The pooka charged forward. I held on to the pooka’s mane and flattened myself to its back as we ran through the battle. I formed a shield over my head, and arrows from the soldiers above bounced off of it.
As I surged by, people began crying out. “The queen! The queen is here!”
“Is she riding amonster?!” someone shouted in astonishment, but I didn’t stop to explain. My attention was on the line of sorceresses on top of the fortress wall. If I got that wall down, it was all over for Gabby. We’d overtake her fortress, and she’d be forced to surrender.
Her army knew it. The sorceresses were focusing their efforts on me now, blasting off arrow after arrow to get me off my horse.
They were in for a rude surprise. I overpowered their sight, and caused the archers and sorceresses on the wall to see illusions. They began screaming, clawing at their eyes as they shouted they’d gone blind. Without their eyes, they had no idea where to shoot, giving our soldiers a chance to regroup. Our soldiers hastily came together on the ground and in the skies, while Gabby’s army panicked, unsure of what to do.
“Agh!” I slumped forward onto the pooka’s back. My own vision faltered for a moment, and black dots swarmed in my eyes before I shakily righted myself. I was forced to drop the illusion, and Gabby’s soldiers got their sight back. The terror of losing their eyes for a minute caused them to pause.
They wouldn’t stay shell-shocked for long. I had to get that wall down. I used the power of the wolven necklace to summon Unseelie magic. It welled inside of me, growing larger and fiercer. An orb welled between my hands, becoming a black orb of dark fire that was made of the purest Unseelie magic. It manifested with all my hatred for Gabby, and my rage at everything she had done.
I let out a carnal yell as magic burst from my fingers, and the black fire orb exploded outwards, sailing toward the fortress. The orb burst through the wards surrounding the fortress, breaking them completely. But it didn’t stop there. The orb kept going, smashing into the fortress wall and causing it to topple. Terrifying yells lit up the morning, and there was a loud, crashing noise as stone toppled to the ground. Hundreds of soldiers were killed in the collapse, leaving a giant gap in the fortress wall.
The two sides collided as our army rushed past the fallen wall. The sound of swords clanging together and the growls of shifters mingled with the noises of crackling magic inside the fortress gates.
A pack of wolvens bounded toward me out of the rubble, sneering and yowling. I unleashed my sword, and cut them down from my place on the pooka’s back. The pooka gnashed its teeth and lashed out with its hoofs, breaking open the skulls of wolvens and crushing their bones underfoot. The pooka’s movements were so vicious and vile, I had to grip tightly with my freehand to remain on.
Dragons flew in from above. I wasn’t sure what side they were on as their flames began lighting up the battlefield. I turned the pooka and charged away, flames hot on our heels as the corpses surrounding us ignited. The screams of sorceresses that were set ablaze permeated the area, and it crippled my insides to hear.
There was a cry like an eagle from above. I looked up, and saw several griffins flying at me. Their talons tore at my cloak and into my back, drawing blood. I gave a cry of pain, and began swinging my sword upright to fend them off. The pooka reared on its back legs, pawing at the skies as the griffins continued to swoop down.
One griffin latched his claws in me. I cried out and managed to lop off one of his legs with my sword. He screeched, but tore me off my mount before flying away. I landed on the beaten snow and rolled. The toss knocked the wind out of me, and also caused the spell holding the pooka’s mind to break.
When I let go of control of the monster’s mind, the pooka went mad. It changed from the dark horse into the goat-headed man, and began devouring fae alive. The sick creature ran wild throughout the battlefield, grabbing fae by the torso with its long fingers and biting their heads off with its disgusting jaws.
I attempted to call the pooka back, but it was no use. I had lost control, and now, the pooka was ravaging whoever it could get its claws in.
At that moment the wind picked up, and snow began falling faster than ever. The snow became blinding, turning the area around me into a haze of white. I couldn’t see anything— not the fortress, the other soldiers, or even five feet in front of me. I staggered to my feet and clutched my sword with both hands, blindly walking into the blizzard without any sense of direction.
“Ethan?” I called. “Ethan!”
My cries drew attention. A couple of Gabby’s soldiers came barreling in. I brought my sword up to stop them— cut the throat of one, and ran through another. When sorceresses charged in from behind them, I knocked them down with battle orbs, exploding gaps in their chests.
I heaved for air and tried to stay conscious. I felt trapped. This had been a horrible idea to come out here. This was nothing but chaos. I should’ve listened to my friends and stayed behind.
And yet I’d chosen to follow the hag’s command. Why did I always follow her judgement? She had only led me to misery time and time again, and yet, I was compelled to listen to her.
I was an idiot.
A shifter stepped out of the snowstorm. The dragon towered over me, his scales blue and eyes pure white. He nearly blended in with the snowstorm. He displayed his fangs as he circled me, planning to go in for the kill.
I didn’t hesitate to defend myself. I shot out battle orbs, but they exploded against the dragon’s scales with little effect. The dragon charged at me with his horns down, his giant footsteps spraying snow everywhere. I rolled out of the way, but his talon tore at my cloak, yanking me to the side. I was pulled underneath the dragon, completely at his mercy. He took a deep breath, spraying fire in my direction.
I yelped and put up a shield. The dragon’s fire bounced back against it, and he cried out as embers smashed into his eyes. My throat went raw as I screamed, plunging the sword upward into the dragon’s throat before wrenching it away. Blood spilled out onto my clothes, and the dragon staggered backward. It stumbled to the left, collapsing from the hole in its throat. The dragon vanished into the snowstorm, but I was sure it’d be dead within minutes.
I dropped the sword I was carrying and fell to my knees. After the fight with the dragon, I was too weak to lift it, let alone swing it. I forced myself to get up and attempted to conjure a spell. A blue battle orb flickered and died in my palm.
I needed to try harder. I needed tokeep fighting.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t fight anymore. I’d been weak at the start of this thing, and now I was on my last reserves. If I continued to use my magic, I’d kill myself. Losing my hearthfire had completely gutted me.
The wolven necklace was my only shot. I had to use the Unseelie power that remained in the necklace if I wanted to stay alive. It was the only reserve of power that I had left.
I left the sword behind and continued onward. I’d never find Ethan, not in this storm. My goal to locate my mate had changed to simply leaving this battlefield alive. I knew there were soldiers all around me, as I could still hear them fighting, but whether they were Gabby’s forces or my own was questionable.
I couldn’t be kidnapped by Gabby’s soldiers. Not now. I had to get out of here.
