Page 169 of Living Legend

A bolt of green light hit a tree near us. The tree shook and trembled, but then it cracked, breaking in half and falling over, crushing the sentries in its path. I fought back and forth with Ollie as he thrusted his sword at me. He was fast on his feet, and I felt a slice of burning pain when he cut my thigh, and when I thought he was going to cut again, a blast hit my back, causing me to topple over. I fumbled to keep my sword in my grip, but it was no use; it tumbled out of my hand, but not out of reach. All the breath had left my body, making me feel as if my head had been shoved under water for too long. I saw sparks of gold light around me; I looked over my shoulder to see another angel with those same sparks bouncing around their fingers.

Ollie kicked me over so that he could plant his feet on either side of my shoulders. His arm was leaking blood from where I struck him. We had trained to do the same job, but all those hours of training had led to this. “I can’t believe Jonah actually thought you were one of the best.” He lifted his sword, threatening to plunge it into my throat when I saw the distinct line of an arrow behind him. That same arrow sunk into the back of the sentry who had hit me with his magic and then pushed through the front of his stomach and straight into Ollie's back. The tip of the arrow was silver, and the point gleamed even though the sun was nowhere to be found.

I would know those arrows anywhere.

I heard a rapid flutter of wings when I saw Reese hit the ground. He had blood on his face, and it decorated his hands and forearms, splotches marking his tan skin. He swung his bow at his side, his quiver securely attached to his back. He pushed the sentry over with the pad of his finger, the angel hitting the ground hard. Ollie looked down at his stomach, right as Reese pulled the arrow out, blood spurting out and hitting my face. I reached out my arm, grabbing my blade. I hadn’t wanted it to come to this, but this wasn’t a moment to think. I gave Ollie a meaningful look before pushing my sword so far into his chest that the hilt hit his sternum. Blood rushed out of his mouth, but it wasn't all red as it should be: black was infused along with it. As his knees hit the ground, his eyes returned to their normal color and he looked lost, sad. I pulled my sword from him and watched as his body slumped over, unmoving.

Reese stepped between the bodies and leaned forward a bit, extending his arm out towards me. I gratefully grasped his hand and let him haul me up. We gave each a quick hug, then Reese swallowed hard before looking at the two bodies at our feet as the sound of shrieks, growls, and grunts filled the grounds of The Skies.

"What the fuck is going on?" Reese asked, exasperation in his voice. "One minute I'm scanning the exterior, the next minute that one girl I dated a year ago— Emma something— comes barreling at me with a fucking spear. I didn't even know we used spears!" There was a tear in his shirt, the torn edges soaked in blood. I narrowed my eyes at it, trying to make out how bad it was.

Reese waved me off, pushing his hair out of his face. "Don't worry, it's not deep. I dodged out of the way before she could do any real damage. Fucking ambushes, man; luckily, most of this blood isn't mine. There were four of them, but I guess I lucked out better than you guys." He looked over his shoulder at the carnage. I looked along with him as Natalia placed her hand out and shot magic at the ground, causing the dirt and grass to rise up like a makeshift hill and barrel towards a group of sentries. Dani caught arrows released at her, one by one, turning them to dust. She kept one and it became less like a common weapon, suddenly covered in shadow and silver. Angels charged towards her, and she used that one arrow to gut them.

"They've been manipulated into killing us, apparently. Dani is who they want; we're just casualties. Just like the demons at the meeting."

Elise was high in the sky fighting airborne angels, using her tail to whip them to the ground or using her magic to lasso them around the neck and bring them to her so she could punch through their chest.

"If this is what's going on out here, what the fuck is going on inside?" Reese wondered.

"That's what I'd like to know as well."

Reese took one long look at Elise in the sky, a smile on her face as she released her venom from her hand and pressed it to an angel's throat. He let out a long, solid breath before looking back at me. "I'll head back up there. Let's hope she doesn't mistake me for one of them." Reese punched me in the shoulder and shot up towards the sky.

I twirled my sword in my hand, having to step to the side as a bolt of glittering light nearly hit me in the face. Even though I knew this fight wouldn't be easy and it would get even harder the moment we got inside, my focus was clearer now. I quickened my steps as I lunged forward, slicing my sword in front of me, watching as it shredded flesh and blood spewed onto the grass. I made quick footwork of getting around attacks and dodging weapons. An arrow came down and pierced my shoulder, causing me to turn around and raise my sword, deflecting another. Reese came behind my attacker, knocking him out with one end of his bow, giving me a thumbs up afterwards. His wings billowed around him, a stark white in the cloudy sky. I mimicked the gesture, suddenly having to block a blade threatening to come down on me.

