Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

“This way!” Geraldine cried, leading Tory and I through the tunnels where we ran our hands over the heads of the rebels as they bowed to us to ‘bless them.’

I knew I didn’t have any kind of real power to offer a blessing, but I also knew the power of belief. And if they thought this would help, then I guessed it did.

Tory begrudgingly joined in too and I kept casting concerned glances her way, thinking of Darius, my chest crushing every time I caught sight of the pain in her eyes. It was hidden beneath a hard wall, but I could read my sister like a book. And honestly, I wanted to be done here so I could just take her flying with Gabriel and go somewhere quiet where I could hold her in my arms. Or maybe she’d want to return to Darius as soon as we could leave the rally. All I knew was that she’d just married the man she loved right after finding out that their time together was running short, and now she was having to put her heart aside in favour of the war. I hoped Lionel burned for all the destruction he’d caused when this was done.

I was relieved when Geraldine called out to demand a break for us and led us back to the dining hall, through to the room at the back of it which had been reserved just for us. There were comfortable chairs and a silencing bubble in place to give us some semblance of peace and Tory groaned in relief as she moved towards a chair sat by a raging fire which looked like a real slice of heaven.

Geraldine patted me on the head fondly then turned and trotted back out of the room gasping something about a royal snack being required urgently.

Orion was having a tense looking discussion with Gabriel and as Tory slumped into her chair, I moved to join them. Orion’s arm slid smoothly around me and I stole a moment of relief in his hold, resting my head against his shoulder and closing my eyes, not even hearing what he was talking about with my brother as my pulse seemed to drum too slowly in my ears.

The longer my eyes stayed closed, the more exhausted I felt, and as I tugged on my magic, intending to cast a wakeful spell to give me a boost, what came in its place was a wave of burning hot rage. I was angry at this war, at fucking Lionel and the threat that hung over us all, which put every single person I loved in danger.

“The Heirs are gone, they left a couple of hours ago,” Gabriel’s voice cut through the fog of my thoughts.

“Gone?” Tory gasped, sitting upright with her eyes widening. “What do you mean gone?”

“Their families are in danger,” Gabriel explained. “Darius went with them to help.”

“In danger how? When will they be back? Why didn’t they come get us?” Tory demanded in a panic.

“I am fairly sure they will return,” Gabriel said.

“Fairly sure? That’s not good enough,” Tory snapped. “Is that like the way you were fairly sure taking Darius to bargain with the stars was a good idea last Christmas?”

My eyes shot open and I lunged at Gabriel with a snarl, shoving his chest with flames in my hands and he cursed as he stumbled back.

I gasped as I realised what I’d done and Orion pulled me away from him.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,” I said in horror as Gabriel healed the burns on his chest, his shirt smoking where I’d singed right through it.

Gabriel frowned at me and I realised Tory was looking at me in surprise too, making shame burn along my neck as her anger with Gabriel fell away in favour of concern for me.

“I’m sorry,” I repeated.

“What’s wrong, Blue?” Orion turned me to him, looking at me with worry instead of the anger I should have seen there.

Gabriel stepped closer to me, cupping my cheek as he looked into my eyes and I felt like he was looking directly into my soul as he hunted for something within my gaze.

“What is it?” Tory demanded of him, but Gabriel shook his head, a frown crossing his features.

“I can’t see…” he murmured though the frown on his face meant that wasn’t at all reassuring.

A boom sounded that resounded through the entire Burrows, the tremor rocking the ground at my feet and a chill washing over me that froze me to my bones.

“What was that?” Tory gasped, but the answer came in the form of shouts going up all around the tunnels.

“The wards are down!”

“The boundary has fallen!”

“Prepare yourselves!”

Then screams, pitchy, blood-curdling screams.

The sound was coming from somewhere above us in the tunnels and panic washed through me like jet fuel catching fire.

“Go!” I cried, racing for the door and my family fell in around me as we ran out into the dining hall.

“It’s the Nymphs – they’re in the tunnels,” someone burst into the hall and started working to seal the exit with his earth magic.

“Stop – you’ll seal us all in.” An older woman near to him pulled at his arm.

I could see that chaos was about to unfold and as more screams carried through the tunnels – closer this time – I knew we couldn’t stop the tide of monsters that was coming. But we could get the vulnerable away from the fight and intercept our enemies head on ourselves.

