Delagio flicked his wrists and a dozen silver marbles plucked themselves from its body and gravitated back towards his hand.
Midnight was standing, his body completely exposed from cover. He laughed maniacally as he pumped the triggers of his guns. In front of us, bodies flew backwards and sideways as the shots connected. I gasped as I watched a bullet hit him right in the arm, but he laughed even harder.
“IS THAT ALL YOU GOT?” he bellowed and carried on emptying the rounds into the advancing attackers.
More and more SOS took the place of the fallen. There were infinitely more than had been at the meeting. Gabriella had been right about them knowing where to come. A constant stream appeared on the horizon. I couldn’t fire fast enough. For every bullet, another two SOS would appear in the gloom. I stopped to slide a clip of iron rounds into my gun. I discarded the crucifix weapon — its ammo spent.
“Ella,” I yelled above the torrent of gunfire, “I’m running out!”
After dispatching a Pixie with a headshot, she nodded. “Secondary attack now!”
There was a flurry of unfurling wings and then I watched as a flock of Guardians appeared in the sky and began dive-bombing the SOS. From the sides, a mass of Skinshifters raced into the action. Close behind came a stream of howling Hiveminds, followed by their Bloodseeker leaders.
Those of the SOS who could fly unleashed their own wings and pounced into the air, intercepting the flying Alliance. There where loud whacks as they collided. The burning sky was filled with the silhouettes of spiralling bodies. All I could hear were the sickening sounds of screaming, blades slicing and bones snapping. A Succubus collided with Rachel mid-air. They tumbled around in a ball, slashing and hacking at each other with teeth and nails. I winced as my Science teacher got a vicious uppercut to the face. She whirled backwards, but used the movement to her advantage, unleashing an overhead kick, which caught the Succubus on the jaw. The dazed woman fell to the ground, landing hard on her back. Instantly she was set upon by a pack of Hiveminds. I had to look away as the sounds of her tortured screams filled my ears.
“Third attack!” commanded Gabriella.
A dark shadow materialised overhead. I glanced up to see the Manticore from the Sanctuary soar over the mansion roof. It circled around the fighting Pandemonians, letting out a ferocious roar. In unison, the Guardians pushed up and away from their enemies, leaving them hovering on their own, confused. The beast drew near, snapping out its stinger in a rapid drumbeat. The SOS screamed as their bodies ballooned from the infection. One by one they fell out of the sky into the sea of chomping jaws below.
At the same time, a tremor of hooves drowned out every other sound. A herd of Unicorn appeared from the side of the building, led by Isiodore. He lowered his head and charged into the crowd, skewering a Skinshifter on the end of his horn. The others copied the action, turning the attacking SOS into grim kebabs.
It was then that I felt something hit me hard — twice. I coughed and looked down. At first I couldn’t see anything, but then two little blooms of red appeared on my chest, followed by thin trails of purple smoke.
Midnight tuned to look at me, and his eyes went wide.
“Alex is hit!” he bellowed and caught me as I fell backwards. He pulled me down behind the wall. Bits of brick dust flew up and over us as bullets connected with the wall.
Gabriella and Delagio stopped shooting and crowded around me. At the angle I was at, I could see through a small gap in the wall. I saw other Chosen, lying still around the blockades, their bodies surrounded by pools of blood. The Unicorn were being attacked by droves of Hiveminds. They let out agonised screams as the creatures tore at their flesh.
This isn’t good, was all I could think as the edges of my consciousness began to waver. My mind was growing sticky.
“Why isn’t he healing?” shouted Midnight.
Gabriella pointed to my chest. “Look at the smoke. Damn it, the bullets are coated in Banshee poison! We need to get them out now!”
She pulled open my jacket and jerked up my t-shirt. Around the wounds, the veins had turned an ugly purple colour. She looked over at Delagio, who nodded. He knelt over me and placed his hands a few inches above the wounds. Confused, I frowned up at his goateed face. He gave an awkward smile. “Sorry buddy. I hope this doesn’t affect our friendship.”
