Page 90 of A Queen Of Broken Realms
“Hey. You know, the usual I guess,” I say as I shrug. I offer her a sip from the blood bag, but she shakes her head. “How are you?”
Zara smiles up at me, her pointed teeth somehow really suiting her with her black bob and her tartan skirt and her dark, goth-inspired makeup. “Totally awesome,” she says, legitimately sincere. She’s fiddling with a long metal tube, pulling a pin down a slit in its side to lock a spring into place.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
Zara doesn’t reply. She just lifts the tube to her shoulder and lays her finger on a trigger at the base. She aims the barrel toward the sky and tracks the flight path of an enemy angel who flies overhead. When he comes within range, she shoots.
“I’m having a blast,” she answers as a silver net whirls into the sky, wrapping around the angel and catching on the sharp tips of his feathers, bringing him to the ground. He tumbles across the cobblestones with a pained yell as Zara gives me another bright grin. “Gotta run,” she says, slinging the net gun over her shoulder as she speeds toward the angel with a battle cry.
“Isn’t she the one who bit me in the battle at Valentina’s?” Ashen asks as we watch her tear into the angel’s throat with her teeth, unravelling the net as she pummels him into submission.
“Yeah. I like her.”
“I’m sure.”
I smile at Ashen and he rolls his eyes, and then we’re off, winding through the bodies of the dead and injured as we fight our way toward the ziggurat in the distance.
Our forces crush the Nephilim into our soldiers waiting further down the road, the demons of the Shadow Realm fighting alongside the angels who defend their realm, squeezing the enemy into a choke. We’ve battled them down to a group of about a hundred remaining fighters when two explosions rock the roadway. Buildings on both sides of the road blow apart in chunks of flying rock and shattered glass on the other side of the barricade, sending a wave of dust into the night sky that reflects the flames around us and obscures the ziggurat.
“That fucking sucks. We’re going to have to go around,” I say to Ashen as we watch the cloud rise, flames erupting from the damaged structures to make the roadway impassable.
“Yes, but we also need to stop the Nephilim from renewing their forces or this battle will never end,” he replies.
I nod, looking over the war that rages around us until I find the candidate I’m looking for. “Eryx!” I yell over the fighting. His sword carves a deep slash through a Nephilim’s chest and he meets my eyes with a nod. I give thanks to the realms for the hundredth time tonight that Ediye’s spell has held and he hasn’t passed out in the road as he weaves his way closer with a glittery grin. I think he’s actually enjoying himself. “We need to close the portals in Shabarra,” I say. “They’ll just keep bringing in more Nephilim unless we can shut them down.”
Eryx nods and whistles toward Vlad, who fights with honed grace alongside Valentina. “Hey Dracula,” he calls toward the ancient vampire. I snort a laugh and Eryx looks down at me with an edge of exasperation in expression. “Yeah, ever since some of the souls recognized him and Valentina explained the name, he insists on being called Dracula.”
Vlad joins us with Valentina close behind, and we outline the plan before the three take off in the direction of House Shabarra. Just as they’re leaving, Cole and Aloros appear, Aloros’s injured arm bound against his chest to keep the injury out of easy reach of an enemy.
“We can get through,” Cole says, pointing to a barricaded alley where several angels guard the access. “It opens by the gate to the House of Virtues, and then we can connect back withSpes Aeternaon the other side. The soldiers at the alley said the ziggurat is still safe for now, so it should be a straight shot once we pass the gate to Virtues.”
“I will take you directly to the Soulfate stone once we are inside,” Aloros says, his grip tightening on his sword.
“All right, lets get this done.”
We take off running for the alley and theanunnakiat its mouth let us pass into the narrow, darkened corridor. We’re silent as we follow the snaking pathway between tall buildings, darting into the shadows when we hear wings above, though the space between the structures is narrow enough that an angel’s full wingspan wouldn’t fit. Our progress is steady until we hear screams and yelling ahead, and for just a moment our footsteps slow as we glance at one another.
Then we run as fast as we can.
We make it to the courtyard where the gateway to the House of Virtues burns in the marble wall.
A group of souls in their ethereal Esagila robes run through the courtyard, braving the fire that eats through the heavy doors to run into the territory of the House of Virtues. A large incendiary follows after them and hits the wall just as the last soul makes it through to safety. Two more cannonballs quickly follow, and the wall surrounding the door falls to the ground.
We hear the marching footsteps of Nephilim soldiers as they enter the courtyard, making for the ruined gate. Screams rise on the other side. I hear children crying. Dogs barking and whining. That damn donkey braying. My heart crushes in my chest. We’re only four fighters, and I know we can’t save them.
We enter the courtyard from the shadows of the alley. I meet Ashen’s eyes and raise my weapon. This moment of time splinters around us until all that’s left is the look of resignation and determination in my husband’s eyes. He gives me a single nod. I’m ready to die at his side fighting to keep the Nephilim out of the House of Virtues, and with just one shared moment of time, we both know that however long we stand against them, it won’t be enough.
I’m about to tell him I love him when my words are swept away by another sound. And for once it sounds like hope.
“You will not pass this gate,” a familiar voice booms in layers from the other side of the fallen wall.
Through the flames I see Ediye striding toward the broken stone and burning wood, her arms raised at her sides, black orbs crackling in her palms as she readies her power.Shub Lugalsoldiers march behind her, their spears pointed at the enemy.
“Shadow Realm,” Ediye calls as the two armies draw to a halt on opposite sides of the flame. “Show these fuckers the meaning of hell.”
Ediye’s black orbs fly through the flames as Zida whips past her over the fire and debris, her hiss bouncing off the stone buildings surrounding the courtyard as she takes down her first enemy. Magic rains down on the soldiers, hit after hit, striking them down one by one. TheShub Lugalrun at the Nephilim, their battle cry rising around us as they pierce through armor and hit the enemy with wave after wave of aggression. Urtur lopes into view and joins Zida, tearing a wing from an traitorous angel as the snake’s fangs sink deep into his chest.
“We need to move,” Cole says, casting a final, proud glance at Ediye as he watches her wield orbs of magic, pressing the enemy back from the fallen wall. We turn and run from the battle, staying close to the edge of the courtyard as we find a connecting alley that leads back to the road to the ziggurat.
