A Battle of Souls Read online

  In a matter of minutes, they were going to tear through Azure Heights’s defenses, then work their way up to the top.

  “That’s fine,” Shaytan shot back. “I’ll just kill you now, with the rest of them. I was going to keep you all as my midnight snacks, but you’ve really ruined your chances this time.”

  I stifled a chuckle. “Oh, no! Whatever will we do?” I mockingly retorted. “Wait. I know. I’ll chop your head off and get this over with.”

  Shaytan’s deadly scowl made my blood freeze for a moment, but I refused to let him see his effect on me. He was twice my height, massive, his muscles bulging, his veins throbbing all over. His gold-threaded horns were sharp and begging to rip me apart. I had my work cut out for me.

  “I’ll go the extra mile and carve what you just said into your headstone,” Shaytan replied dryly.

  “The city is under siege,” Zane cut in. “You’re not going to win this time, Father. You should start considering a truce.”

  Shaytan let out a roaring laugh, then pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “You think a handful of Dhaxanians, mutts, and poisonous bugs will be the end of the daemon kingdom? My boy, I thought you were smarter than this.”

  “It’s not just—” Zane started his reply, but stopped himself, as a nasty realization dawned on him. “You didn’t come here with just a squadron of daemons, did you?”

  Shaytan smirked, his confidence setting me on fire.

  “I didn’t come here to attend a funeral. I didn’t even come here to listen to the Lords scramble for excuses and then beg me to renegotiate our agreement,” the daemon king said. “I came here to conquer the mountain and establish my unbreakable supremacy.”

  I used my True Sight to see past him.

  Our allies were, indeed, coming in hot on the ground level. The Exiled Maras were dropping in a devastating combination of Dhaxanian frost, Adlet ferocity, and Manticore venom.

  But farther back, across the field, hordes of daemons were pouring out of the gorges. Thousands of them.

  My heart stopped for a split second.

  They marched toward Azure Heights. Their drums of war echoed louder through the early afternoon. They’d started a few hours earlier, albeit muffled by the distance. But they were getting closer now. Their meranium shields glistened in the sunlight. They had catapults and ballistae, throngs of pit wolves and dark clouds of Death Claws.

  Dread poisoned my resolve.

  All we were left with was a small window of time. Our only hope was in Lumi’s ability to take down the protective shield. In less than half an hour, the daemon armies would reach the mountain, and all hell would break loose.

  “I summoned all my armies from across the kingdom the moment you bastards destroyed my beautiful Draconis,” Shaytan added. “It took a while to get them all to move, but… there they are.”

  “You never intended to continue your alliance with the Exiled Maras,” I breathed, my heart struggling against my chest. I gave Caspian a sideways glance and nearly unraveled. He was stunned, his chest moving with every tortured breath that he took, as he understood exactly what our circumstances were.

  Shaytan shook his head, mildly amused. He took a couple of steps forward. His daemons moved as well, but he motioned for them to stand back.

  “I’ll be honest. Last night, I was still thinking about giving them another chance,” he replied. “But then, I had an epiphany of sorts. I simply asked myself: Why should I? Wouldn’t it be easier if I just wiped them off the face of Neraka?” He clicked his teeth. “The Maras are emotional and greedy, Miss Hellswan. They’re partially responsible for the impending extinction of the Imen. We’re much more conservative with our soul food. We keep ourselves under control. We ration our portions. These idiots will wipe all the Imen out if I let them live. The Maras are pests, and it’s time I start treating them as such.”

  I scoffed. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you on this, but you do realize you’re just as bad, right? You’re killing Imen slowly and painfully, just so you can add more years to your ridiculously-long lifespan. They’re already stuck with just a hundred, maybe a hundred and twenty if they stay healthy and spry. And you’re taking that away from them, too. You think the Maras are the only pests soiling this beautiful world? No, Shaytan. You’re just as bad. Screw your so-called conservative eating habits. That’s a load of crap. It’s still murder. It’s genocide. And you will pay for this.”

