“Aurelia—”
Amanti’s snarl was the only warning before chaos erupted.
One moment, we were sitting alone in the forest. The next, darkness itself erupted from the ground—shapes made of writhing shadow and malice, with eyes like dying stars and claws that gleamed like obsidian.
Heliconia’s soldiers.
I scrambled to my feet as an Obsidian launched itself at me. My hand went to my back before I remembered I’d tucked my swords beneath the tree on the other side of my bedroll. Too far away now. I scrambled for my belt, for the knife Daegel had given me when he’d handed over my swords, but the creature moved faster?—
Steel flashed. Rydian was there, his sword cleaving through the Obsidian’s torso in a spray of dark ichor. The creature dissolved into smoke and screaming.
I dashed to my swords, snatching them up.
“Behind you!” Amanti’s shout spun me around.
Another Obsidian. Larger. Its claws reached for my throat.
Dorcha sang as I unsheathed her, the dark metal humming to life. I pivoted, the edge of my blade catching the creature across the ribs in a burst of black ichor that splattered the earth.
It staggered and fell.
I spun, swinging Latha with my other hand. The twin blades gleamed—one dark as void, the other rippling with light—and when I crossed them, their hums resonated like the echo of thunder.
The next Obsidian lunged. I met it head-on, steel flashing as I slashed its throat and kicked it backward. Its scream came out wet and wrong, lifeless as it hit the ground.
Around me, chaos reigned.
Rydian’s shadows coiled through the trees, strangling creatures mid-charge. Amanti moved like liquid lightning, wings flaring despite their damage, blades carving clean lines of silver through the dark. Daegel’s sword work was heavy, methodical. Twice, he beat back the enemy with a shield made from shadows. Keres’s arrows sang past my ear, preciseand merciless. But the Obsidians kept coming—clawing from the soil itself, a tide of pale skin and inky eyes.
One leapt from the right, another from behind. I ducked beneath the first swipe, slashing upward, severing its arm. Spun. Latha buried itself in the second’s chest, light flaring as it burned straight through the creature’s ribcage.
Still more.
I could feel their life forces fading around me, three or four at a time. And something inside me, something quieter and more subtle than my furyfire, stirred.
A hunger.
Their life force could be mine if only I deigned to sip from it.
“Back-to-back!” Rydian’s voice cut through the din.
I fell into position without thinking, the heat of him at my spine grounding me even as the air burned with magic. His shadows met my flames, colliding and curling into each other. The creatures hesitated, wary now—but not for long.
One screamed and dove at us. I met it midair, blades crossing. Dorcha sliced through its jaw while Latha split the air with light, severing its head. The body crumpled, dissolving into a pool of oily vapor.
No life force left in that one.
Another darted low, fast as a snake. I jumped, landed hard on its shoulders, drove Dorcha down through its skull. My boots hit the dirt, ichor splattering my legs.
A claw caught my arm, tearing through leather and causing me to drop my blade. I hissed and turned, fire instinctively flaring at my fingertips. A ball of furyfire shot out, catching the Obsidian square in the chest. It shrieked, flesh burning straight through to bone.
But the fire didn’t stop there. It spread—too fast—licking up the trees, searing thegrass.
“Get clear!” Rydian shouted, and the others scrambled back.
I jerked my hand, cutting off the flame before it could touch him. The sudden stillness left me shaking. The ground steamed where it had hit. I’d nearly?—
No. Focus.
