The Alpha King knocked away another zombie with his free hand while shouldering one of his warriors. The more he took down, the more kept coming. After slashing down another one, he turned to the wounded warrior.
“Hurry and shift. Get to the border,” the Alpha King said to him before turning back to the creatures that seemed to multiply. His warriors, some shifted, were trying their best to keep the creatures at bay but he knew it was only going to be a matter of time before they were overrun. They need to last just until his reinforcements come to help.
“Alpha!” One of his scouts came to his side. “The reinforcements are dealing with the dead at the border as well.”
Damnit! We need help.
For a while, he was able to keep the zombies away from him, switching between his wolf. He took down a fair share but they kept coming and his fallen comrades rose up minutes later as zombies themselves. The Alpha King turned his attention back to Clary, who seemed to be enjoying the show. He felt his heart racing, and he began to look around desperately, cursing himself for letting it get this far. He wanted to focus their attack on Clary but he needed his mate to be OK.
He turned his attention back on the horde coming their way before a roar followed by a few explosions shook the ground beneath them. The surprised look on Clary’s face gave him hope that it was something in their favor. A moment later, a huge dragon burst through the top of the castle. The Alpha King could swear it was laughing with its tongue hanging out as it soared into the sky. Celeste. Hope spread through the Alpha King as he watched Clary disappear inside.
“A few with me. I’m going inside,” he mind-linked his warriors “Keep them from coming inside.”
The Royal Beta and Gamma nodded before taking their group to defend against the zombies while the Alpha King and his warriors followed him inside.
Saphyra couldn’t contain her joy, so when she saw the white wolves moving to safety from the holes she created in the walls, she burst through the ceiling with a smile on her face. She used her body to tear down another part of the castle but her joy was cut short when she saw the white wolves being flanked by zombies. She took to the skies and rained fire down on them, burning them to ash and making way for the white wolves to escape. The zombies didn’t remain ash for long as their bodies seemed to recreate themselves.
What kind of black magic is this, Celeste wondered. The zombies continued their route to the white wolves, so Saphyra landed in between to block them. She used her tail to swat them away, sending some flying in the air before crashing to the ground. She carefully maneuvered in front of the white wolves that were escaping, knocking down as many zombies as she could.
Once the white wolves disappeared through the trees she unleashed her flames on the approaching horde. Though no matter how many she burned and stomped on, more kept coming. It wasn’t long until they started to crawl on her body, tearing at her scales.
Saphrya tried to fly away only to be brought down by the weight on her wings. She fought against them but it was just too many. She felt her scales being ripped into and cried out in pain, only to hear another roar responding to her from a distance. Then another and another answered her call. Was that more than one, she wondered, looking up at the skies and seeing multiple shadows flying above her.
“Hell yeah,” Hunter’s voice gleefully echoed through the wind. “Dragons attack!”
*****
Mary carefully made her way to the library, doing her best to avoid any zombies or soulless white wolves. She made it to the door only to see two zombies guarding it. She hid around the corner to come up with a plan. It had been a while since she'd been in a battle but she wasn’t scared. At least that was what she told herself.
Just aim for the head, she thought to herself as she pulled out the two knives she stole from the kitchen. She readied herself when she heard explosions echo through the halls. She smiled, knowing Celeste was having a great time right about now. She took the explosion as a distraction and ran toward the zombies. The moment they saw her she was already lunging at the closet one, lodging the knife in its forehead. She hung on as it fell to the floor. The second one grabbed her shoulder and an icy shock went through her. She didn’t let it stop her from rolling forward, pulling the knife from the fallen zombie’s forehead.
She quickly turned to face the last one standing, only to see it lunging for her. Its claw slashed across her chest, catching her close to her ribcage. She dodged to avoid further damage. Tears flowed from her eyes but she remained focused on the battle. It’s stronger than me, she thought, trying to find a way to use it to her advantage. The zombie ran towards her with its claws outstretched as Mary went on the defense, bracing herself for impact.
This was going to work, she thought, as the zombie crashed into her. She blocked its claws with her own as they went down. She used the momentum and rammed her feet into its ribcage, flipping it over her head. She stood as soon as it hit the floor and pounced on it, driving her knife into its head with a battle cry. The zombie squirmed only for a second before it became still under her hand.
Mary started to rise but her strength faltered as she fell against the wall. She looked down and noticed she had been more injured than she thought. She had no choice but to curl up and clutch at the pain. The cut on her side was bleeding profusely as she applied pressure to keep it at bay. She prayed her wolf would heal her before she lost too much. She started to move towards the door when she heard the zombies rising behind her.
What is the Goddess's name? She didn’t waste time and opened the library door, quickly locking it before the zombies got to her. She hoped it would keep them at bay long enough for her to get the Queen.
When she turned around, the first thing she saw was a gigantic ball almost taking up the entire room. She had to tear her eyes away from it to search for Queen Luna, who wasn’t that far away. They had her gagged and chained to the chair on the opposite side of the room. Mary stumbled across the room to her and the Queen’s eyes grew.
“It’s okay,” Mary reassured her. “I’m here to help,” she said, removing the cloth from the Queen’s mouth.
“You look worse than me,” Queen Luna laughed as Mary smiled weakly at her.
“I’ve been through worse. Believe me,” Mary laughed weakly. “Let's get these chains off and you outta here. Your mate is desperately waiting for you.”
“He’s in pain,” Queen Luna said. “I can feel him faintly.”
Mary tried to smile at her. “He’s holding back until he knows you’re safe. So let’s hurry.”
Mary could feel herself getting weaker as her wound was slowly healing itself. She bent down to untie the chains around Queen Luna’s ankles before she heard her scream. The Queen’s eyes widened and Mary turned just as something hard crashed against the side of her head. Her cheek hit the ground hard as she stared at her attacker. She could barely see, but for a moment an image of Alaia popped into her head before she fell into darkness.
Clary stood over Mary with a brick in her hands and watched the blood flowing from Mary’s head. More and more she could feel her control over her body weakening. Finnick was able to do almost anything he wanted and there was nothing she could do to stop him.
“Now I will show you a glimpse of the power we can have,” Finnick said, walking to Queen Luna.
She reached out to touch Queen Luna. The shadows moved from her hands and surrounded Queen Luna’s body. She writhed in pain as Clary felt a surge of power flow through her. It was small but noticeable. She pulled back and held her hand out to Mary. It took a few seconds before Mary’s eyes opened and she stood up. This felt different than before with the white wolves. Whatever she did excited Finnick even more.
“Of course, the real source will work better, but for now one example will do,” Finnick said, standing in front of the ball of energy. “It’s time to take our rightful place at the helm, don’t you think?”