“Eldred has shielded the estate. No one will touch my mother—or you.” At Raiden’s definitive response, she glanced up at him, and he gave her an assuring nod.
Dyna was surprised he cared enough for her wellbeing as well, but it seemed Raiden had inherited his father’s kindness.
They all watched the Shades creep forward like black ghosts to surround the only one standing between them and the estate.
“Your…” Raiden frowned, struggling to find the right word to label Cassiel. Not friend. Not husband. In the end he settled on, “Your Guardian would be better off flying away since he cannot call on reinforcements.”
The Valkyrie couldn’t join the battle on Greenwood land, yet Dyna didn’t sense any disquiet from Cassiel. Her shield blocked all her emotions, but since they spoke, he had dropped his. Everything he felt was out in the open for her, and at the moment, the only thing he felt was calm.
“I wouldn’t worry about him,” Dyna said.
Cassiel’s eyes flared to a vibrant blue, his flame glowing as bright as a forge. He faced the path, wind whipping his long black coat around his legs. Seraph fire blazed from his fists and wreathed his feet as he strode idly down the path.
Raiden murmured a shocked word in Elvish.
“His Majesty does not require reinforcements,” Sowmya added, a hint of pride in her voice. “He is enough.”
Two Shades flitted in a veil of black smoke, sighted only by the flash of steel of their blades. Dyna jerked instinctively closer to the window. They moved so fast, she blinked, and they were falling on him.
Cassiel vanished from view.
She gasped. Before she could ask where he went, Cassiel reappeared behind them, and his knife clashed against the blade of one of the Shades. He winked out of existence again, reappearing to parry the attack ofanother. It wasn’t that he could teleport. Cassiel was moving too fast for her to see.
He hadn’t done that in Nazar.
Sowmya nodded. “Witness the power of the true High King.”
Dyna’s brow furrowed at the way she put it.
What did she mean bytrue?
Cassiel’s Seraph fire swept across the ground, dousing the area in flame. The firelight gleamed on his wings, lighting his silhouette. The Shades screeched and retreated beyond the smoke screen. But the fight wasn’t over.
Blue embers hovered around Cassiel as he waited.
“Dyna.” Zev rushed into the room with Keena on his shoulder. “Did you see?”
“Yes,” she said, not looking away from the fight. “Where are the others?”
“Klyde and Lucenna are downstairs with Eldred, manning the front door. Von is with the guards.”
She was pleased to hear of them working together, but Cassiel very well may not need any help.
They all huddled by the windows while watching in silence. She searched the dark trees. The dancing flames cast writhing shadows, making it difficult to distinguish anything.
Shades leaped through a black cloud and landed on either side of Cassiel. He parried their blades with incredible speed. His blade shoved through the stomach of one, and he turned to deflect the other. The wounded Shade leaped into the air with a wild screech as it came for him. Cassiel cast out his hand, and a torrent of Seraph fire turned the Shade to ash.
He faced the second one, drawingEsh Shamayimfree. Beautiful blue flames spiraled around the divine blade. They ran at each other and flitted too fast for her to catch the moment they clashed. Cassiel reappeared as his sword swept down in a flash. His boots dragged through to the gravel, bringing him to a stop. The Shade stumbled a couple feet behind him, swaying on his legs before he dropped on the ground, and his body was engulfed in flames.
Minutes.
It only took minutes for him to kill them.
The way he moved, the agility and speed, it was unlike anything she had seen from him before. Every attack had been swift.
Instinctive.
Demise on wings of flame.
