Branches of Life

Good news, the rift did indeed take us to the outskirts of the capital city of the Lunar Eclipse court, in the land between it and one of the neutral territories. The bad news, was that there was now a rift connecting our realm to the creatures’. And it only got worse when I caught sight of the sky, groaning as I did so.

"Can't we catch a fucking break?" I moaned as I covered my face with my hands.

Up in the sky, the moon was slowly being shadowed by the earth. Because of course the Lunar eclipse court would be attacked during a lunar eclipse. They timed this attack perfectly. "Fuck," Ander growled, and I just wordlessly nodded my agreement.

"We need to find Leo immediately." Wyatt took off toward the capital city, with the rest of us hot on his heels.

On the night of a lunar eclipse, the sorcerers and sorceresses of this court abstained from using magic, as a way to honor and renew their energy. According to them, by taking a break from their magic, their powers and connection to them were strengthened. Meaning, if someone was planning on acting them; during a lunar eclipse was the perfect time.

Something that had been pointed out to them countless times, but time after time, they insisted they had wards and protection spells to protect themselves from invasion. Spells and wards that Meric probably had intimate knowledge of, and knew how to disable.

The rift brought us to the outskirts of the city. Which was warded in a way that prevented unsanctioned portals. There was no question in my mind, that Wyatt could create a portal able to get us past the wards, but time was not on our side. And the energy it would take to do so was not worth it. So for now, we sprinted toward the city, praying we weren't too late.

As we neared the city, we passed through a barrier spell protecting the city. It cast an illusion of a small, quaint, and empty town. Coupled with an energy barrier that prevented anyone with ill intent from entering. Or rather, it was supposed. Obviously it didn't work as it was supposed to if Meric had been waltzing in and out of it for years without repercussions.

On the other side of the barrier, I saw the beautiful glass city. Each building was made from opaque colored glass, each made up of various shades. The towering castle stood out from all the other buildings. Both from its height and due to the fact it was built out of stained glass, intricately designed with runes interwoven in the pattern. Mosaic walkways led between the buildings, full of bright colors and beautiful artwork.

Unfortunately, the beautiful city and walkways weren't what had us slowing to a stop. Icy horror was injected straight into my veins as I stared ahead at the vampires, harpies, trolls, ogres, and gorgons attacking the once pristine and beautiful city. Large chunks were missing from the buildings and walkways, along with long cracks running up the walls, and scorch marks staining the surfaces.

A vampire was busy draining the blood of a nearly dead woman when Koa blasted it with fire. The vampire leaped away, screaming as he turned to ash. I raced over to the woman, listening for her pulse, only to find that once again we were too late.

"They aren't the real target. We need to protect the emperor. Cover me," Wyatt commanded leaving no room for argument when he started chanting and made a couple of hand gestures.

A big and ugly ogre—that unfortunately only wore a loin cloth, despite being overweight, with pasty skin—charged us, and I sprinted toward him. At the last second, I tucked into a roll, avoiding his attempt at grabbing me. As I popped up behind him, I slash out with my dagger and sliced the back of his knees. He roared in rage as he stumbled forward. Not giving him the chance to get his bearings, I jumped onto his back and dug my claws into his neck, while jabbing my dagger in the base of his skull.

I leaped off his back while his body crumpled forward, and turned around to punch a vampire rushing toward me, in the face. A piercing screech followed before she tackled me to the ground. Using the momentum, I rolled her off of me and sprang to my feet. Her roll was clumsy, and I used that to my advantage. A couple of moves later, she was dust.

A sharp burst of pain flared in my right side, and I turned around in time to see a harpy pull her blood-soaked talons away. No part of this creature could be classified as beautiful. Not with her taloned feet, and feather-covered body, the plumes a dark reddish brown. Her wings were her arms, the feathers on them nearly black. Despite being human in the face, it still was very birdlike. With the large, almost beak-like nose, and beady eyes that were nearly black.

