Chapter 72: Chapter 72

IRIS

A leaden silence weighed over Antaris, as if each of us were holding our breath.

While most warriors tried to find some respite in these final moments, Avery glowed like a relentless flame in the darkness. His will was sharper than a blade, his resolve unbroken, even as his movements grew heavy with the weight of responsibility.

I watched as he strode through the camp. Every word he uttered was carefully chosen, every gesture calculated.

The soldiers straightened up under his gaze, as if his mere presence would instill courage. He stopped by the healers, not to spread hope, but to give clear orders.

“Prepare yourselves for blood. For pain. For losses that we will try to minimize,” Avery said.

Keijou and Mana waited on the sidelines, ready for their task. They would not be fighting, but saving lives—a battle just as important.

Keijou’s eyes were already scanning the field, while Mana was checking the last of the healing potions. Every move was thought through, every eventuality considered.

Jade and Noah stood at the edge of the camp, their gazes constantly wandering toward the horizon. The unusual silence of the night made my blood run cold.

Aidan had organized the troops, not by numbers but by strengths. Instead, as Evangeline had ordered him to do, every man and woman knew exactly where they would be when the enemy came.

There were only two missing. Devas and Evie.

“They should be back,” Aidan muttered once again, nervously running a dagger over the maps. “When the attack starts…”

Avery raised a hand wearily.

“Devas knows the plans. If he still needs time, then there’s a reason,” he replied.

His eyes mirrored a knowledge we shared, the secret the Tree of Power had revealed to us.

The previous night I had gone to its roots and there I had seen them—two souls no longer separated, but moving in a golden swirl around the trunk. A flowing, pulsing light that grew stronger with every breath.

The soul bond was sealed. It was a gift that not many ever receive.

A connection that not only changed them, but all of us. When Devas and Evie returned, they would not be the same.

And perhaps that was exactly what we needed.

Darkness was already creeping from between the trees when Alatus’s voice snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Look,” he whispered, his eyes scanning the horizon. “The night is coming early this evening. The clouds are choking out every last spark of light.”

His breath formed little wisps of mist in the suddenly icy air.

At the rugged oak table in the center of the camp sat Avery, surrounded by a sea of parchments and maps. The flickering candlelight cast deep shadows beneath his eyes.

He looked exhausted, as if the weight of the piled-up battle plans alone was weighing him down, while Aidan tirelessly marked positions and went through escape routes.

“The eastern flank absolutely must…” Aidan’s words faded into the heavy silence.

We’d been through this discussion hundreds, maybe thousands of times. Every possible formation, every conceivable tactic had been gone over.

A bitter smile crept onto my lips. As if Abaddon would stick to our carefully laid plans.

“We really should get Devas to go over it all again,” Aidan said.

But even he had to realize how foolish that suggestion was.

Devas’s forest was no ordinary piece of land—it was his domain, his untouchable wilderness. The last warrior who had dared to cross that boundary had emerged three days later, half-mad, his eyes confused.

The forest was Devas’s sanctuary; he had planted it himself. He took care of it, nurtured it with his magic.

Suddenly the wind howled from the forest, as if the night itself were warning of the coming blood moon. The torches flickered dangerously, casting dancing shadows across the camp.

“Enough,” Avery said at last, in a voice that sounded more like resignation than command. “We know what to do. It’s no longer about plans, it’s about survival.”

The clouds above us seemed to gather even closer, as if they were trying to suffocate us.

Somewhere out there, beyond the safe borders of our camp, the blood moon was waiting to show its pale, bloody face. And with it would come the end of all our plans.

“Iris,” said Alatus suddenly.

Alatus’s body froze beside me, his scales taut as steel. I followed his gaze and the blood in my veins froze.

Devas’s forest was in flames.

A shrill scream tore the night apart before I could give warning. Noah stormed into the camp, his face a mask of sweat and horror.

“Fire! Devas’s forest… It’s on fire!” Noah screamed.

Avery’s head snapped around.

Our gazes met, a silent understanding. I was already on the move, my hands gripping Alatus’s neck scales, when he reared up with a bloodcurdling roar.

His mighty wings unfurled with a thunderclap, whirling up dust and ash as he threw himself into the air with a mighty thrust. Heat hit us like a fist.

The first thing I saw were fireballs flying around. Precise hits that set the trees aflame. Like torches in the direction of the camp.

Then my eyes widened as Alatus flew nearer. I could see the portal.

A fiery red canyon had opened behind the forest, and out of it leapt creatures, running over each other into the forest.

