Page 86 of Queen of Darkness
“Run for it!” Aaron shouted as it headed our way.
We raced to the side, ducking around and between marching formations of more demons than I’d ever seen before. We ignored their growls and shouts of anger as they were jostled and lost their step.
Moments later, the beetle’s continued spew of fire wiped them from the battle.
Eventually, the giant beetle crashed down, death finally overcoming it. The oncoming demons marched around it. The battlefront grew wider, and we watched from our vantage point as both sides poured reinforcements into the fray.
“Are we close?” I asked as the Enkk shadowed us.
“Just about,” Aaron said. “But I’d hoped that we’d get closer to Madrigal before the armies met. Having them right here is about the worst that could happen. We’ll easily be spotted leaving this formation. There’s nothing around us.”
He was right.
“We need transportation,” I said.
As if anticipating this, a dozen of the crocodile-horses swerved out of the mass and came toward us in a trot. Their broad backs looked exactly like any horse I’d ever seen. But their necks were scaled, and their heads were most certainlynothorse-like. It was much larger, about three feet long, lined with razor-sharp teeth.
“I take it this is our ride?” Aaron said.
The lead creature tossed its head in a remarkable recreation of an impatient stallion.
“I guess we have our answer,” I said, stepping up to the closest of the beasts.
A thundering crash sounded as two new formations crashed together, drawing my attention back to the battle at hand.
A battleIwas responsible for. I had wrought all of this death and destruction. My actions.
“All of this to kill one person,” I whispered, shaking my head.
“All of this to put a stop tomoreof it,” Aaron said. “We are only doing what we must, to stop her. She is doing this because shewantsto.”
“Perhaps,” I said. “But I can’t help but feel a bit responsible.”
“Then take your responsibility,” he growled. “And shove it and a sword straight down her throat. Make sure that this isn’t done in vain.”
I bared my teeth. He made a very good point.
“Come on,” I said, hopping astride the beastie as best I could. “Let’s go kill the queen.”
Chapter Forty-Two
With the others clinging to the scaly necks of our mounts, the beasts took off, heading for the right side of the demon formation. As we did, the rest of the demon cavalry joined us, picking up other groups as we went, until nearly two hundred of them galloped around us.
“I thought we wanted to be stealthy?” I shouted at Aaron, desperately clinging to my mount as my hair whipped out behind me.
“No chance this far out,” he called back. “They’re going to punch a hole for us. Then, we ride as fast and as hard as we can.”
“They’ll see us,” I growled, jealous at the easy way he rode the beast, making it look effortless.
“So, we had better not take too long, then, shouldn’t we? Get in quick, don’t stop for anyone, and get the job done. Once Elenia is dead and you’re on the throne, they’ll obey you. You can end this.”
“I guess.”
I fell silent as we rounded the edge of a formation of Axotl and plunged through a gap and then another. The croc-allions, as I named them, pivoted sharply, and theircroak-croak-croakbattle cry sounded.
“Oh,shit!” I howled as we charged the vampires, our little group safely ensconced in the middle, while the Enkk casually ran alongside us, easily keeping pace.
The thick legs of the croc-allions—horsi-gators?—churned easily through the flimsy vampires, crushing them underfoot or simply darting their heads down and crushing them between their powerful jaws.