She slashed at me again, this time at my face. Using my arm, I blocked the blow, earning more scratches in the process. In a single move, I unsheathed my sword while releasing both blades. During her next slash aimed at my stomach, I swung my sword and sliced off her taloned hand. My ear rang as she shrieked. Twirling my blade, I sliced through her neck. Her head fell to the ground, effectively ending her shriek.

"It's ready!" I whirled around to find a portal in front of Wyatt. I threw two of my last five throwing daggers at an approaching troll and gorgon, before sprinting through the portal. It was more jarring than the others Wyatt had created, but nothing could ever be as bad as the one to the wastelands. Coming out of the portal, I stumbled a few steps before getting my bearings.

Ari was already scanning the multiple halls of the castle. The walls, floors, and ceiling were all made up of opaque stained glass. It would've been beautiful had it not been for the char marks and gouges taken from the walls and floor.

It was suspiciously quiet, which had my instincts and wolf on high alert. Especially when Rowan said, 'The creatures are still in the building.' I took that as a somewhat good sign, hoping it meant they hadn't killed Leo yet.

"What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?" Ari whispered more to herself as the others came through the portal.

Colorful swears were their responses as they took in the destruction. Even with magic, it would take hours and multiple sorcerers and sorceresses, just to fix the castle alone.

"There's a barrier spell nearby." Wyatt waved his hand, closing the portal. "And a shitty one at that."

"Lead the way." Starling waved her hand toward the hallways.

After a few minutes of taking turn after turn, down the seemingly endless halls, we passed through the barrier. Sounds of fighting and screaming flowed over us as we came upon more fighting. This time, the creatures were demons and sphinxes. The hallway was almost too small for the sphinxes, who stood at nearly eight feet tall. It was almost horrifying to see the beautiful-faced woman, on the body of a feline.

Getting past them wasn't easy, the claw marks down my left side and right thigh could attest to that. At least they didn't ask us any riddles like they did in the human myths. I'd rather fight my way out of any situation, rather than be forced to use logic. My pulse was still racing from a near miss with a ball of hellfire a few minutes ago. Once you got hit by that shit, your chances of surviving were low.

"The emperor is in his study!" A sorceress shouted when she saw us. The demon fighting her nearly impaled her with his clawed hand, when Wyatt sent an energy ball at his back, an electrical charge shaking his body as he fell.

"Where's his study?" I yelled back, which was a valid question. Even if she looked at me like I was an idiot.

We finally shoved our way through the clashing bodies, slashing out at any creature that dared try and stop us. Blood coated my torn clothes and skin, both mine and the creatures’. I didn't even want to know what my hair or face looked like.

Wyatt led the way down hallway after hallway until we came across even more creatures. This time, they weren't fighting any sorcerers or sorceresses. The harpies, goblins, and demons were waiting for us.

"Divide and conquer," Wyatt muttered, inclining his head toward the door at the end of the hall; Leo's study.

Starling, Koa, Rowan, Ari, and I fought the creatures and kept their attention on us. While the others pushed their way through, occasionally having to fight a creature or two until they made it to the door. Which I was pretty sure was locked and warded.

Harpies were some mean-ass bitches. They kept yanking my fucking ponytail and scratching at me with their long-ass nails. And was it really necessary to constantly squawk and screech?

Goblins also sucked. Those short bastards, no taller than three feet, were fast as hell. And they loved biting, using their razor-sharp teeth. My legs were now throbbing in three different places from those assholes. They were definitely high on my shit list now.

Fighting demons wasn't ideal, but it was easier now than it had been on the ferry. Now that I no longer had to restrain my wolf. My shoulder stung from an energy blast that barely grazed my skin. I couldn't imagine how bad that shit would've hurt, had it hit me full-on. Rowan saved my ass too many times to count during this fight. Either shoving me out of the way of a sneak attack or biting into the creatures that managed to get the upper hand on me.

Eventually, I ran out of creatures to fight, and I turned around in time to see Koa snapping a demon's neck with his hands. The fact that I was turned on by his display of strength, probably meant there was something wrong with me.

We rushed into the study and found Ander, Wyatt, and Harmony each fighting a demon. In the center of all the fighting were Leo and Meric—I assumed it was him, he had similar features to his brother. Leo was holding his own against Meric, despite not using any magic. Meric on the other hand, didn't care about his court's abstinence from magic. He threw energy balls and sent waves of energy at his brother.

