Chapter Forty-seven

Thea's whole body trembled with the force of the raw power as she stood. Wren did the same beside her, the pair of them standing over Anya's body as her magic wove its way into the very fabric of their own.

Something unseen tugged at the corner of Thea's senses, and she moved on instinct, conjuring a vibrant bolt of lightning at her fingertips and hurling it into the dark —

A scream echoed off the walls and a reaper staggered forward, only to be hit with another bolt, this time by Wren's hand.

The monster lurched towards them, and Thea was glad. Her magic surged: lightning, wind and rain swirling into a fiery vortex that she sent hurtling towards the reaper, right for its heart. The air around her and Wren crackled, and they speared the creature with bolt after bolt of pure energy.

They burned out its dark heart, but it wasn't enough – not for Thea, and by the look in Wren's eyes, not for her either. With lightning and thunder they would avenge Anya, and they would bring the fucking reapers and their ilk to their knees.

As though Thea had voiced the challenge aloud, a fresh wave of howlers, wraiths and arachnes swarmed the broken gates and scaled the walls of Thezmarr.

‘Gods,' Wren muttered in disbelief. ‘Even with storm magic, we…'

‘We won't last,' Thea finished for her, looking to where Wilder, Talemir, Torj, Vernich, Drue, Adrienne and Dratos all fought at the heart of the courtyard. They were exhausted, even those with Furies-given strength.

Thea scanned the grounds, looking for something – anything – that might help. Cal was on the wall with his archers, but there were only a handful of them now, and judging by the intervals between arrows, they didn't have many left.

‘Wren.' Thea turned to her sister. ‘Gather as many arrows from the fallen as you can. Take them up to Cal. Blast any enemy with lightning as you go.'

‘Shouldn't we stay together?'

‘I'll find you again, but right now, we need Cal guarding us from above, and if he doesn't have —'

‘Find me,' Wren cut her off, and started wrenching arrows from the corpses around them.

Beyond the fortress walls, by Thezmarr's cliffs, darkness gathered. It loomed low in the sky, an otherworldly presence that made Thea's skin crawl. There had been no sign of Jasira since her declarations, nor had they faced all the rheguld reapers at the princess' disposal. Tearing her eyes away from the shadows on the cliffs, Thea was willing to bet that was where they were. That desolate place at the edge of the world was where all these fucking monsters were pouring from.

She fought her way to Wilder and the others, throwing bolts of lightning as she moved. When she reached them, she realised there was someone missing.

‘Where's Kipp?' she shouted above the chaos, driving her blade into a howler's gut and kicking it away to free her sword. Her limbs were heavy with exhaustion, and her chest ached for Anya, whose body lay amid the wreckage. It didn't feel real.

‘Haven't seen him,' Vernich replied as he slit the throat of a wraith and left Drue to cut out its heart.

Panting, Thea turned to Torj, but the Bear Slayer shook his head.

‘I can't remember the last time —'

But he was cut off as an arachne leapt from the walls, its fangs aimed right for him. He ducked and rolled just in time, as Thea threw a ball of lightning at its face.

The monster didn't even shriek. Its body simply spasmed as the lightning burned it from the inside out and it collapsed in a heap atop the rest of the carnage.

Thea twirled her blade and fell into the dance of death. Slice, thrust, parry, slice, thrust, parry. But it didn't matter how many monsters she slayed – more spilt across the walls and through the gates, as though their numbers were endless, as though their units were being replenished by the second. Wraiths blocked out the sliver of moonlight, charging from that billowing cloud of black on the cliffs.

Wilder's gaze met hers, and she saw the sadness there. As more and more monsters swept into the courtyard and the allies' strength flagged, she heard the unified intake of breath from her friends. This was it; it truly was to be their final stand.

Had they made it worthy of legend? She didn't know, not anymore.

No amount of lightning could save them from this assault. They had done all they could.

And they had failed.

The scent of burnt hair was nearly choking, and the hissing of the attacking creatures set Thea's teeth on edge, even as she raised her blade again, her arms aching. Darkness swept across the fortress in a heavy fog —

A horn blasted through it, echoing off the remaining walls and rubble, followed by the thundering sound of hundreds of hooves.

‘What the fuck…' Thea craned her neck, blood roaring in her ears.

