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

a moment for the next assault. The burning ember that scarred the sky above swelled. A smoldering tail tracked its progress as it plummeted toward the ground. It struck well inside the line of the Horde, toward the middle of the banes. The detonation shook the stone buildings that lined the avenue. Glass shattered under the force of the shock wave. The wood trim of the surrounding shops erupted into flame. Closer to the blast, two of the buildings caved inward as the old stone construction failed under the concussion. Rocks, dirt and chunks of flesh rained down as pandemonium ensued.

The wind around his own arm swelled as he prepared to charge. He was no longer alone. The scattered images in his disjointed vision had not been entirely amiss. He cursed himself for not recognizing the signatures earlier. Seven unique glowing orbs brightened his mindsight, pushing back against the darkness that had blanketed the city.

The phrenics had come.

The ground around him rumbled. The forward line of banes staggered from the blast, growling as a sheer wall of sharp rock pushed up from the stone below, rising a meter high. It looked as if the stones themselves stretched. Their crystalline features were jagged and exaggerated.

Ryl heard footsteps on the ground behind him. He felt the welcome, the familiar warmth swelled. Three charged upon his position. Four remained upon the wall. For an instant, he turned his head to the side, enough to view the companions rushing to his aid.

The ground thundered under the weight of Ramm’s massive steps. The war hammer would have been far too heavy for most to lift. He carried it in one hand as he charged, his face locked into a terrifying cry of rage. At his side, the lean hunter Paelec rushed, short sword in hand. Lagging a few meters behind was the figure that surprised him the most. Paasek, the councilor, ambled forward, though his steps were unsteady. He held a colossal great sword in two hands, primed ready to swing.

Ryl dipped into the speed as his unexpected companions neared his position. He whipped his body around to face the Horde, slashing his right arm forward. An arc of fire traveled with the width of the focused blast of wind. Together, wind and flame struck the sheer crystalline wall, shattering it into a thousand pieces. The gale that flowed from his arm carried the pieces, showering the banes with a rain of jagged projectiles.

The burning of the alexen powered through his veins. Ryl screamed, a combination of rage, aggression, and defiance as he surged forward a pace ahead of his companions. The sound that emanated from his throat was unlike any he’d experienced. It sounded nothing like the voice that he was accustomed to hearing. The emotions were correct, yet it roared with a feral ferocity.

The similarities to the war cries of the Horde were startling. His voice sounded like one of them. With only an instant to contemplate the occurrence, he pushed the troubling thought aside, whipping the glowing blades up as he barreled into the demons.

The forward line was riddled with stone shrapnel and lightning. They had been jostled by the explosion at their rear. The banes stood no chance against the ferocity of the assault. As part of a scout troop, Ryl and Ramm had trained together almost exclusively. Their actions were in tune. They understood where the other would be, how the other would bend and react when plans inevitably devolved into gritty hacking and slashing. Aside from his early phrenic training prior to his awakening, Ryl had had little time to train with Paasek. Even less had been spent with Paelec.

Though they had spent a precious few hours in simulated combat, they worked as a lethal, cohesive unit with seamless precision. Ryl hewed a path directly into the middle of the line. He moved with a speed the battered and unprepared Horde could do little to counter. His glowing green blades passed through the bodies, unfazed by flesh or bone.

Paasek followed a few meters behind off his right shoulder while Ramm mirrored the position to his left. As he drove a wedge into the center of the line, the demons scurried to avoid the green flaming death in his hands. A sickening crunching of bone echoed from his left. Limp, mangled bodies flipped uncontrollably into those at their rear. No quarter was given. None were allowed to rise where they stumbled or fell.

To his right, the massive great sword whistled as it cleaved through the air. The hum of its violent motion ceased only as it passed through the bodies who were in the range of its bite. The sturdy demons, though powerfully muscled, fell before them in devastating numbers. Behind the wedge formed by Ryl, Paasek and Ramm, Paelec darted from side to side, ending the struggle of those who sought to regain their footing, or had evaded one of the devastating attacks. Arrows still streamed over their heads. Lightning and fire crackled and burned, though the rate and ferocity had diminished.

The elementalists, though devastating, would tire before long. They sought to deal what damage they could before dangerously overextending their bodies.

It was a feeling Ryl understood all too well.

Their meteoric push into the mass of demons stalled quickly as they reached a more coordinated response. Ryl slipped to the left, letting the speedy Paelec take his right side. Together, the four spanned the width of the alley. Their enhanced speed outmatched the beasts’, which fought and died before them.

Of the group, Ryl seemed to struggle the least under the numbers that assailed them. His speed dwarfed even his phrenic companions’, yet the Horde before him seemed more hesitant. Their attacks to an extent were less enthusiastic. They struggled amongst themselves to assail one of the others standing to his side.

For some time, they held their own against the press of the Horde, yet slowly, they gave ground, bloody step by step. Still the beasts fell before them in