She did a backflip and sank into the darkness.
Akito seemed to have run out of mana for the moment and had to revert to combat with weapons rather than magic. His air manipulation had limits; he could only use so much of it at a time. And he’d burned through a lot of it when masking their presence from Reign, on top of the power he’d unleashed once the fight began. A small blessing.
Rowan didn’t have such limitations. He could teleport and use his shadows as much as he wanted.
“Don’t!” a man shouted. “Please!”
I flipped around to see everything but his head encased in shadow. Rowan stood in front of him, hand raised and fingers curved. Maddox covered my eyes just as there was a sickening crunch.
He’d used the Bone Crusher.
A ball of purple light shot toward us. Maddox wrapped both arms around me, turning his back to it.
“Maddox!”
The spell bounced off him. He remained standing, arms around me and face in my hair.
“Your ring,” I said, shaking so much I could barely talk. I grabbed his hand and held it to my cheek. Briar had infused the emerald with protection magic.
However, my joy was short-lived.
Another attack came, this one in the form of a shower of what looked like glass. He raised his shield to block it before kicking a mercenary in the chest. They quickly recovered and sent another ball of purple energy.
Draven dove in front of us and repelled it. He nodded to Maddox before the two of them fought back-to-back.
“You fight so hard to protect him,” Akito said as he and Rowan fought. “Why?”
“Because I love him.”
“Love?” Akito dodged an attack aimed at his throat. “How interesting.”
Rowan did a side spin and landed a kick to Akito’s stomach. “Your voice grates on my damn nerves.”
The fighting continued. A blur of bodies and flashes. The sound of steel against steel and the occasional grunt or pained growl. It couldn’t go on forever. Eventually, one side was bound to either fall or retreat.
Something whizzed through the air. An arrow then lodged into the tree inches from Callum’s head. I screamed for him right as another arrow came soaring. He knocked it aside with his sword. But more followed, zipping past my men. Draven sliced through one that’d been aimed at Briar’s back.
A burning hot pressure built inside me. I searched the surrounding trees. I wanted to find the archer. To tear them apart. I wanted to hear their screams and—
What? Those dark thoughts… I’d never felt such rage before.
A woman’s scream pierced the air.
Lake had yanked her from the tree and tore into her throat with his teeth. In one fluid motion, he ripped out her esophagus. The bow slipped from her twitching hand. His purple eyes glowed in the dark as he rose back up, blood staining the front of his tunic.
His face then crumpled as he looked at me.
My gentle Lake treasured all living things, much like Briar. Neither of them wanted to kill anyone. But he’d done it to protect our family.
Rowan appeared beside him, and together, the two of them joined us. Draven, Reign, and the knights fought around us. Two of the mercenaries had been killed, leaving only Stryder, Akito, and a man with green hair.
“We need another plan,” Reign said, taking position at Callum’s side and diverting a fireball Stryder had so lovingly sent our way. “We won’t be able to hold them off for much longer.”
“Even though we outnumber them now?” I asked.
“Their magic surpasses ours,” Reign answered. “And Akito’s powers are starting to replenish. I can sense the energy building in his core.”
“What do you propose we do?” Briar asked. “Try to escape?”
