Zodiac Academy 7: Heartless Sky

I fought with the rage of a queen protecting her kingdom and the power of a monster born to bathe in the blood of its enemies. And I had so many fucking enemies. Lionel and Lavinia were only at the top of a very long list, and I wasn’t even going to get started on the fucking stars.

They watched us now, twinkling in the perfectly clear sky, enjoying the show as the Fae whose fates they twisted so carelessly with their desires fought for their lives down here in the mud. They didn’t care who was the victor here. They only came to watch the carnage they had orchestrated.

I fought with fire and fury, using the power of the blaze to keep my magic fully charged at all times while blasting great holes in the ranks of our enemies, yet still they came at us from every angle.

We had been caught entirely unaware and with our army still mostly trapped underground, bottlenecked in the tunnels and only slowly making their way up here to join our ranks, we were at a serious disadvantage.

My gaze caught on Catalina and Hamish as they ripped the hillside apart with their earth magic, freeing more rebels from the tunnels beneath while shielding against the Dragon Guild who swooped overhead in their shifted forms, aiming to burn our army with their Dragon fire before they could even fully join the fight.

The heavy power of Nymph rattles sounded over and over again, making the magic inside me flicker to an insistent beat whenever I got too close to one of them, but my flaming sword was already wet with the blood of their kind and any who made the mistake of thinking I could only fight with my magic found out they were wrong the hard way.

The huge Nymph who seemed to lead their ranks was still in my sights, but he had moved further away, charging towards the far side of the battlefield where the Tiberian Rats were making a stand led by Eugene Dipper.

My heart swelled at the courage of our army as I found them fighting all around me, but still the sheer numbers of Lionel’s followers was terrifying.

A roar unlike anything I’d ever heard before shook the ground at my feet and I turned to my right as the rebels there screamed, trying to run from whatever had caused that sound.

My eyes widened as I spotted the source of their fear, a huge beast tearing through their ranks with claws of shadow and the soulless eyes of a nightmare. It was as big as a Monolrian Bear Shifter and resembled their kind a little too, its black fur wet with the blood of the Fae it had killed.

I raised my hand with a bellow of challenge escaping my lips as I called on my Phoenix and red and blue flames ignited in my fist, building and building until I released it with a blast of energy which almost knocked me from my feet.

A bird born of fire erupted from my hold, crying out in its eerily beautiful voice for all the rebels to hear, bolstering their morale as it swept over their heads and flew straight towards the creature of shadow who had come to destroy them.

The beast looked up as the Phoenix fire bore down on it, its eyes moving to me, a glint of silver in them which almost made me pause as a shiver tracked down my spine.

My attack slammed into the creature and it roared as it was hurled from its feet, crashing backwards into the ranks of Nymphs and crushing them beneath it, shattering bony limbs and making them scream in pain.

I started running towards it as it scrambled to get up, a frown burrowing into my brow at the fact that it had survived that strike. I held my sword ready and yelled out a challenge.

The rebels tried to move aside as I ran at them, but I ignored them, leaping up and using my air magic to propel myself over their heads, gripping my sword in both hands and swinging it above me as I prepared to make the killing blow.

Something slammed into me with the force of a car crash, and I was knocked off course with a curse of pain, tumbling to the ground beneath a powerful body and losing my grip on my sword as we skidded across the dirt.

I snatched a blade from my hip, jamming my knee into the ground to stop our roll and swinging the dagger at the neck of my opponent, my eyes widening in alarm as I recognised Orion.

I managed to halt my attack at the last second, the tip of my blade grazing the corner of his jaw and drawing blood as I snatched it away and I sucked in a sharp breath.

“Holy fuck, I almost killed you.”

“The beast is Darcy,” he barked, not even seeming to give a fuck about the blood I’d just drawn from him. “It’s the curse. Lavinia has forced it to manifest within her and I don’t think it’s the first time.”

I jerked my head around, looking through the crush of fighting bodies towards the beast as it got to its feet once more, my lips parting in horror as I took in what he was saying.

“She’s the one who was killing those Fae in The Burrows?” I breathed and Orion nodded as I looked back down at him.

“I think so. But I don’t think she knew it was happening. She seems utterly lost to the curse now that she’s in its hold. I’m going to get her away from here. You have to win this battle, Tory. You have to lead them to victory.”

I swallowed thickly as I took that in, throwing a shield of air magic up around us as I got to my feet and offered him a hand up too.

“No pressure then,” I ground out, glancing at the carnage which surrounded us.

“You can do it,” Orion said, gripping my arm and making me look at his silver ringed eyes where I found a whole lot more faith in me than I had in myself, and I swallowed thickly.

“Please save her, Lance,” I breathed unsure if he would even be able to hear me over the raging battle, but he nodded firmly.

“I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“Do you need more power?” I asked as the beast roared and I looked towards it once more, wondering how the fuck he planned on getting her out of here.

His answer came in the sharp sting of his fangs sinking into my neck and I gritted my teeth as I tightened my grip on my sword, my gaze falling on that huge Nymph once more just as he shifted back into his Fae like form and a snarl pulled at my lips as I recognised Alejandro. 

“Don’t die,” Orion commanded as he released me, and I met his gaze one last time. 

“You either.” I dropped the shield protecting us and he shot away towards Darcy as I forced myself to let him help her without me.

I hurried over to reclaim my dropped sword, raising it and fixing Alejandro in my sights as he began to throw handfuls of wild fire magic at the rebels who fought against the Nymphs on his flank.

Fire magic he’d stolen from my father when he killed him. Magic I’d make him pay for taking in blood and bone.

“Tonight, you die, asshole.”