A couple of the guards behind him are hit, but there are still plenty of capable fighters among them. Luckily, I have a moment of shock on my side, as they look at me with surprise and a little fear.
I take a few tentative steps back. We’re so far from anyone else. Can I take on this many when they all have their attention focused solely on me?
My magic feels severely weak. Drained.
I use what little I have left, douse their torches, and sprint into the forest.
I quickly run into a tree and fall down, straight onto my back. My nose took the brunt of it.
I guess I have to move more carefully, considering I can’t see a damn thing.
I stop, listening to the quiet darkness, but all I can hear is my heavy, ragged breathing. I wait, and I wait, thinking I must have lost them, until finally, I hear careful footsteps coming my way. I can risk them finding me if I hide here, or I can run for it.
I turn, reaching my hands out, and walk deeper into the dense forest as fast as I can. I stumble over unknown things a few times, but I remain standing. Up ahead, a very faint light illuminates a clearing, showing me the silhouettes of several large trees. I swerve and avoid the light, going deeper into the darkness. It was probably just a cluster of luminescent plants.
I keep going, deeper into the unimaginable darkness of the forest, with no hint of anyone following me and no idea where I’m going. I don’t dare pull out my last light from my bag. Not yet.
The farther I go, the more I feel like something is off. I should have waited. I stop, leaning against what I’m fairly certain is a tree.
“Kezra?” I whisper so quietly I doubt even the trees can hear me. I’m not sure where she’s hiding now, but I’ve sensed her presence through this entire blind hike.
She emerges from my bag. Her gold figure glows, lighting up a small section of the space in front of me.
“You wish for me to go back, to make certain the scaled ones escaped harm, that they’ll live to fight another day?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “Please. I can’t leave them.”
“You also cannot throw yourself back into that deadly skirmish. It’s too risky.”
“I know,” I whisper, sorrow tingeing my voice.
“I will go. But prepare yourself for even the worst of news.”
“Thank you.”
She flies back the way we came, her gold dust trailing behind her, and the departure leaves me alone in darkness again.
I slide down the tree and sit, wrapping my arms around my legs. It’s cold, it’s dark, and it’s eerily quiet. Images from the battle begin to flash in front of me, the truth of what I did filling me like a poison that I’m not sure there’s an antidote for. I killed people. Viciously. I witnessed the most brutal of deaths. And the sounds I heard as males and females alike took their final breaths…
I tuck my head into my knees, and I begin to sob silently.
Chapter 68
Kezra should be back.
I’ve been crying for an hour, it feels like. The tears have finally dried, and I used what little magic I have left to do a lethargic rinse of my face and arms. My outfit that’s more blood than anything else will have to wait. Our horses that we left at the edge of the forest, which I left my larger bag of clothes and other items with, are long gone.
Finally, just as I begin to consider marching back onto the battlefield, Kezra appears from behind me, startling me to my feet with one quick motion, snapping me out of my stupor.
She’s alone.
My heart sinks.
“Did you find them?”
“No.”
My shoulders drop.
