He began to step to the side, trying to circle me, and I matched his steps. Another loud boom sounded in the background before the sounds of agonized screams reached me. More iron had been deployed, and my people were suffering. I needed to end this, and Lord Kem was decidedly in my way.
I sent out a whip of shadow, lashing across his face. He stumbled, holding his face as he groaned in pain. I advanced, bringing my sword up, but he just managed to bring his own up to weakly block me. I willed my shadows to grab him, and they brought him down until he was on his back with his limbs restrained.
“Sorry, my Lord.” I bowed mockingly. “But I have a war to win.”
Kem let out a rough laugh, “You’ll never win, Calix. No weak woman will ever sit the throne of Day!”
I glared down at him, even as his laughter continued.
“Astrongwoman already does. Your precious king’s antics ensured the people of Day would side with her, willingly and gratefully,” I told him proudly.
“It’ll be hard to be queen when she’d laid dead at the foot of Aelius’s throne. No matter what happens to me, they’ll see to it.” He smiled happily, as if the thought was enough to bring him peace on his way to death.
My lips twitched into a snarl, and I summoned the pain of Tartarus, watching as that peace on his face turned to horror. His limbs shook in pain as he groaned, struggling to move against his shadow-binds.
“Thisis what you have to look forward to after death, Kem. It won’t be peaceful for you; I promise you that.” A wicked smile took over my face as a violent glee filled me. “And up here? Well, Cyrus was betraying Aelius the whole time. He never intended to kill Asteria, but Aelius.”
The horror on Kem’s face deepened, even as he tried to shake his head in denial.
“Oh yes,” I purred, leaning down so my face hovered over his. I grabbed his cheek, my claws piercing the skin and making blood trickle down his face. “Your plans were always destined for failure. But don’t worry, we’ll rebuild this realm to be the best it’s ever been. And Asteria will lead that charge.”
I smiled wistfully, “Asteria is the light to lead us. A star who shines in day and night. She will bring us through this fight.”
I took a dagger off my belt, stabbing it through the center of his stupidly smug face, admiring the hole it left as I took it back out. His dead eyes looked back at me, terror etched into them forever.
“You just won’t be here to see it.” I smiled, wiping the bastard’s blood off my blade with my shadows before sheathing it.
I stood up, cursing, as I realized Titan was nowhere to be found. I ran, following the path we were on, before that idiot distracted me. I hissed, holding my side as I ran, that damned wound still sluggishly healing.
I swung my blade as I approached an unsuspecting soldier who was facing the opposite direction, slicing through him with one blow. The others nearby immediately reacted and moved to intercept, but they were easy to cut down in succession.
As I turned the corner, I found Titan, facing off against a line of men who were blocking another towering weapon. I didn’t know what this one did, but certainly nothing good. Eryx and Baach had joined Titan, and they were trying to get to another group of men who were hiding behind the line of soldiers protecting them. Those men were fiddling with the weapon, looking frantically to the sky.
I followed their line of sight, right to Asteria and Cyrus. I watched as his hoof shot out at her, and she roared back at him, taking a rough bite out of his thigh. I couldn’t help my smirk.
That’s my girl.
But Cyrus was also looking down, I realized, right at the men preparing the weapon. Waiting for something.
“Calix!” Eryx shouted frantically, and my head whipped over to him. “It’s an iron net! They’re going to take her down!”
Not on my gods-damned watch they weren’t.
No one was going to fucking touch my mate. But as the men working on the net shouted in glee, I knew whatever had been holding them up was fixed. They moved the weapon to aim it right at Asteria.
I didn’t think. Didn’t hesitate. I just quickly shifted, flying up faster than my wings had ever carried me before, just as the net released.
But it was more than a mere net. It was iron, certainly, but sharp spikes also protruded from it. Ensuring its intended victim was taken down and thenkeptdown.
Considering the iron would bypass the magic in our scales, those spikes would slide right into flesh and cause unparalleled agony.
Panic was the only thing I felt as I flew as fast as I possibly could, hoping against hope I could outfly the speed of the projectile.
I would be damned before I let Cyrus or anyone else lay a single fucking finger on Asteria. She was mine, and I always protected what was mine.
I loved her too much to lose her. The thought of my life without her in it was a bleak one. A world without Asteria was a world with all hope and joy leached from it, leaving only the deep darkness inside me to fester.
The monster would take over the man without my star to light up the darkness.
