Chapter 178: All hell let loose

Chapter 179

Thane’s POV

I knew exactly what I was looking at before Lucas even opened his mouth to say a word. That gnawing feeling in the pit of my stomach had been right all along and my worst fears were playing out in real time right in front of us. At that exact moment, a wave of regret hit me hard, I wished I hadn’t brought Ruby here, right into the center of it all. The wind began to howl harshly against us, whipped up by more and more dark shadow portals tearing open across the land in front.

In the distance behind us I could hear the heavy rumble of the human military I had mobilized. Their engines loud and breaking through the night with lights too. Following them were the vampire and dragon warriors I’d called upon, I was at least grateful I’d taken the precaution to have them on-site, even if we were currently caught in a deathtrap.

I was just about to turn around and bark an order for Lucas to get Ruby as far away from here as possible, but movement in the corner of my eye stopped me cold. Shadows were melting up from the ground just feet from where we stood, rising like black ink through water. One by one, those waxy shadow figures materialized in a  silent line.

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath, the weight of the situation crashing down on me all at once. “Lucas, take Ruby and her father away... now!” I growled, the urgency tearing at my throat as I physically shoved Ruby behind me to shield her from their sight. But it was like playing a game as rows upon rows of the shadow army suddenly materialized in a perfect endless formation that stretched into the darkness. Then, two familiar figures stepped out to the head of the line, their presence making the air turn even colder.

“Now why would you ask the center of the party to leave? That would be taking away all the fun,” Tautia’s cold voice cut through the wind. His black, soulless eyes snapped onto mine and stayed there filled with amusement. I noticed through my own shadow which was starting to go haywire and lash out in the presence of numerous shadows that he actually seemed weaker than usual.

Then I saw the heavy chain wrapped around his neck and my eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Shadow wielders only wore those chains when they had surrendered their will to another of their kind, someone significantly more powerful than themselves. Who the hell had Tautia surrendered to? That wasn't like him at all.

The question had barely formed in my mind when the ground in front of us seemed to groan and an even larger shadow slowly began to pull itself out of the earth, materializing into a figure that radiated pure suffocating power. I knew immediately that he was stronger than Tautia and it pained me to admit it, but he felt even stronger than I was. The pressure coming off him was just that.

“It is a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Vampire King. I am Zefer.” The giant stood almost twenty feet tall, towering over us all and although he had a human-like face, but his features were unnervingly dark and covered in shifting tattoos that seemed to move under his skin with a massive sword, larger than any human could even hope to lift, rested casually across his shoulder as his voice boomed and making the ground tremble.

“How did I do? My little brother here has been teaching me how to converse in the human language. Ahaha!” He laughed, and the sound alone was enough to trigger my shadows into a defensive frenzy. This was not looking good for us. Not at all.

“Lucas...” I growled again, the sound vibrating in my chest as I glared at him for not having gotten Ruby the hell out of there yet. Why was he still standing there?

“I would like to make this quick. I do not have the frivolous patience that my brother here does, so just hand over the rainbow dragon and her father,” Zefer spoke coldly, his eyes dancing past me to land directly on Ruby with a hungry look and I felt my blood turn to ice.

“Lumine, get them over to the pyre, will you?” He ended, and just like that, the giant vanished into the shadows and I stood there frozen for a split second with that name echoing in my head…It sounded awfully familiar,

Ruby’s POV

Lucas was trying to get me to leave with  his hand tight on my arm as he tried to pull me away but I knew right then that it was not going to work. The war had already come to our doorstep and there was no running from this it was better to face it head-on than to be hunted down like prey in the dark.

But hearing Lumine’s name being mentioned made my eyes snap to the dark elf I had already noticed standing right next to Tautia. She had her face covered, but the veil was immediately dropped as she stepped forward, revealing a face I thought I knew.

I could tell instantly she had been the elf who helped Tautia back then. What the hell had happened? Lumine was no longer a light elf she was now a dark elf with  her skin ashen and her eyes glowing green, I was honestly confused with my brain struggling to catch up with the betrayal even as I could feel our armies marching up to the front lines behind us. I could hear the weapons getting ready too.

‘’Lumine… what is this?’’ I didn't even know when I blurted it out as I took a shaky step forward, pulling away from Lucas’s grip. I just couldn't wrap my head around it.

‘’What? You like the plot twist? Ahahah!’’ she laughed as she slowly walked towards us, her spear slowly forming in her hand and glowing a bright green. ‘’Yes, it was me. It was me all along. It’s funny how Nyx wasted her time working for you all these years and when I killed her, you never even noticed. You all are so easy to fool it’s almost pathetic,’’ she chuckled, her eyes dancing with a cruel light as she closed the distance between us.

‘’You were a dark elf all this time?’’ I was more than surprised. Ash had always acknowledged her as a light elf and even me so she had been the enemy the whole time and not Ash.

‘’Yep! A light elf can turn dark after their first kill, and mine were my parents, so that’s a long time ago. Now let’s get this party started. For old time’s sake, just come with me. I promise your death will be as painless as you deserve, and your father’s will be even faster,’’ Lumine said with a large, mocking smile on her lips. I didn't even know how to react to that kind of cold-blooded talk. I understood her wanting me because of the dragon cortex, but why my father too? What did he have to do with this? It didn't make any sense.

Before she could even take another single step in my direction, I was surprised to see Thane’s shadow move with a shocking flash. It spread across the ground in an instant and swallowed Lumine up before she could even raise her spear. It opened back up in the next second, and a mangled pulp of what remained of her fell to the muddy ground. I couldn't even bring myself to feel bad about it.

‘’I should have done that a long time ago,’’ Thane said coldly with his voice vibrating. In the next second, his massive shadow sword materialized in his hand. ‘’Lucas, take Ruby now and go just like we discussed… I’ll hold them back,’’ Thane ordered, his voice leaving no room for argument. Just as the words left his mouth, his huge shadow wings came bursting out of his back, tearing through his clothes.

‘’I would miss trying to kill you Thane, but sadly, you will die tonight,’’ Tautia finally spoke up. His own sword materialized in his hand and his shadow spread down to his feet and without another word, the two of them clashed in the center of the field.

Their swords clanged together so loud I could feel the hairs on my body stand on end from the sheer force of the impact. Then, all hell broke loose. Attacks flew from both ends of the battlefield.