27
Iscream at myself:Get up, Marbella! Now!
All I manage is a groan. With horror, I realize that my back is broken. His sorcery shattered my spine. Virtuous is healing me, but I need another few seconds.
You don’t have seconds. Get up!
I push with my hands, screaming. My legs won’t work no matter how hard I try. As I attempt to roll onto my side, my vision fills with boots…
Soldiers… lots of soldiers… moving to stand in front of me...
Astonished, I follow the nearest pair upward from thick thighs to a bullish chest and a face I never wanted to see again. Pedr Bounty’s grandson, Gwynn, the male who pinned Jasper during the fight in the arena all that time ago, who was complicit in hurting me and almost killing Baelen, the male who told me he saw me fighting on a mountaintop, plants his feet, lifts his sword, and tells his grandfather, “Stop right there.”
Pedr’s eyes are filled with blood as he skids to a halt, his robes swooshing around him. He is unfocused, deranged. “All of you! Get out of my way. I will finish her!”
Gwynn’s voice rises to a roar. “You killed our mothers in the night. You killed daughters of the House of Bounty. Do you want my blood on your hands too?”
“I am not your enemy. That female is—”
Gwynn doesn’t let him finish. “We’re done listening to you. We won’t kill for you today.”
A glance tells me that the soldiers on the other side of Pedr are closing in, but not on me. They are targeting the Elven Commander.
Pedr snarls, “You would rather follow this bitch than your own grandfather?”
Gwynn casts a glance at me. “I will follow my Queen.”
Pedr startles, blustering, “What are you… talking about?”
“We know the truth. We’re not stupid. There’s no way you’d spend this much time trying to capture her if she couldn’t challenge your rule.”
Pedr roars in anger, blood-filled spit flying from his mouth. He’s had enough. His hand shoots out. A death bolt flies straight for Gwynn.
But Gwynn has given me precious seconds. Virtuous has finished healing me.
Gwynn’s boots are right next to my feet. I flick one leg out, hook it around Gwynn’s ankle and pull, sweeping his feet out from under him so that he falls onto his back. The death bolt flies over the top of him, narrowly missing the other elves. Lucky Pedr was aiming for Gwynn’s face and he’s almost as tall as Baelen.
Gwynn’s reflexes shoot into action. It was a hard fall that will leave him bruised, but he rolls and punches off the ground, returning to his feet. The other males roar at Pedr, their anger palpable.
I spin into the space Gwynn left behind, leap to my feet, and close the gap between me and Pedr. The males have left enough space around him for me to do what I need to do.
It’s time to fight the old-fashioned way. My knee connects with his stomach. An uppercut breaks his jaw. My left fist follows through, knocking him flat on his back where I drop a knee onto his chest. I press my open hands against his temples and fill my whole body with destruction.
As Pedr’s eyes meet mine, there’s nothing living in them. They are wide pools of bleeding darkness.
“Goodbye, Pedr Bounty.”
Brilliant white light streams from me into him. He opens his mouth, a soundless scream, before cracks appear beneath his skin, burning from the inside, burning to dust. Within seconds, he is gone. My knees hit the ground and I roll through the cloud of grit that remains.
I find my feet to silence.
Gwynn Bounty takes a knee. The remaining Bounty soldiers follow him, all hundred of them in a cascading wave. I can’t decide if I’m shocked or in awe of this strange turn of events. They’re drawing attention from the other Houses and I have no way of knowing if the others feel the same as these soldiers or if they’ll attack me. If each of the Elven Commanders took lives from their own Houses, then the elves of Splendor, Valor, and Elder might carry the same anger as the Bounty soldiers, but there’s no way to know.
Gwynn’s voice is a rumble. “What are your orders, my Queen?”
I once told Gwynn that I never wanted to see his face again. It’s strange to be glad that he has forgotten that order. I consider my options now. I won’t order them to attack other elves. I could test my power and fly them all across the gargoyle border to join the gargoyle army to provide support. Or…
“How many lives?”