Now while his brother was using magic, Leo couldn't. Right before the lunar eclipse started, all the court's residents did some sort of ritual—the secrets of this ritual were heavily guarded—that blocked their connection to their magic. It wasn't like they had such deep-rooted beliefs, that they would continue abstaining from magic while being attacked. None of them could use their magic. Meric only could because the bastard obviously hadn't participated in the ritual. And this motherfucker thought he was worthy to rule. What a joke.

Despite holding his own, Leo's energy was visibly waning. His auburn hair was plastered to his forehead, and his shirt molded to his heaving chest. Blood ran down his left arm, from a wound on his shoulder.

By the time we got to them, Harmony, Ander, and Wyatt dispatched their demons. As we circled around Leo and Meric, Wyatt lashed out with a rope of purple energy. The energy wrapped around Meric's torso, holding his arms to his sides. Ander sliced Meric's arm and dipped his fingers into the blood coating his blade, using it to cast. One second, Meric was struggling against the rope and chanting under his breath, and the next both his body and mouth stilled. The only part of his body able to move was his head. Contempt filled his glare, which was aimed solely on his brother.

"Thank you for coming, we tried to send word of the attack, but our communications were blocked," Leo said wearily, his voice breathless as he circled around his desk. With a weary sigh, he half fell into his chair. "How did you know of the attack?"

Wyatt pulled out the map from his bag and placed it in front of Leo, who scanned over the map, his brows knitting together. "What have you gotten yourself into Meric?"

"Not trying to be rude or anything, but we're wasting time. We need answers, and we finally have a chance at getting them," Starling cut off Wyatt's response, something he didn't appreciate based on the look he shot her. "But chances are he won't answer without incentive."

Some spells and potions could be used to force someone to tell the truth and answer whatever questions you asked, but it wasn't foolproof. If someone had a strong enough will or enough power, they could lie or even refuse to speak.

Each of us drew blood using our blades and offered up the blood to Ander, who used it as he began casting. At the same time, Wyatt began chanting, white energy building in his hands. Meric's body jerked as red and white energy washed over him, and sank into his skin.

The magical bindings holding his mouth loosened, allowing him to open his mouth. Before he could start chanting again, Ari started the interrogation. "Were you the one to organize this attack?"

Meric's jaw clenched before he answered in a choked voice. "Yes."

"Was it your idea to create the rift to our realm?" Confusion shrouded Leo's expression, but none of us bothered elaborating. There would be enough time for that later.

It didn't matter how much Meric resisted, he still answered. "No."

"Do you know, whose idea it was?" Ari circled him, keeping a few feet between them.

"No."

Ari nodded to herself as if she expected that. "Did you create the moving rift to the creature's realm?"

"No."

Motherfucker! Why couldn't things ever be easy? I shared a look with Koa, his face was blank, but I could tell he was disappointed. From the muttered curses from everyone else, they felt the same. We had just spent the past couple of days in that hellish realm, we deserved some fucking answers.

When Ari asked if he knew who created it, she got the same response. More curses followed as I realized he was useless—just a man throwing a temper tantrum because he was jealous of his brother's power. I knew I was being overdramatic, and that he probably still had some helpful intel.

"Is there more than one Mythic helping the creatures?" Another yes "Do you know their names?"

His face turned red as he tried resisting the spells. When he finally opened his mouth to answer, a ball of hellfire blurred across the room, hitting Meric in the chest. It only took a couple of seconds before the fire consumed him, and turned his body to ash. I whipped my head around to where the attack originated and found a blue-skinned demon. He lobbed multiple fireballs at us, forcing us to throw ourselves to the ground. When I rolled back to my feet, I found the demon had vanished.

"Dammit!" Koa roared, smacking his palm on the desk.

"How many creatures are out in my city?" Leo asked, pushing to his feet despite his obvious exhaustion.

"It was a full-on invasion," Starling said.

"Well then, let's rescind their invitation to my city."