Page 37 of Outcast

There was already weight on my shoulders since becoming leader but now I felt it so much stronger. If I failed, it could be the end for us all. The gods were depending on me. Failure was not an option.

“We can’t let them get inside,” I said.

“How do we stop them?” Hiro asked. “If we think we can fight them off, why didn’t we fight them there?”

“I’m stronger here,” I reminded him. “We all are,” I said as I pulled on Helheim even more, letting it fill my entire being. With a quick swipe of my hand, the blue fires of Helheim lapped at the outer walls of Dark Haven, creating a barrier around the building but causing it no harm.

I’d never infused my magic with more intention than I did now, depending on Helheim to keep it safe as the blue inferno blazed between us. The demons who would harm this building were no longer a part of Helheim, and I needed it to recognize the difference. Maybe my expectations were far too high, but I refused to think otherwise.

A thump from above had rocks falling into the fires below. A smile spread across my face at the sight that greeted me. A full army of gargoyles stood ready to fight. They’d apparently pieced themselves together and were ready to fight beside me.

“Let’s join them,” I told the others. They didn’t question me as we walked through the flames again and through the building to the rooftops above.

When we arrived, a black fog had rolled in, deepening by the second until it was too opaque to see through.

The demons were coming, but we were ready.

ChapterFifteen

Harlow

The demons waged an assault against Dark Haven, but they have yet to get past the flames. It was as if they couldn’t comprehend the fact they no longer were in control here, or had access to the portal. Helheim had rejected them and no amount of throwing themselves at the flames would change that.

They were a dying species. And that was the only thing that would save this world.

If they gave up long enough for me to figure out the portal, at least.

The demon army below outnumbered us at first. With the gargoyles back, that was no longer an issue. I just hoped this gave the humans in the city a moment of peace from the hell they’d been living in. With the demons focus on us, they couldn’t torture them.

Crew stood in the street with the demons, glaring up at Dark Haven. The anger on his face at our location only solidified my suspicions. He mentally unraveled while he was here and they took advantage of that, using all of his inner dark thoughts against him, twisting them until it was all he knew. After that, he was already in their pocket.

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Layne’s whisper was so full of sadness I couldn’t help but pull her into a hug.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to fix this,” I admitted. “He’s not Crew anymore. But I’m going to try if I can.”

She sniffled and nodded as she backed out of my hold. I hated that my best friend was still dealing with the inner battle on top of being abandoned by someone she loved. And that was all after witnessing our deaths and not knowing we survived somehow.

The only thing I could do is bring her back to Helheim with Stravos, but to do that, she’d have to die. And killing my best friend was not an option.

Though, if she stayed in Ridgefield or Dark Haven much longer, the choice would be taken from both of us. She had no medical care here, no support outside of Sarah, and with the portal closed, I wasn’t sure Stravos could stay.

Layne and I watched as another row of demons ran at the flame, turning to ash on impact. There was a moment of angry outcries before the next row moved into place. They clearly weren’t the brightest adversaries, but they were relentless.

“This is going to end at some point, right?” Layne’s words were more of a plea than a question.

“It has to,” I answered honestly. There was so much more at stake than she knew. I didn’t give her a rundown of Odin’s encounter and my impending death if I didn’t close it.

“Fuck this,” Drake growled as the next wave of demons ran to the flames. “I’m not standing up here and waiting for something to happen.”

Without warning, he dove off of the building, not caring there was way too much distance to the ground. I shouldn’t have worried. He hit the ground with ease and ran forward, sword slicing through the front row.

“Son of a bitch,” I muttered before turning to Monty. “Get me down there.”

“Gladly,” my commander obliged, wrapping shadows around me and carrying us to the battle below.

I was ready the moment he cleared them, running into the fray with my spear out, stabbing into a row of demons and cutting straight through three in one go. Pulling it back out was just as easy and I kept moving, sending a silent thank you to the quartermaster who’d given it to me. I was cutting down demons as if they were nothing more than shadows.

Soon the streets were so full of smoke and ash it was impossible to see. Thanks to the new bond, I could feel my men and where they were so there was no accidental maiming involved.

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