Page 180 of A Courage of the Chosen

The rumbling of feet in the earth, of fists banging against shields, begins small, and swells until the entire army is alive with it. The horns are raised, the tall brass Carnyx jutting above the units of Seelie as they blare out in a symphony of war. I turn my mare and raise my sword, pointing the tip where I know he waits.

A taut hush settles over the battlefield, the impenetrable dark breaks, and there they are.

Every. Last. One.

Tavish and a few commanders are the only ones mounted on horseback, and our gazes instantly find one another.

His voice floats to us with ease. “Pretty speech, Cousin. Stirring, really. I’ll give you one opportunity to lay down your weapons. Bow to me, and death can be avoided.”

“ARE YOU WITH ME?” The bellow comes from deep within. I might be looking at him, might be cursing his very existence, but it’s to the legions at my back that I speak now, and Elsie’s forces respond with a low roar.

The Craobh Beatha rests proudly over Tavish’s breastplate, and a half-smile sits on his mouth. “So be it.”

The sun crests in the east, directly ahead of us, and rises over a black tide of doom. Row after row, Dorche in obsidian armor stand motionless, and Brollachan pace with restrained violence. There’s a collective pause, a moment where we all inhale the last lungful of air before we’re plunged into waters that will be bloody and endless.

With a single nod of Tavish’s head, the first lines of the Dorche army stampede down the hill as I send a final declaration to the woman with whom I left my heart. “I love you, mo sholas. Always.”

And then I lead the charge to meet my fate.

Chapter 53

Elsie

I am no one.

I am nothing.

I float.

I fall.

The darkness isn’t cold, and it isn’t warm. It’s simply there. It’s not even darkness, really. Just an absence of everything.

I am no one.

I am nothing.

And I am not alone.

There’s another here, trapped in the same way that I am. Something in me screams to reach out. To save the lost soul traveling this space between worlds, that holds the beginning of all that exists.

Who are you?

Why do I want to help them?

The answers lie just beyond my grasp.

My instincts drag me in their direction, despite the fact I can’t see anything. Their presence grows as I near them, propelled by unseen limbs, and the urgency to protect grows stronger.

I’ve got you. We’re safe. Together.

Together . . . that word meant something to me once.

My essence collides with theirs.

Round and round we clash. Falling. Floating.

Energy builds in the void, washing over us in static waves that stir something else deep within me. A familiarity that defies the logic of where I rest.