“Dante!” I shouted as I saw him, running to his side as the Oscura Wolf pack drew tight around him.

“Get the children and elderly out of here. We need to make a new tunnel,” I said quickly.

“I can do that,” Rosalie said as she took to his side.

“I’ll stay with them and protect the kids,” Leon said fiercely, fire igniting in his palms.

“Tunnel out the back wall.” Tory pointed and they ran off to get started, a bunch of earth Elementals hurrying over to help.

I turned to Orion, trying to keep calm as more screams sounded out in the tunnels. “Get our armour and weapons,” I directed. “We’ll head for the exit to stop them and block their way in. Meet us there.”

He nodded before shooting away out of sight into the passage and I turned to Gabriel, his eyes moving back and forth as he hunted the stars for answers. But when he came back to us, his features were grave.

“I couldn’t see them coming,” he cursed. “And now I see so much death, I cannot bear it.”

“Is Lionel here?” Tory demanded, a growl to her voice.

Her answer came in a bellowing roar from the surface and every Fae in the room looked up, before a swarm of them came running towards us.

“My Queens, what do we do?” one of them called, while others cried out for more direction.

I shared a look with Tory, unsure if I was truly ready to lead an army into battle, but it didn’t look like we were going to get a choice in the matter. And if Lionel was here, then a fight was coming, and we had to do our best to lead it.

“Hamish!” I cried and he burst out of the crowd. “Arm the rebels. Get the blades we imbued with our fire and make sure everyone has one.”

“Yes, my lady.” He ran back off into the crowd, drawing a group of people around him to help, including Washer and some of the Oscuras.

“We have to stop the Nymphs from getting in here,” Tory called.

“Follow Tory and I to destroy our enemies!” I yelled and a cheer of ascension went up that rattled the roof.

“I’ll follow you shortly.” Gabriel ran over to his family, speaking with them urgently and my heart squeezed with dread as my gaze fell on my little nephew. A snarl spilled from my throat. I would not let any harm come to him today.

Tory and I let our wings burst free of our backs, the dresses we wore allowing for them to spread wide either side of us. We took off above the rebels, swooping through the door and calling out for our people to follow.

Mothers pushed through the rebels with their children, trying to get them out of the way as Dante, Leon and Rosalie Oscura worked together with the earth Elementals to deepen the new tunnel in the back wall and usher all of the families through it.

A surge of bloodthirsty eyes looked up at us as the Fae who wanted to fight spilled out into the passage beyond the dining hall and we led them away from the vulnerable, hurrying towards our enemies to stop them.

As we flew through the winding tunnels, rage burned along my veins and fire spun within me like an inferno. This place had become a home to us, somewhere full of light and laughter and love. And I was not going to see it fall.

We flew over Hamish and Washer as they handed out swords to the front line, arming our people as we raced on and anyone who had a blade in their grip followed.

I pressed two fingers to my throat, casting an amplifying spell so my voice rang back to the rebels, glad Orion had taught me how to do it properly. “Lionel may have found us, but what he doesn’t know is that he’s standing on a nest of wild creatures! We are a family forged in the dirt, ready to fight with everything we have for the people we love, for the freedoms he stole from us! So let him hear us coming, let us roar like the beasts we are when we’re together! And let him fear the trembling at his feet, for he has awoken us, and we are ready to fight with tooth and claw!”

The rebels roared in response, the sound filling up the corridors just as we rounded another passage and a line of Nymphs descended on us. 

Tory grabbed my hand and our Phoenixes collided, a burst of blooming fire tearing out of us and slamming into the first wave of Nymphs. We took two down with the blast and the rebels pressed forward, swinging their blades as Phoenix fire ignited along the metal and slashed through the Nymphs.

The horrifying sound of Nymphs rattles carried through the air, locking down my magic and the magic of anyone close to them, making me growl a curse.

Tory and I blasted Nymphs with our power as we continued to fly, pressing on toward the farmhouse, desperately needing to seal the entrance to The Burrows as fast as we could.

Our Order powers rushed together once more and the Phoenix bird burst from us, my heart thundering up into my throat as I watched it sail away, colliding with one Nymph then the next, taking them down as they were turned to ash that scattered over the crowd who swarmed chaotically below us.

