The enemy sorceresses began responding in kind, tossing battle orbs and other equally violent spells. The shield wall was blasted apart, and soon, there weren’t enough fae to make an effective barrier.
Everywhere I looked, I saw a fight that looked more desperate than the last. Towman had been surrounded by three shifters at once, and was doing his best to fend them off. Arthur was changing back and forth at a moment’s notice, cutting off a soldier’s head before transforming into a wolven to rip out a griffin’s throat. Lucien waged war with magic, igniting his sword with a billow of blue power before spanning it outward in an arc, killing several enemies at once. Theo and Odette sparred with alicorns, while Alexei was in the air with Kiara, dodging to avoid the attacks their Faction provided from the air.
Several wolvens approached me from all angles; a whole pack. I indicated to Emma through our bond that she needed to hold on as I fought them off. They came at me from every direction, but I failed to allow them to get me off my feet, using my experience I’d gained from fighting the wargs to eliminate them one by one.
One of the shifters I’d killed had a mate nearby, and she wailed in terrible grief. She conjured a killing spell to her hands, aiming at Emma in order to attain her revenge.
Tygrys snarled and latched on to the other sorceress with his telepathy magic. He used his power to blast her outward, sending her sailing over the battlefield hundreds of feet. He did the same with anyone who got close to Emma, tossing them so far that they’d have broken bones, if they managed to survive the fall.
The ground shook as a massive red dragon landed amongst the battle. He glanced from this way to that, as if pleased by the carnage he’d caused.
“General Davor,” Stefan growled. On his back, Delmare narrowed her eyes. She held no love for her absent father… only hatred.
“Go take him down,” I told them. “Every general of Droga’s that falls will weaken him.”
Stefan needed no other invitation, because he charged forward with a bray. He put his head down and rammed his horns into Davor’s side. Davor gave a snarl, then lowered his own head to charge back. The two dragons locked horns, and the sound their horns made as they cracked together gave a sound like the very earth tearing in two. Stefan shot fire from his mouth, but the flames wrapped around Davor’s form without effect.
Davor swung his tail toward Stefan. He ducked, and Delmare flattened herself to Stefan’s back. The two drakes went at it again, resorting to teeth and claws.
Stefan had dealt Davor several gushing wounds. I thought for sure that Stefan had won this battle, until my gut clenched when Davor reached out and snapped Stefan’s head between his jaws.
Stefan struggled, but Davor held him tight. His eyes narrowed as he prepared to crush Stefan’s jaw between his fangs.
A cold-blooded terror flooded my veins as I acknowledged Stefan’s fate. This was it. I was going to watch my brother die.
Delmare gave a harsh cry that mingled with her love for Stefan and her utter disgust for her father. She climbed up Stefan’s spinal scales and launched herself off, landing on Davor’s head.
Davor gave a snort of surprise, but Delmare didn’t hesitate. Her hands glowed red as she put them onto Davor’s head, and the war general let out a harsh snort of shock. Her scarlet magic spread over him, and before us, I watched in awe.
Davor’s scales began sliding off of him. Like a block of ice left out on a harsh summer’s day, Davor melted, his skin bubbling as his organs turned to goo. Delmare kept hold of the spell, although her nose wrinkled. Eventually, she was left standing in something that resembled a sticky tar pit. What was left of General Davor was nothing more than a melted, rancid pile of slime. Stefan staggered toward his mate, grateful that she had, once again, saved his life.
“Ethan, Alexei and Kiara need help!” Emma cried, tugging at my pelt. I looked skyward. Our friends were being chased by an entire griffin horde, and they were close to catching up.
I gave a snarl, then spread my wings to take to the sky. I focused my attack on the griffin flock, and blocked out all other noise. That left me vulnerable to attack.
Emma gasped as something slammed into me from the side, and I went careening through the air. She managed to hang on to me as we somersaulted through the air. I had to flap my wings like a clumsy bird to get back upright.
A gray winged wolven was flying circles around me, diving in to attack again. I put on a burst of speed as I pushed my wings behind me, and slammed into him using my shoulder. I latched onto a leg with my teeth, but he pulled it out of my grasp and kicked me away, tangling himself against me as we warred in mid-air.
I felt the other wolven rip out feathers as he focused the attack on my wings. Keeping aloft and remaining alive were two tasks that were difficult to pull off at once. I dropped whenever I tried to lash out with my teeth, keeping my front exposed to him so he didn’t hurt Emma.
The other wolven gave a growl as he sank his teeth into the side of my neck, and I gave a high-pitched whimper. Emma lunged forward, blasting a killing curse out of her hand. It hit the side of the wolven’s head. He stopped flying immediately, his limp body falling like a brick to the ground.
I had to land, to give the wound on my neck a moment to heal. I shook on my paws the moment they touched dirt, and looked up. The griffin flock was still racing after Alexei and Kiara, but Theo and Odette were hot on their tail. Kiara shot off golden arrows behind her to strike the griffins, while Odette fired off a host of deadly pink daggers. Together, they picked off the attacking flock, until our friends landed safely on the ground beside us, already growing weak with the demands of the fight.
Arthur called out to Emma, who slid off my back and raced to her brother. Arthur reached for Emma’s hand. As they came together, they used their twin bond to cast spells that had double the effect. A massive briar patch miles long sprouted from the ground at their command, and the thorns growing from the briar speared soldiers through, leaving their bodies hanging on the spikes. The two of them thrust their hands forward at the same time to cast a giant plume of sapphire wolven magic that swelled like a wave, sweeping up enemies and casting them away. Arthur and Emma both conjured illusion monsters of their own creation that stampeded through the army, although they quickly vanished within moments of being cast, despite sustained by their twin magic.
On and on it continued. Each fight seemed bloodier than the last. I watched as a red wolven carrying his sorceress fell out of the air, rolling to the ground. The force of the rough landing tossed his sorceress from his back. She let out a scream as her enemy went to run her through, but her shifter changed back and brought his sword up to protect her, warring against their foes.
Their plight was just as desperate as everyone else’s. I panted as I turned in place. This was unwinnable. How could the gods ask us to complete such a task? Droga’s army was immense, and our own rebellion was failing. What did we do?
As if Luka himself was answering me, Finlay spoke.
“You and your team need to go!” Finlay bellowed. “This war will only drag on if Gabby and Droga are not stopped! You cannot help us here!”
I despised leaving them, and yet, I knew he spoke the truth. Continuing to aid them was a fool’s errand. We needed to put our efforts where it counted.
“Team Phantom, with me!” I cried. My friends rushed to follow as we headed into the trees and away from the battling armies.
