She takes the opportunity and leaps over the broken trebuchet. There’s another one right behind it. Light-footed as a gazelle, she ascends to the top of the wooden contraption, then fires a lightning bolt down at me. It catches me in the shoulder, the pain molten.
“You bitch,” I growl.
“That’s me!” she chirps.
Anger rumbling in my chest, I sheathe my blades and hold my hands out to the sides. Kel and I may seem as different as two people could be, but Winter’s and Summer’s magic share the most similarities. We both love the wind and the water. And there’s water all around, trapped in the ice. There’s even frost along the wood of the trebuchet.
I grit my teeth with the force of breaking the liquid out of its icy shell. But once it’s free… A torrent arcs like a sea serpent at my command. I beam it toward her. Her eyes widen as it strikes her in the chest, knocking her off the trebuchet. I sprint for her fallen body, calling forth the Trident of Honor as I run.
When I round past the siege weapons, she’s not there.
“Yoo-hoo! Gorgeous!”
I look up. She’s hanging off the trebuchet with one hand, the other pointing her spear at me.
The next lightning bolt takes me straight in the chest, sending my heart sputtering and chasing the breath from my lungs. I’m hurled backward, my naked body skidding across the rough ground.
I can’t stand up. My heart’s not beating at the right rhythm. I clutch at my ribs as if I could straighten my organs out. The priestess dances over to me, then slams a foot down on my chest.
“Beautiful surface boy.” Her tone softens. “In my youth, I would have been so smitten by someone like you.”
She bends down, squatting over me and stroking my face. I try to wiggle my fingers. That last shot made all my nerves go numb.
“I was beautiful once too. Can you believe it? I bet you can’t. You’re the kind of surface boy who reminded me just how ugly I am.” Her voice descends to a dark rasp, eyebrows lowering, teeth gritted. “What shall I take of you for my collection? Your ears for a necklace? Your eyes for a jar? Perhaps I’ll cut off your cock and hang it above my bed for good luck.”
Maybe I’ve had enough time to catch my breath. Or maybe my body heard the threat against my cock and thoughtyeah, no way that’s happening. But my heart regulates. My lungs fill with air. And I snarl, “Keep dreaming.”
With a roar, I throw my body up, rolling her onto her back and pinning her legs down with mine, holding her wrists with one hand. Her spear clatters away. I reach behind me with my free hand for my blade.
“Oo, how romantic.” She smiles. “How stupid.”
Aquila opens her mouth wide. Too wide. Her jaw unhinges from its socket. She blows outward, emitting a puff of putrid green gas. The vapor gusts straight into my face, and I cry out, falling away from her. My eyes burn, my nostrils are aflame, and my throat feels like I could breathe fire.
With the ringing still in my ears and my sight nothing but a green cloud, I don’t even know what direction she comes from when she smacks me across the face with the hilt of her spear.
“I’m bored of playing with you now,” she says. “Maybe I won’t get my rug after all. Maybe I’ll blast you to bits till you’re nothing but ash.”
I try to respond, but every breath feels like drinking lava.
“Look at your beautiful men. Oh, you can’t, so I’ll describe it to you. They’re dying, doggy. Falling like a hare under a fox’s tooth. You surface people are so lovely to look at, but your skin issoft, your hearts even softer. They’re all dead, doggy. And you’ll be next.”
“N-no,” I manage. I fall forward, trying to crawl away, but something lands on top of me. Her net. I try to tear it off, but my limbs get tangled in its webbing.
“There’s nothing left for you,” she hisses.
Dayton! We have to retreat. We must get to the bridge! Hurry!Rosalina’s voice in my mind.
I’m kind of in the middle of something, Blossom, I reply.You go on without me. I’ll be there soon as I can.
No. He’ll get you.
Then another voice, one I’ve never heard in my head, slips through.Gods damn it, Dayton, you couldn’t even wear pants for a fight? Truly, you have no shame. I admire it.
And I never thought I would be so damned happy to feel Caspian’s briars wrap around me.
“What?” Aquila shrieks. “Come back!”
But my body is engulfed in briars. With my free hand, I wipe my eyes, clearing them a little, and blink around at the war camp. It’s overrun with underfae. More and more pour out of the tunnels.
