She ducked. Damn cur!
Jaw clenched, she spun, her glaive flying and decapitating him. She fought hard and swift, her only thoughts were to kill these vermin as fast as possible and get Nate out of there. Weapons clashed, the clang echoing across the arid lands of Ys—
A power blast struck her in the back, and she flew forward, crashing into a stalagmite. She grunted, unable to breathe, dead sure someone had rammed their fists into her back and torn out her lungs.
A roar ripped free behind her. She pivoted and gaped as Nate leaped up from where they’d left him against the rock and rammed into the guards like a wrecking ball, his wing throwing him off balance. He twisted around.
With a shriek like those wraconis emitted, he lunged for her, his half-morphed face twisted into a snarl. He knocked her away with a swipe of his hand. Her weapons flew from her sweat-drenched fingers, and she went careening, landing on her back some distance away from the fight. Her bones jarred, terror freezing her as Nate, in his half-beast form, turned. He snarled and lumbered toward her—
Then dove straight past and into the demon who would have decapitated her with his enormous sword. Nate’s hands flashed, the sounds of tearing flesh echoing above the ruckus. Severed limbs flew as he decimated the demon.
Her heart thundering in her ears, Ely scrambled to her feet and summoned her fallen glaives. The cacophony grew.
Gods, so many of them!
They circled Nate as he lurched about, unable to stay upright. He was weakening. He wouldn’t survive this. No dammit!
Breathing hard, she dismissed her weapons. Hands upraised, and with her mind, she used the demons’ own shadows, trapping them in place. But more appeared, like roaches crawling out of a hole. Shit. Even if they opened a portal and ran, some of these vermin would follow. They didn’t have the time to finish this fight.
With everything in her, she beckoned the shadows again, and there was plenty in this place, with its massive blood moon casting an opaque, reddish glow everywhere.
She swung her hands upward and clenched them as if in prayer, and every shadow, from the looming cliffs to the stalagmites and boulders, detached and shot forward, slithering around the horde like monstrous tentacles. They skewered and dragged the demons back into the shadows. Screeches grew, neon-red eyes flashing in rage. More guards appeared, weaving through the shadows, their zinging powers hitting the sudden forcefield surrounding her and Aba. One, Aba must have thrown up.
Growling, Ely worked the shadows, impaling them.
“Never underestimate the power of a woman in the throes of losing her man!” she snarled and flung out her hands. Power surged out of her like a tsunami—
Ely tripped back, gaping in shock at the empty, barren land before her.
No demon horde surrounded them. They’d all disappeared.
“That’s some ability,” Aba rasped from behind her.
A pained grunt echoed, yanking at her heartstrings, and she pivoted. Nate stumbled, pulling out a dagger embedded in his side. His fingers had fused, forming three deadly talons.
“Nate!” She sprinted to him.
“No!”He flashed out his clawed hand, stopping her dead. Eyes gone red, slit pupils visible. Black scales crept up his biceps, covering more of his chest. Serrated spikes pushed out of his hard, chitinous brow. “I’ssss kill you,” he garbled, the sibilant hiss chilling her to the bone. This wasn’t her Nate!
A grating groan rumbled free. He clawed at his head and face, leaving bloody streaks where his skin remained.
“Nate, fight it!” she begged. “You have to retain control!”
Another shake of his head. “The change…isss…here. You have to…haftakillllme.”
“What?” she breathed. “I won’t kill you! I can’t!”
Tormented red eyes lifted to hers in the twilight day, his suffering crushing her.
“It willkillllyou…and him.” He lifted a clawed hand to Aba. “I beg you,releassseme from this agony,lai-laiiika.”
“Aba, what do I do?” she implored.
“The symbiont,” he choked out. “It’s the only way. I don’t understand why this change is happening so fast.”
“And then after?” she demanded. “How long will he have?”
“An hour, maybe…”
