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The room slowly darkened, inky shadows blotting out the light from the skylight above. Dark clouds swirled around Onora like a storm, and Enid’s skin pebbled from the crackle of power that came from her.

“That’s it,” she whispered, afraid to startle her. “Now let it all loose, let it flow over and out.”

Onora’s brow furrowed more, sweat marking her forehead. Lightning flashed in the darkness, hitting the wall, the roots of the bolt reaching out and dissipating. Then she screamed and a crack of thunder ripped through the chamber, making Enid duck and place hands over her ears, reeling from the noise. The next few moments were a show of light, jumping and scattering off the walls, splintering the shadows. Then it calmed and Onora panted, slumping against the wall.

“We should go,” Onora said.

“Do you need to rest?”

Onora shook her head, straightening as she stood. “I’ll be fine.”

Enid went to the temple doors. The sounds of the fighting outside stilled as bells rang in the distance. She honed her hearing, trying totrack whatever she could. The beasts were either gone or quieted down. She yanked on the door handle. It flew back with a hefty force, making Enid trip backwards, catching herself against the wall.

A head fell to the ground next to her foot. Severed from the neck, it still wore the helmet of the guards, bloodied, with ripped veins and arteries hanging in strings.

She stepped around it, and the body it had been attached to, into the woods. It was quiet and calm, only the sounds of the forest and the breeze in the trees could be heard. Bodies of their captors littered the ground, beasts as well.

“That ringing,” Onora said, looking back towards Evolis. “It’s the castle. They’re calling people in.”

“That means the beasts are in the city,” Enid said. “We have no time to waste.”

She jogged down the forest path, the sound of Onora’s steps following her the only sound. She came halfway to the castle entrance and halted. There were more creatures of the wood. Hundreds of them, lining the streets, ripping at the dead, sniffing around the castle, howling and growling on their patrol.

“They’re most likely in the castle,” Enid said.

Vines whipped out, noticing them, and slithering their way.

Shit.

The sword from the stone hummed with energy in her hand, and she gripped it tighter. She hacked wildly, cutting the vines down in front of her. But more came, one wrapping around her ankle, catching her off balance for a moment only. She threw up her shadows, letting them become more corporeal and attack the vines.

The commotion alerted the beasts, and they turned, gurgling screeches coming from their cursed maws. The revolting sound rang in Enid’s skull, making her jaw clench as her stomach turned. Then they ran forward as a herd.

Fuck.

There were too many of them. She threw out shadows and pulled her bow out, nocking it and letting arrow after arrow fly. They hit their target, felling most with one shot. Onora was next to her, practicing her new magic, letting out bursts of lightning to mixed results. Sometimes they hit like nothing more than a small, annoying zap, the next it hit ten in a row, killing them instantly.

But it was no use. They kept coming, and with the vines, it was even worse.

“We can’t sustain this,” Enid said.

“Do you have a better plan?” Onora asked, letting out another bolt and killing the one that charged at her.

Enid looked at the balcony on the third floor of the building, then back at Onora. “I have an idea. But you’re going to hate it.”

Onora eyed her suspiciously. “What scheme do you have now?”

Enid grinned and held out her arms. “Jump in, because I’m flying us to the top.”

Onora grimaced, looking at the hoard, then back to Enid, as if weighing her options. “Fine.”

Enid was surprised she agreed with no argument, but she would take it. She grabbed Onora, whose face twisted more and more in disgust with each second, then shot into the air. Onora let out a yelp and slammed her eyes shut, making Enid chuckle.

“Don’t laugh, bat,” Onora growled.

“I can’t help it.”

She landed on the balcony and Onora scrambled out of her arms as fast as one of her lightning bolts. They entered the room through the window. It looked to be servant quarters but completely empty. Where would they have gone for shelter? The throne room? Or were there underground tunnels? They walked into the halls and were met with an eerie silence, followed by scratching and howls from outside.