Hesitation and worry crossed his face.
“You know I’m right,” I said.
A growl built in his chest. “Don’t leave my side.” He set me down and unsheathed his sword.
Lake moved quickly around us, his hair a silver blur in the dark as he lunged at the enemy with nothing but his teeth and claws—both of which had sharpened in his current state. Rowan teleported with his shadows, appearing in front of one mercenary and slicing at them before vanishing and reappearing elsewhere.
Akito then appeared right where Rowan materialized. “Caught you.”
Rowan flew backward.
“Ro!” I rushed forward, only to be yanked back to Maddox’s side.
“What’s stronger, I wonder.” Akito cocked his head. “Shadow manipulation or that of air. I lack the ability to teleport, yet I can move swiftly nonetheless. We’re both limited on when we can use our gifts as well. Your weakness is light. Any guesses for mine?”
“Enough blabbering,” Rowan grumbled, getting back to his feet. “You talk too much.”
Akito looked confused. “Is that not how one makes friends?”
“Friends?” Rowan gritted his teeth, clutching his stomach. “If that’s what you want, we can hop on over to the Drunken Toad and order a pint. Food’s decent too, I reckon. It can be the captain’s treat.” He nodded to Maddox.
“Hmm.” Akito looked at Maddox, then back at Rowan. “I detest spirits. Taverns are quite unpleasant as well. Too noisy. How unfortunate. Seems we can’t be friends after all.”
He sent another blast.
Rowan was expecting it this time. He blinked out of sight before it hit. Shadows quickly gathered around Akito’s feet and crawled up his legs. I knew the move right away.
The Bone Crusher.
Akito seemed intrigued by them. Little did he know he was about to be crushed to dust. Or maybe he did know. He smiled before a bright flash bled through the darkness, casting his entire body in a beam of light.
One of the other mercenaries had cast the spell at the last second, dispelling the shadows.
I flung up an arm to block the blinding glare. After being in the dark for so long, it disoriented me. Even once it faded, I saw bright spots everywhere I looked. And I wasn’t the only one. Duke and the others squinted as their visions returned to normal.
That’s when Stryder made his move.
He hurled a fireball toward our group. Callum raised his shield, only to cry out in pain. The blast had burned through sections of the shield and scorched his forearm.
“Cal!”
“A little fire can’t hurt me, Ev,” he said, tossing me a pained smile. “I’m the sun, remember?”
Tears welled in my eyes.
“You’re lucky, knight,” Stryder said. “That was one of my weaker attacks. If I’d actually been trying, you wouldn’t have your arm anymore.”
Callum lunged at him. The two met in a clash of steel. The close combat prevented Stryder from using one of his fire attacks, forcing him to fight with his sword instead. It gave Callum the advantage. He landed several blows to Stryder’s arms and side.
Things then took a turn for the worse.
The force of mercenaries began to overwhelm us. Draven, Reign, and the knights started taking hits. Dealing some out too, but not nearly as much. Briar used defensive spells to deflect their attacks and send them off course, while Lake fought beside Rowan.
“Stay behind me, Evan,” Maddox said between swings of his sword. One of the mercenaries moved like smoke, appearing and vanishing faster than my eyes could follow.
My men were fighting hard to keep me safe. To keep each other safe too.
Baden blocked a dagger that’d been soaring toward Duke. Quincy, who’d regained his momentum after being taken off guard in the beginning, sliced through an arrow, then drove his sword into the woman’s side.
