“Where is that?” I asked.
“Less than a day's travel from here, along the river. Once we pass the barrier around my castle, my men and I can teleport there.”
“I’ll meet you there.” Shifting into dragon form, I pushed off the ground and into the sky.
King Henry looked at me, stunned, before one of his guards called his attention, and then they were all running.
Soaring through the sky, I banked left, heading toward the great river.
Another attack.
What does this mean? Why was the Lich King attacking random villages?
So far I’d been unable to see any connection to the skirmishes other than gaining land near the southeast regions closer to the Lich King’s wasteland.
Smoke rose into the sky, murderous screams filling the afternoon with perpetual doom.
Two scores of undead knights marched on the town, which had no visible defense other than a broken wooden barrier and farmers with pitchforks and rusted swords.
This was a farming village and one who had suspected no sort of trouble.
A blast of fire shot forward, a lone human streaming fire from her hands. The fire shifted into a cyclone, spinning undead into its deadly grasp. I landed near the human and shot a blast of death toward the oncoming fray.
The red-freckled female eyed me with a questioning look before shooting a fireball into the wave. Her violet gaze and slightly pointed ears highlighted her heritage.
Half-human. Half-fae.
And extremely powerful.
Charging forward, I swatted at a group of undead knights, their bones crushing under my weight.
A large skeleton in a rusty helmet charged forward, a greatsword held high. I chomped down on the undead, its weapon lodging between my teeth like a toothpick.
These undead are more of a nuisance than a problem.
Spitting out the bones, I used my claw and picked out the lodged weapon.
Another group of armored undead ran forward and I stomped on them, instantly ending their pitiful existence.
Try to resurrect now.
By the time the king and his men had shown up, all the undead knights and the remaining creatures had been trampled under my feet and obliterated to ash by the human streaming fire.
Shifting back into my fae form, I looked at the surrounding mess. This wasn’t a large show of force. What was here in this village?
“You could have saved at least one for me,” the king said, removing the light from his sword and sheathing it.
“Tend to the wounded,” he told his guards who then dispersed among the town. King Henry's gaze went to the half fae beside me. “It's good to see you, Alina.”
She bowed her head.
I wondered who she was loyal to, me or her king.
“Your Majesty,” she replied. Her gaze flicked to me for a second, those vibrant violet eyes of hers eyeing me with curiosity and dare I say a little distaste.
“No bow for me?” I asked.
She wiped the sweat from her brow, pushing her red curls back. “I don't know you. Humans aren't welcomed in your court or any of your settlements. Is that going to change now that you're married to a human?”
