Despite being stuck in a Wielded tar pit, he spins the hilt of his sword in his palm, ready for the strike even without the use of his legs. "Smoke her out!"
"Excuse me?"
"Smoke her out. You’ve done it before. Make her stop, then we at least have a fighting chance against her pawns." I stare in disbelief over at him and then back at her.I can't.I think I don't know what chain reaction will result.
“As much as I usually enjoy your little games, Nightmare, but you have to come back now,"I demand, pushing on her mental barriers. A sharp, piercing shriek spears through our seal, and my hands snap up to my temples. In a weak attempt to counteract the pain I push down on them, and from my peripheral vision, I see Bennett shouting at me, but I can hear no words.
The shrill sound is debilitating, the pain in my dull in comparison to what is happening in my head. Forcing my eyes open, I look down at Eveera. Her brow is pulled tightly together, pain clearly etched across her face, and her eyes still black as night.
I fight to pull myself out, needing to still our connection before my mind liquifies. She thrusts her right hand upwards, and I watch as the monsters halt only a few feet from where we stand. At this distance, I’m able to see that their expressions, while usually filled with an animalistic malice, are vacant. Their attention completely honed in on their master.
"Kneel." She commands, her raspy voice contorted by her magic. Like puppets on a string, they all take a knee and gape up at us, the sharp noise abandoning. My knees threaten to buckle as I'm relieved of the torment, but I dig my heels into the stone.
One by one, she recalls the Wield wrapped around our legs and redirects it out to each of the creatures, her magic stabbing through their still chests, and one by one, each being disintegrates until there's nothing left but piles of ash.
Eveera's power — now satiated — is called back a final time to their tattooed vessels, and I slide behind her. My forearm bands around her chest, securing her cold body to my chest, holding her while she calms down. Despite my ire towards her at the moment — I won't allow her to fail in front of our guests
For a moment, the courtyard is completely devoid of sound save for the rapid breaths of adrenaline petering out. From the corner of my eye, I see Bennett's hand go up, "so… uh, what the fuck was that?"
"Well,” she huffs, guiding my arm from her chest to her hip as she straightens her stance. “I thought it was obvious."
Eveera
Judging by the faces of everyone, my little demonstration wasn’t well-received, and I sigh. "You all can stop your whinging, the threat to you has been removed."
Caz scoffs, "I'm not sure that it has."
"Was there a point to your sadism, your Majesty?" King Eloden quips.
Sadism… I’m flattered."The scales of battle are easily tipped, and the element of surprise is pivotal to coming out as the victor. I think we all know that. Baelor and Eiser used that to their advantage in the second Battle of Vellar a few months ago—" I choke out, steeling my voice against the quiver that threatens to come out, "and now with my… newfoundcapabilities, we have our own advantage." Mousy clears his throat, gaining all of our attention, no matter how little I wanted to give it. "Yes?"
"So your suggestion is for us to march on the field with a…" his arms flail around as he searches for the right words, "brigade of undead soldiers?"
"No, of course not."
His forehead creases together in confusion, "I don't follow."
That's not surprising.I think, annoyed. "I'll be raising themduringbattle." My stare locks onto Max's, my voice hitching in my throat again, "there's…nothingmore horrible than coming face to face with a creature wearing the mask of your family."
"You intend to raise and Wield an entire battlefield of soldiers to gain the upper hand?" Eloden asks.
I dip my chin in response to his question when I see Max's head cock to the side, "but it won't justbetheir fallen soldiers that you raise…" he mutters, and my stomach plummets.
"No — it won't."
The muscle in his jaw ticks, and I can see the faintest amount of electricity flickering inside his clenched palms. "So this is what you've been doing out there?" My lips part, wanting to give him a good answer, but nothing comes out. "And instead of eradicating the beasts as usual, you've been…trainingthem?"
"Ah— manipulating would be more accurate."
He scoffs, "because that's better."
"Max." Rorin snaps, and my guard redirects his glare over at him.
"That's great, Evie." He grumbles, stomping off in a huff.
I spin on my heel, feeling a pull to run after him, "Maxwell!"
Armond's hand slams into my chest, stopping my pursuit. "I'll go,youstay."
