Chapter 74: Chapter 74

IRIS

My eyes frantically searched for Avery in the crowd below me. Screams could be heard from everywhere, not just of struggle, but also of death.

“I’m sure he’s fine…you’d feel it otherwise, Iris,” Alatus said to me.

I hugged him as tightly as I could. My amicus sensed my fear, the pain.

“Hold on tight!” he shouted.

I had only caught a brief glimpse of the picture in front of me. Two Dolors behind us.

This time they hit Alatus’s wings. A sharp pain shot through my body as the piercing teeth of one of the creatures dug deep into Alatus’s wings.

I whirled around and pushed the beast away from us with all my strength, but it only hissed derisively as it finally let go. My amicus hissed with pain.

His wing, which had just shone red with blood, slowly turned blackish in color. I could feel the strength draining from it.

The wing seemed to have died, barely able to move. It was an ambush.

They had attacked us, unwarned.

“Iris!” Avery’s voice rang out in my head.

But Alatus was already hurtling. He whirled around wildly as the second Dolor rushed towards us—and I lost my grip.

My hands reached into the void. Suddenly I detached myself from Alatus’s back, the world spun around me, and then…I fell.

The ground hurtled towards me, far too fast. The air was ripped out of my lungs, not even a scream escaped my throat.

This was it. This was the end.

“I got you,” I heard my brother’s voice.

His Griffin shot towards me, faster than my fall, faster than death. With a single, powerful swing, Aidan grabbed hold of me, yanking me into the safety of his Griffin.

Aidan’s arms wrapped around me, tightly, relentlessly.

“Hold on tight!” he commanded, his voice hard with fury.

I clung to him, my gaze returning to Alatus in desperation.

“Rapax…” Aidan hissed with icy coldness. “Get them.”

My eyes widened when I saw Alatus in front of me. He crumpled to the ground, struggling with the two Dolor.

They were snapping at his throat, trying to rip him to pieces… But then a red light flooded my field of vision.

My aura burst forth, so powerful that it bathed the entire battlefield below us in a glistening red color. Heat pulsed in my hands, flaming and wild, as I pointed them at the Dolor.

Alatus’s eyes met mine. He sensed it.

He felt the rage that roiled within me as if it were his own breath. Rapax pounced on them—but I was faster.

With a scream, I unleashed everything that was burning inside me, directing it at the serpentine beasts that had dared to attack my Alatus. And he understood.

In a lightning-fast movement, Alatus pressed both Dolors against his chest, a deadly grip. My red energy shot towards them, engulfing them in a storm of fire.

Their bodies charred, twitching painfully before dissolving into nothing but ash. The wind carried their dust away.

Aidan’s Griffin landed next to Alatus, and I leapt off him to run to Alatus. His wound continued to eat away, spreading like a dark curse across his second wing.

“Alatus!” My scream was nothing but pure desperation.

He staggered, his heartbeat so frantic I felt every beat in my own chest.

“Watch out…” he gasped, labored.

I spun around and saw it. Another one of those beasts, flying straight towards us.

“You take care of that one…and I’ll take this thing,” Aidan said with icy calm as he pointed in a different direction.

My gaze followed his hand—and my eyes widened. It was a Mortifer.

Ten times the size of us. A walking mountain of muscle and rage whose pounding footsteps shook the ground.

“Aidan!” I yelled, with fear like a knife in my throat.

But my brother just grinned. “Don’t worry…I got this,” he said with a smile.

But it was impossible. We both knew how deadly these things were.

No single person could defeat them—not an elf, not a soldier, not anyone on their own. And the worst of it?

Abaddon didn’t have one Mortifer in his army. He had two.

“Kill the Dolor!” shouted Aidan as he swung himself onto Rapax’s back. “I’m not alone!”

Then I caught sight of them, Devas and Noah, flanked by more soldiers rushing in. I felt relief for a moment.

“You want all the fun for yourself?” Devas shouted with a grin.

Aidan’s response was a wild laugh as he reached out his hand to Devas and pulled him toward him.

