Page 93 of Clash of Kingdoms
“Get us out of here.”
My hatchlingsss. If I don’t get to them first, they’ll kill them all. She traveled back to the battle and lowered her head so others could climb on.
“Move out!” I ran into the fray and ordered everyone to leave. Now that the crystal had been destroyed, the demons were just standing there and looking up, as if it would reform by sheer will alone. Instead of taking the opportunity to strike them down, I chose to grab every vampire I could. “Run to the snake.” I pulled one of my kin from the ground and got him upright. “Go.” I kept going, looking for my brothers. “Kingsnake. Cobra.”
The demons across the bridge screamed in rage, and then more of them started to come, barreling down on us with a vengeance.
We need to flee.
Not without my brothers. “Kingsnake! Cobra!”
“Here!” Kingsnake shouted from the rubble of the fortress, which seemed to have rained down on them both.
I rushed over, aware of the wave of demons on their way to us. “Move.”
Kingsnake’s armor was barely put together anymore. It was covered in soot from the flames. One arm was completely bare, bloody. “Cobra…” He grabbed our brother by the arm, but he was limp.
“No…”
“He’s still breathing,” Kingsnake said. “I’m struggling to breathe myself.”
“Get him up and go to Beast.”
Kingsnake’s eyes were heavy.
“I’ll stop the demons from getting to you. I need you to carry him.”
Kingsnake continued to wobble in place.
“Larisa.” I grabbed his shoulder and shook him. “Think of Larisa.”
He blinked several times before he clenched his teeth and rose to his feet.
“There you go.” I turned away and pulled my sword free. I felt just as shitty as Kingsnake did, in no shape to fight the horde of demons that were hell-bent on killing me after I’d destroyed their immortality. But I gritted my teeth and faced them, giving my brothers a chance to escape.
They came down on me, and with strength I didn’t know I had anymore, I met their blades with mine, taking on five at once, slicing through their flesh and knocking them aside. They were much easier foes than Vine had been, so it was a less-strenuous match.
I have them. Run.
Across the crowd, I saw him.
Vine.
He must have returned before I’d destroyed the crystal. My death was promised in his eyes, his golden sword held at the ready, prepared to part the crowd and take my life.
I knew I stood no chance, not in my weakened state, not when I’d lost so much blood. I cut down the demon nearest to me and sprinted as hard as I could, launching off the edge of the platform and into the abyss.
Beast broke my fall with her head, catching me before I disappeared into the darkness. Then she dove, the sounds of the battle growing distant and then silent the farther we traveled. I didn’t have time to check on my brothers, not when we were dropping so fast, not when I felt so weak.
Beast traveled down most of the time, but then moved upward, rising to a platform that contained a large cage covered with golden bars. She slithered up, making her body flat so we could step off.
I went straight to Kingsnake and helped him get Cobra onto the floor.
Cobra was conscious this time, so that was a good sign. “I got stabbed…a lot.”
I looked him over, seeing all the places where his armor had been impaled. It had been weakened by flames first, making it easier for the blades to puncture the protection.
“Fuck, Clara is gonna be pissed.”