A horrid emptiness sank through her body. Where the faint warmth of Essence usually hummed in her was now empty. It had vanished. The times she thought a wall had barricaded her was nothing like this. It was as if he’d trapped all of her power inside of a thick iron box and dumped it into a dimension so far out of reach she would never find it again.
“Rawn!” Cassiel roared. His anger and fear bombarded her as he fought against the vines that held him prisoner. “Get to Dyna!”
Parrying Elon’s next swing, Rawn knocked the sword from his hands, sending it arcing in the air behind them. Elon dove out of the way of his killing blow and ran for the fallen weapon. Rawn dropped his sword and snatched his bow from the grass. He yanked a handful of arrows from the quiver, shooting one after the other in rapid succession. They found their marks, and Raiders toppled around her.
Scarcely dodging an arrow, another sliced past Von’s ribs. He tripped, holding his wounded side. Rawn shot another to end his life. Diving in the way, Elon threw out a shield, but the arrow went right through it, and pierced his shoulder. Von grabbed the injured elf and dragged him back.
Try to remove it!Cassiel told her.
I can’t.Dyna kicked and squirmed in the air, yanking on the brass collar on her neck. It didn’t budge. Tarn watched her efforts with mild boredom. She hated the infuriating helplessness. Zev was dying, and she could feel him slipping away.
“Shoot an arrow through his damn eye!” Cassiel shouted at Rawn.
Rawn loaded his bow and aimed.
“Benton,” Tarn calmly called on the mage.
A red detonation struck Rawn. It threw him over the hill, and he crashed on the ground hard. Dyna shrieked out his name. Stumbling to his feet, fire sprouted in Rawn’s hands. A cyclone of flames came for Tarn. He swiped his hand through the air, and the flames evaporated. The cuff on his wrist glowed with amber beads. Gods, he had black clovers.
Switching tactics, Rawn aimed at the mage instead. Benton flung up his staff to shield himself. The distraction released his hold on Dyna. She dropped to the ground with a grunt. Rawn ran for them, only for a containment dome to slam in place around him. Benton smirked as he banged on it, helplessly trapped.
“These are the Guardians?” Tarn said to Von. “I don’t understand why it was so difficult to defeat them.”
Von bowed his head. “Forgive me, Master.”
The man fixed his cold irises at Cassiel as he liftedEsh Zayin. The flames died away. “Where is the sorceress?”
The question elicited a confused scowl on Cassiel’s face, and Dyna froze. What did Tarn want with her? If she were here, Lucenna would have wiped them off the face of the earth with a mere snap of her fingers.
“Piss off,” Cassiel spat.
Tarn pressed the hot edge against his throat, and Cassiel gritted his teeth as his skin sizzled. Dyna gasped in pain, slapping a hand over her burning neck. The smell of searing flesh rushed up her nose.
“Stop! Don’t kill him!” She latched onto Tarn’s arm. “Lucenna isn’t here.”
Tarn paused when he glanced at her. His expression shifted for a split second before his indifference returned. He tossed her off.
“I have had enough of this,” Tarn said to Von as he walked away towards the woods. “Bring the Maiden along with the journal. Kill the rest and drain the Celestial of his blood.”
“No!” Dyna cried. “Please!”
Thorns sliced through her palms as she tore at the vines holding Cassiel. More vines appeared and constricted around his body. Von plucked her off him, and Elon unsheathed a dagger. The mage pointed his staff at Rawn as the crystal flared vivid red.
“TARN!” Dyna’s scream sliced through the air. She faced his retreating back, heaving a gasping sob. “If you kill them, you will regret it!”
“You’re not in a position to make threats,” he said without stopping.
Dyna smashed her fist into Von’s kidney, breaking free. She snatched the opal knife hidden on her calf and backed away before he could grab her.
She brought the edge above the brass collar, and her promise echoed over the hill. “Do it, and I’ll cut my throat!”
Tarn halted in place. His icy gaze landed on her.
Cassiel bucked wildly against the roots, shouting for her to stop aloud and through the bond. Rawn beat his fists on the dome. Dyna shivered as she burned with desperation. Leoake’s words kept circling in her head.
…if you don’t pay the price, the others will.
When she’d left home, this wasn’t where she thought she’d be. Facing a different monster who came to take from her. But she wouldn’t run anymore. Her fear melted into anger as she looked at Tarn. She may not be a warrior, or a powerful sorceress, but she wasnotweak.
