A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)

A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)

Bella Forrest





Serena





“Telluris, Aida! Telluris, Phoenix!” I tried calling out to them again, but I was only met with silence.

Two hours had passed since Draven and I had returned from Marton with the young Druids. Two hours since we’d found Stonewall besieged by Sluaghs. Two hours since the horrifying revelation that Azazel had gotten what he’d been looking for since the day we’d first set foot in Eritopia—the Prince of Destroyers had used Sluaghs to attack and distract our group while sending Destroyers in to snatch Phoenix and Aida.

The hate brewing inside me burned with the fire of a thousand suns as I channeled it toward Azazel. It felt like I’d passed through every stage of mourning by this point, and had now settled on this rage broiling in my chest. That rage and Draven’s reassuring presence were the only sources of energy I had left.

Bijarki and Vita’s attempt to escape from Luceria had most likely been thwarted. It was the only conclusion I could draw, given that I hadn’t been able to get hold of the incubus via the telepathy spell. The best thing we could do was focus on what we knew now: Azazel had the Oracles and the little Daughter; the Allies were moving into position around his castle; and we had the young Druids joining us, ready to take the monster down.

Field and Jovi’s expressions were eerily similar. Darkness had settled over their eyes, and muscles twitched in their jaws. They stood next to me, watching quietly as the Bajangs and wards nursed the wounded. The young Druids retrieved herbs and powders from the archive hall cabinets and brewed healing pastes, which they applied to the deeper wounds, covering them with large waxed leaves from the potted palm trees decorating the inner courtyard.

Draven was a few feet away, staring at the thick column of black smoke rising from below, his back toward us. The four mutated shifters we had left kept watch around the funeral pyre, where dozens of incubi and succubi still burned, their bodies until recently occupied by Sluaghs. I hoped the two shifters that had followed Aida and Phoenix were still alive and able to help once we got there, if not sooner. I couldn’t tell what they would do because we still knew next to nothing about the new behavior Viola had caused in them.

Rebel stood at the bottom of the steps, gazing at the fire with teary eyes. She’d been forced to add some of her own garrison to the pyre, just to make sure there weren’t any bodies left for Sluaghs to sneak into.

“Do you think there are any Sluaghs left?” Anjani muttered next to us, wiping her blood-smeared face with a wet cloth.

“If there are, I’m pretty sure the shifters are eager to chomp down on them,” Jovi replied, his voice low and chilling.

“We need to move things along. I need to get them ready,” Draven said, turning to face me and nodding toward the young Druids.

“Agreed,” I replied. “How? When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow morning, at the latest.” He sighed. “It will take some time before Azazel realizes his Sluaghs aren’t coming back and sends more troops over here—at least another day. The Destroyers who took Aida and Phoenix won’t know how this siege ended since they didn’t stick around to watch it unfold. We need to use this to our advantage and go through the higher level dark magic before we can rely on our Druid strength.”

“I thought Druids usually take a lot of time to learn each level.” Jovi frowned. “How much do you think you’ll be able to cover before the morning?”

“I actually found a way to bypass the timeframe,” Draven replied, a faint smile passing over his face.

He gathered the young Druids and took them inside. Jovi, Field, and I quietly followed, leaving Hansa, Anjani, and Jax with the others.

Draven had stirred my curiosity, and I wanted to see what he was going to do with the young Druids. One of the Bajang cubs came with us and used a droplet of his blood to let us through the cloaking spell as we entered the concealed part of Stonewall.

“Azazel has enough power coming from the little Daughter, the volcanoes, and Asherak to even break the cloaking spell,” Draven said as we reached the grand hall. “Of that I’m certain. The only thing that kept Stonewall safe until now was the fact that everyone thought it was abandoned and nobody bothered to check. But things have changed. Azazel tracked the Oracles here, then sent Sluaghs to attack. He will soon understand, once the worms fail to return, that there are more creatures hiding here than he probably expected, creatures that are able to fight back and shatter his offensive, so he’ll most likely send even more troops our way. Stronger, fiercer, more destructive forces. The only thing we can do is speed things up and get out of here before they arrive, most likely tomorrow.”

“I’ll send the cubs to Marton, then,” Rebel announced as she joined us.

I hadn’t even heard her coming from behind. To be honest, I wasn’t paying attention anyway. My mind was racing between Luceria and Stonewall, between my brother and best friends and our group here.

Draven stopped in the middle of the hall, and pulled several crystals and some chalk from his satchel. I’d forgotten all about them. He’d packed them for Marton, thinking he might need to use them, but he’d never specified for what.

“Sending the cubs to Marton would be wise,” he replied as he drew a wide chalk circle with a diameter of about fifty feet on the marble floor. “I think the ship can hold them all, along with supplies.”