City of Fallen Souls: A LitRPG Adventure (UnderVerse Book 3) by Jez Cajiao (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📕

“Let me help, mistress,” he said, sweeping her up with barely any apparent effort and clasping her into a ‘princess carry’ across his chest.

She started to berate him, but only between gasps, and it was clearly all she could do to try to catch her breath. Considering we’d only been running for about five minutes, and jogging for about the same before that, she was in for a nasty shock in the future.

“Thanks, Lukaj,” Augustus said, giving him a nod.

“Okay then, we’re starting to get a following, which isn’t going to help us with the Skyking’s…” I began, before I was shoved suddenly from the side, sending me sprawling into Augustus. He staggered and tried to catch me, while Miren shouted out an oath. I hit the floor, rolling and tripping someone, who landed on top of me, both of us swearing as I shoved them off.

By the time I looked up, Miren and Stephanos had their bows drawn, and others with bows were all drawing arrows back as shouts rose around us.

Bane appeared next to me, reaching out, and I took his hand, getting hauled to my feet.

“What happened?” I asked, peering up into the drizzling sky and trying to spot what everyone was looking for.

“Crossbow bolt.” Bane muttered darkly, his head tilting from side to side as he searched the area. “I saw the shape move, didn’t have time to warn you, so I just pushed. Sorry.”

“Hey, feel free to do that again anytime!” I said, grateful once again for his persistence as my bodyguard. “Where’d it come from?”

“A flier, small one. Maybe an Imp? It was crouched on that building with all the gargoyles. I’d never have seen it if it hadn’t moved as it fired.”

“There!” Stephanos shouted, and a thick chorus of deep smacks announced the Legionnaires, Miren, and Stephanos’ firing.

There was a scream in the distance, followed by another flight of arrows, and a meaty ‘thump’ as a small figure smashed into the ground.

Shouts of rage pierced the air ahead, as a trio of Alkyon erupted from the third story of a building on the corner, each of them launching into the air and pulling back on their own bows. Arrows flew, shattering against hastily raised shields, and our own bolts flew in response, until a screech of rage came from above. Amaat and his fliers had arrived.

I’d ordered him to stay as high as possible, watching for anyone coming for us, so it had taken him a minute to get into the fight, but when he did…

He and Venta hit the lead Alkyon a second apart, attacking a wing each. Their taloned feet tore holes and released, lifting back into the air with screeches of triumph as their target screamed in terror and fell with wings of tattered membrane, only to hit the ground with bone-shattering force.

Our Djinn attacked next, all four blurring past us. Their small forms streaked skyward, alight with magic as a barrage of flames, ice magic, and some kind of stone spell flashed out. The second and third Alkyon were hammered relentlessly until the remaining three members of Amaat’s pride arrived.

They flashed into the skirmish, blades reflecting the firelight of torches and candles in windows as they tore into their targets.

In seconds, it was over, the Djinn streaking down to take up station around my group, and the five Alkyon lifting back into the night to resume overwatch.

“We’ll be staying in close, my lord; we can keep you safer that way,” the Djinn leader said, nodding to me and casting a shield spell, quickly followed by the other three.

“Then let’s go,” I said, raising my voice to call out to everyone. “And thank you all; that crossbow would have been a pain in the ass.”

“More like the chest,” Bane said, a thrummm of amusement clear in his voice.

“Meh…” I grinned at him as I shrugged and gestured in the direction of the Skyking’s tower. “Forward!” I shouted, and we were off again, jingling and generally announcing our presence like a parade.

We reached the ‘Imperial Way’, a long, straight, and wide road lined with shops and taverns on either side. Windows opened and tired, grimy faces appeared as we passed, the sounds of shouting rising in the distance behind us as more and more assholes gathered.

We ran down the wide street, people jumping aside and disappearing into alleys and behind shuttered carts as we appeared. Even the most rabid anti-Legion sympathizers appeared to have a change of heart as we closed on them… until we were out of reach, at least.

Above us in the distance, obscured by buildings, the distinctive blue glow of mana engines flared as the three patrolling Airships slowly shifted in their unending rounds through the sky. Soot belched from smokestacks to occasionally obscure them. The shouts and crashes from the nearby Shipyards and Industrial Quarter were faintly audible as I ran on, hoping the guards tasked with watching the city were more interested in their beds than watching for us.

Ahead, I saw Gaion turning, leading the group aside as Tang appeared, gesturing to one side frantically.

We ran into an alleyway, cutting to the left, then the right, then right again, as word filtered back to us that the scouts had spotted a guard patrol closing on us, the flare of their torches disappearing behind us as we bypassed them and closed on the ‘Square of Industry’.

Ahead of us, the industrial towers rose into the sky. Some were still filled with light as crafters worked diligently through the night in an attempt to fill orders, while others, like our target, were black holes in the night.

“That one!” Gaion whispered as we halted, the group spreading out and taking up watch as Augustus and I slunk forwards. The tower he indicated was one of the biggest, the base easily two dozen meters on a side. The sides squared off and tapered up to a stout, tall building. Its windows were covered closer to the