“Those were my kills, Professor,” I growled in mock anger, dropping down to land lightly in front of him.
“Then why did they die by my sword, Miss Vega?” he teased.
A Nymph charged through the trees behind him and I gasped, releasing a furious wave of fire from my palm over his shoulder. It slammed into the creature’s chest, knocking it to the ground where it died with a shriek, blackened ash dancing on the air around us as it went out of this world.
Darius and Tory whooped as they took down a giant Nymph to our right and two arrows whistled through the air in quick succession from Max’s bow, killing another two in an instant.
Seth was in his Wolf form, tearing at Nymphs with the fiery gauntlets, his tail wagging as he ran and Caleb leapt onto his back, using his twin daggers to slash at any Nymph that got too close them.
Geraldine was beyond Max, swinging her flail with violent blows as her hips bobbed and swayed with every strike she landed like she was performing some sort of murder dance.
Orion grabbed me suddenly shooting me over to stand beside my sister and Darius, casting an air shield around us to buy us a moment from the onslaught of the battle.
“You two need to get to the temple,” Orion urged me and Tory. “There’s an altar there full of dark artifacts that needs to be destroyed. Caleb started the job but your Phoenix fire should be able to finish it.”
I shared an excited look with my sister as we nodded and Orion dropped the air shield, twisting around and driving his sword into the chest of a Nymph while Darius leapt up and swung his axe, beheading another beast so ash burst out around us. The two of them laughed with the thrill of the fight, staying close to one another as Tory and I took off into the sky, our wings beating harder and flaring with fire as we made it above the treeline.
The rain poured down on us as I spotted the temple looming up from the trees ahead, and we put on a burst of speed. For a heartbeat the fire along my wings flickered out and my breath snagged as I was almost sure my wings were about to fall away, panic crashing through my chest.
They reignited in the next moment and I glanced at Tory ahead of me, glad she hadn’t noticed as I steadied my thrashing heartbeat and kept flying. I guessed my magic was running low, though I didn’t know why my Phoenix felt so heavy as I drew it back to the surface of my flesh.
The mist that clung to the edges of the forest made it seem like we were approaching the edge of the world as we circled down over the temple, and my gaze hooked on a swarm of Nymphs as they reached the steps and started sprinting up them towards the blasted open top.
The desperation with which they moved made me certain they were coming for the artifacts laying amongst the fallen bricks and Tory hovered opposite me as we came to a halt above it and raised our hands. A sinister energy rolled through my limbs as I prepared to destroy every one of those dark items and steal them away from Lavinia and her monstrous Nymph army.
“Together?” Tory offered and I grinned, placing one hand in hers and letting my barriers down so that our magic could rush together.
Except that wasn’t what happened. My magic stuttered like the flickering flame of a candle in the wind and the fire along my wings stuttered out too.
“Darcy?” Tory asked in alarm as I willed my magic toward her, clenching my teeth as I pulled on the threads of power within me which seemed to be snapping and fraying one by one.
“Hang on,” I growled, panic and determination colliding inside me. I didn’t know what was happening, but I had to fight it, I had to find the strength I knew lived within me.
The Nymphs were almost at the summit of the temple and I cursed as I fought to take charge of my power and send it towards my sister.
My Phoenix shuddered back to life and a breath of relief left me as our fire coursed together in a never-ending wave. There was no time to question what had happened as Tory looked to me in concern. We had to finish this.
The Nymphs were scrambling across the fallen masonry to try and reach the altar and we couldn’t spare another second as we released our power down on them like a spear of fiery death. The wings of a beautiful red and blue bird rushed out from us, plummeting through the sky in a blaze of unbelievable power before it collided with the top of the temple.
The Nymphs shrieked because it didn’t just consume the altar, it consumed the entire temple, the fire rippling down it like high speed lava and devouring everything in its wake and I gasped at the immensity of our Order gifts.
The Nymphs tried to flee but they were too slow, caught in the flaming wave of death as it rolled out to the very bottom of the temple and the whole thing started to collapse.