Gods and their Saints I needed this. The heat of my blood, the sweat on my brow, the satisfaction of cutting something's head off. Oh, I've missed this.
Mak and I plow through a street down in the southern quarter just outside the castle gates. Darius killed everything inside in those few seconds after he blew Xaxias to the underworld and back. He was not happy to say the least, though I can't say I was much better off after finding the Mater bleeding and her throat red from being choked.
Thankfully, the explosives were in fact fake and the powder nowhere nearby, and the castle still stands. The three hundred people left untouched by the Pater's rage all flew out of that ballroom like witches on brooms. I brought Mak with me to close the gates so no one could get out, and so nothing can get in. They all panic in the courtyard, even as Tanith grabs their minds and has them joining hands in large groups so we can mist them out quicker.
But there are three-hundred Gods be damned people.
"I think we bit off more than we can chew," Mak yells, giving a quick glance to the gates behind us.
I bring down a Wailing Krov, freezing it in time and beheading the nasty little beast. "When have you known us to back down from a challenge?"
She impales the body of a scrawny man possessed by an Ashmodai, then tosses the body into a nearby fire we lit for that reason. Without destroying the body the Asmodai will repossess it, missing limbs and all. "I'm just saying. The others won't be able to fight if they drain themselves with that shit - fuck!"
I duck beneath the claws of a Scurii as it flies overhead. It aims for the gates but gets frozen midair before it can. I behead a Hell Hound and then shoot an arrow to cut off the tail of the Scurii. It falls to the ground, now nothing more than the dust it rose from. "I hate those bastards."
"Well here comes a whole flock!"
I look up, seeing the dozen Scurii that pursue the same standing prey behind us. "We could really use some duplicates right about now."
"Sorry to be a disappointment." I glare at Mak in between killing two Nidras. Their serpentine bodies shrivel at the death blows.
I face off the Raver that all the lower demons step aside to let through. "Just get up there."
She looks between me and the Raver, offending me with her hesitation to do as I say.
"Nice knowing you."
She sheaths her swords and spreads her arms wide. A quick flash and an orange-tipped cinereous vulture shoots to the sky towards the Scurri. I don't watch to see how she faces off the dozen demons. Not when there's a drooling Raver prowling towards me, its claws clicking on the cobblestone and scales gleaming against the firelight.
"I don't suppose you'll be nice and make this easy?" Its mouth opens, that small blue light at the back of its throat glowing. The only warning of the chaotic scream about to shatter your eardrums. "Didn't think so."
A flick of my wrist and the Raver's body turns into a statue. A throwing knife hurtles for that light and I take off in a run. Restarting time, the Raver's voice cuts off with a choke as the knife drives home, and I slide on the ground beneath the beast while it's distracted and slice through its throat, all four knees, and drive my sword from sternum to tail through its body. When I roll and stand, now behind the demon, I find it laying on its side bleeding out. The lower demons screech their anger.
"Oh, shut up." I toss a hand over my shoulder and cut off their screams as I stride for the lame beast.
Nilsa mists in at the head of the Raver then, the Mater beside her. I sniff for her injuries finding them healed and the blood on her stomach and face still fresh but not oozing. Kat will not be happy about the ruined dress.
YOU ARE READING
Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)
FantasyA kingdom across the sea, a man in pain clawing at a hated king who bears two shadows who protect him. A child, born from a mother with the powers of the Gods, screaming at a blood-soaked bed. A boy, a Prince, kind and full of the flame of life, sit...
