Page 177 of Living Legend

"You forget this dagger was forged straight from Hell, so that would make it more powerful than any pathetic holding spell," I mocked.

"I will kill every single one of your followers for this!" Isabel expelled that waiting ball of magic from her hand, causing Natalia to shoot out her own magic, stopping Isabel's in its tracks and sending her flying back towards the wall.

"What are you useless shits doing? Kill them! Leave the Soul Seether to me!" Markus yelled to the sentries around us, his voice cracking.

Natalia huffed out a breath, then quickly let out three bright pink darts in the direction of the others, releasing their restraints. The resounding sound of shattering magic filled my ears, but my vision was still hazy and gray. Markus still wanted me alive; he would see this through no matter the cost.

"I will make you watch all your friends die, Soul Seether. You will have nothing left."

The minute the restraints holding them were gone, the others sprang into action. The sentries around me had started to make moves towards us, but they landed on their faces and asses from my slithering ropes around their ankles to give us a better start.

"Thank fuck," Elise said as she turned around and hoisted her knee up, landing her hit right between the male sentry’s legs. She kneed him in the face multiple times, relishing in the blood that spewed from his face.

I turned around and whipped my dagger out of my hand, watching it fly through the air and land into the neck of a sentry next to Jonah. He grabbed at his neck as my dagger made the wound worse, turning and twisting. Another sentry ran to my side, the redhead from earlier, her sword ready to strike. I swiveled out of the way right as she nearly sliced my side. I reached down and grabbed the sword by its shiny blade, cutting my palm. I squeezed it into my palm, feeling it slice into my flesh. The metal began to turn dark and hard, like crusted lava. It crumbled and broke apart as each piece grew black and rock-like. The sentry looked down in shock, but I took the few steps to get to her and grabbed her neck, holding out my other hand, summoning my dagger.

The weapon ripped itself out of the previous sentry’s neck and sailed right into my hand. I wasted no time plunging the hooked end into her neck, lifting it at an angle as the hook ripped her skin apart. Blood spurted from her neck as her body went limp and I shoved her to the side, letting her body drop with a thud to the ground. Reese had a dark-haired sentry's head between his arms, his forearms underneath his neck as he kicked at the back of his knee, the sentry collapsing to the ground. Reese yanked the bow off his back and gathered the arrows he had.

I started to make my way to Jonah, hoping to get to the other sentry blocking him, but Nick got to him first, clearly having snagged a sword off one of the dead sentries scattered on the ground. They were putting up a fight and I was eager to end it. I narrowed my eyes at a furious Markus. Two sentries came up on either side of me, but I hopped up a few centimeters off the ground and elbowed the one at my right in the throat and kicked out my left leg, sending the one to my left flying backwards. "Did you really think I was ever going to side with you?"

The sentries from before tried to charge at me again and brought others with them, but I let darkness and fuming agitation guide my magic as I let thick onyx ribbons hook around their necks. The ribbons slithered their way up their jaws and forced their way into their throats. I could feel them suffocating, gasping for air. Their eyes were begging for mercy that would never come. I wouldn't allow it.

I jumped up onto the wooden table and stomped over to Markus, who had his fists balled up next to his sides. Before I could hop down to the other side of the table, a shot of light hit me right at the side of my face, causing me to stumble backwards off the table to the ground. I blinked my eyes open as green-ish yellow sparks bounded against the ground until they disappeared.

Fucking Isabel.

She looked menacingly crazy as she rounded the wooden table, not giving me a chance to catch her as she sent an electrical shock through my entire body, my heart feeling like it was beating rapidly, way too fast for its own good.

"Isabel, we need her!" Markus shouted.

"There will be others, I'm sure," Isabel said, her blue eyes lighting up in a colorful hue as I started to convulse, a high-pitched moan of agony leaving my throat. My darkness felt like it was being jolted and burned every time it tried to lunge at her. Suddenly, it was gone, a piercing scream in its place that wasn't my own. I looked down my body to see Elise slicing down Isabel's neck with her venomous shadowy tail. Her eyes were fire, a bright red. Isabel held her neck, slinking back, almost tripping over the bodies that littered the ground.

