past me or the children who flinched at every shout.
"The throne," Daemon said. "End this at the throne, and you save everyone left."
Kaelen's hand landed on my shoulder, firm enough to anchor. "We'll hold the streets. That's our fight. Yours is below."
I dragged in a breath that tasted of smoke and copper, held it as if it might solidify into resolve, and nodded once.
"Good." Kaelen released me and spun toward her forces. "Malzaun, you're on escort! Move out!"
Twenty elite soldiers peeled away from the main force, forming a protective wedge around me and Daemon’s core team.Captain Malzaun took point, his scarred face grim beneath the torchlight.
"Stay close," he barked. "Kill anything that gets in the way."
We plunged into the burning streets.
The capital had transformed into something unrecognizable. Buildings that once housed merchants and craftsmen now spilled smoke and screams. Corpses littered the cobblestones. Dark magic coiled through the air like living smoke, thick enough that I could taste it coating my tongue. It pulsed with wrongness and hunger.
We moved fast, weaving through alleys and side streets that Daemon navigated from memory. Kael and Kane flanked wide, clearing intersections with brutal efficiency. They took out any soldiers but incapacitated civilians possessed by the Devourer’s power. Zephyr moved like wind itself, there and gone, appearing at key moments to eliminate threats before they fully materialized.
A group of corrupted soldiers stumbled from a collapsed tavern, weapons raised. Squad Seven cut them down without breaking stride.
"Left here," Daemon called.
