But they couldn’t be. There were too many of them. Normally, the weakest—in other words, humans—were the onesthat travelled in numbers. And besides, Sand Wielders were too respected in society to be lurking around the desert. The gifted were invariably employed to serve the king.
“Open the carriage and we’ll leave you unharmed,” one of the men shouted.
Oh! He put me inside the fucking treasure as if I was worth more than water or supplies.
I swallowed hard, tightening my grip on the metal rod.
“You’d have to go through me to get to that,” Aegir replied.
“As you wish, then.”
And then it began. The bandits roared, weapons in hand—twenty against seven. Joel laughed and approached them unarmed. Aegir, too, didn’t reach for his axes.
Why, when twenty armed men moved towards us, did they look as calm as if—as if the approaching men were kittens!? They didn’t ready their godsdamned weapons. I shook my head at Darius’s radiating excitement. His grin reached both ears as they neared.
How fucking unhinged.
No, not unhinged. Now that I watched—they were simply…incredible. They took half of them down in seconds. No weapons, no magic, no powers.
Aegir alone took three of them in two swift moves—he disarmed them and knocked them out so fast, I didn’t even see the blows. I gaped, my eyes wide.
There’s no fucking way they’re getting anywhere near me.
But I finished my thought too soon, as suddenly one of them appeared in front of the barred window. I gasped, quickly readying my arm.
“Aha! It even comes with a yummy prize,” the lanky male exclaimed with a grin. I grimaced as I watched him lick his chapped lips. He tried to open the doors, but they wouldn’t budge. In a heartbeat, green eyes met mine. Aegir seized theman by his nape and sent him flying feet away. Then he just winked at me, white mist lingering between his upturned lips.
Is this male for real?
Grunts and heavy breathing filled the desert, and I watched the scattered twenty stumbling and struggling to get to their feet. They limped and crawled away from us.
Day one on a journey outside of the castle, and I was already in the middle of a fight.
Aegir opened the carriage door and extended his arm. “Are you all right?” he asked.
I handed him the metal rod and slid out of the carriage, looking at the deserted land around us.
“Em, yes, I’m all right. Are we going to have to move camp now?”
“There’s no need. They won’t be coming back, and even if they did, easy task,” Aegir replied. Joel agreed, grinning at our side, hands at his hips.
Aegir fished out a couple of thin blankets from one of the bags. He laid one of them on the carriage floor; the other, he rolled into the shape of a pillow.
“Do you want me to lock the doors?”
“Where will you be?” I asked, my voice low.
“My tent’s right here,” he replied, pointing at the one closest to the carriage.
“No.”
“No, as in you don’t want my tent there?”
“No, I mean there’s no need to lock it.”
“Oh, all right. Good night, Cordelia.”
“Good night, Lord Hailin.”
