“Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.” How do you kill a creature who’s already dead? Farron needed a whole ancient ass death spell to do it.
A terrible howl sounds from the monster as it reaches its bony fingers toward me, green flames already beginning to flicker along the bone.
“No, no, no,” I stammer, trying to get out of its way. But its sharp claws rake across my chest.
I scream, scrambling back. It’s only nicked my leather covering. Thank goodness I was too eager to get to the library to change out of my training gear.
What do I do?I slide my bow on my back, and then, on instinct, grab the biggest tome I can see off a nearby shelf.
The goblin lunges, and I swing the book as hard as I can against its head. Its skull dislodges and breaks into a pile of ash as it hits the floor. The body follows suit.
I let out a gasping breath. All right, so my zombie reading phase wasn’t all for naught: a solid headshot will do the trick. It looks like these things aren’t as hard to kill as Perth’s undead soldiers.
I need to find Dayton.
I sprint out of the library. Where had Dayton said he was going after training? The hot springs? I rush into the muggy corridor but pause.He’s not here.Something tugs painfully in my chest, and I turn on my heels without even checking the springs.He’s in his room.
My boots kick up sand as I run fast down the hall. But there are small footprints in the dust, dozens of them—all leading to the Summer Prince’s room.
10
Dayton
I’ve woken up in some unusual places with unique company. Like in that rowboat with a mermaid tail wrapped around my legs—I swear she didn’t have fins when we fell asleep. Or on shore, completely naked, head filled with memories of a silky-haired woman, but only seals on the horizon.
But today has to be the absolute fucking worst.
Passed out for an afternoon nap, I’d heard my door open, then felt a shift on my bed. My delirious mind had pictured Rosalina crawling in beside me. Instead, I turned to face a damned goblin.
Now, standing on my bed, surrounded by a pack of five goblins blazing with green flame, my hand burned from trying to punch one, I’d be lying if I said my prospects weren’t a little precarious.
A goblin lunges at me and I rip down the gauzy canopy. It smothers the creature, but then the whole thing goes up like a green bonfire.Fuck.
Summoning Summer’s Blessing, I bring forth a tide of water, knocking the creature back. I just wish my magic didn’t feel so far away. Here at Castletree, my magic should be at its strongest.
One of the goblins breaks off and goes to inspect my swords on the side table.
“You stay away from those, you moss-ridden asshole,” I yell.
It turns to me, hissing, then knocks them off the table like a disgruntled cat before brandishing its own weapon, a glistening silver dagger. There’s something familiar about that steel—
One of them lunges, grazing my calf. Fuck, I’ve got to get out of here. Got to find Rosie.
I strike two of them with a gust of wind and leap through the opening, heading for my blades.
One of them blocks my path. “Not so scary without your swords, are you, Prince of the Arena?”
I manage to escape the swipe of its blade, my fingers grasping my swords, when a sharp pain cuts against my back. The familiar wetness of my own blood drips down my spine. I groan, doubling over.
“Dayton!”
Rosalina stands in my doorway, and I don’t even have time to be frightened for her, because the instant I see her face, I know it’s the goblins who should be afraid.
Her delicate features shift into a snarl, and her hair is a wild tangle. “Don’t touch him!”
The flame goblins all turn to her, chittering, but it dies when the heavy energy of magic crackles in the room. Dies when Rosalina’s eyes transform from brown to pure fucking gold. And for a single moment in that flash of light, dressed in the Summer training garb, she looks like an ancient hero in the Sun Colosseum. My heart all but stops.
Golden briars erupt from the ground, tear through the ceiling, and strike the goblins. They don’t even have a chance to run before they’re pierced by the sharp thorns and ensnared completely.
