Chelsie hadn’t just stabbed the spirit in the back, she’dguttedhim, slicing him open from the base of his neck to the small of his back. If he’d been human, he’d have been cut him in two. But Vann Jeger was no more human than he was dragon, and the dripping wound closed before Julius’s eyes, the dusky blue flesh sealing over in seconds until it was impossible to tell the spirit had even been injured.
If Chelsie was upset her surprise attack hadn’t worked, she didn’t let it show. Vann Jeger, on the other hand, looked like he’d just stumbled over a hidden treasure. “I was expecting a trap,” he rumbled, his blue face splitting into an inhumanly wide grin. “But Bethesda’s Shade herself?” He laughed again, a joyous, delighted sound. “You are known to me, black snake! And to think I fell for that pretender when you were within my grasp all along, but no matter. It shall be my great pleasure to take your hide.” His black eyes dropped hungrily to the sword in her hands. “And your Fang.”
“Try it,” Chelsie snarled, lifting her blade. “And we’ll see who ends up getting skinned.”
Her taunt only made Vann Jeger happier. “Change, then!” he cried, spinning his spear with a flourish. “I’ve waited centuries to face a Fang of the Heartstriker. Return to your true self, Shade of Bethesda, and give me a battle worthy of your name!”
Chelsie’s lip curled in pure disgust, and she spat on the ground. “Make me.”
Vann Jeger’s eyes widened. So did Julius’s. He didn’t know the details of Chelsie’s Fang, but if it was anything like Justin’s, turning into a dragon would give her a massive boost in destructive power, which seemed like a pretty good idea right now. But Chelsie must have known something he didn’t, because she stayed stubbornly human, her green eyes narrowed to slits like she was daring the hunter to attack. A dare Vann Jeger was more than ready to take.
“So be it,” he said, letting go of his spear.
Julius’s breath caught, his eyes locked on the spear as it tumbled to the ground, but didn’t hit. The moment the spirit released his weapon, the long wooden spear turned to water, then vapor, and then nothing at all. It was as though it had simply dissolved into thin air, and by the time it was gone, Vann Jeger was holding two new weapons, twin iron swords that looked even deadlier than the spear.
The whole exchange couldn’t have taken more than a heartbeat. Julius wasn’t even sure where the new swords had come from, but they definitely looked real. Real and highly magical, their edges glowing green with a power that smelled both human and very, very old.
“I’ve always wanted a Fang of the Heartstriker,” Vann Jeger said casually, crossing the two giant swords in front of him. “When I first heard reports of green fire in the Pit, I knew I’d found my chance at last. But if you will not give me a proper demonstration of your weapon’s power, then I have no choice but to force one out of you.” He chuckled. “I don’t think it will be hard.”
His deep voice was mocking by the end, but Chelsie refused to be riled. She just stepped into a defensive stance, raising her sword in front of her like a wall. When it was clear she wasn’t going to join in the banter, Vann Jeger’s face turned sour. “Haughty to the end, I see. How like adragon.”
On the worddragon, he vanished. He didn’t charge or jump, he was justgone. Then, before Julius’s eyes could even move from the place where the spirit had been, he heard the clash of weapons. By the time his head whipped around, Vann Jeger was bearing down on Chelsie with both swords.
She looked as surprised as Julius had been by the seeming teleportation, but apparently getting the drop on Chelsie was as impossible for spirits as it was for Heartstrikers. Even though her enemy had literally appeared from thin air in front of her, Chelsie met him like she’d had ages to prepare, blocking his attack with both hands on her sword: one on the hilt, and one grabbing the upper half of the blade as she pushed back with all her strength.
With a bloodthirsty grin, Vann Jeger started swinging, pounding his swords down on her defense over and over like hammers on an anvil. Every blow pushed her boots deeper into the ground, but though her guard didn’t break, she was still trapped. Vann Jeger was completely on the offensive, his swords slamming into hers so fast and furious, she couldn’t drop her guard long enough to even try for a strike. Worse still, his constant blows were pushing Chelsie backwards toward the wall of surging water. If she hit it, she’d be thrown just like Julius had been, and then everything would be over.
