IMMORTALS

C H A P T E R 9

The sky fractured under the weight of divine steel.

The three Seraphim Dreadnoughts plummeted from the churning clouds like falling stars, landing at the cavern entrance with an impact that cracked the limestone ridge. Each celestial enforcer stood twice the height of a mortal man, clad in plates of impenetrable platinum-silver, their massive wings humming with blinding arcs of white-hot plasma. In their gauntleted hands, they held colossal halberds that leaked raw divine lightning onto the scorched earth.

Mortal archers loosed a volley from the cavern perimeter, but the arrows disintegrated into gray ash the instant they touched the plasma shields.

"Stand firm!" Thalia’s battle cry ripped through the din as she raised her petrified oak shield. "Draw them into the gorge!"

The lead Dreadnought raised its halberd, unleashing a sweeping beam of celestial energy that cleaved a boulder in two, sending a shower of molten stone into the defensive lines. Mortals were hurled into the dirt, coughing through thick plumes of vaporized dust.

Ethan surged forward before the second blast could charge. His blood-forged bronze broadsword glowed with incandescent crimson light as he closed the distance with terrifying mortal agility. He slid beneath the sweeping reach of the first halberd, driving his blade straight into the articulated seam behind the Dreadnought’s knee.

SHZZZT!

The crimson-infused blade bit deep into the celestial armor, hissing violently as it shattered the divine circuitry. Golden blood sprayed across the silt, and the giant warrior let out a metallic groan, dropping to one knee.

"Lili, take the wing!" Ethan roared, using the monster's knee as a springboard to vault upward, driving his blade into the neck joint of the armor.

Lili was already in motion. The crimson heart in her chest blazed with blinding fury, its heat radiating straight through her skin. She bounded off a rocky outcrop, her dark coils whipping in the vortex of wind, and thrust both palms forward. Two swirling lances of untamed mortal flame erupted from her fingertips, striking the Dreadnought’s plasma wing at point-blank range.

The clash of divine lightning and mortal fire created a catastrophic backfire. The wing exploded in a deafening shockwave, throwing the seven-foot titan onto the rocks, where mortal warriors immediately swarmed, driving crimson-tipped spears through the breached armor.

But the remaining two Dreadnoughts adapted with ruthless precision.

The second titan slammed Ethan across the chest with a backhanded swing of its gauntlet. The blow sent him crashing into the cavern wall with sickening force, the breath torn from his lungs as his already-cracked ribs splintered. Ethan slumped to the ground, vomiting dark blood, his sword slipping from his numb fingers.

The third Dreadnought leveled its spear directly at Ethan’s exposed throat, its plasma blade humming with lethal voltage.

"No!" Lili shrieked.

She didn’t think. She didn’t hesitate. Lili threw herself across the rocky ground, placing her own body directly over Ethan’s trembling frame. She locked her arms around his neck, burying her face into his shoulder, preparing to take the divine spear in her back.

Ethan opened his bloody eyes, his fingers desperately clawing at her arms. "Lili... move... please..."

"Never," she sobbed against his ear.

The execution strike descended.

BOOM!

A blinding dome of iridescent silver light materialized out of thin air, deflecting the lethal spear inches from Lili’s back. The force of the divine rebound sent the attacking Dreadnought stumbling backward into the silt.

Standing atop the northern ridge, her silver robes billowing in the mountain wind, was Arthuria. In her delicate porcelain hands, she held the sacred Temple Mirror—a relic stolen directly from the High Council’s inner sanctum. Beside her stood Melin, holding the reins of two heavily armored mountain beasts, her olive face pale but resolute.

"I found the shiny glass!" Arthuria called out with a dreamy, triumphant giggle, her dark eyes sparkling as the mirror in her hands redirected celestial lightning back into the clouds. "Did I bring it to the right garden? There are so many noisy birds down here!"

"Get up, both of you!" Melin yelled, guiding the mounts down the rocky incline. "Jude is channeling the entire sun-core into the beacon at the Lower Bastion! We have less than half an hour before the valley turns to glass!"

Thalia and her surviving warriors brought down the last stunned Dreadnought with a coordinated strike to its core, their crimson blades steaming with golden celestial blood.

Ethan struggled to his feet with Lili’s help, wiping a fresh smear of blood from his mouth. He looked up at Melin and Arthuria on the ridge, then down at the blood-stained earth. The impossible had happened: allies had broken through from inside the golden walls.

Lili cupped Ethan’s jaw, her amber eyes burning with fierce devotion as she pulled his mouth to hers for a breathless, desperate kiss. "Can you ride?"

Ethan caught her waist, his fierce blue eyes locking onto the glowing pillar of the Seraphim Beacon in the distance. "I can fight."

Mounting the beasts alongside Thalia’s vanguard, they charged into the drowned marshes toward the Lower Bastion, racing against the blinding light of total annihilation.