The riders bore no sigil she recognised, their armour foreign and strange to her. More of Jasira's forces from beyond the Veil? Her throat constricted as she saw their flag dancing in the savage winds. She didn't know it.

Clutching her sword so hard her knuckles threatened to split, Thea dug deep. She could rally her power once more, enough to give the allies a fighting chance against the fresh wave of enemy forces spilling into Thezmarr. Storm magic gathered beneath her skin, surging to her fingertips, ready to be weaponised once more —

Horses flooded the courtyard, breaking through the deluge of shadow, their riders wearing full armour, their swords gleaming in the flickering light of the moon.

Thea whirled around, trying once again to find a banner she could recognise, a marker of some kind as the warriors stormed towards the monsters, shouts of triumph and determination on their lips as they cleaved through the enemy.

And then, Thea saw her at the helm.

Audra.

With a warrior's cry, the older woman raised her blade and split a howler in two, blood spattering across her pristine armour and shield.

A strangled sound escaped Thea. Audra was here, and she had brought the former women warriors of Thezmarr with her. They moved as one unified, disciplined unit, a force to be reckoned with. Thea gaped as Audra led her army in an assault on the first line of monsters, beating them back, slicing them open, trampling them beneath warhorses.

A fresh burst of lightning coursed through Thea as she witnessed history in the making. Here, in the face of unending darkness, the laws of old men meant nothing. Their words and rulings held no weight.

At the sight of their new allies, the remaining Warswords, the shadow-touched and their comrades rallied, gathering together. With another bone-chilling battle cry, Audra raised her sword and led the charge from the perimeter, the army of women warriors at her back.

Thea joined the fray, and from above, Cal rained arrows down on the enemy charging at them, fire bursting to life before them. Thea became one with the force of women, charging their steel with her lightning, blasting monsters from their path —

Vines shot out from the ground and the surrounding rubble.

Screams of agony pierced the air.

The vine blight roared to life, its arms surging forward for new hosts. Thea's heart leapt into her throat. Another wraith advanced on Audra. Without thinking, Thea let the jewelled hilt of her ceremonial dagger leave her fingertips in a blur of silver. She watched as it soared through the air, spiralling towards Audra —

It embedded in the monster's face, mere inches from the former librarian, who didn't hesitate. She wrenched the weapon from the wound and grinned wildly as the creature disintegrated before their very eyes.

Audra's warriors had seen it too, and looked from their fearless leader to Thea, understanding something that she herself did not.

Audra fought her way to Thea's side and handed the jewelled dagger back. ‘You're not done with this,' she said.

Bewildered, Thea took it and sheathed it at her belt, just as a swell of howlers came forth.

The women warriors rallied, not to Audra, but to Thea.

‘Shield wall!' she bellowed over the mayhem, praying to the Furies that the women would —

Metal flashed in Thea's peripheral vision, followed by countless rhythmic thuds and the scrape of steel.

Dozens of shields slid into place around her, one after the other.

And across the blood-soaked battlefield, an impenetrable wall of steel formed.

‘Brace,' Thea cried, lightning surging at her fingertips as she charged the metal with her power. ‘On my count, raise and bring them down hard.'

No one questioned her. No one flinched at the magic pouring from her and into those shields.

‘Raise!' she shouted.

The wall lifted as one.

‘Down!' she cried.

As the shield wall hit the bloody ground, lightning rushed across it in a wave, and obliterated the row of monsters in its path.

A triumphant cheer echoed down the line of women warriors, someone even clapping Thea on the back.

‘Someone's learnt a thing or two,' Audra said, leaping down from her horse and surveying the piles of monster corpses.

‘Anya's dead,' Thea blurted, the words sounding foreign on her tongue. ‘The true Daughter of Darkness was Jasira, Audra. It was Jasira all along —'

Thea didn't realise how much she was shaking, not until Audra gripped her shoulder and steadied her. ‘We are all daughters of darkness, Thea. We were born into a world of it, a place that would dictate the way in which we defend ourselves, the way we live our lives. No more. That world is no longer. And the next one will be what we make it.'

Audra's words washed over Thea like a wave, and her former warden gave her a nod before throwing herself back into the fighting.

Thea took a breath, and found her magic waiting, a new surge of energy, a new purpose coursing through her.

And then, with bolts of lightning like spears in her hands, she unleashed herself upon the monsters.