The Defiance of Vim (Catalyst Book 4) by C.J. Aaron (graded readers txt) 📕

never ceased to amaze him. He reveled in the momentary rush before the sickening churn of his stomach once gravity again took hold. His cloak floated out behind him, rippling with the speed of his motion.

Ryl landed squarely on the remnants of the stone stairs. The rapid demolition had been far from thorough, though in the little time afforded them was admirable. The gap was easily several meters wide, yet the more daunting aspect was the change in elevation. The drop, only a meter down, would render the distance nearly inaccessible for the average man. Though they might be able to reach the wall, grasping for a hold with their fingertips, they’d be cut down before they could hoist themselves upward.

Ryl doubted that the Horde would have an easier time with the jump either. Though they were dramatically faster than the average man, the gap would likely slow them down long enough for arrows or blades to cut them down.

Though rapid, they were far from immune.

Would that it was an army of Vigil manning the wall behind him. The hearty soldiers had done well training against the enhanced speed of the phrenics. For their part, they understood the demons they fought against. Though few had survived their initial battle, they had crossed blades with the abominations of the Outland Hordes.

Ten meters ahead, the remains of the stairwell turned at a right angle toward the courtyard. Ryl tracked the arrows streaking across the sky ahead of him. He descended a few more steps, his lengthy strides covering several stairs at once. Just before reaching the small landing where the stairs turned, he dropped over the side, falling into the protective cover behind the stairwell.

The arrows found their marks only instants apart.

Ryl instinctively hardened the woodskin across his body. He pressed the base of his palms against his ears as the barrels of blasting powder detonated. The ground shook. Fragments of stone rained down from the side of his temporary shelter. The shock waves rippled through his body, preceding the searing heat and deafening boom.

Ryl dipped deeper into the speed within his veins, lunging out from his hiding spot. The constant note of a high-pitched song rang in his ears from the damage of the volume. He raced across the middle of the courtyard, maneuvering his body straight into the billowing cloud of flame and smoke. The charges set against the corners of the building, though their heat and flame stretched toward the palisade, had spared him from the bulk of the shrapnel. Deadly chunks of jagged rock strewn from the foundations of the buildings pummeled the Horde that clogged the avenue. The buildings above, having lost their footing, collapsed inward, crushing those that remained below. Hidden amongst the buildings that anchored either corner of the avenue, the Lei Guard stood little chance against the incinerating heat and avalanche of timber and stone.

The wind swelled around his right arm as he raced toward the fireball.

Ryl slashed his right arm forward, releasing the gout of wind that had swelled. The vicious arc exploded from his arm, cutting a line through the smoke and flame. Fragments of rubble, shards of timber and glass lanced forward, ignorant of any who stood in their path.

The heat was intense. Ryl hardened the woodskin across the entirety of his frame as he passed through the middle of the blast. His eyes were useless inside the maelstrom. He relied on his phrenic mindsight to guide him.

His stomach threatened to turn as he witnessed the dark grey signatures of the Lei Guard evaporate in the face of the explosion.

They were once tributes. Family.

He’d set them free from their life of eternal torment, yet his body ached at the revelation.

The smoke curled into great eddies as his body streaked through the explosion. An opening had cleared in the dark stain that had choked his vision as the Horde were battered by the blast. As he cleared the smoke, the true devastation of Averine’s surprise became apparent.

Deadly chunks of rock hammered the lanky demons standing in their path. Shards of wood impaled any in their way. Those close to the blast fared the worst. Their bodies were ripped to shreds. Severed appendages and unidentifiable chunks of flesh traveled through the air.

The arc of wind from his arm had cleared the path before him. The debris, flame and heat lanced forward, clearing the way. Ryl slapped a stray wedge of stone that had survived his gust out of the air with the flat edge of his glowing blade. The throbbing in his left arm reached a thundering crescendo. Neither the woodskin nor the alexen focused on his arm prevented the agony that rushed through him. The pain was incessant, though thankfully, the dark whispers had subsided to nothing more than a hint of animosity, easily stifled.

Ryl wasted no time with the dead or dying. The emotional assault from the Lei Guard who’d hidden themselves among the buildings ceased. He would mourn their losses later. The devastation from the blast had cleared a wedge of nearly thirty meters down the gently sloping avenue. The first buildings crumbled inward as the explosion ravaged their street-side supports. The damage to the adjacent houses was severe, though all remained standing for the moment.

He fell upon the reeling Horde without mercy. A second slash from his right arm propelled a focused blade of green fire forward. The sickening scent of burning flesh greeted him as he leapt over the line of severed bodies. The pools of black blood spread out around the dead.

Ryl was disturbingly aware that he waged a battle of dual fronts. He cut through the unprepared, sluggish Horde with a lethal combination of speed, wind and blades. The burning, serrated edges of the Leave severed limbs from bodies, spraying clouds of viscous black blood across the street. The accumulated odor of the Horde was nauseating as it choked the air with the scents of rot and death. At the same time, a war was waged