I noticed Nick and Jonah fighting side by side. Jonah himself had picked up a sword and held it as if it was an old friend. The way he moved with it was similar to Nick, but I could tell he had his own style. He was a bit slower, as if the wounds drained him of what would usually be quite impressive magic. He cut down two sentries, turning on his heels to dodge one blow, just to cast one himself. Nick pushed back one angel after another, suddenly busting out his wings to join Reese in the sky. Sentries filtered through the doorway, ready to fight, but this was different than out on the lawn. We weren’t trying to figure out the enemy; we weren't blind to the issues.

Elise extended her hand out to me, and I took it as she hauled me up. She had a look that said ‘you’ll thank me for this later’. Deep down, I was grateful for her, despite everything.

"I should have let you all fucking die when I had the chance!" Isabel screamed, her hands smeared in the black that was Elise's venom. She had clearly started to heal her neck wound as she trudged towards us.

"I think this is between you and me," Natalia said from behind the blonde, her voice back to the regal, musical tone I was used to. She wrapped her magic around Isabel's throat and mid-section, tightening as Isabel let out a huff. Natalia yanked her up and threw her over to the windows. Her body made a splat as it collided with the glass. The High Priestess didn't let her go, though; she brought Isabel back over and slammed her against the table.

Natalia created a mist around Isabel's face that floated into her eyes, her stark blue irises were no longer their original color. They were clouded and glazed, as if she was blind. Natalia forced Isabel to extend her arm on the table, palm facing up.

"Give me my sight back, you fucking bitch," Isabel spat harshly.

Natalia pressed a finger to Isabel's lips and the Enchanter couldn't move her mouth any longer. "Language, darling."

Elise rushed past me when I hadn't noticed a sentry charging my way, kicking his sword from his hands and punching him underneath his jaw. I swore I saw teeth fly out from the impact. A rumbling sound landed in my ears as I looked over at Natalia, who was now manipulating the table underneath Isabel's hand to become sharp and spiked. She flattened her hand and a jagged piece of wood shot up from the table and through her former girlfriend’s hand.

I just smirked and looked around the room, locking my sights on Markus. He was dodging behind sentries, using his own people as shields. What a piece of shit. I felt bad for him, for his story. Losing someone you cared deeply for would have taken a toll on anyone, but to harbor that kind of hate for so long had to be agonizing. I hated Lilith for what she did, and we would have words soon, but decades from now, I'm sure I’d have moved on. Markus was using Jonah as a means to an end, just like Lilith was using me.

I conjured my own wings, rising towards the ceiling. I tossed my dagger up in the air, knowing it would be waiting for me when I needed it, the shadow of my wings gracing the floor below me. I dove towards Markus, who I could tell was on the verge of using his own wings when I grabbed him by the lapels of his suit jacket and brought him up with me. I used my magic to keep him steady and curl around him, constricting his airway. I heard an arrow zoom past my head, then I felt the sharp upward wind of someone falling fast. I quickly looked over my shoulder to see Reese wink at me as he collided with another angel.

I faced Markus again and snapped my fingers. My dagger was in my hand in seconds, and I had the tip hooked around his ear as I looked deep into his eyes. Before I ended him, before I finished this, there was something I needed to know. He had told us everything on his end, but there was something I just didn't quite understand.

"Why is Lilith ripping out the souls of demons?" Markus shifted his eyes around my face and smacked his lips together, as if he was fighting the words. My compulsion was too sweet to pass up. You work hard against it, but it hurts and burns. I figured sending soulless demons after us was a way to get rid of us until we came back, but she had been doing it for a while now. It couldn't have all been for that one moment.

Markus finally spoke, the words coming out fast. "I don't know. One of those little freaks came early and I had to get rid of it, but some of the trainees found it. I had to get Isabel to erase their minds. Lilith never told us plans that didn't involve what was going on now."

He was lying. Omitting how much, I didn't know.

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