Page 90 of An Empress of Air & Chaos

He needed to get closer.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a dark shadow racing towards him; quickly he spun and released another arrow. This time it pierced into the demon’s eye and it let out a high-pitched shriek, deafening his eardrums. As many kills as he had made as a Hunter, he would never get used to the sounds they made as they died.

Another demon attacked from behind, the repulsive scent suffocating, and the frantic attack of its movement penetrated into his back. He pulled the heavy body over his shoulder and flung the weight forward. The demon hit the ground and before it could move, Gideon had pulled the fighting knife from his belt and stabbed down hard. He punctured its heart before it could even blink, so he knew it was dead. Correcting his stance, he scoured between the trees for the silver wolf.

Shit! Shit! Shit!

Breighly was surrounded by three demons hungry for her blood. Gideon sprang into action, closing the distance between them. He pushed up off the soft bedding of the forest ground, landed on a tree stump, and withdrew a small sword. Leaping from his podium, he crashed into one of the beasts, penetrating between the shoulder blades with his weapon. The creature bucked in shock and Gideon was flung back. His head smashed against hard oak and it looked like the world was snowing glitter for a second.

Breighly had pounced again, and by the time Gideon had steadied his vision, she had ended another demon, pulling out his throat with her fangs. Stars twinkled around the woods as the last demon stalked towards him, its lip curling back over its razor-sharp teeth, ready to taste his flesh.

As he tried to spring to his feet, putting the dizziness aside, an axe hurled through the air. It cut into the demon’s head, embedding itself in the skull. The monster's eyes rolled to the back of their sockets and it slumped to the ground, blood spilling out like hot soup onto the leaves below.

Gideon flashed his gaze to the left and saw Marcus standing nearby, short of breath. He bowed his head as a thank you.

A bright flash broke through the trees. “Gideon, you idiot! I could have taken all three!” Breighly’s voice burst throughout the forest.

She put out her hand, and he took it.

Being hauled to his feet, he tried to master the dizziness. “Oh, yeah? Well, it didn’t look like it from where I was standing,” Gideon growled. “You shouldn’t be back in your human form yet.” He looked over at her and then averted his eyes. She was practically naked, all but under-garments.

“Keep focused,” Marcus barked. It was unusual for Marcus to raise his voice, but he had been known to raise it when need be. “Now is not the time to dispute your kills. Keep moving.”

As they moved on, working together, killing their way through the Dark God’s army, an order sounded through the woodland.

“Re-group. Clearing field. Now!”

Gideon knew Torin was checking his casualties and hopefully luring what was left of the creatures out into the clearing where they would all be waiting to finish them off.

The last hurdle of the mission. Finally!

“Let’s go,” Gideon commanded Breighly. But she was already on the move.

“I have ears, asshole,” she smiled, giving him a friendly punch on the arm.

He grinned.

As they landed in the clearing, much of the pack and the Hunters were also making their way along the open space. Some running, some limping.

“Here,” a Shifter approached and offered Breighly a shirt from his back. “I’m proud of you tonight, baby,” he said as he leaned over and kissed her forehead. Her eyes fluttered to Gideon uncomfortably, but he looked away.

That was not his business anymore, but he suspected that the dark-haired male wasn’t just a friend.

Maybe she has found her mate.

Gideon broke into a run and found Torin as he counted the numbers of who had made it back to the open field. As Gideon observed the warriors, too, no one was missing that he could see—but a lot were hurt and some were bleeding badly.

“I want everyone—and I mean everyone—to show no mercy as we drive these fuckers to dust!” Torin’s booming voice echoed in the clearing, a menacing frost settling into his eyes. Acknowledgements broke from the Hunters and the pack in agreement. The wolves were also at their most powerful under the full moon and healing would be quicker for them.

“I know you have injuries and I know you are tired, but you can think about that later when you are out of the clutches of the Dark Army.” Torin turned to the people who were at his back. “Take your mind to another place and fight through the pain and exhaustion. You are warriors. You were created for the fight. You feel no pain, you feel no exhaustion. Let’s remind the demon scum who owns these lands before we annihilate every single one of them!”

Torin’s prep talk riled up the group.

The Hunters smiled grimly as they knew their next moves, the pack growling with anticipation to kill. The hunt was going the way they had wanted. They had opted to thin most of the demons out throughout the trees, split them up, and kill them off. The remaining numbers would be confirmed when they pulled back into the clearing, luring them out.

“There can’t be many of them left,” a hunter exclaimed. “I’ve killed at least twenty. They normally travel in smaller numbers,” he said. “Our wards don’t normally allow this many through.”

“Well, I’m sure Viktir would be happy to answer any questions you have about the wards in the next briefing,” Torin sneered.

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