Roar stilled. The shadow had him under the arms, and he hung there. Useless. Pathetic. Alone.
I scooped up my sword, turned it over in my hands. “Did you know this is Sassa’s Blade? I wonder how long it’s been since a Lisika has seen it up close?” My gaze drifted upward to meet his, and I took great pleasure in the fear I found there. “Maybe since Sassa’s own husband?”
“We can make a deal. I’ll swear to you. I have the largest army in Winter’s Realm. Spare me, and?—”
“Spare you? After all you’ve done to me? To those I love? After seeing how you use humans and sell them tovampires?” I shook my head. “I would never ally with a slaver.”
“I have gold!”
“I don’t give a damn about gold!” I lifted Sassa’s Blade so that the edge graced that tender, throbbing vein in his neck. “You have nothing I could want.Arenothing I could ever want.”
Roar sucked in a breath.
“Any last words, Warden?”
He lifted his chin, said nothing.
“Pray the Fates have mercy on you then.”
One cut with so little pressure applied, and his neck opened. Blood poured, and I watched the life drain from Roar Lisika’s emerald eyes.
“Release him,” I said to the shadow when not a spark remained in the warden, “and then go.”
The inky form vanished, and the absence of a tether to the being loosened my chest. I turned to Aleksander. My hold on my second shadow was still there, though beginning to fray with the effort of keeping it sustained—and thus, Aleksander alive.
I knelt, assessed the wound. There was so much blood. Too much. I was out of my depths.
Where was Rynni? I cast a glance across the ship but didn’t find her. In fact, few fae remained on this ship. Only a half dozen or so were still fighting. Mostly I stood on the deck with corpses or sailors tied to masts.
I took over holding the wound together and nodded to the shadow. “Go find the dragon-fae, Rynni. I need her.”
I wasn’t sure that Rynni could heal this wound, but at the very least she might fly to the mainland and help get Aleksander proper care.
The shadow left, the effort of another large task draining me more. It was not as bad as when I used the shadows within Sassa’s Blade, but noticeable all the same. Terrifying too, in a time when I needed every drop of energy I could spare.
I exhaled a long breath when I spotted the dragon rise from another ship and fly to mine. She shifted back in the air and fell into a squat as her knees absorbed the impact of landing mere paces from me.
“By Eirial’s mercy.” The dragon-fae came to kneel beside me. “How long has it been since he was struck?”
“Ten or fifteen minutes?”
She swallowed. “I can do a temporary bind, but he needs to be stitched up. And the wound cleaned before that.”
My arms trembled. “I fear he can’t stay on your back, but I can send a shadow to carry him to the town. That poses another problem.”
“The fae there might be fearful of shadows, and not help him,” Rynni said. “I’ll go with and once we’re on land, I’ll carry him. Make sure there’s a competent healer. You’re fine if I go?”
My stomach tightened. No, I was not fine with that because though Rynni had only one good fire breath a day, that counted for a lot. As did her teeth and talons. Who knew when we’d need her?
Aleksander might be my brother, but he was only one fae in this army, and we brought precious few healers with us. Her strength aside, it was likely that we’d need Rynni again for what she did best.
“Come back quickly,” I said finally. “Before you go though, how many others are injured? Fallen?”
“I’ve been called to close a dozen wounds. Fallen? I can’t say, but we’ll soon have a count. We’re winning—have almost won entirely.” She was already working magic, temporarily binding the wound. As magic poured from Rynni, I took the time to take in the ships around us.
Yes, the sounds of fighting on the other ships were dwindling. Almost gone.
The dragon-fae finished and sat back on her heels. She turned those keen healer’s eyes on me and spotted the missing piece of my wing. “I can help with that too.”
