Page 136 of Sidhe
Nathansawitallhappening, every last bit of it, as he prepared for the fight that would soon reach him. Walter, Lindsey, Charis, and several seals were at his side. He would not let the lone thought that was plaguing him cloud his mind. He would not heed its call or admit that its taunting had merit. He would not believe what he knew, deep down, to be true.
That they werelosing.
Chapter 48
“Whatareyourorders?”Lindsey asked Nathan. Charis stood beside him, both proud to serve Nathan directly, which he never would have believed when he first met the couple.
He looked back at them, transformed fully into their true selves—Lindsey, green and fierce like his grandfather; Charis, viciously beautiful like new copper. It was a gamble to leave them. The group was strong, yes, with Lindsey and Charis; they had powerful fae with them as well—that salamander chick, Kaley, had created a line of fire in front of the seals which had taken down a few advancing dark fae already—but Nathan would be leaving them vulnerable. Still, he knew he couldn’t stay. Not only because Jim and Sasha needed him, but because the lines were already falling.
“Stay and fight,” Nathan told Lindsey, told all of them, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear. “Remember the real goal. Hold the line. The Gatehouse cannot fall. I’m going on ahead.”
Nathan, while he hadn’t been given special weapons, had a gun in his hand, his ankle blade, an extra gun tucked into the back of his jeans, and the goggles from Schuester ready around his neck. He had to go.
“Walt!” Nathan called out.
Walter had been standing vigil at the very front of the seal camp, watching and feeding Nathan intel on things that were difficult for him to see so far ahead. The Spirit Guide nodded to Nathan as he approached.
“Yes, Nathan. What is it? Have you decided on our next plan of action?”
“Yeah. I’m going on ahead. I need you to stay here and watch over the seals.”
Walter’s eyes widened. “I said I would not leave your side, Nathan, and I mean to honor that promise.”
“Walt, we don’t have time to argue about this.” Nathan glanced ahead at the battle, seeing only chaos, unable to pinpoint where his loved ones were anymore. “Please, Walter,” he turned to the Spirit Guide again, “I need you to stay here. You’re still by my side if you’re doing what I ask. Please.”
The fierce loyalty in Walter would not let him refuse Nathan again. He nodded solemnly.
Nathan took off over the hill that was their last barrier against the dark fae, pulling the goggles up over his eyes as he went. What he saw through them almost stopped him cold. So many of the fae were revealed in their true forms already, something often painful for normal humans to witness, but here on these fields—Gehenna, Walter had called it—they could witness it all unscathed.
What the goggles showed Nathan was so much more. He could see the crisscrossing and collision of spells, pulsing auras of various color, and the presence of Solrin’s power aroundall those he controlled like transparent silver chains. Which included Sasha.
Nathan focused on what was around him. There were a few dark fae that had already gotten through Kaley’s fire, closing in on the waiting seals, so he picked off those he could as he ran. Solrin was up ahead, making a steady approach, with Sasha twisted against those he should be fighting alongside.
But as Nathan leapt through a hole in the fire to make his way toward them, he was caught off guard. Something slammed into him from the side out of nowhere, sprawling him to the ground and loosening the gun from his hands. When he looked up, he saw black eyes.
Alex
Alexwantednothingmorethan to be on the front lines with the others, but she knew her place was at the Gatehouse. Someone needed to coordinate getting supplies and fresh ammo out to the seals on the lawn, and so she held her ground, even though being the furthest from Jim was the worst punishment.
Nathan had left to better serve at the heart of the battle. Walter stood magnificent in the wake of his departure, having taken up a strong stance on the hill, at the very forefront as the dark fae descended. He picked off one after another with his crossbow as if he had been born wielding one. It seemed to shoot bolts of light rather than normal ammo, and he pulsed with power everytime it fired. But Walter was only one being; the dark fae were many.
There was also Lindsey and Charis, who joined the fight beside the many seals with vicious accuracy in their strikes. Kaley, as an elemental, was masterful in battle as well, able to control and mold andbecomefire. But many seals fell to the dark fae in what seemed like moments. They were still losing.
Alex’s voice was constant, calling out to seals to take weapons, asking what ammo they needed, yelling for Ula’s ready aid. When a lull hit, with many seals too caught up in battle to make it back to them to reload, Alex took up her own gifted dual-pistols and a bag of ammo, told Ula to hold steady until she returned, and leapt out of the Gatehouse doors.
She took off, racing into the fray, searching the camp for who needed her most. She passed Kaley as the elemental went down, the ground around her smoldering with dying embers. But Alex couldn’t pause to mourn. She handed out as much ammo as she could to those who hadn’t been able to fall back, her bag empty around her shoulder in a matter of minutes.
Her pistols, like Walter’s crossbow, never seemed to run dry, and so she fired at as many dark fae as she could. She was good with a gun, but even so, it surprised her that each shot always seemed to be a kill shot. Still, she had every intention of heading back to the Gatehouse to man her post.
Until she saw Nathan just past the line of seals struggling in the dust.
For a moment Alex cursed her weapons and that she had not been given a sniper rifle, but then these weren’t typical pistols, and she wasn’t any typical woman. All she needed was a clear shot. She lined up both pistols as if she’d been born ambidextrous, ready to clear the way of fae between her and Nathan with a barrage of bullets.
A wave of fire surged from around Alex’s right, shooting out like a wall of flame to take out every dark fae in her path. She whirled around, her spirits lifted as she thought Kaley must be alive after all, but her eyes landed on nothing, no visible source. She scanned and scanned the area behind her, back by the Gatehouse doors, and finally up…
Where she could see Wally outlined on the edge of the first overhang of roof, the last traces of fire fading from the tiny creature’s open mouth.
Alex gaped. Like a chimera out of Greek mythology.