I hadn't thought about how many sentries there were here and how many more would be coming. They were coming out of the woods and seemed to be multiplying as we went. They were like the demons from before but they still had their souls intact, just being blinded. It would have taken so much magic to gather all these angels and manipulate their minds. Every time I looked over at Dani, they were never trying to kill her; rough her up a bit, yeah, but kill her? No. My shoulder ached from the arrow I ripped out, but my adrenaline raced.

“Natalia! Can you….” I started, wanting to scream to Natalia to try to nullify this in any way, but then I heard a low, raspy groan from above me. I watched as one of Elise's wings was sliced from top to bottom. The leather membrane of it shuddered and she faltered. She tried to release magic from her hand but keeping herself upright and steady in the sky was proving more of a priority. A sentry came up behind her, grabbed her other wing, and threw her down towards the ground.

At that moment, we all lost our focus. The fight in front of us mattered, but as Elise sailed to the ground, I blocked one blow from a sentry at my side, slicing across her neck as I watched Natalia follow Elise's falling body. She looked unfocused, and a broad sentry quickly took advantage, knocking the end of his dagger at the back of her head. Elise landed on the ground with a thud, the back of her head hitting a thin rock.

My eyes instinctively closed, but I opened them right as Reese shot two arrows, one for an angel near him and another for one below him. A female sentry hurriedly came up behind him, wrapping her own bow around his neck. Reese tried to knock her out with his own bow, but the sudden takeover caused another angel to tear his hands from his beloved weapon and thrust the bow at his stomach. Reese was never good when it came to his own angelic magic. He had never found a need to learn more about it, since he could rely so heavily on the things he was good at. I could tell he was regretting that now. The female behind him was strong enough to press her bow hard against his throat. I saw the moment he was out and they let him drop, hitting the ground just as hard as Elise.

I started to run over to him, to try to regain the momentum we had, but I was stopped dead in my tracks by the tip of a blade and an unfamiliar face. I may not have known the angel in front of me, but the malice on her face was the same as Ollie's had been. She was there, but she wasn't. The dark magic that loomed in her body, the thing telling her to kill, eliminate, obey, was just too strong for her to fight off. I raised my sword, knowing I had to steel myself. I stepped back, only to feel the tip of another blade at my back.

I sought out Dani, who was flinging sentries away from her left and right. She was oozing shadowy magic and her eyes were even darker than I had realized. She shot back one sentry and turned around to roundhouse kick another, but this one caught her leg and yanked her to the ground. He swiftly picked her up by her throat as magic escaped his hand.

Steam pulsed out continuously as he held her up, and she let out the most gut turning scream I'd ever heard. The scream pulled at my heart, tugged on all sides of what beat in my chest. Angelic magic could be beautiful, but it could also be highly dangerous. Even if Dani’s internal angelic magic recognized the one harming her, it would be afraid of the level of aggression this man was aiming at her.

"I think you've had enough fun for now," the female sentry said as I looked away from Dani. I tried to bring my sword up again, still willing to fight, but the angel behind me brought the end of their foot to my back and hit me hard. I fell to my knees, pain in my thighs, but the angel in front of me stopped me from falling over. She pressed her fingers into the wound at my shoulder, and I let out a closed mouth scream. She looked over my shoulder at the sentry behind me, and I felt a sharp blade stab into the back of my other shoulder. My eyes widened and I bit down on my tongue, tasting blood. The sentry swiftly pulled their sword out, and I bit harder.

I was sweating and my vision was blurry from the pain. I looked over at where the sentry had Dani held up by her throat, but another angel came up to him and exchanged a few quick words. Angels were dragging Reese and Elise along the ground towards the entrance. Another had placed Natalia over his shoulder and followed them.

Dani blinked her eyes open, looking drunk and tired. The angel holding her nodded at his counterpart, then head butted her so that she slumped over, knocking her out.

I felt the blood leaking from my shoulders and every time I tried to keep my eyes open, it was like it hurt worse than the first time. The world around me swayed but I saw a figure coming towards us. They looked familiar, almost like I recognized her…him…everything was fucking blurry. They walked over to where the sentry had Dani in his arms.

"If you damaged her, she will have your fucking head. Not to mention, you've made a fucking mess.Hewon't like it."

It was a woman, but I couldn't make out her voice, where I knew it from. The ringing in my ears was making it impossible to hear much. I saw her look over to me and then to my assailants, nodding. She sashayed away as if she didn't have a care in the world.

I would be going inside, but not in the way I wanted.

None of this was what I wanted.

The large sentry carried Dani away, his figure becoming smaller the further he walked. I wanted to help her, I wanted to help all of them, but I was just so fucking tired. I saw the shadow of an arm above my head and I watched as it came down right at the side of my head. Pain took over as the blunt end of a sword hilt connected with my skull.

Everything went black.

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