“Pherin, to Maddox,” I yelled. She unleashed a wave of heat that forced the horde back, clearing a path directly to him. I sprinted into the gap, my boots barely touching the ground.
A Skathe turned, its empty sockets fixing on me, but I was already moving, sliding low and driving a blade through its hamstring. It collapsed with a shriek, and I lobbed off its head. The second lunged, and I met it head-on, my other blade finding the soft spot under its jaw and punching straight through to its spine.
One of the Skathes pinning Treane left the wolf-cat and swiped at me with its spiked tail. Before it could connect, a cry ripped from Maddox’s throat. “For Jaxon!”
He surged forward, bringing his war axe down with all the force of his grief and rage. The sickening crack of the Skathe’s skull exploding echoed over the furor. The creature dissolved into a shower of ash.
With the immediate danger gone, Treane scrambled toMaddox’s side. Maddox swayed before dropping the head of his axe on the ground. He lowered himself to his knees, staring up at me.
“Jaxon…” he gasped. “He shouldn’t have gone for the honey. He shouldn’t have left his post.” The hatred I’d seen in his eyes since the trials was gone. “It wasn’t you, Isi. It was never your fault.”
I ached for the loss of his brother.
Reaching down, I offered him a hand to rise. “Let’s honor him by wiping out the rest of the Skathes.”
He stared at my hand, then back at my face, grief, shame, and pain warring in his eyes, before he took my hand and rose. For the first time, he didn’t look at me as an enemy.
He snatched up his weapon, and I took a stance beside him. Treane fought near Pherin. We became the center point in the swirling conflict. The line that had been crumbling solidified.
The battle shifted, turning into a slow, grinding reclamation of our land. Every Skathe we eliminated was a step taken back from the wasteland. The screeches of monsters began to fade.
The Skathes faltered, their ranks thinning under the assault from both beasts and blades. The horde broke apart, scurrying back toward the gray haze of the wasteland. We gave chase, killing all we could until the last had vanished into the desolate land.
Silence echoed around us, broken only by the groans of the wounded.
Blood and ash slicked the ground, and the smell of rot, smoke, and death hung in the air.
Every muscle in my body screamed. My arms felt like lead, my blades too heavy to lift. Exhaustion sank its teeth into me, a bone-deep weariness that went beyond the physical. We’d won, but the real battle wasn’t over. It felt like the world was only holding its breath before it gasped again.
Trew came over to stand with me, staring toward where the last of the Skathes had escaped. His gaze swept over the remains of the village, adding up the cost in a way only a king could. Pherin andGavelle padded over and dropped to the ground nearby, equally exhausted.
Kira wove through the fallen bodies, her armor dented and smeared with filth, her red hair matted. Her companion had reverted to its death adder shape and coiled tightly around her forearm, but its head hung low.
She stopped in front of Trew. “The wounded are being tended to. The village is secure. The losses are…significant.” Her voice came out hoarse, and she cleared her throat. “If it’s alright with you, instead of returning to the castle, I’ll remain here with patrols to ensure the border’s secure.” She kept her attention studiously on him, never once looking at me. “I need time to think.”
Trew nodded, his expression softening. “Thank you.”
Kira held his gaze for a long moment, then gave both of us a sharp nod. Turning, she strode away.
Trew’s focus narrowed on me, his golden eyes drinking me in, cataloging every scratch, every smudge, every tremor that shuddered through my frame. He closed the space between us.
His hand lifted, hesitated, then came to rest against my cheek.
The rough edge of his thumb traced away a streak of dirt or dust. “Are you hurt?” His voice was raw, deeper than usual, heavy with everything we’d just survived.
“I’m fine.” Though my ribs ached. My knees trembled. My magic had been scraped thin. But the moment he touched me, Iwasfine.
The battlefield stretched around us, scorched and broken, yet all I could see was him. His armor glinted in the dying light, dented and smeared with ashes. He looked like one of the fates carved from ruin, the kind that could unmake worlds. And he was looking at me like I was the only thing left worth saving.
He cupped the back of my head, his palm sliding into my tangled hair.
“You terrified me,” he said, the words scraping out like confession. “When that Skathe lunged, and you—” He broke off, his jaw tightening. “Don’t ever dothat again.”
His mouth found mine.
The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was everything we hadn’t said through a hundred glances. It was desperation and relief, fury and love, tangled together in the space of a heartbeat. His hand cradled my jaw, his fingers trembling with emotion.
I leaned into him, tasting salt, blood, life. His breath hitched against mine, and the world went silent. No wind, no screams, no clang of steel, just the soft sound of two people who had beaten the odds.
