The shifters raced forward and tore into the battered and bloodied fallen.
While Reyna and Kaja hacked through the bodies, I blasted dozens more. The humid air filled with the coppery stench of death as we fought our way through the horde.
And while our enemies lacked their magic, they still had their blood-thirst—and deadly claws.
The cacophony of battle drowned out all individual voices. Metal clashed. Screams rent the air. Blood and water pooled on the stone floor, making it slick and slippery with gore. As bodies fell, they were pushed to the side, and soon enough, the aisles became blocked by piles of the dead or dying.
Kaja, Reyna, and I pressed our way through the mass, toward the door marked with the symbol for spirit, while our team kept guard from behind.
‘Have you seen Kalama or the queen yet?’ Rage asked.
I ducked under a blood mage’s arm as they swung out with their claws, and then spun and drove my blade into their neck.
Damn.The knife stuck, and when I yanked it out, blood sprayed my face.
Blech.
‘Not yet,’ I shot back to Rage. ‘You?’
Kaja sliced off the vamp’s head, and we were on to the next one.
One after another.
‘Nope,’Rage said.‘I don’t like it.’
I wanted to agree, but the vamps kept coming.
As the next wave of them arrived, hawks dropped their last two magic-canceling bombs. The only one I had left was shoved into my belt. I was saving it for the queen.
Lunge.
Parry.
Stab.
Slice.
Duck.
Feint.
Drive.
The continued onslaught dragged on—and on.
Two blood mages caught Kaja, and I spun to her aid, tossing my dagger into the chest of the one lunging for her. Reyna shouted, “Left!” and then swung her blade. Kaja dove to her left just as Reyna’s katana eviscerated the other vamp.
Whoa.
“You’ve practiced that before,” I shouted.
Reyna grinned. “My whole life.”
We continued our advance, but the adrenaline we’d started with faded, and it was our training from Alpha Academy that sustained us.
The fire elementals led the next charge, and the stench of charred flesh singed our nostrils as ash floated in the air. I blasted two more blood mages, sending bits flying, and then raised my head.
A few small skirmishes persisted, but the majority of the blood mages were gone. I scanned our remaining force, and my heart plummeted. We had less than half of Team B still on their feet.
