I glanced behind and regretted it.
A child tripped, slipping from his mother's hand. She reached back to grab him as the father screamed.
Terror manifested from the darkness—a being of shadow and smoke. Red eyes gleamed from within the phantom, and a set of jagged claws emerged from the shadowy curtain.
They tore through the woman's back. Her body slumped forward onto her son, trapping him beneath her corpse. The shadowy wraith reached down, wrapping its claws around the boy's head.
And crushed it. A red, pulpy mass oozed between the claws, all that remained of the frightened, round eyes I'd glimpsed.
A shaky gasp escaped my lips, and I tripped. The father whirled on his heel and sprinted away—toward us.
He only made it a few paces before a great shadow blotted out the moons and descended upon him. Powerful talons wrapped around his waist, ripping him in half. The terrifying bird with the long, pale neck ascended back to the sky, the man's torso clutched in its talons.
We were going to die here.
The fight left my body, and I fell to my knees as the bird's glassy gaze settled on us.
The force of a hurricane lashed through the street. My head snapped back from the force.
Blood and guts erupted above my head as the bird was sliced in twain. The two halves fell onto the streets, one crushing a building, the other cracking the cobblestone.
Paragon Killian strode toward us, black blade held aloft. A storm of wind and lightning surged around the enchanted blade.
"Get to your feet," he snapped. "We need to warn the king."
"But the city—" I stuttered.
"Is lost," Killian said. He removed one hand from his massive blade to grab my arm and haul me to my feet. "Go. You will not fall while I live."
I looked to the south one last time. The black dragon remained perched on the destroyed walls, watching us.
All my life, I'd known the Paragons to be legends among men. Heroes. Only now did I understand why we revered them.
Summoning what remained of my courage, I heeded his order. Pushing Liam ahead of me, I ran.
A pack of shardwolves rushed toward us and were quickly reduced to cinders—a sweeping arc of lightning swept from the black blade and ripped through them. A vined horror rushed us from a dark alley and had its head removed from its gnarled shoulders before I saw Killian move.
From every twist and bend, the darkness poured—but nothing reached us alive.
My lungs burned from running when we finally arrived at the town square. But only bleak destruction greeted us.
Corpses were strewn everywhere. A morbid pile of bodies was stacked against the door of the chapel, as if survivors had taken refuge inside and shut these people out.
A glassy-eyed vulture cleaved down from the sky and slammed into the chapel roof, breaking shingles that rained across the square. The horrible wailing sounded overhead, as though the song of a siren, summoning the horde.
The monsters bore down on us from every direction, from every street. Killian backed us toward the north, eyeing the horrors that had us surrounded.
"The others must be warned," Killian said. "Run. Don't look back. I'll cover you."
"But—" I said.
Killian spun around, raising his sword above his head. The tip shone a brilliant purple, and an ear-shattering boom shook the world. Thunder and lightning surged from the heavens and slammed into the northern street, incinerating the monsters that had been standing there.
The Paragon shoved me, ordering me to go, promising me he would protect me. I didn’t know why I hesitated, why my legs turned leaden.
I had no formal training, no skill with magic. My presence would only hinder Killian, and yet . . .
Liam decided for me. He grabbed my wrist and yanked, pulling me away from the Paragon. Adrenaline kept him going, but I could see how he paled, how his eyes dimmed and limbs slowed. He'd lost too much blood.
