“Move,” he snarled, forcing himself up.
“You can’t fly like that,” Nasi snapped, bracing him.
“I don’t need to?—”
“Shut it and stay still,” I ordered it.
Veskor’s ears pricked and he tensed, body lowering to the ground on all fours.
We went still, feeling it immediately—the silence. We weren’t in the forest yet, but on rocky plains. Yet still, there should have been birds chirping, animals in the distance … something.
“Ronan?” Perri whispered, clutching onto me. My wings tucked around my body protectively, instinctively shielding her.
It was still. Too still.
Nasi swore as shapes emerged from the edges of the rocks, pale and hungry. Vampyres.
Of course they were here. Of course Georg had been right.
I shifted my stance, pulling Veskor closer, my grip tightening on Perri as well.
“We stay together,” I said, forcing my voice steady.
Veskor moved before I could stop him.
Before we could form any kind of strategy Veskor screamed and charged straight at the vampyres, something sharp and wild burning in his eyes.
I blinked, thrown for half a second as Perri cried for him. Canavar’s lips even parted, shocked at the display. Nasi swore and hurried after him. I had studied fighters, watched them, broken their actions down into patterns and strategies.
Veskor didn’t do anything I’d seen before.
There was no hesitation or calculation, no plan of any kind as he launched himself forward like a storm breaking loose. He moved faster than I expected, slipping between the vampyres as they lunged for him. One went for his throat, and he twisted under it, slamming his shoulder into its ribs hard enough to knock it sideways before driving his claws into its neck.
Another came at him from behind, and he ducked low, pivoting in a way that let him use its momentum against it. It hit the rocks with a sickening crack.
He didn’t stop or slow, refusing to give any of them space to recover. There were nine of them in total, already they were down to six by the time Nasi joined the fray.
I relaxed with Perri and Canavar as it became apparent that while dangerous, the vampyres weren’t a real threat—not hungry and desperate the way they were. Nasi stayed calm and picked off those too afraid to go for Veskor. He fought like someone who had already accepted death and decided to take everything with him first.
Canavar tried to stand again and I kicked his knee out.
“I’m not leaving him!” Canavar snapped, going down hard and snarling at me.
“Sit down before you fall down; they have it well in hand,” I argued.
He hissed and I grabbed the tip of his uninjured wing in one hand, twisting.
“FUCKING OW!” he roared.
“Naughty!” Perri scolded him.
It didn’t matter; the fight was over anyway. The last vampyre fell, the ground littered with bodies in front of us.
“Good show,” Nasi said approvingly to Veskore, not even out of breath. He wiped a bit of blood from underneath his claws, looking pleased.
Veskor blinked, swaying dangerously. His chest heaved and he was covered in blood.
“Nasi!” I called out.
