A Clash of Storms (A Shade of Vampire #50)(26)

Rebel and the Bajangs were last in line, prowling in the dark parts of the hallway while Draven put out all the green fire torches we encountered.

The sound of a distant horn rattled me. We all stilled around the staircase, glancing at one another.

“The horns of war,” Hansa muttered.

Swords clanging and footsteps thudding got louder with each second, getting closer to our location.

“The Dearghs must’ve stopped the volcanoes,” Draven replied. “Azazel’s getting agitated. It’s starting…”

I looked around, using my True Sight. On all levels above and below, dozens of incubi and Destroyers were coming out, most of them heading toward key defensive positions on the walls, up in the towers, and down on the ground level, where most of the grunts were.

A garrison of twenty incubi and four Destroyers reached the stairs above us.

I held my breath, pulling my sword out and taking several steps back. Jax and the wards widened the circle around us, their eyes flickering gold. The Destroyers were the first to come down.

I heard the screech of more swords being drawn from their scabbards.

I saw the Destroyers’ piercing yellow eyes widening as they slithered down the stairs and recognized us as intruders, hissing and pulling their blades out.

It happened so fast. The Maras went hard on the mind-bending tricks, making the Destroyers squirm and look nervously around, as if we’d been replaced by something far scarier to these monsters. It was the opening we needed.

I brought my sword down, cutting off one Destroyer’s head. Hansa, Jax, and Draven took care of the other three with swift and decisive moves, just as the incubi rushed down, nearly tripping down the stairs at the sight of the carnage we’d delivered.

The soldiers looked at us, blinking rapidly with a mixture of fear and confusion on their faces, their hands reaching for their swords.

“Don’t be stupid,” Draven told them. “This is your chance to redeem yourselves. We’re reclaiming Eritopia, and it starts here. The castle is about to be under siege. Which side of history do you wish to be on?”

The incubi looked at each other for a couple of seconds. Most of them moved toward the corridor, their hands abandoning the swords for a moment as they nodded.

“We’ll make our way down, gather more of our soldiers,” one of them said.

“Plenty of us want that slithering bastard and his followers dead,” another replied.

“By all means,” Draven smirked. “The more of you, the better.”

“And you?” I shifted my focus to the six incubi still standing at the bottom of the staircase.

“You’ll never win against Azazel,” one muttered. “He’s too powerful, and we’re not stupid enough to put our faith in a Druid, a succubus, some blood-suckers, and some cats!”

He drew his sword and lunged at me, bringing the blade down. Draven moved to protect me, but I pushed him away and launched a powerful barrier, knocking the incubus and the other five soldiers off their feet.

The Maras intervened with their mind-bending tricks, enough for Hansa, Jasmine, and Jax to knock most of them out. Two incubi were quite resilient and fast, darting from one side to the other so quickly the Maras couldn’t capture their minds.

Unfortunately for them, the Bajangs coming from behind were bigger and faster. Two of them pounced on the incubi, sinking their fangs into their throats. I heard their spines crack before they were tossed on the floor like ragdolls.

“They sure come in handy.” I muttered my appreciation to Rebel as we ran up the stairs.

We did the same on every level, wherever we encountered hostiles. We had a good strategy going with the Maras and the Bajangs. We took down Destroyers and the incubi who resisted, and we let the others go. The more rebels on the inside, the bigger the surprise for Azazel.

There were green flames burning everywhere, but Jasmine and Draven frequently blew them out as we advanced through the main hallway of the tenth level. We needed to reach another set of service stairs, closer to the central tower that led to the top.

We moved fast, our boots barely touching the floor.

The drums were beating frantically below. The horns were moaning every five minutes or so. I could hear the chainmail zinging, the clangs and screeches of swords and shields, the thumps and grunts of soldiers moving around, rushing to get to their stations.

I kept my focus on Phoenix, Vita, and Aida, waiting for us upstairs.

Almost there, guys. Almost there…





Field





I’d spent several hours perched on top of a giant purple tree, keeping myself under the cover of leaves as I overlooked the entire region.

Luceria loomed ahead, surrounded by rolling hills and deep jungles, its black walls glistening in the sunlight. Thick black columns of smoke rose from its towers, and from campfires around the base. Thousands of incubi had been dispatched on a one-mile radius around the castle, while dozens of Destroyers swarmed above, circling the massive structure and hissing savagely as they looked around for rebel forces.

The green fireflies flew in wide ribbons across the hills, moving up and down as they scanned the area on behalf of Azazel.

My shifters sat close to me, on two separate branches. They looked like me, though their eyes glowed violet as they looked around, waiting patiently to be deployed. I gripped the sculpted handle of my hatchet, shuddering from the creeps I got every time I looked at them. It was extremely weird and uncomfortable to look at these two versions of myself, and yet, at the same time, impressive. They were up there with me, ready to hack and slash at anyone who tried to harm me.