“We have to destroy Lionel,” Tory snarled.

“Let’s get to the surface,” I said in agreement and we flapped our wings, moving faster through the passages. The cry of battle went up all around us, the glint of fury in the eyes of our people below us, their courage bolstering my own as the two of us swooped along above the masses.

More Nymphs barred the way forward and raging fights broke out everywhere in the passages as we flew, casting our Phoenix fire at any Nymphs we came close to and banishing them into death.

Their rattles echoed through the atmosphere, locking down our people’s magic and weakening our forces just like that. More and more of our allies were shifting and we cried out to anyone who had yet to do so, urging them to take on their Order forms or keep fighting on with their Phoenix flame swords.

As we made it to the passage that led outside, we found carnage awaiting us.

Geraldine was already there with her armour in place and her flail in hand as she fought to keep the Nymphs back. They were fighting their way through the archway where the grandfather clock had been, the whole wall of earth now ripped apart to leave a gaping hole into the farmhouse. We flew forward as Geraldine worked to seal up the hole alongside another group of earth Elementals and Tory and I dropped down before her.

“We’ll make a wall of Phoenix fire, stand back,” Tory commanded and they hurried to obey as we raised our hands together as another tide of Nymphs dove forward to try and make it through the hole.

A billowing plume of fire tore away from us and the Nymphs shrieked, some dying in the blast as the fire curled around the entrance in an impenetrable wall and the tide of Nymphs was finally halted. The rattles fell away as they retreated from our flames and my magic returned to me, power crackling at my fingertips.

“Kill any of them who remain in the tunnels – the breach is sealed!” I cried, amplifying my voice once more so all the rebels could hear.

“Geraldine, get everyone enforcing the roof here, don’t let anyone tunnel in,” Tory commanded.

“Yes, my lady,” she said, her eyes fierce as she started directing people to tighten up the defences.

“Blue!” Orion shouted, shooting up behind us with weapons and our armour in his grip.

“Thank god.” I stripped out of my dress immediately.

Tory snatched a blade, cutting the red lace of her wedding dress open instead of wasting time with the ties and we pulled our armour on, sheathing the new blades we’d made for ourselves while Orion held his sword at the ready, a darkness in his eyes that I felt in my own soul.

Xavier and Sofia appeared riding on the back of Tyler in his silver Pegasus form, galloping towards us. Xavier had his metal Phoenix fire helmet strapped to his head, ready for when he shifted, and he looked to us as Tyler slowed to a halt.

“We have to get to the surface,” Xavier said urgently. “We have to get to my father.”

I nodded as Orion tossed Xavier and Sofia a couple of blades.

“Geraldine!” I called, an idea coming to me and she ran to us in an instant.

“How can I be of service?” she asked.

“We need to make a tunnel up to the surface so the rebels can get out and fight,” I said.

“Absolutely, let me assist you. And once it is done, I shall follow at your backs like a nighthawk and cry to the moon the toll of death!”

I nodded to her as a line of rebels built behind us, all armed and looking ready to bleed for victory.

“Follow us!” Tory cried. “We’re going to the surface! Fight for freedom!”

“For freedom!” they yelled in reply and Tory and I blasted a hole in the wall to our right, cleaving it apart with earth magic, creating a path big enough for the rebels to follow as Geraldine widened it all around us.

Orion stood at my back with his sword raised and we shared a look that said we’d fight with all the fury of our love out there today. I’d fight for them all, for my him, my sister, for my brother, for the family I’d found in Solaria and who were so precious to me, it was easy to stand here, ready to die for them.

“Stay close,” I breathed and a promise flared in his eyes.

“I’m always in your shadow, you only have to look to find me there,” he said, raising his chin with a flare of determination in his gaze.

“Love you, Tor,” I whispered to my sister and she looked to me with that same love blazing in her eyes.

“Love you, Darcy.”

We sprinted up the dirt path as everyone ran at our back, the ground opening up above us as we blasted through it. And suddenly we were outside, the cool autumn air whipping around us, the long grass stained red with blood and complete havoc descending in an instant.

I let my wings spread behind me as the Nymphs shrieked and Orion charged forward with a burst of Vampire speed, swinging his flaming Phoenix sword and slamming it into the chest of the closest monster.

