“Good to see you again,” Abaddon said from her seat on the stone throne. “I hoped we’d cross paths once more.”
I got to my feet and blasted Ares with a torrent of air, smashing him through the wall, and flung a ball of flame at Abaddon, who threw herself aside. I ran out of the ruins and almost into a dozen masked men and women, all waiting for me at the mouth of the ruins.
“Which one of you is Hellequin?” I asked. “I’d like to kill him.”
The sound of clapping came from behind me, and I turned so that I could watch Abaddon exit the ruins and keep an eye on the mask wearers.
“Lucifer is here, isn’t he?” Abaddon asked. “I was so hoping to see him again. He needed to be punished for his transgressions.”
“He’s busy killing your people,” I said.
Abaddon laughed. “I’m going to enjoy our time together.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I snapped.
“Did Galahad die?” she asked me. “I left Helios to deal with him. I assume Helios is dead.”
The clouds above darkened, and thunder began to rumble.
Abaddon looked at the sky for a second. “I wouldn’t. You’re going to need both hands if you hope to beat me.”
“Just a distraction,” I said. “Everyone always looks up.” The shadows burst forth from the ground, wrapping themselves around Abaddon, dragging her to the ground. I felt an incredible force inside the mass of shadows as they encircled her, but in an instant they were expelled, throwing me back into the nearest tree. My air shield kept me from getting seriously hurt, but I’d never known power like what Abaddon had just done.
Before I could move, Abaddon raced forward, stabbing me through the chest with a spirit weapon in the guise of a curved sword. I collapsed to the ground as pain wracked my body, only to look up to see the Hellequin masked man standing above me. He punched me in the mouth, splitting my lip. He looked back over at an approaching Abaddon.
She nodded, and he dragged me to my feet before plunging a dagger into my side, twisting it and removing it before doing it again. The silver in the dagger burned, and I cried out in pain as he stamped on the back of my knee, forcing me to the floor.
Hellequin stood before me and removed his mask. “Hello, Nate,” Deimos said. “Did you really think we were done?”
Abaddon came into view, a smile on her face. “We’ve got a lot to discuss, you and me. I’m going to murder everyone you ever loved, and you’re going to help me.” She kicked me in the face hard enough to knock me out.
CHAPTER 30
Mordred
Realm of Shadow Falls
After escaping Siberia, Mordred arrived in another cavern and saw the rest of the group looking at him as his brain rattled around. “That was not good,” he said, trying to get used to the idea of his father being My Liege. “Merlin. It’s always been Merlin. It’s always been my father.”
“Your dad is Merlin?” Remy asked. “No offense, but he’s a shitty parent.”
“Can’t disagree with that,” Mordred said.
“So, we finally know who the evil bastard behind all of this is?” Morgan said. “About time.”
“Where’s Elaine?”
Fiona pointed to the corner of the cavern where Elaine sat on the floor, looking up at the ceiling.
“What happened?” Mordred asked.
“She tried to remember something,” Mac said.
“There was a lot of screaming,” Wei said. “A lot. I don’t know what they did to her, but her memory is fucked.”
Mordred walked over to Elaine and crouched beside her.
“I can’t remember why they took me,” Elaine said. “Or who took me. Or what I was going to tell you when I saw you. I just remember pain. And Abaddon. I really don’t like her.”
“Join the club,” Remy said as he walked over to them.
“This doesn’t look like Tartarus,” Mordred said as he looked around at the glowing writing on the cavern walls. “Did we land inside another mountain? And where’s Nabu?”
“I’m here,” Nabu said from the mouth of a nearby tunnel. “This isn’t Tartarus, and you need to come with me.”
Morgan helped Elaine to her feet. “You okay?” she asked Mordred.
“I’m not sure,” Mordred said. He’d considered lying and saying he was fine, but faking it had never been one of his strong points. “There’s been a lot to take in.”
“I get the feeling we’re not done yet.”
They hurried to catch up with Nabu and the others and found themselves climbing some steps that led out of a hole in the ground behind a large stone sarcophagus.
“These are ruins,” Diana said.
“They’re old,” Remy said, running a hand across a second sarcophagus.
“Yeah, ruins tend to be that way,” Wei said with a smile as Remy raised a middle finger in her direction.
“I can smell smoke,” Diana said, sniffing the air. “Burning flesh, wood, and a few other things. Where are we?”
“Shadow Falls,” Nabu said as they reached the entrance to the ruins and walked into the forest. “I’ve been here before. The palace is a few miles to the south.”
“Where’s the smoke coming from?” Elaine asked. “That doesn’t bode well.”
“Few things do at the moment,” Alan said. “I guess we should go look.”
“You up to it?” Fiona asked him.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Me, too,” Mac replied. “No one asked, but I’m good.”
“We’ll lean on one another,” Morgan told him. “Everyone forgets that we were hurt.”
“I’m thinking of raising the issue with HR back in Avalon,” Mac told her.
“Avalon has an HR?” Remy asked. “I thought Elaine just kicked people when they annoyed her.”
“It’s close enough,” Mac said.
“Are you done?” Nabu asked. “We should go.”
Everyone stopped and watched him walk into the forest. “He is not dealing with this all that well,” Mac said.
“He’s not used to having so much happen in such a short time. His powers can’t keep up with processing all the new information,” Diana said. “Makes him grouchy.”
The uninjured members of the group reached the outskirts of the forest after an hour’s run. Diana had sprinted ahead, but Wei and Remy had easily caught up with her. Mordred and Nabu had joined them soon after, and they all paused at the sight of dozens of dead blood elves littering the field at the rear of the palace.
“What the hell happened here?” Wei asked Mordred.
“A battle,” Remy said. “The ground is scorched. The bodies are a little on the crispy side. And some are in more pieces than I really want to count. Oh, and the trees over there are still smoking but don’t appear to be aflame.”
“Lightning,” Diana said, pointing to several patches on the ground. “Nate did this.”
Morgan and Nabu turned toward her. “You sure?” Morgan asked.
Diana nodded. “There’s evidence of fire and lightning, and some of these elves are partially buried in the ground, as if something dragged them into the soil but only enough to cut them in half. Shadow magic did that. I’ve seen its use before. I’ve seen the aftermath of sorcerers cutting loose.”