The soulless moved towards them as the platform Finnick was on rose and the ball of energy broke through the ceiling. It sent stones crashing into the ground below, knocking over countless bookshelves.
“No, he’s destroying all my books,” Lana whined, throwing her anger into her power.
“Is that seriously your biggest concern,” Zira yelled at her.
“Do you know how much blood, sweat, and tears it took for me to gather this collection? Most of these books are older than all our lives put together,” Lana growled at her before “I am going to kill him.”
Lana used her power to move platforms to gain height and jump her way onto the platform with Finnick. “I know you’re using my sister’s body and whatever I do will affect her, but you’ve gone too far.”
She threw a few boulders at Finnick, who dropped the Alpha King to block it with lightning, but a piece of debris got through cutting across Clary’s cheek.
“You would hurt your sister,” Finnick asked.
“I’ll apologize to her later,” Lana said, charging him.
Below the rest were doing their best to keep the soulless from killing them. Niamh couldn’t help but focus on the ball of energy. It was distracting Zira.
“What is going on, Niamh?”
“The ball, I remember it from last time. I thought trapping the demon would set my pack members free, but they are still trapped in there. We have to get them out,” Niamh said.
“I get that but first we need to get the Alpha King away from Finnick,” Zira reminded her. “If that thing can take the souls for him to control, he could do the same to the Alpha King.”
It took only a second before it dawned on Niamh. “He’ll be able to control all werewolves,” Niamh said to the group. “He’ll be the King of Alphas.”
“We have to stop him,” Percy said, “but how?”
“I need to sever the connection,” Niamh said. “We need to get that necklace and destroy it.”
“What would that mean for Clary?” Even as Ezekiel asked the question, almost everyone knew the answer.
“Right now, let’s just try to stay alive and find a way up there while Lana keeps him busy,” Zira said, using the power she stole from Rissa to keep the soulless at bay.
A scream broke through their talking as Lana fell from the platform above and crashed into the ground near them. Ezekiel and Percy ran to her to put out the little fires on her clothes and in her hair.
“Well,” Zira said. “That ended a lot sooner than I expected.”
Ezekiel helped Lana to her feet as she pushed him away.
“I’m fine,” Lana growled. “Just a little shock. That little bitch is going to get it when I get back up there.”
“Sorry to bust your bubble but we have more pressing matters down here too,” Zira said, feeling the drain from the power she was using.
“Killing them would...” Isaiah started to say before Niamh cut in.
“We can’t kill them. They’re not technically dead,” Niamh said. “Their souls are trapped in that ball, so if we destroy that thing it might return their souls.”
“Might,” Lana questioned.
“Do you have another suggestion,” Niamh countered. “I can’t hold up this barrier forever.”
“Just great,” Isaiah said. “We can’t kill them, but they can kill us.”
“They don’t have their powers, so we can just knock them out. I can use my power,” Percy suggested.
“It won’t be enough. There’s too many of them,” Zira struggled to say as her barrier broke and the soulless descended on them. The group rose to meet the charge.
From beneath the ground came the first devastating response as Ezekiel used his power. Roots blasted through the floor, tangling every other soulless in place. Isaiah, Chris, and Zed ran through the vines to the ones that were trapped, knocking each one of them out. They moved as fast as they could before the soulless broke through until Zed came upon one soulless he couldn’t bring himself to hurt.
“Mary?”
Lana fired stones right and left of them, knocking out any soulless that ran towards them. Feeling weak, Zira stayed a bit behind them, taking care of any soulless that got close to her.
A pair came rushing from the side, taking her down. She was able to kick one of them away while blocking the claws of another. She rolled around pinning it to the ground before knocking it out. Two more grabbed her from behind before letting her go. She fell to the ground with a hard thump as she turned around and noticed Percy putting them to sleep. He looked at her with a smile and a nod before running towards another target.
Mary turned at Zed’s voice but she didn’t look like the soulless. She looked normal. Zed didn’t have time to think it over as she lunged toward him, taking him down. He blocked her claws and pushed her toward one of the fallen bookcases. He was too much in shock to do anything to her as she came at him again. Slashing at him with fury, and he blocked each one except the last which caught him on his arm. Both Mary and Zed screamed at the attack.
She can still feel me, Zed thought as she looked down at her arm before glaring at him.
“Mary, please. It’s me. Zed,” he linked her, but she growled at him instead while charging him. He dodged and grabbed her wrist, turning her into him. “Please,” he whispered. “Come back to me, please.”
He placed a kiss on his mark on her neck. She gasped momentarily at the contact before grabbing a fistful of his hair and bringing him over her shoulder. Zed hit the ground hard, and she climbed over him with a clawed hand. Zed closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes and could see Mary crying as she struggled to bring her hand down.
“I can’t fight her,” she sobbed.
Her hand came down fast and lodged itself in the ground next to Zed’s face. A cut welled up across his cheek as he reached up and caressed her face.
“It’s OK,” Zed whispered. “It's going to be OK.”
“Please, Zed,” she begged him as her hands wrapped around his throat. “Please before- Ah.”
Mary stopped talking, her eyes rolled back, and she fell forward. Zed looked up and saw Zira standing above them. She pulled a shaken Zed into a hug.
“Don’t worry. I’ll bring her back. I promise,” Zira assured him, bringing his eyes away from Mary to hers, “but first, we have to help the others. Ok?”
Zed nodded along with her before picking up Mary’s body. “I have to get her to safety, first.”
Zed disappeared as Zira turned her attention back to the fight. She could see the battle wasn’t going to be won with them alone. Ezekiel, Percy, and Lana were quickly losing energy from using their power and there were too many soulless to fight.
“We need more help,” Zira said to herself. “We need-”
A small explosion interrupted Zira as another castle wall fell near them, destroying more bookshelves. Lana fell to her knees, almost in tears.
“Why,” she whimpered. “Why the books?”
“Books can be replaced,” Trixie said, making her way over to the group with her pixies by her side. “Lives, however, are a bit trickier. We’re here to help or, in this case, drug as many soulless creatures as we can. Pixies, drug away!”
“What about everyone outside,” Zira asked.
“The Royal Army is retreating back towards the border, pulling the zombies away while the dragons attack from behind. They’re using Igor’s ice to keep them frozen in place,” Trixie informed her. “I think we’re the only ones here to help, so-”
“Hey, don't forget about us.” Alistar walked through the hole with a group of Black Moon warriors. “We’re not an army but we stand with our Alpha and…our Luna. Black Moon, let’s go!”
Warriors, some shifted, descended upon the soulless, knocking them out and tilting the scales in their favor. A loud growl from above grabbed Zira’s attention. Something in the air changed and she knew she had to get up there. She tried mimicking Lana's execution from earlier, but she was just too weak. She could barely move a rock.
“We need a boost,” Niamh said to Zira. In an instant, Ezekiel, Lana, and Percy came to her side as if Niamh called out to them. “Nice sentiment, but you all are almost out. It won’t be enough.”
“Then maybe we can help,” a voice said behind them.