Horsemen's War (The Rebellion Chronicles #3) - Steve McHugh Page 0,64

her dragon-kin form and created a wall of ice that separated us from Megaera and her allies. Lucifer and Tarron led two horses each across the bridge as the rest of us followed at a sprint. We all ran around the corner just as the sheet of ice exploded, raining huge shards into the cavern.

“They are really keen,” Remy said.

We’d all taken cover behind a huge rock formation, close to the realm gate so that Zamek and Tarron could figure out how to get it to work.

“It’s not activating,” Zamek said. “There’s no destination runes that can be changed. I don’t understand how this works.”

“No Elvish either,” Tarron shouted as bullets smashed into the rock close to where we stood.

“Nathaniel Garrett,” Megaera shouted.

I risked a look and saw her standing behind a kneeling Sobek, who had multiple wounds all over his very human-looking body.

“You sure he can’t die?” Remy said.

“He resurrects,” Isis said. “I’ve seen it happen.”

“Keep them talking,” Lucifer said as he went over to help Tarron and Zamek figure out how to get the large realm gate to work.

“Good idea,” I said.

I stood up, took a deep breath, and stepped out from behind the rock. “Hi, Megaera,” I said. “I don’t think we’ve met before.”

“I’ve heard of you,” she said. “My sisters have too.”

“I’ve met them before,” I told her. “A long time ago.”

“My sister died because after you attacked her, she was too injured to protect herself from the next attack,” Megaera said. “I will kill you for her death. You can’t possibly think you can stop us.”

I shrugged. “Thought had crossed my mind,” I told her.

“Any last words, Sobek?” Megaera asked, the tip of her knife pressed directly against his throat.

“The blood of my people,” he said, looking directly at me. “The blood of my pantheon.” He practically screamed the last phrase.

Megaera stared at him. “That’s a terrible last line.”

“Fu—” Sobek started, before Megaera slit his throat and pushed his body onto the sand.

“I know he’ll come back,” Megaera shouted. “But I don’t think he’s going to enjoy where he wakes up.”

Two soldiers dragged Sobek’s body away.

Isis, her fists clenched, stood beside me, radiating anger. “I’m going to tear her fucking head off,” she seethed.

“Isis, we need you,” Lucifer said.

Isis walked away, although she clearly didn’t want to.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Nathaniel,” Megaera said.

“The name is Nate,” I told her. “If you’re going to try and kill me, you could at least get it right.”

She raised her hand, and the six soldiers with her removed grenades from their belts. “This might not kill you, but it’ll hurt.”

“Right back at you.” I opened my hands, and lightning flew from them, smashing into the ground beside Megaera’s feet, forcing her to leap back out of its path. A gust of air smashed into two of the soldiers, and one of them dropped their grenade. It exploded before anyone could kick it away.

“Nate, we don’t have time,” Tarron said.

I darted back around the rock to see that the realm gate was activated.

“Explain later,” Zamek said. “We really don’t have all day.”

I watched everyone else go through first. Zamek waited with me, using his alchemy powers to bring down huge amounts of rock, blocking anyone from getting from the cavern to the realm gate without having to clear things out first.

We stepped through the realm gate together into the realm of the dead.

Chapter Fifteen

NATE GARRETT

Realm of Duat

The realm of the dead was really quite pleasant after the blood-soaked murder cavern we’d just left.

We ended up on a beach with crystal-clear water lapping the shore. The sun was high overhead, although it wasn’t too warm, as there was a pleasant breeze coming off what I assumed was an ocean, considering there was no sign of land out toward the horizon.

“Anyone want to explain what just happened?” Selene asked.

“These realm gates need the blood of their pantheon to open them from the Earth realm,” Lucifer said. “Isis opened this one. We can get back through this realm to the Earth realm normally, but the other way is locked out.”

“The realm gate to Avalon is to the north, inside the mountain,” Isis said.

“What is it with realm gates being inside mountains?” Remy asked.

“Dwarves like mountains,” Zamek said, giving a simple answer.

“I’m sorry about Sobek,” I said to Isis, who picked up a large stone and threw it into the ocean.

“Megaera will pay for what she did,” Isis said calmly.

“So the Erinyes are involved,” Lucifer said. “That is not a good thing. Many