“Jessie, Kinsella!” Sebastian stood in the center of the driveway, his own shield up and taking fire. He had just enough time to fling up a hand.
Kinsella had slipped out of the melee, coward that he was, and was now sprinting for the banquet hall.
But Austin and I were surrounded, under constant firepower, and their sheer numbers were doing the work for them.
Shifters exploded out of the trees at the base of the mountain. Wolves, big cats, a couple of bears, and one hippopotamus, of all things. Another group charged over the edge of the hill and onto the grass, a great Siberian tiger, Kingsley, leading the charge.
The mercenaries spread out in front of the banquet hall, movements unhurried, weapons at the ready. They would be the real danger.
I blasted someone with a spell. He fell away, revealing another enemy mage ready to fire at me. A snow leopard, Layan, flew through the air, tackling the mage and knocking him out of the way. I ran forward, just seeing Kinsella slip past his line of paid fighters. More people poured out of the banquet hall, the building clearly storing everyone who hadn’t gotten potion.
My swear was drowned out by the cacophonous beating of the thunderbird’s wings as Hollace rose into the sky. Cyra came next, then Ivy House’s gargoyle crew, followed by the gargoyles from town, organized and ready for battle.
Niamh jetted out from behind and didn’t waste any time. She pulled in her wings, tucked up her feet, and dove horn first. It hit a woman in the back and punched through. Her scream was short-lived, and Niamh tossed the woman over her back so she could move on to the next enemy.
The first line of mercenaries, nearly to Sebastian, took a knee and brought up their guns.
“Oh no.” I ran harder, straight for him, not knowing what I’d do against actual bullets but not wanting him to take the brunt of this by himself. Kinsella would have to wait.
“No, Jessie.” Sebastian flung out his hand to stop me. A wave of magic materialized in my path. I slammed into it and bounced off, knocked onto my butt. I brushed it off and sprang up as the mercenaries fired, some aiming for Sebastian, some aiming for shifters.
They weren’t actual bullets. Zips of color, like lasers, shot out. Yelps blared through the space. A bear roared, a sound that was half pain, half anger. Sebastian threw up his hands, probably to fortify his shield.
Cyra swooped down out of nowhere in phoenix form. Mouth open, she ingested the zip of color meant for Sebastian. Fire flew out of her rear before she turned, flapping her wings for speed, and dive-bombed the mercenaries, blasting them with fire. Thunder rolled across the plane, and Hollace dove as well.
The mercenaries didn’t so much as flinch. Those who were standing tilted up their guns to aim at him. They fired, but before the light could pierce Hollace, he let out another thunderous roar. Lightning charged the air around him, eating away whatever magic was fired from those guns.
Vampires rushed out from behind the mercenaries, lunging for the shifters. Gargoyles dove out of the sky, grabbing them and pulling them up, digging their claws in before dropping them. A fall like that wouldn’t kill them, but Edgar was waiting down below. He turned from swarm to himself, grabbed a newly splatted vampire, and ripped off its head.
The kneeling mercenaries continued to fire, hitting vampires and shifters, not at all caring who was friendly and who was the enemy. More agonized howls and yelps filled the air as the colorful blasts found their marks.
A few wolves reached the mercenaries, lunging into the crowd. Two of the mercs, a man and a woman, stood and slung their guns over their backs. Knives came out of nowhere, and then they were all action, grappling with the large wolf bodies, their movements lightning fast. The woman plunged a knife into a furry belly, then dragged it across the wolf’s throat.
“No!” I shed my clothes and changed, taking to the sky to get there faster. A zip of magic came for me, one of those lasers. It hit my shield and tried to bleed my magic away, but power boiled in my blood, fueled by the agonized wails all around me. By the vampires reaching the shifters, by Sebastian barely able to fight mages back while defending whomever he could against the mercenaries, by all of this unnecessary violence that Kinsella had forced on us.
I pumped my wings as hard as I could, pushing for speed. Cyra dive-bombed the line again, taking fire and giving it back. Hollace dove, snatching up a person in black in each taloned foot before swooping up, his electric energy taking them out instantly. I was there a moment later, scraping across someone’s face and sending a blast of magic through their line. It exploded, tossing people into the air. But not before two of them got off shots. Their blasts hit Sebastian’s shield and bled through it, striking his body.