Page 36 of Helsing: Demon Slayer (The Dragon’s Paladins #1)
The donats charged, their harmonics amplifying, each note lashing the Locusts with devastating precision.
Waves of light tore through the swarm, scattering the insectile forms into fragments that disintegrated into the air.
Elias led the charge with unerring focus, his harmonic ribbons slicing through the Locusts like divine blades.
Abaddon roared, his wings unfurling to their full span, blocking the road entirely. A tempest of blackened energy erupted from him, sending donats reeling. One fell from his horse, injured but alive, and Michael, dismounting, instinctively scrambled to the knight’s side.
Grabbing the injured donat ’s blade-like ribbon, Michael flicked his wrist as he’d seen the knights do, and, to his surprise, the ribbon responded. It sparked to life, glowing faintly as Michael slashed at an approaching Locust, driving it back just long enough to help the donat to his feet.
Abaddon stepped forward, his crowned head tilting as he took stock of the unexpected resistance. His voice broke and reformed as he spoke, as if he couldn’t contain it within a single rasping tone. “You delay the inevitable.”
At his words, a wave of daemon locusts sprang forward.
But Elias and his knights formed a protective phalanx, their chants reaching a crescendo.
With each verse, their harmonic shields grew brighter, forming a dome of light that the Locusts could not penetrate.
Elias himself turned to face Abaddon, his chant amplifying, harmonics sparking from his gauntlets and ribbons as he focused all his energy.
András and Beta, seizing the moment, harmonized their own energy with the knights’ chorus.
Together, the combined harmonics created a blinding pulse of light that shot outward, engulfing the Locusts in a searing wave.
Abaddon staggered, his form faltering, the crowned head flickering as though losing cohesion.
Edvard, not to be left out of the combat, sent his gnats repeatedly at the Dark Lord of the Abyss, their tiny forms blazing briefly as they expended their harmonic energy in bursts that tore through the shadowy aura surrounding Abaddon, disrupting his focus and forcing him to shift his attention toward the relentless swarm.
With a final cry of defiance, Elias brought his harmonic ribbons down in a sweeping arc, striking the Angel of the Abyss with a blow that shattered the remnants of his shadowy form. Abaddon let out a guttural howl before disintegrating into the void, his presence extinguished.
The battlefield fell silent, save for the sound of the horses’ heavy breathing and the faint hum of residual harmonics.
Michael looked down at the ribbon still glowing faintly in his hand, his face a mix of shock and exhilaration.
Ryan stumbled out of the Defender, Dianne at his side, to meet their unlooked-for saviors.
They walked with Edvard toward the Elioud , who stood beside the gathered donats , András sharing handshakes and hugs with the human knights while Beta scanned the pre-dawn landscape with her enhanced Elioud vision.
Elias remained on horseback in the faint afterglow of the donats’ harmonic weapons, his face half in shadow and gleaming with sweat. Ryan gave the knight a sharp nod of thanks as he and Dianne came nearer. The older warrior nodded once in return.
Ryan glanced from Elias to Michael. “Finance bro, huh? If Elias doesn’t recruit you to the Order of Malta, I’ve got a place for you on my security team.”
A sheepish grin washed over Michael’s face. He handed the ribbon back to the donat to whom it belonged, the ribbon still twitching slightly. “Guess I’m more versatile than I thought.”
As Michael spoke, Dianne watched him with such affection and joy that Ryan would have been jealous if the younger man hadn’t been her brother. As it was, the transformation on her face made something raw and vulnerable open inside him.
“That makes two of us,” she said to her brother. “I’ve had a few moments these past couple of days where I rose to the occasion, too.”
Michael turned to his big sister, bending to catch her up into a tight hug. She squealed and gripped him around the neck. “Di, thank God you’re safe.”
Ryan, conscious of not belonging in their family reunion, stepped back and surveyed the landscape around them, his nerves still humming in the aftermath of battle.
His side ached worse as the adrenaline from the attack receded.
Whatever Elioud magic Beta had performed had faded.
He too faded. He’d need Dr. Armand’s brand of medicine soon.
Dianne came up next to him, slipping her hand into his. “There you are.” She didn’t say more, but he felt her worry. And her hurt. She’d taken his distance for what it was.
He didn’t pull his hand from hers, but neither did he draw her closer into his side where she belonged, where her presence would soothe the fierce ache from the wound that Abaddon’s vessel had given him.
They were nearly in Fushe-Arrez. Whatever had happened between him and Dianne on the road from Split, it was time to return to his duty.
Elias dismounted, his movements deliberate, his gaze sweeping across the battlefield’s remnants. Relief swelled among the group, their laughter and easy breaths replacing the tension of the fight. Victory. A hard-won triumph. But Elias did not celebrate.
His attention flickered toward András and Beta, meeting their unreadable stares. No words were exchanged, only the quiet understanding of warriors who had seen too many battles end like this, with enemies retreating but never truly defeated.
Then his gaze drifted beyond them, past the scorched ground and broken stone, to the distant mountains. Cool, shifting tones of deep blue and indigo, fading into pale silver at the edges, signaled dawn’s approach but not full arrival.
In Elias’s eyes, it might as well have been the gathering of storm clouds on the horizon.
Ryan watched him, watched the stillness in Elias’s stance and the weight in his expression. The others rejoiced, oblivious to what lurked in those fleeting glances between the veterans. But Ryan saw it—felt it creeping into his bones.
This wasn’t over.