Book 3 in The Ephemeral series.
After the attack on Havenbrooke, Alex Kingsley―a social outcast turned war hero―is now the most powerful woman in Ells. But her life, along with Will's future and the fate of 2,000 demonic prisoners, rests in the han...
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While Will's team approached from the west, creeping through the tunnels beneath the citadel, our soldiers arrived just south of the king's estate. Far too soon, I decided, and far too quickly for my heart to harden itself, for my brain to process the reality of the situation.
Because...this was it.
This next few hours would determine humanity's future. Everything the Fates put me through, every trial I'd endured, all the pain and suffering my hands had inflicted...it had led me here.
Straight to Godric's doorstep.
And unlike other battles, there was no fleeing this demon army today. No running away. No seeking refuge back home. If our numbers dwindled and our bones grew weary, we'd have to fight until our bodies folded. Until blood drowned our lungs, and our hearts stopped beating.
This could very well be humanity's last chapter, and I wasn't sure anyone could mentally fortify themselves for that.
We waited in the forest surrounding the palace, watching our enemy pool at its foundation like an oozing bloodstain, and I scrutinized our opponents across the field.
The Pans stood in v-formation, a lethal arrow pointed at our forces, and it was clear Regulas had spared no soul within Rhea. Young, old, male, female. They were all here, all serving time as his pawns. And somewhere in that mass of steel and leather, my brother unsheathed his sword against his will.
Just hold out a little longer, Tom.
Just a little longer.
As I'd predicted, Regulas had called upon his non-human subjects as well. Demonic animals bolstered his defenses, flying impatiently overhead or pacing the terrain, eager to feed. Among them, I spotted three shapes that resembled my whiskered pals from the Tournament, and my heart flopped against my ribcage at the thought of facing the feral beasts mid-mayhem.
"Gritz," Jackson breathed beside me, his gaze on the sky, his brown bangs shivering in the wind. "We have to destroy that?"
Above the palace, the mother portal pierced a cloud of swirling darkness. Vibrant red fire soared though a beam of obsidian smoke, and lightning flickered inside the vortex like thousands of underwater explosions.
It was much larger than I remembered. Stronger too, as if Regulas had poured every last remnant of his soul into this bridge. Funneling all his energy into this task—into polluting the sky with the netherworld's worst residents.
"We have to. Or it destroys us," I answered.
My gaze lingered on the swarm of Pots circling the portal, and my whole body shivered inside my shell of armor. If we traveled too close to the palace today, we'd subject ourselves to a downpour of soul-eating specters. We could hug the tree line for now, draw out the enemy, but the Pans wouldn't leave the portal undefended for long. We'd have to encroach upon the king's fortress eventually.
