Pretty Spelled by K.A Knight
Atlas
We land mid-afternoon, the jungle sun blazing down on us. Kyro is the only one happy about it, basically sunbathing while Cassandra checks him out. All of us hesitate at the tree line, knowing once we step in, there is no going back. We are heading to our deaths.
I am anyway, not them.
The trees reach up into the sky, and somewhere in the distance, my mate’s body is being controlled by evil—an evil we need to stop to save this world. It feels like all the centuries that have passed have been leading up to this.
Standing side by side, armed to the teeth with weapons, we stare into the jungle before I square my shoulders, head held high. This is just another war, another battle to win, and us gods are used to that, this is what we excel at.
“Are we ready, soldiers?” I bark, falling back into routine.
“Yes, sir,” all but Kyro calls, while he just grins at me.
“You know it.”
Rolling my eyes, I grab my machete and start towards the jungle. We have a long trek before us. I can’t transport us in, not without knowing the layout or what will be waiting for us, so we have to walk. Khalid walks with me, helping hack away the trees so we can get through. Remi and Bella take up the rear with Slate as the others walk between us.
The monkeys chirp, the birds squawk, but the predators stay away, knowing who the bigger monsters are here. We march with purpose, covering more ground than any human could until, an hour later, I know we are nearing the temple she’s using as her base. The jungle breaks into a slight clearing, and I lift my nose to the air, taking in the sunlight for maybe the last time. I know my family is watching me, wondering why I am not rushing, but I know something they don’t.
Neither Lilith nor I will be coming back.
Turning to them, I keep my expression calm. A general is there to inspire their soldiers, to offer them confidence, even when they don’t feel it. It’s always been my burden, my shoulders heavy with the weight of leadership and protecting this family, but I will do it one last time.
“We are getting close,” I murmur. I look to Mishal then. “Take to the sky, scout the way.”
He nods and turns to Dabria, who narrows her eyes. “Don’t fucking start. I’m coming with you. Nyre, baby, change.”
Surprisingly, he does on command, the huge dragon filling the clearing. Those big orange eyes blink at us, and then he lowers his head to the ground. Using Nyre’s wing, Dabria climbs onto his back and straddles his neck, holding onto the spikes.
“Be careful,” I warn them. “Who knows what is waiting or what they are capable of. Stay high and out of reach, warn us through the bond.”
He blows smoke in affirmation and then pushes into the air, his great wings flapping as he ascends before he soars, flying away to check our path, to see what is waiting for us at the temple of evil.
With Mishal scouting, we restart our trek into the forest, not talking now. All of us are on high alert and aware her minions could pop out at any time. She has undoubtedly felt us and will have a few surprises up her sleeves for us. She won’t go down without a fight.
Not a few moments after thinking that, I feel them. Her mindless horde is creeping through the forest, but they are lumbering, slow, unthinking, and loud. I hear the scream of a jungle cat as it attacks one, yet it still keeps moving towards us. I stop and my brothers do too, spreading out to give us room.
“We stop them here so we are not overwhelmed. Dispatch them fast and silently,” I murmur, feeling the magic holding them together growing closer. One breaks through the trees before me, and I rip his head off and toss it away equally as quickly.
More flow from the foliage, and there is no more talking, just movement. We move noiselessly to slay them, ignoring their grunts. They aren’t human, not anymore. We are freeing them from her dark magic, the black veins covering their skin. The longer they have been kept alive by her, the more they are covered. My hands are stained black and red with their blood as I snarl, using my physical strength, not my magic, to kill them. I need to save all my power for her. She thinks throwing her zombies at us will slow us down, make us tired and weak.
A true warrior knows to reserve their strength for their final battle.
I rip through one, tossing its limbs aside, the forest floor running crimson and black with their blood as the magic escapes and returns to her. We are killing all of her minions faster than she can probably make them. I still when a female shuffles from behind a tree. With long black hair and upturned eyes, she was probably chosen to remind me of what will happen to my mate. In those eyes is more magic than normal. She’s watching us through her, controlling her to send us a message.
But what message? Her mouth opens, emitting a screech that makes my ears bleed.
