“I’m okay.”
“You’re bleeding!” I rush to her and peel her hand back.
“So are you,” she laughs, her eyes scanning my body. “I think.”
The wound isn’t bad. She’ll be alright. My shoulders drop for a quick moment of relief. A moment too long.
The tip of a sword tears through her chest, shocking me into silence. My mouth hangs open in a silent gasp as I glance from her chest to her face.
She takes in one small gulp of air, then begins to cough, blood splattering into the air.
“No,” I cry, finally finding my voice. “No, no, no. Please.”
Her eyes are full of anguish as she looks at me, and I can’t rip mine away. I can’t will my gaze to leave her, to find the threat still behind her. Not until the soldier rips her sword out, causing Rhydra to fall back as the female elf charges around her, coming at me. I parry and dodge the attack with ease, blocking her sword with my own. Even though I feel like crumbling.
She tries to pull back and attack again, but with unnatural speed I stab a dagger through the wrist that holds her sword, causing her to drop it to the ground. I quickly grab another knife and hold it at her throat. She reaches for something near her leg, and with my left hand I chop her hand off with one swish of my glowing sword. She screams in agony, glaring at me with burning fury.
Maybe I’m imagining it, but my sword feels hot. Angry. It has a mind of its own, and that mind is not happy.
Kezra. I want to leave the soldier there, screaming in pain, and go to Rhydra, but Kezra leads us forward with a vengeful fury.
I have little choice as the sword comes at me one last time, glistening with the bright red hue of my sister’s blood. My sword goes through her chest, just as hers did to Rhydra.
I don’t look at her as I rip it out. I turn and run, then fall to the ground beside Rhydra, who’s wheezing with her last breaths. It must have missed her heart, or she’d already be dead.
I let myself have hope for a moment.
But as I push her hair off her face, I know. I glance down at her with tears stinging my eyes. She struggles to focus on me, but then our eyes lock, and she instantly looks more peaceful.
“I’ll kill him. For you.”
It looks like it takes everything she has to give the tiniest nod, pulling her lips back into a smile.
Then the life leaves her eyes.
I scream into the night, the sound ripped from somewhere raw inside me. Anger and despair crash together, then something darker rises beneath them, setting my blood on fire. Tears burn my eyes, and I feel them trailing down my muddy, bloody face.
I’m tired of it all.
My father and his ruthless, selfish grip on his power.
The elves who never question it.
Adrian, his loyal lapdog.
I won’t stop until they pay for this. I wish I could find him on this fucking battlefield.
I hear the roar of a dragon and I whip my head around. Somehow, from all this way, I can sense Daegan looking my way, twisting his neck as he searches for me in the darkness. He heard my scream.
Suddenly, I feel so alone all the way out here. I look down, run my hand down her cheek one last time, and then I stand and sprint toward the thick of the battle. If I can get under his back legs, he can’t roast me from down there. Kezra and I will fight with the only two people we have left.
I’m getting closer to the thick of the elven soldiers when a bone-splitting shriek pierces the battlefield. My blood turns cold as I whip my head toward Raef, the red and black dragon, becoming overwhelmed with an incoming horde from the far side. From this distance, with little light cutting through the battlefield, everything blurs into chaos—fire, water, vines, arrows, spears,and more tangled together in motion. It’s absolute mayhem. Daegan comes to his aid, blasting those in front of them, but more remain.
Suddenly, the dragons are gone, and I freeze, trying to figure out where they went. Were they getting overwhelmed, being such big targets? Was this a tactic to become invisible?
The barrage of elements and weapons finally stops, and the night goes still. Utterly quiet.
A sudden crash of metal shatters the silence, followed by harsh grunts. They found them. Or at least one of them.
