“Molt!” she called out.
Her voice echoed through the valley.
The king slowed to a stop and cast a glance over his shoulder. When he laid his eyes on her, he smiled. The warriors immediately burst into action, nocking their bows with arrows that seemed to appear from thin air. They loosed in unison. The arrows hurtled through the air. Reyna ducked just as they reached her face, and they thunked into the ground just behind her.
“Ah.” Molt’s smile widened, flashing those fang-like teeth. “You must be Reyna. Only a Shieldmaiden can dodge arrows with so much grace.”
“I’m here to kill you,” she hissed, clutching her dagger’s hilt even tighter.
“So I can see.” Shadows seemed to pulse around his shadowsteel armor as he reached behind his back and drew a greatsword that was unlike any weapon Reyna had ever seen. With a blade almost as long as she was tall, it must have weighed twenty pounds. The pommel curved outward at the bottom into smoldering black horns, swirls of ancient symbols etched into the metal. And, unlike most greatswords, sharp, teeth-like points ran down the length of the blade. If the king shoved that blade into someone’s belly, it would not only slice them open. It would ravage them.
“Nice sword you have there,” Reyna shouted as she mentally ran through her options. The wood king was smart. She doubted he’d have his guards pellet her with arrows, knowing it would do little good. Unless he intended to use them as a distraction so that he could flee.
High King Ulaid Molt did not seem like the type of fae to flee.
“Aye. Why don’t you come see it up close?” He grinned, flipping the heavy greatsword easily from hand to hand. So, Unseelie had gifted him with enhanced strength in addition to everything else. Rhain’s words echoed in her ears. Molt would not be easy to kill.
Heart hammering, Reyna lifted her chin, and erased any hint of doubt from her mind. She had come here to kill this king, and now here he was, ready to fight her. “I’ll come see it up close if you tell your guards to stand down. It’s not a fair fight otherwise.”
Molt’s smile widened. “What makes you think I want it to be a fair fight?”
Reyna shrugged. “Then, I guess you’ll be just like Aengus. The Grand Alderman didn’t like to do his own dirty work either.”
“Aengus.” Molt barked out a laugh as he twisted his gloved hands around the pommel of his greatsword. “Let me guess. You’re the one responsible for his death.”
“I’m afraid the Grand Alderman was responsible for his own death. It turned out he was a human, and the air fae didn’t appreciate being lied to.”
“Ahuman?” Molt’s sword faltered for the smallest of moments. It lowered to the ground just an inch before he recovered it, but it was enough for Reyna to see that she’d managed to surprise him. While Reyna held no ill will toward humans in general, she doubted Molt felt the same. And he’d gone and allied one without a clue he’d been tricked.
The incredulous look on his face was like a soothing ice bath after a long day spent traipsing through the rain.
She latched onto his surprise and took a step toward him. “Aengus never liked to fight anyone himself. He always got others to do it. I suppose that’s just what ineffective rulers do.”
The king narrowed his eyes. A soft wind swirled around him, and the shadows seemed to writhe against the armor that covered every inch of his skin. “I know what you’re doing, Reyna Darragh. You must think I have fewer brains than that piked head of the Grand Alderman. You’re trying to get a rise out of me, so that I might fight you.”
“You’re right. I do want to fight you. One on one. But everything I said is true. The Grand Alderman was a cowardly little man who yearned for more power than he could handle. In the end, it all caught up with him, and it had nothing to do with him being human.” She took another step toward the king, emboldened. “You can have these warriors fight me if you want. But cowardice and dishonor will follow you until you end up just like Aengus.”
He chuckled. “What a nice little speech. It seems you’re failing to comprehend that I don’twantmy warriors to fight you, and I never did. I will not be satisfied until I slice open your chest, rip out your heart, and feast upon it while it’s still warm in my hands.”
She fought the urge to shudder, lifting the dagger up to her line of sight. “Right back at you. Minus the heart-eating part of it.”
The king charged. Reyna braced her feet against the dirt, holding her blade so tightly she hoped it would not crack beneath the force. Her enemy raced across the charred ground, leaving his guards behind, though they nocked a new round of arrows.
Molt’s eyes swirled with a darkness that Reyna felt in the very pit of her gut. Shadows whorled across his shadowsteel armor. His emerald hair streamed behind him like a flag, the teeth-like blade whistling through the air. Reyna sucked in a sharp breath and desperately sent up a prayer to Seelie. She needed Wingallock—and fast. And she needed her powers.
Or you just need me, the Ruin whispered as a sudden blast of wind rustled her dyed hair.Without me, you will fail. Without me, you are nothing.
The king was only a foot away now. Reyna’s hands trembled as she stared down the length of his sword.
Release me onto him. I can kill him at once.
The Ruin sounded excited. It was desperate to get out of Reyna’s skin and destroy Unseelie’s servant. And she wanted nothing more than to give in to it, to be rid of it, finally. Once and for all. But she knew what would happen if she did. It would then turn its attention to the rest of Tir Na Nog, killing everyone and everything in sight. And it would start with her.
Molt roared and swung his blade toward her head. Reyna ducked, flattening herself against the blackened ground. She rolled over, dust spraying into her face. Coughing, she pushed up into a crouch, her eyes following Molt’s slow, circular stalk around her.
“You’re fast,” he said, his voice tinged with something that she might have thought sounded like respect, if he wasn’t a blood-drinking monster who worshipped evil itself. “I’ve always wanted to fight a Shieldmaiden.”
She rolled her eyes. “Good for you.”