“Attie,” the female’s malformed mouth cries, like the cackle of an old woman. Snarling, I tear her heart free, and Bella spins behind her, wrapping her flaming chain around her neck and removing the head before spinning away again, her chain snapping out like a whip and cutting through a rogue zombie. We work together, watching each other’s backs, their mates falling in sync with us.
Remi and Khalid are growling and slashing them to pieces. Cassandra is stabbing with a gold rose dagger, while Kyro stays at her side, ripping those who get too close to pieces or setting them on fire. Slate turns into his wolf and tears through at least four of them, while Alejandra wields magic, healing and killing them.
Before we know it, we are encircled by bodies, and no more come from the jungle. Still, we wait, in case there is another wave of them, but I feel the magic pulling back. She’s probably surrounding her temple with them, unable to spare any more after we just destroyed half of her army. She may be able to bring them to life and gather more, but not that fast. She would still need humans to supply her army.
Nyre roars from above, giving the all clear, an old battle strategy. I slump slightly. “That was only a warning. Are we all okay?”
After all their confirmations, I waste no time moving faster into the forest before us, knowing we need to reach her before she collects any more power. The less time she has to prepare, the better. I subtly check over my family though, knowing they wouldn’t tell me even if they were hurt. Some are covered in blood, but none are limping or have open wounds. Their expressions are determined, all ready for the next battle.
I am beyond lucky to be fighting with such soldiers as them.
We reach the edge of the tree line and freeze. “Fuck,” Calder rumbles.
“I can feel their breaking hearts,” Mira murmurs as we stare out at the army separating us from the temple.
There are at least three hundred zombies surrounding the stone temple. Lines and lines of foot soldiers wait to be sacrificed. On the steps themselves are at least twenty supernaturals, waiting and ready. As we watch, Lilith stops at the entrance at the top of the temple with a smirk on her face, her black eyes narrowed, her body bare and covered in blood. She holds up her hands and a shout leaves her lips. With a roar, the shifters start to change. A wolf. A tiger. A dragon. The dragon takes to the air, and I have to trust Mishal and Dabria can handle it as the others prowl the steps, waiting. She stands in the middle of it, her hands spread to either side of her.
Her eyes meet mine, and she smiles wider before her hands drop and the frontline of zombies surges towards us. With a flick of her hair, she turns and heads back inside as black mist trails in her wake. She’s leaving us to her army, thinking it will stop us.
She’s wrong.
She’s my mission, and they are just in the way. I hear Nyre roar, and when I look up, the two dragons are crashing into each other in the air, twisting and turning as they fight, fire leaving their snouts. As I watch, Dabria leaps from Nyre’s back and onto the other dragon, and with a war cry worthy of a general, she bites his neck and stabs two blades in on either side.
Knowing they have it under control, I look down in time to see Slate leap into the fray, knocking the zombies over with his size before picking them up with his teeth and jerking them around. Alejandra is on his back, her mouth moving and eyes glowing bright silver as she flings her magic at them and us, giving us protective barriers.
Cassandra is next to me, chanting, and I watch as plants sprout from the ground, wrap around the zombies, drag them down, and grow over them. Kyro stands at her side, shooting fire into their masses with a laugh, glee shining in his eyes for a good battle.
Calder and Mira are side by side, storming into the masses without a thought. Lightning strikes into a flock of them, setting them on fire and burning them to ashes. He pulls the water from their bodies as Mira sings to them, holding them immobile.
Ciar and Bella are in the middle of them all, laughing and cheering each other on. Bella’s chain, covered in blood, flies through the air as Ciar laughs, ripping out throats and praising his mate.
They are all succeeding, all enjoying the battle, their powers one and arcing between us like a circle. But they have no chance of winning, there are too many, even for them, not to mention the supernaturals on the steps and whatever else she conjures while we are fighting. Closing my eyes, I press my hands outwards as I summon my magic.
It blasts outwards, targeting only our foes. Whoever it hits disintegrates instantly, and when I open my eyes after the shockwave, I see at least half of the army is gone. Good, an even playing field.
“They should have brought more men.” Kyro laughs, and with a quick nod at him, I throw myself into the battle, saving the rest of my magic for my main enemy.
The evil wearing my mate’s skin.
