Page 122 of Gray
“Really high.” I held him tighter. “Don’t look down, ’kay?”
“No worries. I won’t.”
I’d never been to the celestial realm before—only to the prison outside of it when Wrath had consumed Galen during the First War and Lazarus had to lock him up. Hopefully we reached it before the high altitude harmed Mason.
Lazarus aimed for a cloud and disappeared when his body hit it. The portal. Alastair stopped in the air and waited for us to pass through before joining us.
The beauty of the celestial realm took my breath away: a bright kingdom with futuristic-styled architecture and a backdrop of clouds as tall as skyscrapers. A waterfall cascaded down a mountain whose peak was so high it couldn’t even be seen. Green meadows, sunshine, and a gentle breeze—the perfect weather was like a warm spring afternoon. The gates weren’t pearly white; they were more of a platinum gold and had sharp points. The palace was situated on a hill in the distance behind them.
I landed in the grass and whispered in Mason’s ear, “You can look now.”
He turned in my arms and gaped. “Wow.”
“Admire it later,” Alastair said, drawing his weapon. “We have a battle to fight.”
The distant clash of swords and guttural cries pricked at my ears. Dark smoke rose on the other side of the gates, so ill-fitting compared to the peaceful scenery around it. The sounds, the fire, the faint stench of death; I knew it all so well.
“Letting you come was a stupid idea,” I told Mason, the fear churning in my gut making me slightly nauseated. “This is no place for a mortal.”
“Hey. Stop that pouting.” He smoothed the pad of his thumb along my bottom lip. “This mortal will fight by your side any day.”
Lazarus summoned his lightning whip and flew toward the battle, the dragons and my brothers closing in behind him. I glanced at them before returning my gaze to Mason. He had faith in me. I needed to believe in him too. Whatever happened on the battlefield, we’d be together. We would get through it.
I wouldn’t accept anything else.
“Come on, then,” I said, grabbing him again.
He smiled as I lifted us back into the air and trailed the others. I landed at the edge of the fighting, and the disturbing sight of angels and demons tearing into each other reminded me of how much I loathed war. Why was so much pain and death necessary?
A memory stirred from when I was young. My dad and I were walking through a meadow after morning training, speaking of war. I had failed to understand the reason for all the bloodshed.
“Can we all not live together in peace?”I’d asked him.
“And how does one have peace? We must fight for it.”
He had firmly believed in that notion. By the mayhem he’d caused, he apparently still did. Only violence could bring peace.
Mason shot an approaching demon. I drew my sword and fought beside him, him shooting and me slashing. Even when he wasn’t in my eyesight, I focused on our connection—that warmth in my chest, the electric sensation in my veins that told me he was close.
Most of the demons were lower-level and easily killed. Grunt soldiers. Disposable in my dad’s eyes. Then again, everyone was disposable to him if it meant getting what he wanted. Several different species of demon were present—reptilian ones, arachnids, bug-like breeds, as well as ones with tusks and some with furry patches. There were more human types too. They had horns and tails but otherwise looked like men.
“Asa and Belphegor aren’t here,”Castor said telepathically. I looked over to see him hovering in the air, golden dagger in hand. The dagger his dad had given him. Kyo stood below him, slashing at the enemy so fast he looked like a blue blur.
“You know how this shit works,”Raiden said.“They set their army loose while they head for the vaults.”
“Raiden’s right,”Alastair responded. He dropped down beside me and took the head off a demon that looked like a cockroach. Green goo oozed from its gaping neck.“I’m going after them.”
“Me too.”I nodded to my eldest brother.
Bellamy appeared to my left, his cheeks speckled with blood—not his.“Like I’d let you bastards go have all the fun without me. I’m going too.”
“We’ll all go,”Alastair said.“The angels have things covered here.”
However, some were still dying, as was the way of war. One angel was yanked from the air and swarmed by demons, yelling as his wings were ripped off. Bellamy rushed forward to help him, but it was too late. As they started tearing off the rest of his limbs, I pushed my face against Mason’s chest, my eyes burning. He held me with one arm, holding his gun with the other.
Once Galen, Castor, and Daman joined us, I grabbed Mason, and we flew over the battle, dodging arrows and fire blasts. Still in his full dragon form, Warrin breathed ice on the demons attacking below us, freezing them solid. The angel warriors then smashed their bodies to pieces with a single hit.
Lev and the twins would keep fighting while we went after Asa and my dad. As we landed on the front steps of the palace, I heard them roar and looked back to see a massive wall of ice—a wall the angels shattered, scattering demon pieces everywhere.
