Stefan roared as he shifted into a dragon. He charged at the dragon trying to ram down the gate and grabbed onto him with his claws, pushing him back. The opposing dragon gave a vicious cry and swiped his tail at Stefan’s face. Stefan avoided the blow and ducked down, before he retaliated by breathing fire. Plumes of flame raced by overhead, warming the area until sweat ran down my brow. The ground shook as the two dragons warred, causing what was left of the broken tower to crash to the earth.
Theo and Alexei followed his lead. Theo became an alicorn and ran with his horn down at the cultists, trying to charge them off. A few tripped, and Theo trampled them under his hooves, letting out a triumphant whinny. Alexei flew through the air as a griffin, grabbing heavy pieces of stone from the rubble and dropping them from overhead. The large bricks hit the cultists that were too slow to dodge out of the way.
I didn’t have my sword, and I couldn’t fight hand-to-hand combat like this— not when I was so badly injured. The cut on my side still stung so horribly I couldn’t move but stiffly. My magic was my only defense.
“Girls, we have to work together!” I cried.
Kiara, Odette, and Delmare came to my side, and we formed a circle, facing outward. Delmare called battle magic to her hands. She threw bomb after bomb of red illusion magic at the cultists, which exploded on impact and sent bodies flying. Kiara’s mouth moved in a whisper as she focused her empathy magic on the nearest cultists. They grabbed at their heads and sank to their knees as they cried out, as if experiencing crippling emotional pain that made it too difficult to move.
Odette waved her arms, and her eyes sparked as a glowing pink shield settled over our bodies like a halo. The shields engulfed us and outlined our forms, protecting us from any harm. For as much as she goofed off in her Faction Abilities class, Odette must’ve been paying attention to Theo, because her alicorn shield magic wrapped around each of us and didn’t break. Several cultists sent spells our way, but they simply bounced off the shields and ricocheted in all directions.
I busied myself with shutting down those portals so no more cultists could get through. I focused my magic on them and ordered them to close, warring with the power of whoever had made the portal on the other side. Some of them closed easily, but others were more difficult, made by Arcanea whose magic was equal to my own. I had to put all my concentration on stopping them, until my knees began to quiver and I felt like I was going to faint.
I don’t know if I can do this, I thought. I felt so weak. There was hardly anything left in me after my fight with Ethan. I didn’t know how much more my body had to give.
Take heart, young champion, I heard Milonna whisper.Magic cannot be performed if you lose faith.
I put forth a final burst of effort and several portals shut down all at once, leaving only one left. As I was closing the last portal, an arm slipped through. There was a horrible cry of pain. The portal snapped closed, slicing off the arm of whatever cultist had tried to arrive.
My stomach churned as I looked at the dismembered limb on the ground, which was bleeding at the stump. I wondered what cultist had lost it, and where.
We’d bought enough time for the guards to reconfigure. The palace’s armed forces stormed out from the exits of the castle, their swords held aloft. Shifters began cutting down the main line of cultists, while sorceresses wearing long robes fired off spells behind them. Several cultists pawed at their eyes as the sorceresses gave the illusion of going blind, while others frantically patted at their skin as if they believed they were on fire, screaming in agony at the thought of imaginary flames.
Stefan was winning the duel against the other dragon. He had the creature’s head in his jaws and was going to bite down. The dragon scrambled to get away, his claws scraping the dirt as he let out low, pleading notes for Stefan to let go.
Stefan’s eyes glinted, like he was considering ending the dragon’s life. But instead, Stefan opened his mouth and let the other shifter go, baying his victory and demanding the loser retreat. The dragon gave a yelp and spread his wings, taking off into the night sky. Stefan let out a satisfied snort, smoke emitting from his nostrils.
“I can’t hold onto these shields much longer,” Odette whimpered. Her strength was failing. Odette could suspend a singular shield for hours, but dividing her attention and shielding all of us at the same time was sucking her magic dry.
Theo must’ve heard Odette’s cry, because he galloped over and put his horn to her heart. As he did so, I watched a soft glow emit from his horn, and I felt Odette’s shield around me strengthen.
“They’re retreating!” Delmare said, and she pointed. I watched as a large group of cultists began running out the hole in the wall, leaving the battle behind them.
My heart skipped a beat. Could this be real? This had been an easy battle. The cultists had hardly put up an effort to fight back. Had their attack been so unplanned?
Ethan’s white fur was stained with blood. Several dead wolvens laid around him, their life force dripping from his muzzle. He prowled around the area, looking for more to hunt.
I felt sickened as I watched him. He’d been so guilty about stabbing me moments ago, and now he was back for blood again. He jumped into this bloodshed without hesitation, and I became distinctly aware of how murderous he could be.
A female cultist who had lost her mask gave a terrified cry as Ethan set his sights on her. He growled, and she ran. She sent a few spells backward, but they bounced off of Odette’s shield. She fell upon the ground and backed up, her hood falling back to expose her messy hair.
“Please!” she pleaded. “Have mercy!”
“There is no mercy for cultists,” Ethan growled. “You get what you deserve.”
I opened my mouth to stop him, but before I got a word past my lips, Ethan had taken her life. Her glassy eyes stared out vacantly as Ethan crushed her neck between his jaws. Unlike Stefan, he hadn’t let his prey go free.
Icy cold disbelief ran through me as Ethan let the body drop to the ground. He looked back at me with unfeeling wolfish eyes.
And there was something else inside me at that moment— absolute loathing.
He’d slaughtered that woman without mercy. We’d all hurt people tonight— but in self-defense, in war. That cultist wasn’t going to hurt him. She begged for forgiveness.
And Ethan hadn’t seen reason to give her any. Which was the most horrifying thing I’d seen him do all night. He thought himself fit to be judge, jury, and executioner.
I knew then I couldn’t love a man like that. It’d be loving a monster.
For the majority that had retreated, a few cultists still stood around the palace. There had been hundreds, but for now, it was dozens. Perhaps they were reconvening elsewhere for a second attack? This had to be a trick.