I decapitate them, tossing their bodies away and burning their hearts. I lose myself in the bloodshed, in the rhythmic fighting. My body falls back into old habits, knowing how to do this without even a thought. All of my anger and fear flow out of me as I cut and carve a bloody path through the army until, panting and covered in blood, I find myself before the temple. I glance back to observe my family finishing off the rest of them, but a roar has me turning to the steps to see the shifters looking at me.
No words are needed. I tilt my chin back in a dare. They won’t stop me.
Two wolves and a tiger leap at me. I ready two knives, turning them inwards as I crouch, waiting. I feel a bubble of magic hit me—Alejandra, I think, protecting me. I don’t have time to thank her or take my eyes off the animals. One leaps, and I push into the air, meeting it head-on. Its claws drag down my side, the twinge of pain making me hiss as my blood drips out. I ignore it, slamming my knife up into his snapping maw so by the time we fall to the floor, it’s dead. I pull my blade free and spin to avoid the bite of a wolf as the other howls, both circling me.
I throw one of my knives, and it embeds into one’s side, making it cry out and tumble before it gets to its feet. Spinning, I avoid the leap of another, wrapping my arms around its neck and snapping, flinging it away before pulling the blade free from the other and dragging it down its flank. It falls back, whimpering, and I bring my booted foot down on its skull over and over until nothing but a bloody pulp remains.
Something smacks into me from behind. I’m pushed to the ground, and a jaw snaps around my shoulder, ripping into my skin. With a snarl, I flip, yanking it free and tearing my shoulder muscle. It takes mere seconds to heal as I block the descending jaws of the next wolf.
I see my brothers fighting the others, but there are three around me now. I wrap my arm around the one on top of me, incapacitating it as I kick my booted foot at another, heaving it back. The other’s claws try to come down on me, but I roll away, snapping the neck of the shifter in my arms before getting to my feet. The other is getting to its paws, and they stand side by side, heads lowered and muzzles pulled back, flashing fangs as they snarl. One is a grey colour, and the other is a deep grey and white.
Related maybe.
They try to take a side each, but I don’t let them. I grab the first, throwing him into the second. When they are down, I fill them with my magic until they explode. Blood, fur, and bones burst into the air. Turning my back on them, I check in with my brothers. They are winning, but there is a bear shifter barrelling towards a preoccupied Alejandra, who is concentrating on protecting the others with her magic. She doesn’t see it coming. Slate turns at the last moment and leaps in front of her, but he gets flung across the clearing.
With a snarl, I transport myself with magic, appearing right behind it and leaping on its back as Alejandra rushes to Slate’s side, her hands glowing above him as she heals her mate. I dig my hands into its back, ripping through its skin to reach the bones underneath. I snap its ribcage as it rears back with a roar, holding on as I dig to find its heart, and then I squeeze my hand around it, crushing it.
It falls, and we go down hard. I leap off of its back and land on my feet next to it, looking around to see that the last of the shifters have fallen. My brothers are breathing heavily, covered in blood, but their eyes are alight with the glory of battle.
“We have not won yet,” I remind them, just as Mishal lands and transforms back, Dabria next to him wearing a grin. I look back at the temple, cupping my hands around my mouth.
“Your people are dead. Come out or we come in!” I shout, but there is no response apart from a growing black mist which crawls down the stairs. She appears at the top of the steps, annoyance in her expression as her eyes flash with her magic and hatred.
With a flick of her fingers daring us to, she steps back slowly, fading into the darkness of the temple. Fine. If she wants to play it like that, we can.
Determined, I storm up the steps, taking them two at a time. The sun is starting to set, and the animals are quieting in the forest, knowing what is coming. The fight as old as time. Good versus evil, for the lives of this world and any others.
My family is right behind me as we charge, and once we step onto the top, the whole temple seems to groan. There’s a sound of shifting rock, and suddenly, we are lifted into the air, temple and all. I look back as the ground grows increasingly distant, until we are hovering above the forest before that, too, disappears, the black smoke draping around us like a blanket.
It obscures our view and everyone else’s.
“That’s not creepy at all,” Cassandra grumbles.
“Guess the only way is in,” Remi says, sounding excited.
“I wonder if it has booby traps,” I hear Cass whisper to Kyro. The others remain silent and stoic in the face of the unknown. My brothers’ eyes are alert, Bella’s too, all ready for the fight ahead of us.
Swallowing, I steady my nerves and step into the shadows, ready to kill my mate and die at her side.