Behind me, Alatus tensed his body. His chest shook with gathered strength, then the sky burst into flame.

A stream of fire raced toward the Dolor, engulfing him in a fiery inferno. I was thrown against Alatus’s chest, only to see the serpentine beast plummet from the sky, burning.

Directly into Abaddon’s army. But then…

Belial’s eyes met mine. Cold. Calculating.

“Cut their power,” Abaddon ordered.

The battlefield was one hell of a din—screams, the clash of weapons, the thunder of flapping wings. Fighting bodies of Antaris blocked my view, tearing me away from Belial’s sight.

Then the ground shook. I staggered, clawing at Alatus while the ground shook beneath us.

The Mortifer fell. Its massive head rolled across the blood-soaked field, right at Devas’s feet, who stood triumphantly on the lifeless giant.

Aidan flung the black blood from his sword while Noah calmly brushed the dust from his shoulders. My breath came in gasps. They’d really done it.

Devas grinned like it had been a piece of cake. “Told you…go for the neck.”

Aidan snorted. “Yeah, yeah…do you want to get the next one?” he asked Devas.

His blade pointed at the second Mortifer, which was hurtling straight toward us. But the colossus didn’t get far…two steps.

Then Avery’s power yanked him back—invisible bonds wrapped around his legs like snakes. A stumble.

A lightning bolt. Evangeline’s sword jerked through the air, once…twice, and the legs, weighing several tons, separated from the body.

A resounding roar shook the air, and then the giant crashed to the ground. Antaris’s soldiers pounced on him like wolves.

My heart hammered wildly as my eyes fell on Avery. Antaris was fighting for survival.

Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder, protecting each other’s backs, remaining strong. Not as individuals but as one body, one soul.

Jane and the witches had torn portals into Abaddon’s ranks, traps that ripped his army apart.

Part of his horde was here, the rest gone somewhere in the void, washed through the slithering cracks in reality.

Mana and Keijou with the healers were pulling wounded from the field, their hands glowing with magical effort. We were working together.

And for a fleeting moment, it looked as though we had the upper hand.

Then Abaddon snorted.

A guttural cry pierced the chaos, a command to his servants to escape the portals. But there was nothing but hate in his eyes.

His gaze leapt from Avery to me.

“BELIAL!” he roared.

And at that moment—a voice pierced my skull.

Tender. Almost fragile. Like a lost child’s whisper.

~He will destroy me. Then you will lose your connection to Antaris... and your powers... Please... Help me~, it said.

Avery’s eyes widened. He heard it… He heard my thoughts, the unbelievable pleading that pierced them. Because it was the Tree of Power speaking to me.

No being had ever heard its voice before. And now it begged me.

“The tree!” I cried in a panic.

Avery and I whirled round, our gaze fixed on the mansion.

I glimpsed Belial through the crowds, his black mist carrying him forward. Closer and closer to his destination.

He would destroy the tree...and we would be completely wiped out.

“Quickly!” I shouted to Avery.

But before I could say a word, Alatus grabbed me.

He roared in pain as he spread his wings, as if he was fighting against the poison inside him.

With a leap he took off, but just above the battlefield. My legs were dangling in the air, while countless beasts below snapped at me as Alatus flew over their heads.

He headed unsteadily toward the Mansion, and I turned around to see Avery.

Evangeline followed Alatus, with Avery clutching her hand tightly. Just behind her was Aidan, carrying Devas on Rapax.

Noah and the soldiers held back the oncoming tide of attackers. And Jade and the witches were there to help them.

“Alatus!” I cried out desperately.

Part of me was worried; I could feel his pain. The other part begged him to hurry up.

Belial stumbled through the crowds, his eyes fixed on the Mansion as he emerged from the crowd. A triumphant smile was on his face.

The door of the Mansion shattered as he approached.

And my eyes fell on the Tree of Power… It was helpless.

If we failed against Belial, all it would take was a wave of his hand, and all would be lost.