Shrieking the wordless battle cry of the Falcon Army, I swung, slashing through thick, scaled skin while bashing aside the stabs of a barbed tail with my shield. Beside me, chefs fought two-handed with swords in one and knives in the other, not bothering with shields. They laughed as they diced up our enemies, starting with their tails, and I couldn't help but grin to see it. Crazy fucking chefs; they'd probably outlive us all.
Around us, Leanan-Sidhe hissed and spun, sharp nails slicing and hair wild. Trolls lumbered about, kicking Farungals down for the rest of us to finish or bashing them with their giant fists to send the monsters tumbling into their own ranks. Red Caps grinned gleefully as they sliced Farungal throats, and Sylphs, those ethereal creatures of mist and air, swirled about the monsters and smothered them to death. I lurched back as a group of Goblins went chortling past, climbing atop each other to launch themselves at the Farungals like chubby, deadly acrobats. I spun and sliced, narrowly avoiding a clawed hand. Simultaneously, a Glastig stomped his hoof on the same Farungal's tail, stopping him from striking me with it.
“Thanks,” I panted after stabbing the monster in the heart.
“Care to team up?” The Glastig grinned. “I can't find my usual partner.”
“Fuck, yeah! Let's do this!”
The Glastig and I made our way through the camp, going back to back when necessary, but mostly tag-teaming every Farungal we came across. Between his hooves and my sword, the monsters didn't stand a chance. Not that he wasn't armed with more than nature had given him. He had a thin sword that he was skilled at using, but it was those hooves that gave him the advantage. That is until we were surrounded.
We'd made our way to the end of camp nearest the beach, driving the monsters back to their boats, but had gotten separated from the rest of our troops. We wound up in the sand within a circle of Farungals, and I knew my time had come. Did I have regrets? Abso-fucking-lutely. At the prime spot on my regrets list was refusing Tae's offer. Not because I would have had a greater chance of surviving this, but because I would have hadhim. I would have had another day with Taeven before I died, instead of spending it drinking with Daron and wading through nightmares. But the good news was that I wouldn't regret it for long.
“If you survive and I don't, can you do me a favor?” I called to the Glastig over my shoulder; we were fighting back to back again.
“What?”
“Tell the Falcon Lord that I love him. My name's Shane.”
I could feel the man's confusion, but you don't deny a dying man's request. “You got it, Shane. I'm Marthos.”
“Thanks, Marthos.” That made me feel better. At least Tae would know how I'd felt about him.
I slashed and stabbed, intent on going down swinging, but the amount of Farungals surrounding us was increasing while my strength was failing. I didn't think either of us would live through this. Not even Marthos's immortality would save him. Which meant that I wouldn't have survived this battle, even if I had become a valorian. That thought gave me some peace. When it's your time, it's your time. But it would mean that Tae would never know how I felt about him, and so my peace was ruined with an acidic burn in my heart. I should have told him. Why hadn't I just told him?
Then, suddenly, a shrieking came from above. A rush of wings thundered in my ears and a breeze battered me. We all, including the Farungal, squinted against the sand that rose like a blossom around us. Then came a sharp pain as something pierced my shoulders. Blood seeped down my leather armor as I was lifted—Marthos rising beside me—and the Farungals shouted in frustration as we were carried to safety.
First, I glanced at the Glastig, who was bleeding as much as me but wore a relieved grin on his face. Then, I looked up at the feathered breast of our savior. An enormous falcon head cocked to look down at me, one glassy eye focusing on my face, and I knew instantly who held me. I grinned at the Falcon Lord, then whooped in joy, Marthos joining me.
“Yes! Fuck you, Farungals!” I punched my sword down toward them before sheathing it.
Below us, the combined armies drove the Farungals toward their waiting rowboats. The aerial view allowed me to see just how fucked Marthos and I had been. We'd somehow managed to get in the thick of it, right in the middle of the horde as they retreated. Monsters swarmed over the spot we'd been in just moments earlier, a location several yards away from any other fae or human soldier. There had been no way we would have survived. If nothing else, we would have been trampled.
Tae set us down in the Unsidhe Camp, then rose to land a few yards away from us. Still in falcon form he screeched, “Both of you, get to a medic now!”
“Yes, my lord!” Marthos bowed. “Thank you for saving us.”
“You're welcome,” Tae gentled his tone for the Glastig.
“Marthos,” I held a hand out to him. “You're a badass motherfucker. It was an honor to fight—and nearly die—beside you.”
“You too, Shane.” Marthos shook my hand and chuckled. “We did well. Until we didreallypoorly.”
“We were overrun.” I shrugged. “I don't think it was our fault. The important thing is that neither of us wavered. We would have gone down fighting, and I'm damn proud of that.”
“There is that. See you around, Shane.” Marthos looked me up and down in a way that implied just how much of me he'd like to see.
That startled me. I'd never thought of having sex with an Unsidhe. But why not? I'd bet the guy was incredible in bed. If only there wasn't an enormous Falcon who I happened to be in love with, standing just a few feet away. I grinned at Marthos anyway and said, “See you around.”
As soon as he was gone, the Falcon Lord lowered his bird head to me. “Are you fucking kidding me?!”
“Tae, I—”
“I save you from being slaughtered and you flirt with another man in front of me?! What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“That wasn't . . . aw, fuck, Tae. I didn't mean anything by that. I was just being nice. And thank you for saving me. It looks like we're even now.”
“Even?!” Taeven shrieked. “Is that why you think I saved you? To make us even?”
