Nova: Daughters of Darkness (15 page)

Making quick work of creating an opening, they were able to step through within seconds and ran to join their daughters.

Meanwhile, Nova, Branna, and Kyna were fighting their way over to where Drake was tearing into his opponents like a madman.

"Nova!" Branna yelled between jabs and swings. "Drake won't be able to hold them solo for long. We have to get over there faster than this!"

"I know! I'm trying but there are so damn many of them!" she grunted as her sword made contact with demon flesh. Looking into the face of the demon impaled on her sword, she wondered if they had once been human. Most of them looked just as human as she did, except for the eyes. They were devoid of all life and emotion, like their souls had been torn out and replaced with pure evil and blackness.

Kyna spun, kicked, and stabbed for all she was worth, taking out two demons as they tried to attack them from behind. "I think I have an idea! Nova, you said you could command the trees...well, we are surrounded by them."

"Eoghan asked that I only call on them in dire circumstances since they will fight to the death for me. I can't do it, Kyna; I can't call them to their deaths."

Understanding her reluctance, but knowing they couldn't afford it, Branna stopped and gave her a stern look. "We are all fighting to the death here. We can use all the help we can get, so I suggest you get over it and do it fast."

"Lookout!" Nova tackled Branna as a branch flew past, just missing them. Nova saw that it had been torn from one of the surrounding trees, she stood up thoroughly pissed and her decision was made easier. She didn't want them to die, but she refused to allow them to stand there helpless while the demon scum literally tore them limb from limb.

As her sisters continued to fight around her, she raised her arms and called to Earth, sending a message through her to the surrounding trees. The thrill of seeing the dryads come alive was short lived as she was quickly drawn back into battle.

"Oh my!" Niamh stopped short as she watched the trees around her begin to uproot and move to help Nova and her sisters.

"Unbelievable;" Craven whooped in joy. "See, Niamh, I knew our girls were something else. That can only be Nova's Earth power that called the dryads out."

"Yes, but when did she become so powerful?" Still awed, Craven had to prod Niamh forward.

"They're all far more powerful than we know; I am sure there is much more to come." Rushing headlong into the battle he grabbed the first demon he saw, and snapped his neck, then continued on his way. He felt no sorrow for the loss of life; this was kill or be killed and he planned on seeing his daughters grow old.

Niamh pulled her dagger out and proved a formidable opponent to the lizard like demon that obviously underestimated her. Jumping on his back she stabbed him in the head repeatedly, until he fell to the ground, the forward motion taking her with him. She swiftly rolled into a crouch, waiting for her next adversary.

Felken, having remained in the shadows until, now roared in frustration, "No! You will not win, little girls!" Slamming his hand on the ground, he caused a rift in the earth that bubbled with a black sludge like substance.

"Come forth demons of hell, come forth and fight for your brother. Kill the daughters of darkness and you will be rewarded handsomely!"

A loud shriek ripped through the grove as more demons began to crawl their way out of the pit of Hell. One of the dryads close to the rift grabbed the first two that came through, slammed their heads together, and threw them back where they came from. There were just too many coming through at once, and the brave tree was quickly over powered and a fire demon lit the tree up until all that remained was ash.

"No!" Screamed Nova, feeling the loss of the dryad.

"What is it?" Branna asked over her shoulder, backing toward Nova, while keeping an eye on the approaching demons.

"It's the dryads, one of them has been killed, I can feel it through my link to them." With a renewed sense of vengeance, Nova raised her sword and began hacking viciously at the demons around her.

"There is a rift in the Earth. Felken opened it, and there are demons pouring out of it!" cried Craven as he came up behind them with their mother in tow. Peering around her husband, she addressed Nova.

"You must go close it. We will get to Drake and protect the dryads. Now go!"

Nova ran toward Felken, knowing that she had very little time to close the rift before they were overrun by the demons. Calling water to her, she created a path of ice that she used to slip through the cluster of demons around her. Having controlled water her whole life, she had spent a lot of time sliding on the ice and was able to move on it effortlessly. It was almost comical how the demons slid around, arms waving, trying to find their footing.

One of the dryads saw her weaving in and out of demons and picked her up out of the fray. Nova heard his voice in her head, "Allow me to help you guardian."

"Thank you," she settled herself on the thick branch of his arm and blasted ice at the demons that tried to stop them.

The dryad swept his other branch out and sent a cluster of demons flying through the air toward his fellow dryads, who plucked them out of the air and squashing them like bugs.

"There!" Nova pointed to the rift, where demons still spewed from. "Leave me and go help the others." Jumping off the branch she stood on, Nova allowed gravity to propel her towards the ground. Creating a small slide of ice, she expertly maneuvered the few remaining feet. Sliding in at a perfect angle, she swung her sword with all her might, easily slicing through the torso of a demon crawling out of the ground. Driving a sharp, icy rain at the ones behind him to keep them at bay, she leaned down and lay her hand on the torn earth. She called Earth forth to heal herself and stop the flow of evil. Earth responded with a groan, and Nova waved to the demons who were just now realizing they were about to be swallowed up.

Nova was so engrossed in closing the rift, she didn't hear Felken come up behind her. "Stupid bitch! Now you can join them." He growled at her, kicking her in the back, propelling her forward into the closing rift. Scrambling to find something to grab onto, her hands clawed the air helplessly. With a sinking heart, she knew that this was it. Jolting to a stop, Nova felt her body being pulled backwards. Dangling by her feet, she turned to see what had stopped her fall and saw Drake.

"I've got you." His well-muscled arms bulged with effort as he pulled her back over the edge, just before the ground closed completely.

She lay on the ground, gulping air, knowing how close she had come to losing her life.

