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NERVES WRACKED ME AS we waited for word of where Morgwen would strike next. We were jammed into the living room, watching the news and expecting the worst. The worst turned out to be even more frightening then any of us had expected.
The same stories were playing on all news channels around the clock. A news anchor was once again going through the statistics of how many people had died from the attacks by the hybrids and Dread Wraiths. His face went slack as he received word through his ear piece. Staring into the camera, he was momentarily at a loss for words.
“Oh, God, what now?” Brandi moaned.
“I have just been informed that the bodies of the fallen have risen from their mass graves where they were buried,” the anchor said. His eyes were terrified and sweat popped up on his brow. “Zombies, as the authorities are calling them, are walking through the streets. It would seem they are headed towards a forest in western Russia, but it is unknown who, or what called them from their resting places.”
“We all know who called them,” Jonah said.
“That’s why the witch has been targeting the villages,” Quin said in realization.
“She’s making more soldiers for her army,” Jake added. “If they’re mobilizing, that means she must be ready to go after Von Hades.”
“She has no idea he has the mask,” Connor pointed out. “Or that he has some dragon blood.”
“We need to be there to monitor the situation,” Quin said. “Whichever of them comes out on top will become our target.”
“Dread Wraiths, zombies and vampires will be up against hybrids and druids,” Jake said. “We should let them wipe each other out so we’ll have fewer enemies to kill once the dust settles.”
“I like that plan,” Xavier Vale said with a grin. “We should keep our distance so they don’t know we’re there, then move in once the witch or demon has been defeated.”
Quin nodded her agreement, then checked her gun. “Load up with blessed bullets. They’ll be effective against most of the foes we’ll be facing. The Dread Wraiths will be immune, so don’t waste your ammo on them.”
We still hadn’t worked out a way to deal with them yet. I was hoping something would come to us eventually, or we could be stuck with these spectral warriors for good.
“I see one major problem with following the witch and the demon into the druidic woods,” Roderick said as we readied ourselves. “How are we going to find our way out again? Can you teleport us out?” He directed that question at Rudy.
“Not a chance,” the leprechaun replied. “The enchantment on the woods is too strong for even me to break.”
“Pixies led me out when I was tricked into going into the forest,” I said. “I’m not sure if they’ll help me now that I’ve already solved their warg problem for them.”
“We’ll find a way out,” Jake said confidently. “We need to time our arrival carefully. The witch and demon and their lackeys will need to be in place before we turn up or we’ll be facing battle sooner than we’d planned.”
“I’ll be able to sense the Dread Wraiths, zombies and vampires from a distance,” I told him. “We could get Rudy to take us close to Rosethorn where we can wait for them to turn up. Something tells me he’ll have enough power to teleport far more than fifty of us at a time now.” The leprechaun gave me a smug grin of agreement.
Quin checked her watch. “It won’t be nightfall in West Virginia for several hours yet.”
“The time difference is annoying,” Brandi complained. “What are we going to do now? Just wait around until the bad guys show up?”
“Pretty much,” Jonah replied. “It isn’t like we can speed up time.” He flicked an enquiring look at me and I shook my head. My magic was strong, but I didn’t have that sort of power.
Since we didn’t have to rush off after all, we settled in to wait. Soldiers and police officers had turned up and were doing their best to clear the humans out of the area. They sprinted ahead of the horde, using bullhorns to advise the civilians to leave their homes.
Brave reporters followed the zombies at a distance, shooting their slow progress towards the druidic woods in western Russia. One crew made the mistake of getting too close and a group of walking dead broke off their march. A scuffle broke out, but the humans were no match for the animated corpses.
A truck full of firefighters pulled up, but instead of using water to quell the feeding zombies, one of them pulled out a flamethrower. Sweeping the flames across the undead, they caught alight and quickly burned to charred lumps. A hose put out the flames and white-faced firemen and women huddled together. There were too many zombies for them to fight. All they could do was attempt to rescue anyone who fell to their slow, hungry march.
When the walking corpses reached the druidic woods, the soldiers and police set up a blockade to keep everyone out. They left a wide path for the zombies who disappeared into the trees. Maybe sensing the magic on some level, no one attempted to follow them. Even looking at the path that led into the forest gave me the creeps. It should have been covered in twigs, leaves and the scuff marks from thousands of shambling footprints, but it kept smoothing itself out until it was unnaturally pristine again.
It took a couple of hours before the final undead victim of Morgwen’s wraiths vanished into the trees. Quin checked her watch again and signaled us to move. “It’s almost dark back home,” she said. “We should get into position now.”
The ghosts sent out their power and encompassed everyone in the building. They shifted us up to the surface where the bulk of our army was waiting. We had over three thousand supernatural troops now. Everyone wore a magical belt that I’d crafted for them. They were armed with a variety of weapons, but all had bullets that had been blessed by a priest, or a holy person.
With Morgwen’s affinity for the dead, it would be a bad idea to get the ghosts to transport us to Rosethorn. If she was already there, she would feel them. Now that Rudy was so charged up with power, he didn’t even have to strain to teleport our entire army. We appeared in a field a few miles away from Spencer’s property in Rosethorn.
“I’ll have to get a bit closer,” I said, staring in the direction where I could dimly sense the woods.
“Wait here,” Quin said to her troops. “Xavier, you’re in charge until we return.” He nodded, accepting her trust that he wouldn’t disobey her orders again.
At Quin’s nod, Rudy moved us closer until we were only half a mile away from the edge of the druidic woods. Roderick and Stephanie stood close enough for their arms to touch, sending sidelong looks at each other. Mirra and her mother were clasping hands, silently watching and waiting. Connor had his arm around my waist and mine was around his in return. Quin, Jake and Rudy stood at the front of our group with our trio of ghosts guarding our flanks.
The final hint of sunlight faded as the sun slipped behind the horizon. “It won’t be long now,” Jake predicted quietly.
Minutes later, I felt the undead coming from all directions. I threw up a shield and used a spell that made us nearly invisible to the horde of vampires that were streaming towards the woods. There were so many that I could feel them from miles away. They skirted around our troops, no doubt under Morgwen’s orders to head directly to her without delay.
“There’s so many,” Mayra said softly as a huge nest of over a hundred vampires sped past us. They’d obeyed their master’s orders and had increased their numbers. Most were weak fledglings, but some were old and powerful. It would be interesting to see them going up against the hybrids and druids. I had little doubt the undead would win against Harrow’s and Spencer’s minions. Add the Dread Wraiths into the mix and it was almost assured the witch would ultimately win this battle. She would be bringing thousands of zombies with her when she returned to the States, adding to her already large army.
As if summoned by that thought, I felt the undead arrive in a swell of cold evil. “She’s here,” I said and clutched Connor tightly. They all knew who I was talking about and exchanged frightened looks. Whatever the outcome of this battle would be, if we couldn’t find a way to beat Morgwen and Von Hades, we were all doomed.
