Shattered Souls (Guardians of the Maiden Book 3)

Everything around Dyna faded to a dull hum, muffling the shout of her mate. She looked up at the mass of Skath Celestials diving for her like a flock of white crows. They had waited until she was out in the open and apart from the others. Her Guardians and Sowmya were running for her, but they were too far. Cassiel’s cry reverberated through the bond. She looked at him as he raced for her, his hand outstretched.

His fear shook the bond to her very soul.

But for once she wasn’t afraid.

She was furious.

They had their happiness. Their peace. And she would be damned if she let anyone take that from her. If bloodying her hands was what it took to protect her future with Cassiel then she would. Even if it meant dirtying her soul.

Dyna sprinted for him.

Her veins surged with magic, her vision flooding green. Cassiel instantly understood. His body flared with those beautiful cerulean flames, his expression switching to enraged determination. The host descended on them just as their hands met. A massive blast ripped out. Blue and green fire roared into the sky and blew through the first unit, disintegrating them to ash and embers. The detonation threw the remaining Celestials back through the sky with a scattering of feathers.

Cassiel crashed into her, his warm arms clamping around her body. He took her face, looking her over wildly. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m all right,” she assured him.

The Valkyrie surrounded them protectively, taking out their shields and weapons. Zev shifted in a snarling mass, Rawn and Lucenna arming themselves with sword and magic.

“Take her back inside now,” Cassiel barked at Sowmya but she stepped back.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Dyna said. She let her cloak drop and her sword sang as she drew it free. “I will not cower, and I will not bend. Let them come.”

Cassiel stared at her, stunned a moment before his expression filled with pride. This was her fight as much as his. Tossing off his enchanted coat, he drew out Esh Shamayim. Seraph fire licked along the blade, tremendous heat warping the air. His thumb brushed her chin. One light swipe of affection and approval.

Because he understood her and what she would do. For them.

Rawn, Lucenna, and Zev came to her side. Her Guardians. Her friends. They were ready to fight with her, too.

“We will cover the ground,” Rawn said, and they all nodded.

King Yoel joined them, giving her wink. “Elyōn has blessed me with one last fight before I go.”

“Fates willing, this will not be your last,” she said.

Yelrakel had the Valkyrie in formation. They stood at attention, helmets on, sunlight glinting off their scaled armor and grieves. Ready for war.

Sowmya and twenty others from her Royal Guard broke out of the lineup. They came to stand with Dyna, along with Zekiel. Their duty was to guard her first.

Dyna gripped her sword’s hilt and they all looked up at the small army that came for them. At least five hundred armored Celestials. Against two hundred Valkyrie. The odds were unfavorable, but Dyna had seen how brutal the fierce women fought. They were an unstoppable force.

And so are you. Cassiel’s rich voice fluttered through her mind.

His hard silver eyes were trained on someone among the mass of white wings. Then Dyna saw him. The one leading the host of Celestials. He was a broad male with short hair and silver plated armor. In his hand he held a fire shield. He flashed her mate a smug sneer before putting on his helmet.

“Lord Hallel,” Cassiel growled. “He brought his Vanguard.”

King Yoel’s brow furrowed. “So it would seem.”

Had he expected someone else?

But this wasn’t another challenge, Dyna thought. Lord Hallel was breaking the peace treaty among the Realms for only one reason. This was meant to be a coup.

He wants Hilos. She sent to Cassiel.

His chin dipped in a nod. I am thinking the same.

Lord Jophiel strode to them as one of the female warriors passed him a sword. “Feels like old times.” He came to his brother’s side. “I hope you can keep up, old bird.”

“Old bird?” Yoel chuckled. “I will show you old. Try not to fall behind.”

Cassiel met his father’s gaze. They stood face to face, twin blades of Seraph fire in their hands. And they shared a smirk. Albeit cold and determined, it was united.

Cassiel walked to the front of the legion with his father and uncle at his side. Her mate stood tall. Shoulders back. Wings were a cloak of black smoke. He radiated strength and command, an esteem they all felt.

He looked like a King.

“Valkyrie!” Cassiel called, and they beat their swords against their shields in response. “Skath has betrayed the crown. Kindly escort them through the Gates.”

They hooted a cry and they shot into the sky with him.

They were a storm of gold, aiming for the cloud of silver speeding to them. They clashed and their colors blended into each other like paint, feathers bursting out. Dyna kept an eye on her mate. A comet of vivid blue rounding through the air. He blasted into the right flank and bodies of Celestials were thrown back. Whoever was caught by his flame or blade plummeted from the sky and vanished into a flare of white light before they hit the ground.

Jophiel was graceful in his movements. Fluid as he soared through the sky, taking down opponents two or three at a time. Yoel let them come to him. He swept them back with his blade or with a flick of his hand, before they ever touched him. The Skath Celestials around him began fighting each other as he wove through their minds with his compulsion.

The Valkyrie also fought with a beautiful, wild aggression. They were better, faster—but outnumbered. For every three males they felled, one of theirs went down. Lord Hallel cleaved through the females with the force of a scythe. He was steadfast and heartless, severing wings from their bodies, so they would drop to their deaths. Dyna and Lucenna tried to catch them but the ones they missed, the sound their bodies made when they hit the ground, she felt each one collided against her being.