Agony. Absolute, unparalleled agony.
I screamed until I thought my lungs would burst. Midnight used all of his superior strength to pin me down. Delagio’s hands twitched as he coaxed out the bullets. Inside my body, I could feel them start to wiggle about like burning insects trying to eat themselves free from my flesh. The pain was white hot. I could taste it. For what seemed like an eternity, they worked their way closer to the surface.
Both bullets burst out of my skin with a loud pop and settled in his hands. As I watched him throw them away, I had to resist the urge to vomit. Gabriella put her hand on my face. “Come on Alex. Concentrate.” “What- I” She took my hand in hers. I felt the charges roll under my skin, strong and powerful. “I’m here to help. Now concentrate!” I concentrated. I thought about my wounds and how my skin looked before. I squinted my eyes and focused with everything I had. “It's working!” shouted Delagio.
I opened my eyes and stared as my skin started to knit itself back together. After a few seconds the skin was smooth. There was no evidence I had ever been shot, apart from the blood and the two holes in my jacket and t-shirt. “Okay, we need to get him inside,” Gabriella said in an urgent tone. “Can you stand?” “I’m fine,” I assured her and together we half stood. “I’ve got you covered” shouted Midnight, who was already leaning over the wall and shooting.
We ran inside and dived behind the next set of blockades. Peering out, I saw that the fight was dying down. There were a lot of dead Alliance, but the number of red cloaked bodies far outweighed them. A blood stained Isiodore stabbed at the fallen bodies to ensure they were dead.
We’re going to win! I thought with a sudden rush of hope.
I tempted fate.
As soon as the notion had formed in my mind, a set of doors were wrenched open and the Devil stormed through, followed by a score of SOS. Including Dakin.
I stood up quickly and unsheathed the Crimson Twins. The others jumped to their feet and we threw ourselves into hand to hand combat. We were joined by half a dozen Golems, who charged down the steps and into the battle.
The Devil came straight for me. His hooded cloak was down and his animalistic face was slick with blood. He bared his teeth. “To hell with the Sorrow, you’re mine,” he snarled and lashed out with his sword. I parried it and spun out of his reach. His robes swished around him as he swung again. This time the edge of the blade caught my skin. I winced as it cut through the leather, creating a thin red line.
He hissed as he dodged a counter lunge from me. I spun out of the way of another attack. He pounced at me, butting me with his horns. All the air rushed from my lungs as I was propelled backwards into a Golem. It caught me and set me back on my feet just in time for me to dive out of the way of a downward attack from the Devil. The blade connected with the top of the Golem’s head, splitting it in two. I felt a twinge of guilt as it collapsed, crosier clattering to the floor. But I reacted fast, pivoting and bringing a blade down on the Umbra’s back. Where it connected, a plume of black smoke billowed up. He roared in pain and spun around, slashing wildly with a claw. It threw him off balance and I swiped up and out with both blades, severing his horns. Two jets of black blood spewed from the wounds. Instinctively the beast raised his hands to stem the flow. I charged forward, sinking both swords into his chest and carried him with me. I didn’t stop until his back slammed against the far wall, creating a huge crack. The swords pinned him there. Plumes of thick smoke hissed from his wounds. I pressed my foot against his stomach and wrenched one of the blades free. He growled as dark blood spilled from his cracked lips and took a final swipe with his sword. I had to duck for fear of losing my head. As I uncoiled, I drove the sword into his solar plexus. He let out a roar, which turned into a gurgle and his body started to dissolve. Soon there was nothing except a pile of what looked like compost and a scorched shadow on the wall. Panting, I turned around.
Midnight appeared in the doorway, dragging a struggling Imp and Vampire in his arms. The air was sucked out of the entrance hall as his form wavered and then disappeared — taking his two hostages along for the ride. Their screams sank into the void with him. When he reappeared, in exactly the same spot, the enemies were rag dolls in his arms. He let them go, and they sank to the floor. Without stopping for a breath, he ripped a
