“The naturi are not weak!” she shouted, shaking both of her fists at us. “We have returned to the earth and are back to our former strength. Our numbers will grow instead of diminish. We will sweep away the waste and protect the Great Mother.”
“You’ve lost the support of the Great Mother,” Nyx called out from another part of the field. The declaration caused a rumble of concerned conversation among the ranks before she could continue. “I’ve seen it in your aura. I’ve seen it when I look and speak to you. You’ve grown weak as your connection with the earth has nearly been severed. The Great Mother has turned her back on you. You have no right to lead the naturi now. Step down.”
“Enough!” Aurora screamed. “This is your last chance. Throw down your arms and hand over your lives to me and I will spare all those that have chosen to side with you.”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Cynnia look up at Rowe one last time, as if for confirmation. The one-eyed naturi merely smiled at his former wife. “Go fuck yourself, Aurora. We’re coming for your head.”
I couldn’t stop the smile that rose on my lips.
Aurora floated into the air, a wreath of fire surrounding her, making her a beacon in the night. It was the signal her armies had been waiting for, and with it her people charged into battle. In response, Rowe sprouted a pair of black leathery wings and launched himself into the air, sending the naturi armies forward to meet the attack in a clash of short swords and arrows. My people hung back, waiting to catch up those that slipped through the ranks. Everyone was armed in some fashion, though I had warned that no one was to bring a gun without a silencer. I’d thought we would be able to keep this battle a secret from the humans, but now we were completely exposed to the world.
Danaus remained tight at my side, and Knox soon joined our group. My main concern was to act as a defense against Aurora so Rowe or Nyx could launch their attack against the queen. In fact, I knew I was the only defense Cynnia’s people had against Aurora’s light clan. Cynnia had a handful of the light clan members on her side, but they were already engaged in one-on-one battles with their clan members.
Fireballs were launched through the air in quick succession, but I quickly captured them, stopping them from crashing into our own forces. This quickly captured the attention of the light clan, which turned its attention toward me. I smiled, welcoming the battle with them. I’d shove that fire back down their throats.
“Back off a little, boys,” I said to Danaus and Knox as I widened my stance. I tapped the powers swirling like a wild dervish around me. With all the naturi, nightwalkers, and lycanthropes in the region, it felt as if I were growing drunk on the power at my disposal. Summoning up a ring of fireballs around myself and my companions, I fired one after another at the light clan members. They caught the fire, but I could feel their struggle to control it and dissipate the energy before they were torched. I needed to put only a little more power behind it.
Overhead, thunder rumbled like two cars slamming into each other, then the skies opened in a massive downpour. The fire I’d created flickered and popped as it strained to remaining burning through the sheets of falling rain. My clothes were instantly plastered against my skin and I struggled to blink back the water dripping into my eyes. The wind clan was making its move to bring down the lightning and eliminate a chunk of Aurora’s army. I paused in the fight with the light clan to notice that Rowe had returned to the ground and was hacking through one enemy after another with a smooth grace that spoke of years of bloody practice. I smiled as I glanced over to see Danaus performing the same elegant dance of blood and death.
Turning my attention back to the light clan, which had closed the distance between us, I summoned up more fire. This time I simply encircled them with a ring of flames that sprang up from the ground and stretched more than seven feet into the air despite the pounding rain. Pulling free both my sword and knife, I stepped away from Danaus and Knox’s protection and walked through the ring of fire, where they could not follow. The naturi seemed stunned within the flames as they struggled to put out the fire and continue on their march toward the other fighters.
“You picked the wrong side,” I mocked as I leveled my sword on one of the light clan members, removing her head in a flash of steel. Others in the light clan quickly drew their weapons, but they looked awkward with the pieces of metal in their hands. They were heavy magic users, not used to getting their hands dirty in a battle. Despite being outnumbered by six to one, I made quick work of them, cutting them down in a bath of blood. I was sprayed as I sliced through arteries and removed limbs, but the continuous downpour washed me clean again.
When I lowered the flames again, seven naturi light clan members lay in pieces in the mud. However, my victory proved short-lived as I looked over to find that two of Cynnia’s guards had been killed. The young princess was standing against trained naturi fighters with a sword trembling in both hands while the guards at her back were slowly being overwhelmed. This fight was nothing if Cynnia was killed. I knew that these naturi wouldn’t follow Rowe or Nyx. They needed Cynnia. With a violent wave of my hand, a swirl of fire whipped through the crowd and engulfed the fighters surrounding Cynnia and her guards. Their screams tore through the night as they fell thrashing to the ground in an effort to put out the fire.
“Get your naturi ass in the air,” I growled at Cynnia when I finally reached her side.
“I belong at the side of my people,” she stubbornly replied, though her hands were still trembling.
“And if you get killed, all your people would have died for nothing. Get your wind clan ass in the air so we don’t have to worry about protecting you. Rain down some lightning.”
Cynnia glared at me, but at the same time a set of pristine white wings sprouted from her back. She wordlessly took to the sky with her arms stretched over her head. What’s more, I noticed an increase in lighting striking the ground with pinpoint accuracy. The young princess was finally working to her strengths. It was a small lesson she would need to learn if she had any hope of succeeding as the next queen of the naturi. I only prayed that Nyx survived this as well. Cynnia would need her experienced and level-headed guidance over the next several years.
With sword and knife clutched tightly in my hands, I started to turn my attention back to the fight being waged around me when fresh screams erupted. I twisted around to find the nightwalkers were quickly sinking into the ground. At the same time, the wind clan had taken to the air. Even the animal clan had abandoned their enemies and changed to winged creatures so they could take to the air. The earth clan siding with Aurora was finally getting into the fight. They were causing the ground to change to quicksand, pulling my people down into the earth so they could no longer move, let alone fight.
Twisting around, I found Danaus and Knox up to their knees in the muck but still fighting one naturi after another with their weapons. A part of me wished I had let Danaus bring his guns, but he had favored his old-fashioned blades after so many centuries. He would have been able to cut through so many of these bastards that much faster, turning the war in our favor.
I summoned up another wave of fire to wash through members of the earth clan I could spot weaving their spells, but the fire was just as quickly extinguished. I frowned when I heard Aurora’s laughter above the fighting. I might have decimated the members of her light clan, but she could still stop me from using fire against her forces. I needed another form of attack.
Pulling together the energy again, I wrapped it around my fists and balled it deep in the dark pit of my chest. This was going to take everything I had, leaving me extremely vulnerable.