Chapter 34

THIRTY-FOUR

ELLIE

I hovered high above the battle, letting my lightning rain down on the army that was overwhelming our small numbers. There was no tomorrow, no holding back for any of us. We either won or we died here. Savina had a mountain of bodies around her and yet she still continued firing her red lightning in all directions, inflicting pain wherever she saw fit. Pieces of their army continued to fight each other, but it wasn’t enough. They had numbers on their side.

In the distance, a beam of bright white light flashed and nearly blinded me. YES! Collins! A pillar of white power rose from the mountains where Crystal Henge would be. It looked like one of those mushroom clouds they had at bomb-testing sights. A shock wave of colorful magic rolled out from it and toward us. It twisted and rolled in an array of colors toward us. I flew toward Savina and dropped down next to her.

“Incoming!” I yelled a moment before the shock wave hit the troops.

It knocked the warriors off their feet, flinging some of them back and throwing them into the masses.

I grabbed Savina’s arm and yanked her to the ground. “Face down, hands over your eyes, breath through your teeth!”

“What?” Her brow furrowed.

“Just do it.” I pressed my face to the ground just as the wave hit us.

The wind was so strong it felt like being in one of my tornados. Magic hung heavy in the air and pressed down on us. The world quaked around us, and the snow vibrated over the ground. The sound of cracking ice filled the air, and I felt the earth shift beneath me. I held on to Savina until it passed over us. Once it did, silence hung in the air for only a second. I sprang back to my feet to find the army closing in around us.

We stood with our backs to each other, facing these behemoth things as they lurched forward. I opened my hands and let my magic gather. “You ready for this?”

“Literally always.” Savina snickered.

I ran at the warrior closest to me and used my wind to launch myself up. I landed on his shoulders, and he swung his arms up trying to reach me. But like a bodybuilder with too much muscle, he could barely lift his arms out straight. I threw my arms up and called my power. Lightning struck down into the top of his head. His whole body electrified and glowed a bright purple. His back arched and he threw his arms out to his sides, and my electric shock traveled through five other soldiers, taking them all down at once.

He toppled, and I leapt off him as his face smashed into the ground and sent snow flying up around him. I skidded across the ground and landed just beside Savina.

“Nice.” She threw her arms out and took down four more warriors who’d gotten too close.

I sucked in heaving breaths, ready to turn to the next fight, when a shadow flew overhead. I looked up and my jaw dropped. Excitement flooded through my body. “Oh my God. It’s happening! This is actually happening!”

Jada soared over our heads followed by a flock of multi-colored crystal eagles. Each was a vibrant, striking color that lit up the gray sky like a rainbow. They held pieces of trees from the moldavite forest.

Savina’s eyes widened. “Is that?”

“The NO-NO STONE! MOVE!” I opened my hands and the wind whipped around the two of us. I caught Savina with a tornado and lifted her up next to me just as the eagles started dropping the chunks of crystal trees like bombs over the army.

They shattered into pieces, taking out lines of the army and crushing them to pieces. They tore up the ground, and they rolled like boulders, destroying everything in their path. Jada was holding her bow and pointing them in all different directions. Aphid flew to her side. They seemed to have some kind of silent communication.

He turned and bellowed to the eagles. “Reload, reload!”

The eagles circled back toward the forest just as more crystal animals emerged. There were deer, goats, bulls, tigers, panthers, and so much more. They emerged from the trees like an angry tide that was going to drown the army, their animalistic cries filling the air.

“Are you seeing this?”

I couldn’t believe it. This was better than any comic book I’d ever read. An army of crystal animals barreling into battle. The stags and moose all threw their antlers around, impaling anyone in their path. The big cats leapt on top of the warriors, going for their jugulars. They bit into their necks, spilling their blood over the ground. Their faces were shocked when faced with the animals, as if they’d never seen animals of any sort before.

Savina held on to my arms with a pinching grip. “I see it. Collins must’ve made friends while she was here.”

I flew us to the frontlines, and we watched the creatures run through the army, wreaking complete havoc. They leapt into the fray with Jada and Aphid leading the charge. The other fae gathered behind the wall of crystal animals. They picked off the soldiers who made it through the animal attacks. They’d lived in a constant state of survival, and now that anger was coming to the forefront. The creatures of Third Realm were cutting a swath through the army. Yet more spilled in through those rifts.

I opened my hands and let my purple flames explode on either side of the battlefield, trapping the warriors there. I looked to the horizon, hoping to see any sign of Stellan or Weston. The snow started to slow and yet there was no sign of him. Panic suffocated me.