Chapter 24: The battle 2
841 Words
NOAH'S POV
I felt tears starting to form in my eyes.
"I can't lose you," I said.
"And I can't live with myself if I let everyone else die," she said.
The white light took over her eyes again, and Pyritha's voice returned.
"The decision is made," she said. "Now we need to prepare."
"Prepare for what?" Alex asked.
"For the greatest battle any of us has ever seen," Pyritha said. "Because once we start moving toward the Void Cavern, every creature hunting us will follow. And they won't give up without a fight."
"How many creatures are we talking about?" Elias asked.
Pyritha walked over to the window and looked out at the glowing forest.
"All of them," she said simply.
"All of them?"
"Every shadow demon, every blood wraith, every bone collector that has ever been created," she said. "Plus the ancient vampires who summoned them. Plus whatever else they decide to bring to the party."
"That's impossible," Maya said. "We can't fight that many creatures."
"We don't have to fight them," Pyritha said. "We just have to outrun them long enough to reach the cave."
"And then what?" I asked.
"Then we pray that the cave is as inescapable as your friends think it is," Pyritha said.
She turned away from the window and looked at each of us.
"I need all of you to understand something," she said. "This is not a rescue mission. This is a suicide mission. Most of us probably won't survive."
"Then why are we doing it?" Elder Sarah asked.
"Because if we don't, everyone dies anyway," Pyritha said. "At least this way, some people might live."
I looked at Daisy's face, at the creature who was controlling her, and felt my heart breaking.
"There has to be something else we can try," I said desperately.
That's when we heard a loud crash from somewhere in the pack house.
Everyone turned toward the door, listening.
Another crash. Then another.
"What is that?" Elias whispered.
Alex and Maya both pulled out weapons I hadn't seen before. Alex had a silver sword, and Maya had a bow with arrows that glowed with magical energy.
"The barrier," Maya said grimly. "It just failed."
Pyritha smiled, and flames began dancing around her hands.
"And so it begins," she said.
The crashing sounds were getting closer. And now I could hear something else. Footsteps. Lots of them. Coming up the stairs toward the guest room.
"They're in the house," Elias said, shifting into his defensive stance.
"How is that possible?" Elder Sarah asked. "The pack guards should have stopped them."
"The pack guards are probably dead," Alex said bluntly.
I felt rage building in my chest. These creatures had invaded my territory, destroyed my homes, and now they had killed my people.
"Everyone stay behind me," I said, starting to shift into my wolf form.
"No," Pyritha said, putting her hand on my arm. "Let me handle this."
The footsteps stopped right outside the guest room door.
Then someone knocked.
Not the violent pounding I would have expected from monsters. Just a polite, gentle knock.
"Come in," Pyritha called out.
The door opened, and Lucien walked into the room.
But something was wrong with him. His skin was glowing with a faint silver light, and his eyes had changed from their normal color to bright gold.
"Hello, everyone," he said with a smile. "Sorry I'm late to the party."
"Lucien," I said. "What are you doing here? And what's wrong with your eyes?"
"Nothing's wrong with them," he said. "They're just... upgraded."
He looked around the room, taking in the weapons Alex and Maya were holding, the defensive postures everyone had taken.
"Relax," he said. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here to help."
"Help with what?" I asked.
"With getting to the Void Cavern alive," he said. "Because right now, this pack house is surrounded by about three thousand very angry creatures. And they're not planning to wait much longer before they attack."
I went to the window and looked out. Lucien was right. The entire territory was swarming with shadow demons, blood wraiths, and things I didn't even have names for.
"How did they get past the pack defenses so quickly?" Elder Sarah asked.
"Because they didn't attack the defenses," Lucien said. "They attacked the defenders. Every pack guard, every patrol, every wolf who was supposed to be protecting this place. All dead."
I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.
"All of them?" I whispered.
"I'm sorry, Noah," Lucien said. "I tried to save as many as I could, but there were too many creatures."
"How many of my pack members are left alive?" I asked.
"The ones in this house," Lucien said. "And maybe a few others who managed to hide or escape. But not many."
I sank down into the chair next to Daisy's bed, feeling overwhelmed
by grief and anger.
My pack was gone. Most of my people were dead. And it was all because of the creatures hunting Daisy.
- Writer
