Page 78 of Hell Fae King

Several Minutes Earlier

Az’s curse echoed through my mind, drawing my focus to an eruption of flames coming from the sky near the bridal dorms.What the fuck is that?

A very pissed-off Hellhound, he growled back at me.No one can get out of the paradigm.

What?I glanced at the portals opening all over the place in front of the arena.They’re certainly having no trouble getting in.

It seems to be a one-way ticket,he replied.

Fuck.

Exactly, he returned.Your dungeon is about to be full of pissed-off Nightmare Fae.

I studied the field from my position at the gates of the library, my jaw ticking.Yeahwas all I could say back to him as I stared, watching at least three new portals opening within the paradigm. Az had his hands full with the brides, leaving me to strategize. I needed to figure out where to begin.

Because this wasn’t like the curfew games where Nightmare Fae roamed and the occasional one refused to go back to his or her cell.

This was a nightmarish mayhem.

It was on the tip of my tongue to call for my familiar, to ask for some assistance. Given the rising number of fae, we could use all the help we could get. But I didn’t want to risk Kuro being trapped inside the paradigm with us, so I refrained.

Here they come,Az said just before a cascade of fire burst over the upper side of the paradigm. I trusted Az to handle the chaos at the dorms while I figured out a plan, but it did sound like he was having all the fun.

Fortunately, I wasn’t to be left out. Two Minotaurs and one Manticore careened around the corner and spotted me, releasing roars as their footsteps shook the ground. I drew a circle with my finger and whispered familiar words intended to defend, not consume.

“Hamaya Fuquay.”

The Minotaurs charged me, as expected, with their bullish tendencies. They slammed into my defensive spell, cracking it but not breaking it.

The Manticore launched into the sky. His pronged wings lifted him from the ground, giving him an advantage, as did his scorpion-like tail. One strike with the tail might be enough to dismantle my spell. Instead, he dropped onto the top of the barrier, using his weight instead of his natural defenses, making me frown.

I’d never seen a Manticore do that.

How are the brides?I asked.Are they okay?

The majority of them are trapped behind a collapsed wall, but the ones out here are more than okay,Az replied with a wave of approval in his words.Their training has paid off. Theycan handle themselves—for now. If this keeps up, though, we’re going to be fucking overrun. We need Typhos.

But we couldn’t reach Typhos. Which meant Vivaxia didn’t want him to be here for this.

What are you after?I wondered to myself, then glanced toward the fires flickering near the dorms. Dust and rock burst into the air as another wall collapsed, suggesting the goal was to separate our forces and pick us off one at a time.The brides? Is that all you want?

The remaining Nightmare Fae weren’t necessarily heading for the bridal camp, though. Groups of them stayed right where they were, breaking apart buildings and tearing through Hellhounds.

Vivaxia was attacking this whole paradigm.

Why?

Simple destruction seemed… petty. And pointless.

From what I understood so far, everything Vivaxia did was calculated, so there was something I was missing.

The Manticores on the ground grew tired of slamming into the barrier, but if they kept going, they’d likely break it. Rocks and dirt sprayed into the air as one began to dig. The other simply stared at me, his nostrils flaring and his eyes wild and… full of agony.

You don’t want to do this, do you?

This attack didn’t seem to be organized or even mildly thought out. The sky burst with reds and oranges as a new column of fire climbed above the library. The snarl of Hellhounds followed as Nightmare Fae invaded the flames. One of the Hellhounds looked at me, but I gave him a nod. It was a universal gesture that saidI can handle this.

The Hellhound left with his group to manage the loose Nightmare Fae rampaging down the street. Given that it was adragon breed, it would take quite a few Hellhounds to corral it. A wall of Hellfire roared to life in their wake.