We turn back to watch as Cass blocks a man with a godsdamn sword, crossing his own longer-bladed daggers in front of him. But before I can navigate through the overturned chairs and tables to get to him, another man rushes into the dining room. His eyes search the space until they connect with mine, and I reach for the dagger strapped at my belt before he takes his next step. Pain flares over my shoulder, and I quickly pull my magic to it, cringing as the muscles work to stitch back together.
“Fae sympathizer!” he bellows, barreling towards us. I raise my hand and send a blast of my yellow magic towards him, hitting him square in the chest and sending him flying back into the wall.
“Cass!” Elora’s shriek cuts through my concentration, pulling my attention towards my friend.
Cass deflects each swing of his opponent’s sword, even as the man pushes him back towards a wall. Fuck, he’s about to be cornered. Elora releases her magic with a grunt, the stream of pink lighting up the room as it goes right towards her intended target. The man throws up a translucent shield made of dark blue, deflecting her magic but not without a cost. Cass is quick, and his dagger is in the man’s chest before he can draw in his next breath.
“Stars above,thank you,” Cass says, making his way towards us. We eye the bodies in the room, counting four dead so far.
“Why did they call us fae sympathizers?” Elora asks, her fingertips brushing at her cheeks, wiping away tears. My own fingers flex at my sides, but I stay equidistant between her and Cass, my gaze locked on the open door to the dining room. Shadows stir outside, and I grab my second blade from my boot, ignoring how sticky my shirt is as another handful of mages enter. They’re led by the man who gave us the keys to our room. He holds a sword in one hand, the item in his other hand making Elora gasp as she takes a step towards him.
“Hey! That ismine!” She takes another step before I wrap an arm around her waist, tugging her back with me. Her eyes, angry and sad, meet mine. “He has one of my books!”
“You admit it! You’re working with the fae!”
“It’s abook, not a damn manifesto!” Cass shouts back. Sweat gleams over his forehead, his white-blond hair sticking to it as he attempts to swat it out of his face. “She’s reading about the Fae Kingdom! There is nothing illegal about that.”
The man laughs, encouraging the others to join in on some bizarre display of dominance or incredulity. I’m not yet sure which. “Do you think we are idiots?” he asks, holding the book up as if to emphasize his point.
Cass opens his mouth, and I quickly kick the side of his foot to tell him to shut up.
“It’s a simple misunderstanding,” I tell them, holding my hands up in front of me. “We aren’t working with the fae. We have no intentions of doing such a thing. We’ll leave now if that will make you feel better.”
“So you can run and spill our secrets to the fae? I don’t think so.” The man closest to the door kicks it shut before brandishing a dagger of his own. The others pull out varying weapons, and I make note of the fact that none reach for their magic. In fact, I canbarelysense their signatures.
I step in front of Elora, Cass joining me at my side. “Keep your blade out and be ready to call on your magic the moment anyone gets past us,” I whisper to her. My mouth is already forming words in response to her protest, but Elora doesn’t give one. She simply nods and stays a step behind, readying her position.
The two men at the end of the formation lunge towards us first, and Cass and I both hit them with a burst of our magic, holding them back as we dart forward. I slice at the man closest to me, his forearm coming up to take the brunt of the hit. Orangemagic glows at his fingertips, and I spin out of the way and kick my leg out low, swiping him right off his feet. My boot is the next thing to come down, connecting with his jaw and knocking him out. It feels like only a single breath of time passes before someone else is upon me, my dagger lifting up to block the weapon swung my way. My wound protests the movement and sweat rolls down my back as I fight mage after mage, the anger in their eyes only obstructed by the fear I see there too. My knuckles sting in pain at the punch I send to a man who looks not much older than I am, and before I can watch him hit the ground, another takes his place, hands clutching a rudimentary wooden club. Muscles aching, I duck and spin out of his first few swings of it, but don’t move fast enough to avoid the next. The club hits the back of my shoulder, and I drop to a knee as air rushes from me.
A pair of dark eyes appears above me, club already raised over his head as he growls. Swirls of yellow wrap around his arms holding him in place as I drag my blade across his stomach, his bellow ringing in my ears. Blood spills down the front of his body, and as I pull my magic back, he drops the club and falls to the ground, his hands pressed into his gut. I watch as his magic flares there, but its light is much smaller than it needs to be for such a deep injury.
“You good?” Cass asks, hauling me up, Elora at his side. None of the other men remain, and as I watch Elora’s chest rise and fall in quick succession, more blood staining her blouse than before, my stomach sinks at the thought that she had to step in and fight too.
“I’m fine. We need to get out of here before they do anything to our horses.”
Cass nods, jogging in the direction of one of the windows. Grabbing one of the dining chairs, he wastes no time heaving it at the glass. Elora’s eyes squeeze shut, her dagger held so tightlyin her hand that her knuckles are flooded with white, noticeable even against her pale skin.
“That’ll work,” Cass says, just as voices sound outside of the closed door. “Come on. Prepare to run once we hit the ground. The stables are behind the building.” He slides a second chair in front of the window before climbing onto it, jumping down to the other side.
“My books,” Elora whispers, pleading eyes meeting mine.
“We don’t have time to go looking for them,” I answer softly, guiding her forward. “I’m sorry.”
With a sigh, she follows Cass outside. I pause, looking around for the man who greeted us when we first arrived.
“Come on, Daje!” Cass calls, his voice already farther away.
“I’m coming!” A moment later, I’m at the window, jumping out and sprinting towards the stables.
A mob had formed near the inn, and while they spot us as we run towards the stables, I am relieved to find that at least the horses have been left alone. Once we mount, we race out on a dirt road that follows a small stream, the scarce moonlight flooding in through the trees guiding us as we put as much distance as possible between us and them.
The sun is beginning to rise when we finally slow the horses hours later, leading them to the spring to drink and then to a small meadow to graze. Intent with removing as much blood as possible from my person, I return to the stream, my movements slow. The balance of using my magic during the fight means that it needs time to recover now, a process that annoys me nearly as much as the exhaustion that feels heavy in my bones.
I spot Elora farther down and kneeling in front of the water, and I announce my presence once I’m a few feet behind her. “Wanting to clean up too?”
“Trying to,” she says, a little breathless as she looks at me over her shoulder.
“Do you mind if I…?” I pause and tug at my top.