Feathers covered the ground as Celestials kept falling from the sky. Each one vanishing into light. The viciousness, the slaughter of it all, made her vision blur and her trembling jaw set with ire. Death took souls by the hundreds.

She hated simply standing in the courtyard. She wanted to be up there. Her magic hummed in her body, glowing on her skin.

Jophiel and Yoel continued fighting their way through the Vanguard and they split the flank. They were parting a path, she realized. For Cassiel.

Her mate was covered in blood and ash. His black wings gleaming in the sunlight. It seemed like all paused to see him. To watch as a cerulean glow wrapped him in a plume of flame. His wings rode on a tide of blue embers as he sped up the opening—straight for Lord Hallel.

Cassiel slammed into him, becoming a blue beam as they shoot through the sky. But Lord Hallel took the brunt of it with his shield. They broke apart and came at each other in a clash of swords.

Out of all the possible suspects behind her attempted assassination, Lord Hallel had been low on Dyna’s list. His Realm was small. No matter his skill as a warrior, his army couldn’t withstand a full affront against Hilos. It didn’t make sense.

The sun blotted out again as another horn blared through the air.

More Skath Celestials had come—and they were flying right for the courtyard.

“Finally,” Lucenna sneered, vivid purple light outlining her silhouette. Her long white hair whipped around her. Electricity radiated over her hands, up her arms, and neck. The power crackling in the air prickled against Dyna’s Essence and hers responded in kind.

She felt Cassiel’s attention switch to her as green light swarmed up her arms to her shoulders. Dyna wound her sword in her hand and her power hummed inside of her. Ready.

Her Royal Guard drew out their swords, running ahead with her Guardians to meet them. The Celestials swarmed the courtyard in swath of white flame and were hit with an onslaught of purple and green.

Dyna swept her blade and cast out spells, meeting every attack that came. She was sure in her movements honed into her through weeks of training. It felt as though she was made for this. A Celestial swung his sword for her head and it clashed against her shield. Dyna thrust her blade threw his stomach before Sowmya wrenched him way. Another male flew at her. She captured him in the air with her Essence and threw him to Zev, who caught the Celestial by the throat and tore it free.

Her Guardians kept to her flank, taking down Celestials all around her. The clang of steel and cries of pain rang out. The scent of blood and smoke choked her, white light constantly flashing in her vision.

Her Royal Guard was falling.

For all their power, they didn’t have the numbers.

Lord Hallel bellowed a command. Half the Vanguard swarmed Cassiel—and the other half flew for her. They were taking their chance to get her now.

Dyna and Lucenna stood shoulder to shoulder as they threw a barrage of massive attacks to take them out of the sky. The world shook, and the air hissed with their coalescing spears of lightning and flame. Cassiel fought with everything he had to reach her, but the swarm caged him.

Dyna’s arm trembled with the onslaught never ending. She read the exhaustion on Lucenna’s face. She strained under the force of her magic. Power spilled from them in droves, quickly draining their Essence. She choked on smoke of burning trees and feathers—

Feathers.

Dyna searched for ones that weren’t scorched. When she found two, she called them to her, handing one to Lucenna. The glow in the sorceress’s eyes brightened as it charged them. All of Dyna’s Essence channels opened. Green flooded her vision and magic spiraled up her arms with a vengeance, building and burning as it took over her being.

Lucenna faced the courtyard, thunder rolling overhead. Dyna aimed her hands at the sky and screamed as she released her sea of green flame. It roared into the air, blowing through half the Vanguard. She slumped back and dropped to the ground.

That was it. She couldn’t risk using anymore spells like that without harming herself.

Heavy steps clanked on stone, steel screeching in their wake. She blinked up through her blurry vision. Lord Hallel strode through the courtyard as fighting continued all around them, his sword dragging on the cobblestone. He grinned at her through his helmet, knowing she was out of magic.

Cassiel landed in front of her with a boom.

Flames skittered out, taking out anything in its path. He threw out his arms and fire roared out. It cleaved through Skath Celestials, brimming into the crevices of their armor and disintegrating them where they stood. Lord Hallel dodged his attack and flew back.

Cassiel spun to her, his eyes flickering with blue flame. Lev sheli. He pulled up on her feet. When her legs gave, his arm clamped around her. “Get her out of here!” he shouted at someone past her.

No.

Sowmya took her arm, but Dyna shook her off. “No. I’m not—”

“Dyna, listen to me,” Cassiel said, taking her shoulders. “There are too many of them. Please. You did well, but now I need you to go. I need you safe. If you die, we all do.”

Because then he would fall, and without him the battle would be lost.

The desperation in his voice, his fear of losing her, disarmed Dyna all at once. He pressed a crushing kiss to her mouth, letting her go in the same breath.

“Take her,” Cassiel told Sowmya, his shaking hand still clutching hers. “Hide her until the skies are clear. If I don’t return by nightfall, fly her to Hermon. Now go, and protect the future Queen of Hilos!”

Dyna choked back a sob.

She was pulled away, and their hands broke free. Cassiel leaped into the air for the remaining Vanguard. He bellowed out his rage, fire wrapping around his body.

Zev, Rawn, and Lucenna moved to follow her but Dyna shook her head. “Stay with him.”

She needed to protect her mate, too.