One of the women screams and starts to run toward the fence, only for an ax to cleave through the air, parting her in two.
More screaming starts, and more arrows fly through the sky.
I turn, heart pounding and see another spear being aimed at a slave. I race in front of the sharp tip before it can touch the woman. The flare of my light causes him to lose balance, and his weapon falls to the ground.
I pick it up, and,damn, it is heavy. Every muscle groans as I aim. Then, with as much force as I can muster, I charge forward and ram it into his chest.
He slides onto the wood, gaping up at me, his yellow eyes glinting inmylight.
Another giant spits on me. Then his hand reaches out and grabs me, the spear falling back into the snow.
I smell his burns, but not before I’m thrown to the ground.
I slide through the thin layer of snow and ice before ramming into a tree. Bones crunch. Pain blooms through my middle, and I cry out.
The thumping of heaving feet comes from the left, and four more giants are heading over.
I try and fail to sit up. Above all sound, the crystal in my chest begins to sing.
My body goes rigid as warmth lights up my insides, mending the bone as the sound of windchimes fills my ringing ears.
I whip around, and see the riders descend from the hill.
Fourglacialmarascut through time and space with a rider leading the rank.
Teo.
The bond is no longer silent. It is filled with deathly rage as the embodiment of carnage races toward us, sword extended and eyes burning.
DON’T MOVE!Teo screams in my mind.
Behind him are two others, Niht and Lord Salo. Then there are dozens of elves riding upon a stag of enormous magnitude, bears, and even wolves. They let out a battle cry, and the ground cracks open beneath the feet of the giants.
They are swallowed up as Teo rides on. When hisglacialmaraflies over the gate, he stops and holds out his hands. His eyes shut, and his head is thrown back. Red magic pours from his fingertips, reaching into the earth.
Out of the split ground, three columns of lava rise up, lighting up the entire forest. One smashes through the gate, another destroys the guard’s hut, and the third swings towards the giants. They scream as their flesh is charred to a crisp.
It isn’t until trees start to sway that I start screaming for the women to run out of the gate.
“Go!” I yell until my voice is raw. I see Abi and Paoli holdinghands as they shriek and evade the lava spreading across the ground. The Enduares and elves start to grab them and haul them further away from the giant’s land, leaving me behind.
I push myself onto my knees, face burning in front of the heat. An entire section of the forests collapses.
“Teo!” I scream. He doesn’t move, just continues to wield more magic than I had ever seen. For the first time, I realize how this kind of power destroyed an entire continent.
Taking another heaving breath, I reach through our bond. I’m met with a heat so intense I almost shy away. He’s a conduit for the earth itself, and it burns.
Teo, stop,I beg.Please, you’ll burn down the entire forest. There are slave pens nearby.
Finally, I feel the magic ebb away. The crack in the earth starts to close, causing the ground beneath me to rumble. I scramble out of the way as another tree falls.
When I look up, Teo is no longer floating in the air. He’s dismounted and races toward me.
“Estela.” His voice is haggard. “You're alive.”
I don’t have a chance to speak before he snatches me up.
I’m overwhelmed by the feel of his armor and the smell of his skin.
