Ruled by Steel (The Ascension Series #3) Read Online Free
Author: S.M. Reine
full day—a week on Earth—before anything happened. The slaves were taken on another run. Jerica and Neuma waited, rationing out water for Ace and watching for the sign.
There was no warning when it came.
The front gates opened with a clank and a groan. Jerica stood, drawing her knives, and watched as the gates on the next guard tower, and the next, also slid open.
The House of Abraxas was exposed.
She shared a long look with Neuma—the kind of look that said goodbye, just in case things went worse than they hoped—and then rushed the front gate.
The primary gates of the House weren’t expecting assault; they were guarded only by a pair of fiends with short swords. Jerica allowed all of her energy to pour out of her in a rush. Her own fear of what was surely a kamikaze mission multiplied exponentially as she projected it. As a nightmare demon, she could evoke fear in those near her as easily as she could feast on it.
Normally, the wards on the House walls should have protected the guards from an assault by her energy. But she saw the moment that fear came over the fiends. One of them dropped its sword.
So it was true—Abraxas was dead.
Chains jangled behind her, and Ace shot past Jerica, unleashed and unmuzzled. His muscles rippled as broad paws pounded against the stone ground. He leaped on the unarmed fiend. Those incredible jaws clamped down on the fiend’s throat and ripped.
Jerica didn’t watch the dog kill. She lifted her knife to block the swing of the second guard’s sword, then thrust her other blade into its gut while it was exposed.
The fiend fell, and she rushed toward the inner gates of the House.
Neuma matched her stride. “Over there!”
Jerica looked where she pointed. Two more guards were rushing them from the nearest tower.
They were better prepared than the first had been, weapons drawn and helmets shielding their faces. Other guards were rushing from the other towers, converging on the point of assault.
“Great,” Jerica said, and she meant it. It terrified her to see those things running at her. Fiends were mindless, gargoyle-like creatures with bulging eyes and a thirst for killing. Individually, they posed little threat; in groups, they were brutal. And they were gathering quite a group.
But her growing fear meant that her powers were growing, too. It surrounded her in an electric haze. The first fiend that hit it fell over catatonic in an instant.
Neuma distanced herself, standing aside as Ace rushed headfirst into the crowd of attacking fiends. The scent of blood and sounds of screaming filled the air.
Jerica slashed and cut, driving her knives between the clumsy plates of the fiends’ armor. She felt a blade penetrate her side, but registered little pain; stabbing wounds were ineffective against nightmares of her strength.
The second strike didn’t hurt, either, nor did the third. But there were too many fiends. Each one she felled was replaced by two more. The House of Abraxas had emptied its barracks to stop them.
Jerica moved forward a step at a time as she dropped each fiend, approaching the House inches at a time. She wanted to get her back to the wall. Keep the fiends from surrounding her. The fear she produced made them slow, but fiends were already slow-minded; once they knew to brace themselves against her, it wasn’t enough to cripple them.
Neuma and Jerica finally broke through to the front steps of the House. “Go!” Neuma cried, throwing her weight against the switch on the left side of the door. Jerica operated the right side.
With a groan, the door lifted, baring the foyer of pit glass beyond.
Mission accomplished.
But their moment of distraction had allowed them to become surrounded, and almost an entire centuria of fiends ringed the steps, closing in on them. Jerica couldn’t see beyond the barrage of leathery skin and short blades. There was no sign of Ace.
She glimpsed Neuma over the heads of the attacking fiends, and there was panic in her
There was no warning when it came.
The front gates opened with a clank and a groan. Jerica stood, drawing her knives, and watched as the gates on the next guard tower, and the next, also slid open.
The House of Abraxas was exposed.
She shared a long look with Neuma—the kind of look that said goodbye, just in case things went worse than they hoped—and then rushed the front gate.
The primary gates of the House weren’t expecting assault; they were guarded only by a pair of fiends with short swords. Jerica allowed all of her energy to pour out of her in a rush. Her own fear of what was surely a kamikaze mission multiplied exponentially as she projected it. As a nightmare demon, she could evoke fear in those near her as easily as she could feast on it.
Normally, the wards on the House walls should have protected the guards from an assault by her energy. But she saw the moment that fear came over the fiends. One of them dropped its sword.
So it was true—Abraxas was dead.
Chains jangled behind her, and Ace shot past Jerica, unleashed and unmuzzled. His muscles rippled as broad paws pounded against the stone ground. He leaped on the unarmed fiend. Those incredible jaws clamped down on the fiend’s throat and ripped.
Jerica didn’t watch the dog kill. She lifted her knife to block the swing of the second guard’s sword, then thrust her other blade into its gut while it was exposed.
The fiend fell, and she rushed toward the inner gates of the House.
Neuma matched her stride. “Over there!”
Jerica looked where she pointed. Two more guards were rushing them from the nearest tower.
They were better prepared than the first had been, weapons drawn and helmets shielding their faces. Other guards were rushing from the other towers, converging on the point of assault.
“Great,” Jerica said, and she meant it. It terrified her to see those things running at her. Fiends were mindless, gargoyle-like creatures with bulging eyes and a thirst for killing. Individually, they posed little threat; in groups, they were brutal. And they were gathering quite a group.
But her growing fear meant that her powers were growing, too. It surrounded her in an electric haze. The first fiend that hit it fell over catatonic in an instant.
Neuma distanced herself, standing aside as Ace rushed headfirst into the crowd of attacking fiends. The scent of blood and sounds of screaming filled the air.
Jerica slashed and cut, driving her knives between the clumsy plates of the fiends’ armor. She felt a blade penetrate her side, but registered little pain; stabbing wounds were ineffective against nightmares of her strength.
The second strike didn’t hurt, either, nor did the third. But there were too many fiends. Each one she felled was replaced by two more. The House of Abraxas had emptied its barracks to stop them.
Jerica moved forward a step at a time as she dropped each fiend, approaching the House inches at a time. She wanted to get her back to the wall. Keep the fiends from surrounding her. The fear she produced made them slow, but fiends were already slow-minded; once they knew to brace themselves against her, it wasn’t enough to cripple them.
Neuma and Jerica finally broke through to the front steps of the House. “Go!” Neuma cried, throwing her weight against the switch on the left side of the door. Jerica operated the right side.
With a groan, the door lifted, baring the foyer of pit glass beyond.
Mission accomplished.
But their moment of distraction had allowed them to become surrounded, and almost an entire centuria of fiends ringed the steps, closing in on them. Jerica couldn’t see beyond the barrage of leathery skin and short blades. There was no sign of Ace.
She glimpsed Neuma over the heads of the attacking fiends, and there was panic in her
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