The Ocean Siege | Vol.2, The Eldenarian Artifacts ✓

23.

The portal dumped Makaela and the others in the center of an open pavilion in the center of the city. A stone ring that held the magical rift in time and space laid behind them. Cluttered buildings surrounded them, most of them illuminated by the street lamps and torches in metal fixtures.

Had she not been about to die, it would've been a nice sight.

Immediately after stepping out the portal, she was met with a flurry of blinding lights and intense shouts. Everyone was fending off attacks from the Aegeon soldiers with their shield charms. They had been forced into a tight circle formation.

They were outnumbered, but not by much. All they had to do was hold fast for a few minutes until Asahi and his dragons flew into the city. The prince of House Doragon had been flying from the portal spire and into Thania. If they could stay alive long enough for him to arrive, they would be fine.

They just needed to stay alive first.

Asahi and his crew were taking longer to arrive than she thought he would. Shades were beginning to drop around her and their defenses were waning.

"Where is he?" Makaela hissed. She raised her shield charm, blocking a stunning spell. She immediately retaliated with a blast of orange magic that sent three soldiers crashing to the ground.

"I don't know!" Amora yelled. A soldier had slipped through their ranks and was charging at the girl with a pointed spear. She sidestepped, conjured her vayrir, and swiped the black dagger across their neck.

They fell to the cobblestone, a bleeding line trailing over their throat like a red river.

"We need to move!" Igor yelled over the sound of explosions and spell casting.

He was right, but there were low on options. House Aegeon's portal had dumped them in the center of a pavilion with little to no cover. There had been a few short walls and the stone fixture for the portal in their vicinity, but it wasn't enough to protect all the Shades.

She was currently ducking behind a broken sandstone pillar. Dust and plaster settled on her braided hair, making it look like she had a horrible case of dandruff. In front of her, a few soldiers were closing in. They never got to her, as Emile had dispatched them both with shards of black energy.

They all dropped to the ground. The sound of them gargling on their own blood filled her ears. She inhaled the metallic scent of their blood and almost purred. It took everything within her to stay hiding and not to feast on their bodies.

Not now. Not now.

She managed to maintain control for the time being. More explosions and yelling sounded around her, rattling her eardrums and stinging her skin. Energy charged the atmosphere like electricity hiding in thunderclouds. Bodies were flying, shield charms were raised, and magic hurtled through the night air.

More bolts of light struck the pillar she crouched behind. Pieces of the stone were falling off. Small cracks ran up along the edges. It was going to fall any second.

I need to move.

With her heart thumping, Makaela whipped her head around in search of a place to hide. Her body perked when she spotted a narrow alleyway off to the side. "Over there!" She pointed at the opening and booked it.

Out the corner of her eye, she spotted Amora and Emile following behind her. Powerful streams of water from basins laid around the ground and bolts of magic raced towards them. They ducked and covered their heads until the made it into the alley. Breathing as if she'd just ran a marathon, she pressed her back into the wall and tried to calm herself.