She chomps down, throwing her head in appreciation. Grabbing the saddle horn, I hoist myself into the seat and adjust my stirrups.
“Ready to go?” Caedis asks, walking his nuckelavee to the front of the gates.
“Anima,” Umbra shouts, trotting over to where Caedis and I are. Her face is ashen like she hasn’t slept. I want to feel guilty for that, but then I remember what she did.
“May we ride with you, Your Highness?” Togmerin asks. His tone is very royal.
“Sure,” I say with a shrug. Telling him no would make me look like a brat. I need to swallow some of this pride so we can win the war. No one wants tension in the ranks.
Shifting back in my saddle, I ask Caedis, “Will you be opening the portal?”
“Yes, it’s not as strenuous as it once was. After all this time of traveling back and forth, it comes easy to me.”
He sits straighter in the saddle, glancing at me sideways to see if I’ll be impressed. Even if I wanted to be, I have no way to gauge that power, but it is interesting since ours is similar.
“Can I create one? I’d like to have my own way of coming and going. I don’t enjoy relying on others.”
“Yes, it should be natural to you. They taught you to be a witch first and a demon second. Portal magic is witch magic.”
“Why are there not a thousand portals then? Surely witches would want access.”
“There were only five witches I trusted at the time I created it. Each one is long dead, but their histories should still hold a record. I’m sure after thousands of years, they have lost it.”
“What about the Dark demon who did it when we entered the Deathlands? How would she be able to wield witch magic, and Torque brought us here using a portal?”
“That’s an answer I’m destined to find out. I don’t like others stealing my spells.”
His face told me not to press the issue. It’s not like I stole the magic, but if I were the one who did, I’d be scared to have Caedis look at me that way. Now I know what Umbra was so upset about.
“After you, Princess,” he says, a wide smile.
“Don’t call me that,” I say, squinting at him.
“It takes a while to get used to, but now that they have opened the door, it’s hard to close it again.”
He pushes his nuckelavee, and we trot together through the portal. What we’re met with is something I wasn’t expected. The world is on fire. A battle rages on. Rahna is in the middle of it.
Namir comes barreling out of the portal with a roar so loud that everything pauses for a second. Rahna’s eyes find me as I stare straight ahead. A smile crosses her face before she runs Ira through a demon at her feet.
Tenebris is in full battle mode. My sisters all gather together, cutting the Bloods down in the front. The Bloods are faring well, but the thought of any casualties leave a nasty taste in my mouth.
“I have to find Torque,” I say, taking off to the side of the battle, drawing Hubris in case anyone tries to get too close.
The rest of the Death army flows through the portal, and I feel a collective sigh from the fighting demons. The reinforcements have come.
Searching through the blood and fire, I finally find him. He’s battling Marissa. Her screams are loud. Why isn’t he freezing her blood?
I jump off my nuckelavee, giving her a pat on the flank to get her out of the way, and cut my way to Torque. Marissa is mine to deal with.
Witches try to attack, but they go down like butter with a hot knife. There is no way they had a chance. Some I recognize, but others are foreign to me. It solidifies my theory of her gathering a witch army.
“Need any help?” I ask with a smile.
He doesn’t stop fighting, but his gigantic grin and the relief I feel through the bond says he’s happy to see me.
“Demon lover. Have you come to die at my hand finally?” Marissa sneers, backing away from Torque and keeping us both in her sight.
She’s dressed in Tenebris war leathers, something I’ve never had to don, but know all about from the invasion. She’s covered in demon blood, and my need to squeeze her head from her neck is palpable.
“I’m glad it’s you. The one I get to kill. Show Rahna that she built the perfect soldier. I will always be better than you.”
As expected, her jealously gets the better of her and she charges blindly. I ready my stance and raise my weapon, waiting for her to come to me, but before I can strike, a white blur barrels into her, ripping her head off in a matter of seconds.
“That wasn’t fair, Namir. She was mine to kill.” I pout, but his stern face tells me something else is going on.
She has your human. The one you call Shelley.
An icy wave of fear comes over me, and Torque grabs onto me. It turns to a fire in my veins. If she’s touched Shelley, I will gut her right here, mother or not.
I run, ignoring everything around me. The only thing that matters is getting to Shelley before Rahna can do something to her. I feel Namir on my left and Torque on my right.
A shadow comes from above, and I glance up to see Caedis in all his glory.
“Caedis!” I shout. “Get me to the witch!”
I point in Rahna’s direction, then reach up as he glides down and scoops me up. Trying not to get distracted by his scent of pine and sandalwood, I concentrate on the mission.
“Where do you want to land?”
“As close to that bitch as possible. Drop
