All Is Fair In Love And War

Chapter 23

That hurt. Carter thought through his haze of pain, struggling to his feet. Wall dust clung to his clothes as he pushed himself up, blood dripping down the side of his face from a deep gash over his forehead. He had lost his hearing aids again. Great.

A vaguely humanoid shape stalked forward through the smoke. A sword came swinging at his face and he barely had time to dodge it. Fire curled up the walls, smoke filling the hallway. To his left, he caught a glance of Claire throwing a barrage of spells at a second attacker.

Another swing of the sword and his opponent came into view. Aanya Calderon leapt at him, swinging her weapon at his face. Her eyes were aglow with orange light, flames crawling up her hands and arms. Her braided hair was pulled back into a ponytail, elegant metal adornments scattered across the tiny braids. She was wearing much too nice a dress for this, but that didn't stop her from attacking Carter with gusto.

Carter quickly got hold of his own swords, the blades snapping out of the handles just in time for him to block her next attack. He pushed back against her blade, trying to get her closer to where Claire was fighting Jamie Adams so she could open the shadow portal.

Aanya screamed something at Jamie, delivering a swift quick to Carter's stomach, sending him to the ground. Carter scrambled back to his feet as the flames leapt out at him from the fire on the walls. He flinched away from the walls, just barely able to catch her foot as it swung towards his face. He tossed her backwards, using her momentary disorientation to run at her and knock her to the ground. The fire sputtered out for a moment, giving Claire enough time to knock Jamie back.

A portal opened up underneath them and they fell into the abyss.

*~*

They tumbled onto the street of an empty parking lot. Carter felt a blaze of heat above his head and the ground shaking as an explosion went off. Someone grabbed his arm and dragged him back as the ground where he'd been laying erupted into fire and lava. He looked behind him to see his beloved boyfriend, face set with anger and fear, dragging him away from the two very pissed off demigods.

To his left, Krel was setting off another charge with a mad grin on his face. A flash of cold wind sent them skidding back several feet. Jamie was standing just behind Aanya's fire brigade, wind and snow flurrying around him, quickly growing bigger.

Hot and cold don't mix, Carter thought, drawing one of his swords and grasping the metal sphere on the end of his bracelet with the other hand. If Jamie summoned a snowstorm, (as he so often liked to do), Aanya might not be able to keep up her lavagirl shtick. But getting caught in a blizzard while battle the son of the fucking snow god probably wasn't a good idea. They didn't have many options.

"You take Jamie, I take Aanya?" Carter suggested, hefting his sword. "We probably shouldn't let him finish making the storm."

"Probably," Douxie said, his voice echoing in Carter's head. "Wait for Krel's second set of explosives before charging. Aja and Jim are taking her with you. Don't do it alone. Understand?"

Carter snorted. "Yes mom."

Despite his sarcasm, Carter waited. He saw Krel toss something into the middle of the flames and another explosion shook the ground. As soon as the earth settled, Carter charged. Aja and Jim weren't far behind him.

He leapt over the flames, blade swinging. Aanya blocked his strike, flames roaring with her anger. Aja's serrator came swinging at the demigod's torso, and Aanya had to leap back in order to not be sliced in half. She thrust her hand forward, the ground at Aja's feet melting and bubbling into thick lava.