Chapter 70 SPLITTING UP
CHAPTER 070: SPLITTING UP
Luna stares at her phone like its going to change what it says if she looks enough.
"Go " I tell her. "They need you."
". You need me too."
"I have the others " I say, gesturing to the boys getting ready. "Your group only has you.. Magnus is really sick Luna. You have to go."
Her hands are shaking. "What if I don't see you again?"
"You will. We have a connection remember? You'll feel me no matter how apart we are."
"That's not the same as having you with me."
"I know." I grab her shoulders. Make her look at me. ". Your group raised you and loved you. You can't let them die while you're here with me."
She pulls me into a hug that feels like goodbye. "Stay alive okay?"
"You too."
She changes into her wolf form mid-stride. Takes off running. I watch until the darkness swallows her completely.
"That was the thing to do " Kieran says quietly beside me.
"It doesn't feel right though."
"Never does I guess."
Sofia shows up with a pack. "I'm coming with you."
"Sofia I don't know if that's an idea."
"Don't argue with me. I have research skills that will come in handy.. Someone has to keep you guys from getting killed."
"You're not trained for combat though."
"True,. I have seventy-three defensive charms, forty-two healing potions. I can remember everything I've ever read. So unless you want to go into this blind I should come with you."
Morgana appears out of the shadows. "She's more useful than half your fighters anyway."
"Thanks " Cassian mutters.
"I meant it as a compliment to Sofia, not an insult to you."
"Didn't feel like a compliment though."
We leave under the cover of darkness. There are six of us now. The hole Luna left feels huge. We don't have time to think about it.
Corvuss compass is pulling us north. According to the Covenants message the second seal is in the capital where the first supernatural war ended two thousand years ago.
It'll take us three days to get maybe less if we push ourselves.
The night we camp in a forest that feels too quiet. There are no birds, no insects, nothing. It's like the world is holding its breath.
Kieran takes the watch. I sit beside him. We don't say anything just exist in the comfortable silence we've built over weeks of crisis.
His hand finds mine in the dark. Squeezes once.
"Are you okay?" he asks.
"No, but I'm here with you."
"That's enough I guess."
The night Alaric walks with me away from camp. We end up on a hill overlooking nothing with the stars shining above us.
"Have you thought about what happens after this?" he asks.
"After what?"
"After we stop the Covenant. After the crisis ends. What do you want to happen "
I lean against him. "I don't know. I've been so focused on surviving that I haven't thought about living."
"Think about it now then."
"I want normal. Whatever that means for us. I want to wake up without counting heartbeats. Want to go a week without dying."
"That's a low bar isn't it?"
"Yeah well that's where I'm at I guess."
He kisses the top of my head. "We'll get there. I promise."
The night Cassian makes terrible jokes while we're supposed to be sleeping. Zev throws a boot at him. Cassian sets it on fire. Sofia threatens to poison both of them.
"You're all children " Morgana says from her shadow perch.
"You're the one who laughed at my joke about the vampire and the werewolf walking into a bar " Cassian points out.
"It was actually funny I think."
"Thanks."
"Don't let it go to your head though."
Despite everything I fall asleep smiling.
We reach the capital at dawn on the fourth day.
It's worse than I imagined. The ruins stretch far as I can see with buildings reduced to rubble and bone. Two thousand years of decay and haunting with the air thick with ghosts of the war that destroyed it.
"This place gives me the creeps " Sofia mutters.
"It should " Morgana says. "Ten thousand supernaturals died here in a day. Their pain soaked into the ground."
"That's not comforting I guess."
The temple is at the city center.. Whats left of it. We navigate through streets that don't make sense anymore following Sofias map and Corvuss compass.
When we reach it my stomach drops.
The temple is destroyed. Not ancient destruction,. Fresh. The stone is still. The walls have collapsed inward.
"We're too late " Alaric says.
Sofias already moving through the rubble checking symbols and markers. "The seal was here. Right here in the chamber." She points to scorch marks on the ground. ". Its been broken. Recently. Maybe hours ago."
"Two " I whisper. "Five to go."
That's when I hear it.
The sound of something moving through the ruins. Not one thing,. Many. An army.
"Ambush," Kieran snarls, already shifting.
They pour in from every direction. Corrupted supernaturals with eyes like pits creatures that shouldn't exist nightmares made flesh. Hundreds of them.
"Battle formation " I shout.
We move like we've practiced. Kieran and Alaric take the line using their physical power and speed. Cassian and I provide ranged attacks, with fire and phoenix energy. Zev messes with their minds making them see things that're n't there. Morganas shadows create barriers and traps. Sofia stays in the center protected, throwing charms and healing potions when someone gets hit.
We're good. We're really good.
There are too many of them.
For every enemy we drop three more appear. My silver fire is devastating. I'm burning through energy too fast. Kierans covered in wounds that aren't healing fast. Alarics slowing down. Cassians flames flicker.
"We can't hold this " Zev shouts.
"We have to " I shout back.
Morgana appears beside me her shadows darker than I've ever seen them. "I'll hold them off. You get to Caius."
"No. We don't leave anyone behind."
"You have to. This is bigger than me." Her hands are already moving, pulling shadows from every corner of the ruined city. "I can hold them for ten minutes. That's all you get."
"Morgana—"
"Go!" She releases the shadows. They explode outward creating a massive barrier between us and the army. "Find Caius. Stop him. I'll be fine."
I look at the others. They're torn not wanting to leave her. Knowing she's right.
"Ten minutes " I tell her. "Then we're coming back for you."
"I'll hold you to that."
We run.
Through temple ruins down into depths that shouldn't exist. The compass pulls us deeper through corridors carved from living rock.
We burst into a chamber and stop.
Caius stands over a seal. This one intact glowing with magic thats held for millennia.
He looks up at us. Smiles. " On time."
"Step away from the seal " I say, silver fire already building in my hands.
". What? You'll kill me? We both know you need me alive to find the others."
"Try me."
He laughs. "So predictable, Phoenix. Always the hero. Always ready to sacrifice."
"You're wasting time."
"Am I?. Am I stalling until my backup arrives?"
Footsteps echo behind us.
We spin.
Someone walks into the chamber and my heart stops.
Luna.
Her eyes are wrong. Black, no white no color. Just void.
"Hello, sister " she says in a voice that's n't hers. Its layered with something hungry. "Ready to join us?"
My silver fire gutters out.
"Luna " I whisper.
She smiles with teeth that're too sharp. "Luna's still here. Screaming. It's delicious."
Possessed.
My twin is possessed by the Covenant.
Shes standing between me and stopping Caius from breaking the third seal.
" then " Caius says behind me turning back, to the seal. "Where were we?"
He raises his hands.
The seal begins to crack.
I have to choose between stopping him and saving my sister.