  Shaytan sucked in a breath, narrowing his eyes at me. “I see why my wayward son likes you and your soon-to-be-dead friends. You’re all a bunch of naïve idealists,” he replied, then bared his fangs at me. “This is a wild world, Miss Hellswan. It’s the survival of the fittest. Only the strong get to live forever! And we’re the true Lords of Neraka!”

  The drums of war grew louder in the distance. The siege on Azure Heights unfolded below, with swords clashing, fiends screaming and wailing, and Adlets roaring as they tore into the ground-floor defenses.

  There wasn’t much we could do up here, given the circumstances, but I was sure as hell not going to let Shaytan stop us. Our mission objective was clear. No exception. No derailment. No turning back.

  “You see, you say that,” I retorted sarcastically, “but you’ve yet to see what we can do for the wellbeing of all Nerakians.”

  “I have to admit, I will enjoy draining the life out of your smart, plump little mouth,” Shaytan said in his most serious tone.

  Chills ran down my spine.

  I dry-swallowed, then took a deep breath, looking for that internal balance I desperately needed to get through this in one piece. Our allies were screwed down there if we didn’t take the shield down. We would all die within the hour if we failed in our mission.

  We were smack in the middle of a perfect storm.

  Caia

  We couldn’t exactly unleash our fire powers, given that the ground floor of Emilian’s mansion was lined with Imen. But the least we could do was deliver targeted attacks against our enemies. Jax had his hands full with Rowan and Farrah, while Hansa held her own and then some against Emilian.

  It got worse when Karellen, one of the other daemon princes, made his way into the mansion and grinned at the sight of Blaze. We hadn’t seen him with Shaytan before, and it left me wondering where Adaris, the last of the daemon king’s Council, was lurking. Blaze, however, didn’t seem too affected. My dragon had taken on plenty of Karellen’s kind already.

  I took on Shaytan’s son, Mammon, the biggest of the hostiles left in the room. Broken glass crackled beneath my boots as I used my flaming sword to protect myself from Mammon’s attacks. He defended himself remarkably well with his broadsword, but my fire was starting to heat his blade, gradually chipping away at its integrity.

  The rest of our allies handled Garros, the remaining Correction Officers and two daemon guards, while the mind-bent Imen left standing tried to intervene. Peyton and two of his Maras overrode their previous commands, forcing them to retreat into a corner with the others. We couldn’t let them go outside, where more of our rebel allies were fighting the Mara townspeople.

  Despite their animosity and the cancellation of their truce, the Maras and the daemons were working together against their common enemy—us. Unfortunately for them, we’d come to win, and we would stop at nothing until they were dead or until they surrendered.

  “I’m going to eat your fiery little soul.” Mammon sneered at me, then brought his sword down with considerable force. I blocked it with my fire blade, but the impact still took its toll on my joints.

  “Careful not to get burned,” I shot back.

  I brought my right leg out in a powerful side-kick. It was nowhere near enough to cripple him, but it did cause him pain. I followed it up with a sword slash, making sure I hit the same spot on his blade. I could see the meranium steel alloy blade starting to crack, almost imperceptibly. A couple more blows, and his sword would be rendered useless.

  He came at me, vicious and determined to deliver the
deadly blow. However, I ducked, then slashed at his abdomen. It drew blood, making him hiss. I shot back up and went for the sword again. This time, I launched a flurry of hits, until I heard the satisfying clang of his blade breaking.

  Mammon froze, staring at me, wide-eyed. “How did you…”

  “Nothing beats fire,” I replied, then went after him even harder.

  With less than half the sword left, Mammon found it harder to defend himself from my strikes. Despite his considerable size and intimidating muscle mass, he could still go down, if I knew where to strike. I’d fought him for long enough to register his weak spots.

  My own body was hurting, worn out by the exertion of each sword hit, but I wasn’t ready to give up. On the contrary, this was my moment. I swerved to his left, then stopped halfway and quickly slipped to his right. He’d already begun turning in the opposite direction to block a left side attack. I stabbed him with my fire sword.

