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“Hit the wall harder!” one of the enemy commanders shouted. “Take it down! We must take out their archers!”

The gods and goddesses of the council and their allies were somewhere in the back of their armies, watching the battle. Maybe after Eliza and Lennox went down, they retreated or maybe they waited for another reason.

It didn’t matter, she would get to them eventually.

Valeen moved like a night wind, going from shadow to her solid form in a breath. Her vines wreaked havoc, tearing through flesh, wrapping up monsters and men.

Explosions from Hel’s magic went off all over the battlefield. Thane cut through enemies with precision and speed. Anything in his path went down.

Against anyone else it would’ve been over already.

The sun had moved halfway across the sky, but the enemy kept coming like waves crashing against a battered ship.

Valeen didn’t tire, not with her immortality, but the elves did. Even with their valiant hearts and desperate desire for victory, they grew weary. Their swings were just a little slower, their groans more frequent.

At a faster rate they fell. It seemed like an endless number of enemy soldiers came from the back to replenish their dead.

We need to get the elves inside the wall,Valeen thought. They needed to rest.

An elf in silver armor beside her hit the ground, falling against her boot. His brown eyes stared up at her as he let out one last breath. A Raven in black went down on her other side. Spinning, she cut the throat of the green ogre who’d bludgeoned him. With a spray of dark-blue blood, it clutched at his neck and fell forward.

“Lady Lightbringer,” one of the Ravens shouted. “The giant! Take the giant!”

A frost giant, blue as winter oceans and as tall as the tallest oak trees, stamped its thick ice-block feet. It spread ice over the grass and the fallen. Its long, thin arms became spears, jabbing and swinging. It laughed when it caught an elf and sent him flying.

It was lethal, but slow.

She took off, sprinting right at it, ducking under its swing and ran up its back. With a jump she hacked down and smashed Zythara into the crown of its head. Its ice body cracked and splintered then the entire giant shattered. Backflipping off, Valeen landed in a crouch behind it, letting the bits of ice roll around her toes.

The few Ravens who’d seen it, cheered and swung harder, cutting down the enemy faster.

“Back inside!” Thane’s voice carried through the chaos. The elven archers rained arrows down, but it wasn’t enough. There were too many of them.

Valeen slammed her fist to the ground and a wall of her black vines shot up, barbs grew to act like bars in between the stalks, and her dark-purple lilies sprayed a mist of poison. It gave the elves a moment to retreat inside the safety of the magic barrier.

But their axes hacked at her stalks, chipping away at them until they fell like trees. Enemy soldiers chased after them roaring and screaming.

Valeen whirled to find Presco. There were so many bodies on the ground in different armor, so many dragons and beasts laid dead left for the vultures to pick at, it was like looking for a seashell in a sea full of them.

“Presco!”

She finally managed to spot him in his human form, crawling toward the wall. Shoving her sword in the holster, she ran, jumping and hopping over bodies, both alive and dead and made it to him.

“Valeen,” his voice was hoarse, but he sounded relieved. His tan tunic was stained with blossoms of blood and dirt, his shoulders still had deep gashes, but his scales were closing back together.

“Hold on, I’ll get you inside.” Presco was impossible to carry in his dragon form, but he was still heavy as a human. Using all her might, she dragged him. He grunted and hissed in pain, but it was better than dying. With her personal shield surrounding them, attacks and arrows bounced off. But they still jeered and stuck out their tongues.

“Come out, goddess, give us a taste.” The ogre with big yellow tusks and a loin cloth licked the shield.

“Alright, have a taste.” A black vine shot up out of the ground and pierced straight through his open mouth and out the back of his head. The others around him took a few steps back.

Once inside the magical dome, she moved Presco to sit up against the stone wall. Holding his side, he pressed himselfagainst it. “Go. I’ll recover.” He reached into his pocket and pulled a small silver vial. “I have a healing potion I’ve been working on. It works for smaller injuries, we’ll see what it does for me now.”

“Are you sure? I can find Hel to heal you.”

“No, I’ll be alright.” He winced, and took slow deep breaths. Biting the top of the cork he pulled it with his teeth and tipped the bottle back. He grimaced. “I need to work on the taste. And it only works on dragons at the moment but in the future…” Right before her eyes the gouges and cuts closed. “Win this battle, my queen. I know you can.”

She nodded and lightly gripped his shoulder. “I will.”