was too risky to use helicopters or planes for an aerial strike. The Morrigan could easily swat them out of the sky, and it would be a death sentence to those on board. Instead, Malekbel and Vayu had shown me how to infuse our man-made weapons with magic, making them even more deadly. Caleb had rigged a couple drones with explosives, but he’d have to be strategic in how he used them.
An eagle’s cry floated over us, and that was the signal to prepare for attack. I closed my eyes and gathered all of my magic together. The Morrigan would sense power amassing outside as all of the gods did the same, so we had to be quick.
I counted to ten, then released an explosion of magic toward the barrier keeping us from attacking. Streams of magic came from all sides of the circular barrier, hitting it with bright streams of light that caused the entire barrier to glow before it started to crumble.
A bead of sweat formed on my forehead, but I ignored it as I pushed more magic into destroying the barrier. Men and other things streamed out of the fortress, shadows following as they ran toward us. The last of the magic barrier exploded, and I pushed the explosive force toward enemy lines, hoping it would put a dent in the wave of monsters heading in our direction.
Austin and Cody shouted out orders as the first of the magic-infused mortars were fired toward the enemy. The first two bounced off personal magical shields, but the third and fourth made it through, exploding into flesh and bone.
“Hold the line!” Austin shouted as the enemy got closer and closer.
My eyes widened when I saw what was coming our way. Yes, there were some humans and shifters in the crowd, but there were also beasts and creatures made of shadow.
“Shit,” Mason cursed.
“What the fuck?” Jason added.
There were more murmurs from the wolves around us as we all realized this wasn’t going to be similar to any battle we’ve fought before. This wasn’t going to be a battle of guns and mortar blasts, this was going to be closer and more personal. I was glad most of my pack had gotten some training with swords and axes, but we were far from experts.
“Fire!” Austin shouted out.
Rifle blasts exploded all around me, SAW gunners let loose, and mortars blasted into enemy lines. I sent bursts of light into the thick shadows that crept along with the advancing enemy. The gunfire tore into the physical bodies of the attackers, and my light magic caused the shadows to retract where they hit.
Despite everything we threw at them, the enemy kept coming. I tapped into my connection with the world that made me a goddess. Like drawing in a deep breath, I pulled in all the ambient magic I could reach. I gathered it within myself until it felt like I was going to burst. Then, I aimed it at the force that was about to crash into our defensive line.
Blinding light erupted from me and shot across the battlefield. It burned into my retinas, and I had to blink a few times to get rid of the spots. When my vision was clear again, I saw that my light had burnt a clear path in front of us. Red mist hovered in the air above a sea of severed body parts. The scent of death was strong, and I had to tuck away my emotions. This wasn’t time to be Anna, this was time to be a goddess.
There was a pause on both sides as everyone struggled to get their vision back and make sense of what happened. The shadows had receded from the oncoming force, leaving the monsters bare to our firepower. They were close enough now that I could see the nightmarish creatures that made up the Morrigan’s army of shadow fae.
The entire world seemed to take a breath, and then it all began again.
Venus appeared beside me and grabbed my arm.
“Now,” she hissed. “We need to use the confusion to get into the Morrigan’s fortress.”
I looked over at my warriors in dismay, unwilling to leave them undefended. The enemy crashed into our front lines, and there was suddenly chaos everywhere. The battle was being fought one-on-one. There wouldn’t be another chance for me to take a broad shot at the large swath of enemy forces. I couldn’t strike again without taking down my own people.