She must have known it, too, because when they got within five feet of the water, Chelsie dropped her defense and lashed out at last, swinging for the spirit’s left arm to force him to dodge and give her a way out of the trap. But even when it was obvious her sword was coming right at him, Vann Jeger didn’t try to get out of the way. He just kept swinging, letting her cut deep into his forearm below the elbow and then through his arm altogether, slicing off his hand and wrist in a quick, clean strike.
The moment the path was clear, Chelsie darted away, rolling across the field before the spirit’s sliced off hand could even hit the ground. Trouble was, it never did.
Like the spear, Vann Jeger’s severed hand—and the sword that was still clutched in it—turned to water before it hit the ground. Likewise, the black-bleeding stump of his wound was only visible for a second before a new hand formed on top of it with a bow clutched in its fingers. Julius was still trying make sense of that when the sword in the hand Chelsie hadn’t cut off dissolved as well, reshaping itself into a jagged, iron-headed arrow in the blink of an eye. That was all the warning they got before Vann Jeger began shooting arrows at Chelsie like a machine gun.
Giving credit to her reputation, Chelsie dodged every one, sliding between the onslaught like a bird in the wind. But though her defense was flawless, she still wasn’t attacking, and Vann Jeger didn’t seem to be tiring. He actually seemed to be enjoying himself, his face split in an enormous smile. “You’re very good at running away,” he taunted, shooting even faster. “Shall we see how fast you can go?”
The question was still rumbling when Julius saw the wall of water behind his sister ripple. “Chelsie! Behind you!”
He barely got the words out before a wall of glinting spears shot out of the water like knives through a curtain. But Chelsie was the Heartstriker all others feared for a reason. She’d jumped the moment Julius shouted her name, launching herself straight up almost to the peak of the domed prison to let the spears fly by beneath her.
Even Vann Jeger looked impressed, letting his bow fall back into water. “Marvelous!” he cried as Chelsie landed neatly in front of him. “You are everything your reputation promised, so how about we make things more interesting?”
He waved his hand, and the entirety of the watery cage—the dome, the walls, even the puddles that still lay on the ground at Chelsie’s feet—began to ripple. Chelsie raised her sword in answer, but Julius already knew it was hopeless. The fight so far had proven that his sister was even better than he’d realized, but there was no way she could dodge simultaneous attacks from so many angles. It was too late for her to get out, though. The points of Vann Jeger’s summoned weapons were already breaking through the water on all sides. So, with no other options to save his sister, Julius did the only thing he could think of.
He shot to his feet, yelling at the top of his lungs. “Cut to me!”
The attack launched at the same time. It came from all sides: spears, arrows, daggers, swords, and other sharp weapons Julius couldn’t even name came shooting out of the water in a volley at his sister. There were so many blades in the air, he couldn’t even see Chelsie anymore. He could, however, smell her blood. But then, just when he was sure he’d yelled too late, the air in front of him split open, and his sister tumbled out.
“Chelsie!”
He dropped to her side, but she pushed him away just as fast, reaching up to yank the arrow—which he hadn’t even seen hit her—out of her shoulder. The moment it was out, she rolled back to her feet and turned to face Vann Jeger, who’d already dissolved the arsenal he’d thrown at her.
“So your Fang can cut through space?” he said, chuckling as he turned to face the Heartstrikers. “Now Imusthave it.”
“Try and take it,” Chelsie taunted, stepping into position. Julius, however, had had about enough.
“Are you crazy?” he hissed. “Don’t keep fighting him! He’s clearly doing all of this through water. If you turn into a dragon, you can vaporize him!”
“That’s exactly what he wants,” Chelsie whispered back, never taking her eyes off Vann Jeger. “Turning into a dragon is the worst thing you can do when facing a dragon hunter.” She nodded at the water on the ground, all that was left of the volley of weapons Vann Jeger had just launched. “All of his attacks are tuned for big, flying targets. By staying human, I’m harder to hit. That gives me the advantage.”