“Abaddon is here… Devas needs help… he’s calling for aid,” I shouted through the mind link.

Avery’s emotions spread through my chest. I could hear his every shout, every command he yelled through the crowd.

“The enemy is here… Arm yourselves… Muster your amicus,” he shouted through the crowd.

“Take your places… we ride for Antaris into war,” roared Aidan.

From the air, the camp looked like a disturbed anthill, a bustle of shadowy figures rushing in all directions. Soldiers ran to the weapon racks, snatching swords and bows from the stands, while others got into formation, swinging onto their amicus.

The golden armor sparkled in the flickering firelight, until suddenly an ominous red glow settled over them. My eyes were drawn toward the sky.

There, between the wisps of ashen gray cloud, the blood moon crept out, a glowing red disc as if someone had dipped it in fresh blood. Its light painted the world in apocalyptic red tones, casting long, bloody shadows over the chaos below.

The time had come.

The final preparations were being made with breathless urgency. The amicus stomped restlessly, their flanks quivering with battle lust.

The metallic sounds of swords being drawn from their sheaths mingled with the short, sharp commands of Avery.

A bloodcurdling hiss cut through the air, a sound that chilled my bones. I whirled around, but Alatus reacted faster.

With an abrupt flap of his wings, he dropped us down just as huge, poisonous yellow teeth snapped through the air where we had been seconds before.

“Damn it!” I screamed.

The beast’s scaly wings almost brushed us, sending Alatus into a spin. I clutched at his scales as we went into a controlled dive.

Behind us, the monstrous shape of a Dolor rose up. Its black scales reflected the bloody moonlight, while its slit pupils fixed on us.

“It’s after us!” My cry was lost in the wind.

“No… He’s chasing them!” Alatus replied.

My eyes followed his direction, and my heart skipped a beat.

Below, at the edge of the forest, Devas ran out of the burning undergrowth with Evie in tow. Behind them, no more than ten paces away, creatures burst from the smoke.

Dozens of them. Their gaping mouths, their clawed paws greedily snapping at my friends…

“Burn them!” I shouted.

The words came as a reflex command before I could think properly. I felt Alatus’s body vibrating beneath me—not with fear, but with anticipation.

His scales began to pulsate red-hot, as if a volcano was awakening within him. The heat rippled off his body in visible eddies, causing the air above him to shimmer.

Alatus’s flames burst from his throat. A fiery avalanche pushed itself between the chasers and our friends.

The heat made the air tremble, turning the ground beneath the wall of fire into a boiling sea of lava.

But the creatures didn’t stop. With crazed eyes and foaming mouths, they charged onwards, straight to their deaths.

Their flesh charred before they could even scream, their bodies crumbled to ash, swirling in the glowing wind.

But they kept running. Further and further. Driven by Abaddon’s evil will, which stifled their fear.

I choked down a scream as one particularly large beast struggled through the flames, its burning skeleton plunging three more steps before collapsing.

Devas’s eyes met mine as Alatus soared up beside them. In that brief moment, I read everything in his expression.

Exhaustion. Gratitude. And a resolve that made my heart heavy.

~Avery~… I said in my thoughts.

My call through the mate link was rough with smoke and fear. No more words were needed.

He would understand. He had to.

Above us, something shrieked again—the Dolor veering off, its black wings cutting through the smoke.

My eyes raced over our army, a wall of steel and determination.

Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, bows strung, blades glistening in the bloody moonlight.

Every face was a mask of intense willingness to die.

Then a gust of wind—Evie’s gleaming wings unfurled with a majestic whoosh.

With a single, powerful stroke, she lifted off, Devas’s hand in her grip.

For a moment, I saw their eyes meet—a silent communication between two souls that connected beyond words.

Avery sat atop his amicus, Eyon, whose mane blew in the crimson wind.

Avery’s sword was drawn and ready.

In his eyes burned a fire that would put even Abaddon’s hell to shame.

Yet behind us…

A rumble.

First just a whisper in the darkness, then a roar that shook the ground.

The branches began to snap.

The first shadows stirred among the burning trees.

Growling, snapping—the terrible sound of claws digging into the ground.

They were coming.

Hundreds of them. Thousands.

A flood of claws and teeth, led by a howl that froze my marrow in my bones.

“Brace yourself!” Avery’s voice cut through the hell.

And then—a blast from the horn.

Long and sustained. Piercing.

The warhorn of Antaris.

The battle had begun.