How had we gotten to this point? How had the darklings gathered in such an overwhelming number in such a short time?
“Barrett!” Micah’s voice was barely audible, and I shook myself away from the unseeing gaze of another warrior who’d passed before he could turn. It was a better fate for them than to be forced to fight and devour their own kin at the command of the darkling queen.
I turned to find Micah forcing his way toward me through the sea of bodies, his face ashen, his black Elythian Leather armor covered in blood and dirt. He was still alive, despite the weariness in his gaze, and relief soared through me.
“Have you seen Lucia or Damien?” I called back before slicing through a darkling as it launched for me, black blood spraying across my face. I looked over my shoulder as I braced for another creature to attack—whether it would be a darkling or one of the shadow beasts the darkling queen had summoned, I didn’t know. We hadn’t seen any of the shadow beasts yet, and while I was relieved, I knew it would only be a matter of time before they appeared.
“Damien and Lucia took up strengthening the pit when I saw them last!” Micah shouted, his voice difficult to hear over the cacophony of blades, shrieks, and cries.
I cursed under my breath. The pit was the center of the battlefield, where warriors intercepted every darkling that had broken through the front lines before they could reach the healers’ tents at the rear. Fear tore through me at the thought of her, more than halfway through her pregnancy, risking her life in the center of all this.
“She shouldn’t even be on this fucking battlefield,” I growled, my grip tightening on the handle of my sword.
She should be resting. Damien had been the most resistant to her fighting, but there was nowhere she would be truly safe on this side of the veil, and with the chance of the darkling queen appearing…
Fuck, this was a disaster, and it almost felt as if the darkling queen had orchestrated it to be such. Had she known the only person who could meet her in battle on equal terms was not at her strongest?
“And Thalia?” I demanded as a darkling intercepted me, and for a moment, I nearly faltered as my attention snagged on how much blood covered Micah. Was any of it his?
He sliced through another darkling, his ungraceful strike ladened with fatigue before he continued. “I got separated from her not too long ago, but our binding remains intact.”
Thank the gods she was still alive, somewhere in this hellscape.
As I looked out over the chaos, I feared none of us would live to see the other side. Nearly half our fallen warriors rose again as darklings, and the waves kept coming, overwhelming us until it seemed like there was no end in sight.
I prayed The Fates spared us when her shadow beasts made their presence known—prayed she didn’t summon Lupa again. The mother of theLupai had been massive, and it had taken many of us to bring her down. Lucia had fought the hardest, suffered the worst at her death. It wasn’t until after the fight that I learned of their past, of how they had once fought side by side as friends in the Godsrealm when she lived as Moira.
“Barrett! Micah!” Damien’s voice cut across the chaos.
Micah and I twisted around as a pack of Lupai plowed through the darklings overwhelming the warriors around us. The Lupais’ bodies were a mass of shadow and black mist, their forms that of nightmares, with their split jaws full of teeth and fangs, their eyes glowing a menacing blood red as they took the darklings to the ground before tearing their heads from their necks.
Damien emerged behind them, darkness licking at his skin as he turned his gaze to us. The king’s power was terrifying, but gods, was it a relief to have those beasts on our side. His presence could very well be the key to pushing the darklings back, and we needed it more than ever with the crumbling hope of victory. At Lucia’s side, he helped balance the playing field as the sole shadow wielder in our army. Still, I feared that balance may tip to a failing scale should we find ourselves face to face with the shadow beasts should they no longer answer his call.
I looked across the sea of warriors, expecting Lucia to be close on his heels, but she never appeared.
“Lucia received word that a separate horde of darklings launched an attack on the city,” Damien said, his chest heaving as his eyes shifted toward the front lines. “Micah, I need you to split off your unit to defend the humans and remaining civilians.”
I swallowed, briefly glancing at the city in the distance. We had tried to spare the city, taking a stand in a clearing in the mountains, far from the valley where humans and civilian immortals hid.
“What about the front lines?” I asked. “More darklings have breached their defensive wall, and we’re struggling to keep up.”
“I’m headed there now to aid them,” he said, and I froze.
“You can’t go to the front lines,” Micah said, his skin paling. “We can’t afford to lose you.”
“You won’t,” he said with cold confidence. “We’ll reinforce the defensive wall and reclaim this battlefield.”
The Lupai panted, and one of them whimpered, ears folding down as if cowering from something, and I frowned at their odd behavior. They had always been vicious creatures, relishing in the hunt, their resolve stronger than any of us could maintain.
I approached Damien, but one of the Lupai snapped at me, their terrifying jaws splitting as they growled. Damien stiffened, his hands balling into fists, and for a moment, he looked as if he even feared his own wolves.
“Damien, what’s wrong with them?” I asked hesitantly.
“We’re running out of time. I believe she’s attempting to influence them,” Damien admitted before he looked between us. “Be aware of the shadow beasts if they come for you. They may not be under my command for much longer.”
“All the more reason you shouldn’t go to the front lines,” Micah said, and Damien pinned him with a look that made him bite his tongue.
“You should dismiss them if they’re not listening,” I said in his stead, not afraid to make Damien reconsider himself.