  The red-hot blade went in deep. Mammon cried out in agony. I withdrew my weapon, then jumped and cut off his head. The smell of burning flesh invaded my nostrils. His head rolled onto the floor. Then his body collapsed.

  “This is to thank you for your ‘hospitality’ back in Infernis,” I muttered.

  I was panting, but I was nowhere near done. I caught a glimpse of Blaze, who was seconds away from obliterating Karellen. The daemon prince was strong and resilient, and he’d managed to avoid most of the dragon’s fire attacks, but he could only keep it up for so long. Blaze got his hands on a bigger sword from one of the fallen Maras, then proceeded to combine his fire breath with ample sword hits.

  Before I could witness the conclusion of that fight, I was confronted by a new opponent. This time, a Correction Officer had taken it upon himself to try to take me down. I smirked, then produced a fireball from my lighter and threw it in his face. He’d probably expected me to attack him with my flaming sword, so he didn’t register the fireball until it engulfed his head.

  He ran around screaming and flaming, until Idris decapitated him and put him out of his misery. Across the room from us, Hansa had just dodged one of Emilian’s long knife hits. She brought her broadsword up in an ample slash, leaving him with another deep cut across the chest. The Mara Lord has seen enough fights in his lifetime to make it difficult for the succubus to kill him quickly.

  “It’s a good thing that you’re taking care of Shaytan’s sons for us,” Emilian hissed, then launched another offensive against Hansa. He couldn’t do much with those two knives. Hansa blocked his every attempt, then came back with heavy, joint-shattering blows.

  “You’re next, Emilian,” Hansa replied. “Your arrogance, your greed, and this fracture between your species and the daemons are going to be your downfall. Just give it another minute. I’m almost done with you.”

  “Don’t be foolish, succubus! Look around you! There’s only so much you can do without your dragon at full force,” Emilian shot back.

  Hansa didn’t have a single moment to spare, but I looked around and found myself concerned. We were losing plenty of our own. The bodies of rebel Imen and Maras were starting to pile up on the bloody floor. Peyton and Wyrran were still hard at work, hacking and slashing left and right against the Correction Officers. The enemy was losing fighters as well, but there were plenty more where those had come from. Our advantage was not in numbers.

  However, we’d never really relied on that. Our main objective was to keep the fight going and the Lords busy, while Harper and her team got Lumi to bring down the shield and let our people in.

  I tackled another Mara, while Idris and Rayna handled the remaining daemons. A loud thump caught my attention. I looked to my left, then breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Karellen lying flat on the floor, blood pooling beneath him. Blaze gave me a passing smile as he advanced through the room and joined the fight against the daemons.

  Just then, I saw Scarlett coming in through the front door, accompanied by Patrik, Pheng-Pheng, Cadmus, Aymon, Velnias, and several other supernaturals. I assumed the latter had been released from prison, though I had yet to hear the story of how they’d ended up on Neraka in the first place.

  They didn’t waste a single minute. They jumped right in, taking on the Correction Officers that were left inside the mansion, as well as Garros and the others that started coming in after them and through the back door. We fought together, keeping an eye on each other and providing backup wherever the extra hand or flame was needed.

  “Arrah and the rest of her crew are outside,” Scarlett breathed, once she ended up by my side. “We stopped the moon attack. All we need is that shield to come down.”

  “I take it there are plenty more of these bastards outside, right?” I asked, watching another Mara headed my way. I brought my flaming sword up, and genuine fear made him break into a cold sweat. Nevertheless, he didn’t have a choice. He had to fight me.

  “She’s been working her way up from the sixth level. She’s looking to square things off with Rowan,” Scarlett replied, then moved back into the center of the living room, where a Correction Officer was about to kill Peyton. She drove her sword through his back, giving Peyton the second he needed to cut his head off.

  “There you are!” Arrah’s voice boomed through the mansion.

  For a split second, everyone paused. Arrah had just come in, carrying two swords and a furious scowl aimed at Rowan. The Mara Lady stepped away from Farrah, leaving her to deal with Jax by herself. She sneered at Arrah, bearing her pearly white fangs.