I took off into the sky, wheeling up behind a Nymph on the breeze and blasting its head with Phoenix fire, a shout of rage leaving my lips. As it turned to dust and Tory ran to meet another Nymph, my eyes flickered over the field of our enemies, my gaze falling on Lionel in his jade green Dragon form as he snapped a man up between his jaws and swallowed him whole. A line of rebels must have gotten out here when they’d shown up, but it had clearly been a bloodbath, because bodies lay everywhere and the last of them were being hunted down and slaughtered.

I stared at the forces Lionel had brought here in hopes of destroying us, my heart pounding as I took in the sight of thousands of Nymphs and the legion of Dragons who stood at their backs, waiting with bared fangs and claws to strike at us the moment their king commanded it. He was letting the Nymphs run riot, but this was just child’s play compared to what he had in store for us.

A roaring, bellowing cry came from the rebels at our backs, our army spilling from the ground as they followed Tory and I into the fray. A charge of Centaurs galloped past us with swords raised and they were followed by a group of Minotaurs who pounded their chests and mooed furiously as they ran.

Gabriel came sprinting out of the tunnel, taking off into the sky with his dark wings flexing, and I saw the terror in his eyes which spoke of how pained he was that he hadn’t been able to see this coming. But my brother couldn’t predict the shadows, and it was clear Lionel had hidden behind them tonight when he’d planned this assault.

We pressed forward, needing to create space for our army so that they could emerge from the tunnels to face our enemies and I snatched a smaller blade from my hip, throwing it with a yell of exertion and it wheeled end over end before driving straight into the eye of a Nymph making a charge for my mate.

Orion carved down the Nymph beneath me as it wailed and my heart wrenched as Tory flew ahead of us, diving down into a fight of her own as a swarm of rebels followed her.

A group of Nymphs surrounded Xavier and Sofia on Tyler’s back below, and I flew towards them, drawing the sword from my hip and swinging it with a precision taught to me by Queen Avalon. The sharp, fiery blade sliced through skin and bone, carving the head from one of the Nymphs and ash burst into the air as it died.

Tyler galloped forward, his head bowed and his horn driving into another Nymph’s chest, knocking it down and trampling it before the three of them cantered off deeper into the battle.

A Nymph reached for me in the sky, its probed hand swiping for my leg and I slashed my blade at it with a cry, severing its probes before driving the blade into its head. Embers exploded around me and my gaze locked on Orion as he killed with the wild and vicious savagery of his kind, cutting down his enemies and mercilessly ending them with powerful strikes.

Fear daggered through my heart for everyone I loved and my eyes fell on Lavinia as she stood on a tower of shadow, picking off the rebels one by one with blasts of her dark power, a malicious grin on her lips.

“Lead the way, Blue!” Orion shouted from the ground, my loyal mate ready to fight at my command. “I’ll follow you.”

I nodded, locking another Nymph in my sights as it took down two of our people, my teeth bared with hate.

My Phoenix fire blasted the Nymph apart as I spotted Tory locked in a fight a hundred yards away, her wings flashing with fire as she burned through Nymphs and tried to drive them back to make way for our forces.

Orion cut more of them down beneath me while I finished them with fireballs and the edge of my blade as we pressed forward.

Hamish and Catalina appeared beneath me, their hands locking as a tremendous challenge bellowed from the rebel leader’s lips and the next thing I knew, the whole hillside behind them broke apart and rocks and dirt were ripped from the ground, revealing the whole host of our army beyond them, making my heart lift with the strength burning in their eyes. We could do this, we could really win this.

Catalina yelled out in challenge as she swept her free hand forward, sending all of the dislodged rock and soil crashing towards the enemy army, forcing Lionel to roar in rage as he raced skywards to avoid it and the ranks of Nymphs below him took the hit, screaming as they died.

The earth Elementals within the army cast huge stone slopes out of the remains of the tunnels and the rebels bellowed their challenge to the false king and his foul army as they ran up out of the ground to meet them on the battlefield.

My gaze fell on Lionel and Lavinia as rage coiled through my veins like a snake and an animal rose its head within my chest as I promised them their deaths tonight. Because I would not see anyone I loved die, I’d fight with every ounce of fire in my blood until I saw our enemies bleeding and destroyed at my feet.

They were about to find out what it meant to go against the descendants of the last Phoenix queen.