I spotted Uncle Gabriel on the balcony in full battle armor, swinging his great sword with one hand and blasting Morgana’s soldiers off the ladders with the other, all while trying to keep the gorgoths from infiltrating the fortress from the skies.
My head whipped to Ashara and Penelope as I drew my sword. “Keep my father safe.”
Ashara nodded, and the stones in her staff came to life.
My father’s emerald eyes locked with mine as he picked up a fallen soldier’s sword and twirled it deftly in his hands. “Be careful.”
I flexed my fingers as magic roiled in my veins, ready for battle, and my sword lit up. Tristan, Rafe, and I rushed into the fray.
Uncle Gabriel’s head whipped toward me as I ran to him, and his eyes widened. “Glad to see you made it.” He couldn’t help the smile that streaked across his face.
I nodded and flashed him a grin. “Right on time, it seems.”
Silverthorne blasted a creature back from the massive walls.
Tristan leapt off the balcony and onto the battlements, not even stopping for a moment as he hit the ground in a sprint. Shadows formed around him, and his swords blazed with silver fire as he darted at the Drakaar. The magic of the night shielded him from the enemy. He became a blur, slashing and cutting through oncoming creatures like the angel of death.
“Make sure they don’t get through the gates,” I shouted to Rafe and leapt off the balcony after Tristan.
I landed in a crouch, sure-footed and nimble. It was a relief to have my fae powers back. Flames erupted from my hands as I blasted the ladders away from the walls. Morgana’s creatures screamed and tried to hold on while the massive iron ladders crashed to the ground, crushing a host of scrambling monsters. I continued to burn a whole line of them as I ran along the walls of the mighty fortress.
Soldiers screamed and heads were already rolling as Tristan cleared the walls of threats.
A black-haired fae stepped off a ladder and onto the battlements. Slowly and steadily he turned to me, his eyes red and soulless, canines flashing as he bared his teeth. He raised his sword, and it burned with a deadly red fire.
I held up my hand and pushed him back, my sword flaming in my other hand. “It’s not going to end well for you, dark fae. Your master is dead. You might as well give up.”
“You will never win, Dawnstar,” the dark fae hissed. “Your army can never defeat Morgana’s.”
“That’s what you think,” I said, my tone confident.
The dark fae’s soulless eyes widened as my sword flashed with silver fire and quickly severed his head from his body.
As creatures fell, more came to take their place. The horde moved relentlessly against the fortress. Line after line of monstrous creatures attacked, Morgana’s mage soldiers in their midst, urging them on. They were like an endless sea of black, twisting and writhing with evil magic.
I sheathed Dawn and ran, calling on a different power, and created a bow and arrow out of glamour. I nocked an arrow as I sprinted across the battlements, infusing it with silver fire. I shot arrow after arrow at the persistent creatures that managed to scale the walls.
Tristan continued fighting, swiftly and efficiently slashing through the enemy, unleashing himself on any creature that managed to get up the ladders. Many ran at the sight of the dark prince, his swords flashing as he decimated Morgana’s minions.
The majority of the warrior-mages were at the gates, holding them with magic as the Drakaar battered them from the other side. A few witch warriors who had come to Eldoren with Silverthorne helped hold the wards in place. But even they could not hold it for much longer.
I spotted Rafe helping them and shouting orders to his warrior-mages. “We need more magic to reinforce the wards; they are not going to hold!”
The wards fell. Dark magic ripped through the shields and a host of gorgoths burst through, flying straight at Rafe.
My heart nearly stopped, but I did not. I dashed toward him, weaving magic in the air around me, sealing the gaps in the wards and reinforcing them as I ran.
Rafe turned swiftly to meet a gorgoth, his sword drawn. Lightning flashed in his palm as he slashed his sword across the monstrous creature’s wing, exactly as I had taught him. It screamed and fell to the ground, momentarily stunned as Rafe hit it with a bolt of lightning. Rafe raised his sword and sliced the gorgoth’s neck.
More gorgoths battered at my shield. I blasted them away from Rafe. They fell out of the sky amid screams and cries as my magic hit them, incinerating them on contact. I could keep going, burn a hole in their ranks again and again, but eventually I would tire and so would everyone else. No one could keep this up forever. And Morgana’s army was endless; they just kept coming.
A horn sounded in the distance.
I grabbed Rafe’s hand, and we scrambled to the stairs and back up to the battlements to look out at the valley.
A wave of soldiers on horseback thundered down the plain toward the demon army. Pointed helmets flashed as the vast cavalry smashed into Morgana’s unsuspecting troops, shattering their ranks.
Leading the charge rode the pirate prince on a white stallion, his golden crown flashing in the sunlight.
Santino had come!
Above the Brandorian cavalry flew a cloud of white snow leopards, growling with fury. Staffs lit up above them in multicolored hues. Magic crackled and streaked overhead as the warrior witches of Rohron crashed into the gorgoths, felling hundreds from the sky.
The drums sounded, Morgana’s army calling for a retreat.
Cheers and excited shouts