"Ah, a two for one deal. I like it." Felken licked his lips greedily, thinking he had the advantage.

Suddenly, a blinding light lit the sky, and two portals opened; one revealing Larkin and his Valkalan soldiers and the other to reveal Granda, the king, and the fae army. The king used his telekinetic powers and with a careless wave of his hand, Felken was thrown across the clearing. Larkin rushed to his brother, making sure they were okay.

"Nice of you to show up, brother." Drake took the hand Larkin offered and stood, pulling Nova up with him.

Looking from one to the other, Larkin said. "We had to be sure you would stand with the right side before we could bring the warriors to help you. Either way, brother, you had to know that I would come."

Chapter 23

Drake bristled at the suggestion that he would have done any harm to Nova or her family, but he quickly realized that Larkin was right. A very short time ago it may have been the opposite, and he could not be mad at him for wanting to be sure. He was even ashamed to admit that it had ever been a possibility.

"Father," Everyone turned as Rían approached and bowed before his father. Being the prince, he wasn't required to bow, but he did so out of respect.

Wrapping his son in a fatherly hug, the king breathed a sigh of relief.

"Rían, I was worried." He stepped back, holding him at arm's length. "We watched as the fighting started but lost sight of you. Once we saw things were getting out of hand, we decided it was time to intervene." His gaze traveled over the faces gathered around, stopping at Nova. "Ah, the lovely Nova."

Nova shuffled nervously, his gaze making her uncomfortable. Not sure how to handle being in the presence of a king, she attempted an awkward curtsy.

King Magnus was absolutely charmed by the gesture. "My dear, while I appreciate the effort, a curtsy is , as you say, out of fashion." .

"Father, I think the expression you were looking for is old fashioned." Rían whispered exaggeratedly.

The king waved his hand in dismissal, "Whichever, it is not important. What is important is that we get this filth back where it belongs."

Drake stepped up beside Nova, standing close. "Agreed, and with all of you here now, I believe we can and will succeed."

Branna and Kyna burst through the throng of demons fighting with the both fae and valkalan soldiers alike, with their parents right on their tails.

"Jesus, Nova! What the hell is going on over here?" Branna looked from Nova, to Drake, to Rían.

"Such a beautiful young lady, with such an unfortunate mouth." King Magnus wrinkled his nose in distaste at Branna's vulgar language.

Branna pinned him with an icy stare. Her green eyes burned a bright emerald, "Who the hell are you, and why do you give a shit about my mouth?"

"Branna!" Rían reprimanded her sharply. "You will address my father,
the king
, with respect."

"Son, please, I can handle a sharp tongued witch." Turning his back on her in an obvious dismissal he conferred with the captain of his guard.

Kyna gave Branna an exasperated look, as if to say 'will you never learn'. Rían just looked irritated that she had failed to make a good impression on his father.

"The demons are coming fast, your highness. I suggest we get some archers up in those trees to give us some leverage." The captain was pointing to the dryads who continued to fight the never ending swarm of demons.

"I can help you with that," Nova offered.

The king smiled kindly at Nova, which irritated the hell out of Branna for reasons she didn't want to think about right now.

"No need, Nova. We are old friends of the dryads." Motioning toward the others, he said "I believe your talents will be better put to use elsewhere."

Nova turned to see her parents and Kyna standing behind Branna. "Why are you out here in this? You should be in the circle, where you'll be safe!" she reprimanded Niamh and Craven.

"And leave you three out here to fend for yourselves? Nova, you know we can't do that." The incredulous look on her father's face would have been comical if the situation weren't so serious.

Even though Nova understood their need to see for themselves that their children were safe, she still hated the fact that they were in danger.

"We were born for this and have the powers to defend ourselves."

"Oh, we are not defenseless, Nova." Her mother said. Joining hands with Craven, Niamh chanted a spell, causing plumes of smoke to billow in and swirl around them; hiding them from view.

"Cool" Kyna loved it when her parents performed magic.

Her mother grinned. "See, we did manage to keep some power to ourselves." Their parents looked at each other, happy they could show their daughters they were here to fight, not to be protected.

The archers, now in the trees, began to rain arrows down on the demon swarm. That gave Nova, her sisters and their parents a chance to break through the throng. Spotting Felken, who had been missing since the king tossed him away, Nova and her sisters went after him.

Branna shot fire blasts at a cluster of demons in their way,

"Where is he?" Kyna yelled as she dodged a scaly arm swiping at her neck. She parried and stabbed through the arm with the knife in her left hand. Sweeping her right hand up, she glided the blade of that knife across the demon's throat. Blood, black and thick, gurgled up out of its mouth, and she watched the life drain from his cold yellow eyes. It made her sick to think of how many lives she had taken so far and how many more she had yet to take. As if she sensed the struggle within her sister, Nova gave Kyna's shoulder a reassuring squeeze.

"We'll get through this, Kyna. We won't be the same people when it's over, but we
will
get through it."

"Ah, girls, you may want to get over here." Niamh's voice trembled with fear. Following her mother's line of vision, Nova felt her heart stop.
This can't be real
, she thought. Even with all the crazy shit she'd seen recently, this definitely took the cake.

"What the fuck is
that
!" Branna yelled, her hands engulfed in flames, ready to blast the shit out of the new arrival.

Rían came out of nowhere, grabbing her hands to stop her.

"Wait! You can't kill it with fire!"

"What? Why not?"Frustrated with his interruption, she yanked her arms roughly from his grasp.

Crossing his arms over his chest, he rolled his eyes at her. "Because, Branna, it is a hell hound, they thrive on fire. You would do nothing but feed it power if you shot your fire element at it."