Dragon's Storm (Legion Of Angels #4)(55)
“There’s an opening,” Harker said.
He was right. The hole in the mountain face wasn’t large. There wasn’t enough space for us to drive the truck through it, but it was big enough for us to enter by foot. Nero parked beside the mountain.
“I can feel Leila. She’s close,” Harker whispered as we walked through the opening.
A soft gasp escaped my mouth at the sight of the crystal cave inside the mountain. A light as bright as a thousand fire diamonds shone high above, bouncing off the icicles that hung from the ceiling like an enormous chandelier. That magical light sparkled off the smooth, purple walls and floors. A soft, sweet melody jingled in the distance.
A gate of stone slammed down, blocking the entrance. Soldiers popped out of the floor all around us, brandishing swords and guns. Hell’s army had us completely surrounded.
17
The Dark Force of Hell
The Dark Force of Hell, the demons’ army, preferred more armor than the Legion. The leather of their uniforms was thicker, heavier than ours. Some of them wore scale armor that shimmered with dark magic. The heavier materials didn’t slow them down a bit. They charged at us, two dozen soldiers against our party of three, moving like lightning. Flames erupted on their blades. That same silver and gold glow I’d seen in so many Legion soldiers’ eyes lit up their eyes too. Heaven and hell, light and dark, Nectar and Venom—our magic wasn’t as different as most people thought.
I raised my sword to meet the Dark Force’s advance. There were just so many of them, and my sword bounced uselessly off their hard armor. Nero and Harker darted between the soldiers, striking with brutal efficiency. They seemed to know just where to hit the armor to do the most damage. They’d clearly done this many times before.
Through the clashing steel and magic, I saw an angel shackled to the wall at the back of the cavern. Chains were locked around her ankles and wrists. Massive icicles punctured her wings—white and gold accented with orange that rivaled the most beautiful sunset I’d ever seen. It made my heart hurt to see the beautiful angel in such pain. The ceiling wept wet snowflakes, as though it couldn’t bear to see her suffer like that either.
“Run to Colonel Starborn,” Nero told me. “We’ll hold off the Dark Force.”
I nodded, then circled around the soldier he’d just engaged. I ran as fast as I could, dodging between enemy combatants hellbent on killing me. Nero and Harker covered my mad dash to Colonel Starborn. Spells streaked across the battlefield like berserk comets. My body shook every time one hit me, but I just kept pushing forward. Thanks to this last week of torturous training, my magic resistance was higher than ever before.
But would it be enough? The spells kept piling on, one after the other after the other. The magic was dragging me under. It was like moving through a pool of burning quicksand in the middle of a hurricane. Ignoring my frostbit fingers and fire-kissed toes, I kept running toward the shackled angel.
“Colonel Starborn,” I said, stopping in front of her.
Like all angels, she was stunning. In fact, she was even more beautiful in person than she’d appeared in my visions. Her hair wasn’t just orange like I’d thought before. It was the color of a sunset—mixed golden hues of orange, red, and pink. It fell like silk curtains to her shoulders, its glossy sheen penetrating the layers of sweat, dirt, and torture. Her eyes were closed, her long, thick eyelashes kissing her high cheekbones. Her feet were naked. She wore only a ripped, dirty tank top and shorts. Her body convulsed with ragged, persistent shivers, like the metal chains had carried the cold deep into her bones.
“Colonel Starborn,” I repeated.
When she didn’t respond, I grabbed hold of her shoulders and shook her. Jostled out of her nightmare, her eyelashes lifted. She looked at me with turquoise eyes that shone like a tropical ocean. I couldn’t help but stare. No, make that gawk. She was stunning, almost as gorgeous as Nero. The dirty snow and deep tears that marred her clothing only made her more beautiful.
“I’m here from the Legion,” I told her. “We’ve come to get you out of here.”
Hope shone in her eyes. Such beautiful hope. I saw then that she’d all but given up on making it out of here. I reached for her chains.
Telekinetic magic slammed into me, throwing me to the ground. I jumped to my feet and met the icy blue stare of a dark angel. He stood between me and Colonel Starborn, his blood-red armor shimmering like satin in the firelight, his long black hair swirling in the magic breeze surrounding him.
“Get out of my way,” I growled at him.
The dark angel laughed, such a beautiful, terrifying sound full of power and cruel intentions. He moved in a flash, his hard armor stretching impossibly with him. His fist slammed against my head. I stumbled back, barely evading his next punch. I drew my gun and fired, but the bullets bounced off his armor. It was magically protected. It would take magic to get through it, and I didn’t have the power to make the bullets anything more than mundane. I aimed for his head. He knocked the gun out of my hand before I could shoot him. He swung another punch at me. I jumped back.
“Stop running, little girl,” he taunted me. “Or are the Legion’s soldiers too cowardly to stay and fight?”
Fight a dark angel? Yeah, I really didn’t want to do that. He was faster, stronger, and had more magic than I did. It might be cowardly to flee, but it was stupid to fight. Not that I had much of a choice. It was either fight or die.