NOELLE’S POV,
As soon as we fly over the wall it feels like I wound up in a storm. Fire and weapons fly around me. I see light and explosions everywhere and it is immediately complete chaos. I can feel the impact of every blow that lands on Thorns armor. I look around to find Hades but all I can see are demons, dark humans, and creatures of Hell. Hades must have put up some illusion so he and the 4 horsemen can stay out of sight and let the rest of the army do most of the fighting.
I bite my lip in frustration because there goes my plan B to take out the most powerful players to end the fight. I let Thorn burn demons and dark humans in the field with dragon fire, but I notice it gets heavier for him by the minute. I don’t know how much damage the armor can hold. Angels are dropping light bombs and fighting flying creatures in the air. I see many of the Under Realm army being blown up but every hole we make seems to be filled up with new soldiers just as quickly. The longer we are fighting the more angels and dragons around me go down.
“TO THE WALL,” I hear Holly scream.
I look back and see that the stone giants and horned creatures made of fire are trying to breakthrough. The horn of the city gets blown and everyone retreats to the wall to defend it from being impregnated. Gabriel is hitting the giant creatures with lightning, but it seems to have no effect. The only thing that seems to work a little bit are the light bombs, but they are too small to make a real impact.
I urge Thorn to land on the wall and jump off to the boxes with light bombs. Gabriel appears behind me, and I pant, “I have an idea, get all the dragon masters to pick as many bombs as they can carry.”
Gabriel doesn’t hesitate to ask me why and just flies off to instruct his warriors. I get back on Thorn his back with my arms full of bombs. I tell him to get as close to one of the fire creatures as possible. Thorn has never been this fast, flying close to the creature and constantly staying out of reach from its grasp. When I am close enough, I throw all the bombs at once and we quickly fly away. The bombs all explode on its head at the same time and the creature falls down to the ground with a loud bang. Immediately other dragons come down and drop more bombs until the creature explodes and only leaves ash. I hear cheers but there are many more fire creatures and stone giants banging into the wall.
All the dragons and their masters repeat the same procedure on the rest of them, but it takes way too long to take them down this way. After 5 creatures Thorn is getting slower and just when we try to get close to the head of a stone giant, he quickly takes a swing with his fist and slams us through the wall. Thorn shields my body with his to brace me for the impact, but I can feel his pain when we land against a stone wall with full force.
We flew through the wall many meters and I am now looking at a big hole where we smashed through. Luna and Gabriel immediately take a position with their army at the hole to defend it from anything trying to come in. Holly and the rest of the angels and dragons are still fighting off the rest of the giants and fire creatures at the wall. I take my eyes off the fighting and stroke Thorn his head. He tries to stand up, but his wing doesn’t seem to work. I softly follow the structure and notice several broken bones. “Stay here boy and barbeque anyone that comes near you, I will get you some help.”
I run through the chaos on the wall until I find Faith. “Faith, I need you to take Thorn to the inner level and heal his wing.”
Faith nods and quickly runs in the direction I pointed at. I pick up some weapons and hurry down the wall to join the fighting. In the meantime, more creatures got through and there are now several holes in the wall. While the stone giants smash up more and more walls, demons and dark humans try to run through. There is no point in dropping bombs when our own people would also get wounded so the fighting is now mostly done with light weapons. I try to remember everything Nolan taught me and cut through as many soldiers as I can. I am dripping with sweat and my body feels heavier with the second. Around me, our soldiers die or get injured more and more by the second.
I look at Luna who has a big cut on her face and Holly who seems to be limping. Like they can read my mind they both look up and we share a silent conversation. We all seem to understand that we are losing this fight. Luna nods to us and runs away to blow a horn further into the city. When we hear the sound, we all know what it means.
“RETREAT,” I hear everyone shout around me. I start running with the rest towards the inner level of the city which has a bigger and higher wall and is again protected with magic and traps. We all know exactly where to run but the Under Realm army does not. Some get blown up by land mines or fall into holes with spikes. I run through the gates of the inner level of the city and catch my breath against the wall for a bit while the last of our people run in. The heavy doors lock with a loud shriek and magic spells activate which makes the door light up.
Then I quickly look for the others and we all stand around in a circle. I look around and ask, “Where is Angus?”
Luna her eyes fill up with tears, “He died protecting me from an attack from behind.”
We are all silent with sadness for a few seconds and when I look around, I can see many of our warriors, angels, and dragons have shared the same fate of death. I take a deep breath and say, “I think it is time for evacuation of those who cannot or don’t want to fight.”
Everyone seems to agree and Julias offers to lead the people out now that Angus has died. He sets out to blow a third horn which means the sign for evacuation. People start to cry and say goodbye to each other because they all know this means we are losing. Then the people that want to leave start to walk to one of the houses where for the last week a tunnel has been dug to the mountains outside the city. Julias and Luna hold each other for a short while and stand there peacefully for a moment with their foreheads against each other. Julias gives her one last kiss and waves to the rest of us before disappearing into the tunnel.
Everyone that stayed behind turns towards the gate and takes their positions again. Just when Gabriel wants to give a speech to give everyone courage, the sky gets dark. My sight goes black, and I can hear Hades his voice in my mind. “YOU HAVE FOUGHT BRAVELY BUT IN VAIN. MANY DIED AND MANY WILL FOLLOW. GIVE YOURSELF OVER NOW AND YOU WILL GET A PLACE IN THE NEW WORLD THAT I WILL BUILD. KEEP SHOWING RESISTANCE AND LOOK WHAT WILL HAPPEN.”
I get a vision of the 4 horsemen riding through towns in the Mortal Realm. Starving children, plagues, corpses lying rotten on the streets, people fighting their own people for food. Babies are left crying alone before death passes them and they go quiet. Everywhere they go they bring war, starvation, and death. The vision is pressing on my skull, and I feel like I am never capable of joy or happiness again.
The vision starts to clear, and I can finally see light again and breathe in the fresh air. My heart is racing, and my breathing is raspy from panic. I look around me and by the looks of horror on people’s faces, I know they saw the same vision.