  “I was wondering how long it would take you to find me,” Rowan muttered, then licked the blood off her blade. She’d managed to wound Jax, it seemed.

  “It ends here, you vicious, heartless, insufferable bloodsucker,” Arrah shot back.

  There wasn’t enough swamp witch magic and brute force among the Correction Officers and the one remaining daemon in that place to stop us. This sudden increase in our numbers, caused by Scarlett and her team’s arrival, was the boost we desperately needed to get one step closer to victory.

  I could hear the entire city rumbling outside. Our allies had reached the base of the mountain and were working their way up through the levels. War was progressing at a frightening speed, and all I could think of was to hold on and take as many of our enemies down as possible.

  Soon enough, this would all be over. Or so I hoped.

  Hansa

  Emilian managed to cut me, leaving a deep gash across my abdomen. I sucked in a breath, keeping my focus on his movements. I didn’t have a Mara’s healing abilities, but I couldn’t afford a single moment’s worth of hesitation—it could get me killed.

  Instead, I took the sharp pain and used it to fuel my anger at seeing him still standing. I retaliated with multiple heavy blows, one after another, until I managed to knock one of the knives from his hands. It didn’t take him long to grab a sword from the many left on the floor by their dead owners, but it was a sign that I was starting to get to him.

  I just hoped my stamina would outlast his.

  Rover hurled into the room and attacked one of the last daemons standing. The armored fiend was pinned down, struggling to reach for his knife. Rover snapped his fangs at him, eager to rip his throat out. The daemon stabbed the pit wolf repeatedly in the side. My stomach churned as I could almost feel the pain he’d inflicted on the creature, as it whimpered and collapsed. The daemon crawled out from under Rover and managed to get back up on his feet.

  He froze at the sight of Hundurr in the wide doorway, his red eyes flaring with rage. The pit wolf was too big for the already-crowded living room, but I couldn’t get him out, either. The daemon had committed the unpardonable sin of killing one of our own. It hurt me deeply, but I couldn’t even take a second to mourn, as Emilian came after me again.

  “Give up, Hansa!” he snarled. “You’ll never win! There are too many of us!”

  I’d heard Scarlett’s brief update regarding the tower. Holding on to the hope that Harper was going to get Lumi out an
d bring the shield down, I grinned.

  “Not sure you knew, but your little plan to attack our people on one of Neraka’s moons has been thwarted,” I retorted. “The shield will be coming down any minute now, and you will all feel the rage of GASP and Eritopia combined. You will all pay for your crimes!”

  I didn’t give him a chance to respond, just darted forward and brought my sword down once more, then followed up with a frontal kick. I knocked the air out of his lungs, but I still couldn’t get close enough to finish him off. I had no choice but to keep fighting, until I wore him out properly.

  I caught a glimpse of Hundurr tearing the last daemon to literal pieces. Blood sprayed all over the room, dousing us in crimson. The rest of our crew were remarkable in their fights and perseverance. That surge of pride animated me further, giving me the energy I needed to withstand Emilian’s attacks. Whether I was going to live through this or not no longer mattered. What did matter was securing the freedom of my group and the Nerakian people. But if I was going to go down in this war, I sure as hell planned to take Emilian down with me.

  Emilian dodged one of my hits, then took several steps back, breathing heavily. He was stalling. I was about to move in for another attack, when I heard Rowan’s voice again.

  “I should’ve killed you when your mother plopped you out!” she growled, then ran across the room and engaged Arrah in combat.

  The Iman girl was fast and agile, but Rowan was better. She slipped to Arrah’s right and drove her short sword through her chest.

  “No!” Scarlett screamed, unable to go help her, as she was busy fighting off another Correction Officer.

  My stomach churned as I watched the tragedy unfold, almost in slow motion. Arrah stilled, blood spreading out from her wound. Rowan pulled her sword back, grinning. She watched as Arrah dropped to her knees, then fell backward, giving her last breath.

  Scarlett whimpered as she cut off the Correction Officer’s head and went straight for Rowan.