Page 98 of Artemis' Bow
“No. I’m not sure what’s happening, but this is chaos in its truest form.” Jayden thrusts his sword up into one enemy and in the next second spins, slashing the throat of another.
“The demons are trying to keep us from taking out the ancient monsters. Are these three the only other reinforcements?” I ask.
It would be a relief to have a break and be able to slay all the monsters, but I don’t believe that’s happening anytime soon.
“There are too many of them. We need to start thinking of an exit strategy,” Jayden says.
“The big bad beasties are standing in front of the only place that isn’t flooded with phoenix fire.” I cut the heads off two demons. “How do we kill them again without having to go through the massive army of lizard demons?”
“Transport yourself to the car and I’ll shadow walk the others one at a time,” Jayden says, but by his expression, he already knows I won’t agree to leaving them all behind.
“No, I won’t leave before anyone else. You can shadow walk them out but I’m not leaving until you’re all out.” I shake my head.
We can’t run from this. The army of the damned will just follow us and keep trying if we retreat. We lose if we try, and we fail Artemis and the world in the process. It can’t end like this.
“We don’t have a choice. You have to get out, Beth. We can regroup and figure out a way to end this once and for all,” Jayden begs.
“We can’t, Jayden. No matter what we do, this is the end. Or will bring the end. If we lose this battle, we lose the war, and everyone and everything will be destroyed.”
24
“They’re closing in,” Raven screams.
Greyson lunges at a lizard demon that attempts an attack on Raven. “What do we do?”
I slash with my sword and hold up my opposite hand to shoot electricity at another demon. “We fight until they’re all dead or until we can’t fight anymore.”
I can’t bear to tell the others this is hopeless. They just keep coming and we’re going to be overrun in a matter of minutes. We’re all exhausted, and we can’t keep this up forever.
I spin, swinging my sword in a wide arc, slicing through scales all around me, but more take their places. The Minotaur roars from its place, blocking the only opening in the wall of phoenix fire.
A male holler of excitement catches my attention, and I whirl, still lashing at enemies as Dax lands on the back of the Nemean lion.
“What the fuck?” I yell. “What is he doing here?”
Kira has some metal contraption I’ve never seen before attacking the Minotaur along with Draven shooting magic at the Chimera.
“They’re creating a hole for us,” Raven cheers.
The unexpected reinforcements galvanize the rest of us. With renewed purpose and another burst of energy, we carve a path through the demons to the others. I stab, kick, and slash at anything that comes close to me as we push through the enemy.
The Nemean lion crumbles to dust first and Dax whoops again as he launches into the fray with the demons, swinging a battle ax with precision, taking any limbs he can with the weapon. I never knew how much of a force Dax could be, but he’s come a long way in the months since I’ve known him.
Kira’s contraption whirls and blades fling from it, stabbing the Minotaur in several places. The beast roars and tries to charge. An arrow whizzes past my head, taking a demon out that had been ready to kill me in my distraction. I turn my gaze in the direction the arrow came from. Olly is perched in a tree, nocking another arrow, ready to take another shot.
“We may actually win this now, Jayden.” I glance at him with a smile.
A bloodcurdling roar fills the space and the Minotaur crumples to dust next. Kira turns to Draven and the Chimera. He’s still steadily throwing magic at the creature and dodging the serpent’s tail and fire from the lion’s mouth.
“Thad,” I yell. “Draven has a fire problem. Help him out, yeah?”
Thad turns toward Draven and his eyes widen as a gleeful smile stretches his face. “With pleasure.”
Thad races away just as a blade comes much too close to my face and I dodge. I bring my sword up and catch the blade with my own. Pushing the creature back, I free my blade. The demon holds up his sword as if to bring it down on my head. Stupiddemon. I thrust my sword at its unprotected chest. Sparks ignite its scales as my blade punctures its heart.
As soon as Thad and Draven take out the Chimera, the tides turn and as if there’s some signal only the demons can hear, they all vanish into thin air. The phoenix fire fizzles out, and I collapse on the ground where I stand.
“What are you doing here?” I ask Dax.
