Chapter 58 Devora #2
One by one, the refugees from the Keep fell, their groans ringing in my ears behind me.
I didn’t know how many were simply injured or even dead.
I couldn’t look. I couldn’t focus on anything except the bloodshed around me, the magic and teeth and steel that were this close to taking away everything I loved.
Someone ran at me with a sword sheathed in lightning, and I used my shadow shield to block. I twisted my arm in the air and commanded them to wrap around the blade. They tugged it out of his hand and I caught the handle midair.
We parried, him with his light magic and me with the sword and my own dagger.
Even though I wasn’t anywhere near proficient with weapons, I was too afraid to use my magic.
I’d never been frightened of it before, but the way my shadows hissed with violence scared me.
How they’d torn that man apart from the inside out…
I didn’t even know they were capable of something like that.
And they reveled in it. I could sense them purring inside me, still tasting his blood, craving more.
Let us out. We can protect you.
My opponent sent a beam of light toward my midsection, and my magic jumped to block it. I feinted left and aimed for his neck, then jabbed at his stomach with the shorter dagger. The blade sank in before he leaped back with a hiss.
A lightning whip flashed from his hand and nicked my shoulder. I yelped as blood loomed to the surface and dripped down my arm. But…it wasn’t just blood.
Shadows leaked from the wound, spilling over the sleeves of my turquoise dress and mingling with my blood. I watched with dread as they slowly rose in a cloud of dark gray and red, the scent of copper thick in the air.
Say the word, little one, they crooned. He will kill your friends if you don’t stop him.
That same sense of bloodthirsty power sang in my veins. They were right. I’d seen what these men did to our refugees—most of them still children. And they worked for Scarven. Who knew how many other people they’d harmed?
That’s right, my shadows whispered. He deserves to die. He deserves your vengeance.
My resolve slipped little by little, the image of Silas’s body coming back to me with every breath. My hold on the shadows released ever so slightly.
They instantly solidified into a sharp blade. Before I could blink, it zipped through the air and straight toward my attacker.
It sliced clean through his neck. His head rolled to the ground, and my shadows swirled around the severed skin. I could feel their glee as they lapped up his blood. Could feel their dark satisfaction and hunger for more.
A voice in the back of my mind told me I should be horrified. But this time…I wasn’t.
I was curious. Intrigued.
Yes, they chanted. Give us more.
A garbled shout reached my ears, and I spun on my heels as a giant hawk Shifter descended from the sky. It stretched out a talon and struck a familiar face, hard and fast.
Everett.
The Illusionist fell to the ground. He pressed both hands to his eye, but it wasn’t enough to stem the spurt of blood that spilled over his fingers and onto the grass.
I reacted without thinking. My shadows, now a darker, pulsing red, immediately shot toward the hawk. When they touched his feathers, he let out a shriek and shifted back into his human form. His body convulsed on the ground as his skin turned gray.
I felt my shadows consume him. I felt them drain him of his life, leaving him a husk as he went rigid, then limp.
Satisfied with their work, they rushed back to me and twisted up my arms, flitting through my hair as I stalked toward my next target.
Not many of Scarven’s men remained standing, but three of them sprinted to the line of our Alchemists holding their magic shields at the walls of the Keep. One of them raised their sword.
“Oh no you don’t,” I muttered.
I didn’t bother holding my shadows back.
I lashed out an arm, and they formed a lasso. It snapped through the air and whipped around the man’s neck. When I yanked, he jerked toward me, his back dragging over the grass. A smirk crept up my lips as I squeezed.
The shadows tightened until his face turned red, then purple, his fingers clawing at his neck as he gasped for air. I twisted my wrist, and he fell silent.
Tendrils of my magic branched out from his body to grab the other two men.
Shadows wrapped around their bodies and lifted them into the air.
I crafted little spikes of darkness that sank into their skin.
Their screams filled the night, their blood dripping from hundreds of tiny wounds, and my shadows drank it up before they could fall to the ground.
I thought I heard voices calling my name, but the roaring in my ears drowned them out.
My grin widened as more shadows branched from my feet.
They snaked over bodies of the living and the dead, aiming for Scarven’s five remaining men.
Wind whipped around us like a storm. My shadows tightened around all seven enemies in their grip, the same little needles digging into their skin until they cried out.
“Where is he?” I shouted, a voice I didn’t recognize as my own booming around us. “Where is Kane Scarven?”
The bodies writhed in the air, struggling to break free from their bonds. None of them responded.
Anger ripped through me, hot and corrosive. He didn’t even have the nerve to come here. He sent his lapdogs to tear down our walls. To break our defenses and our spirits. To murder our friend.
Just another message. Another warning.
Maybe it was time I sent one of my own.
My shadows forged their way into my victims’ eyes and noses, prying open their lips and burrowing down their throats. Their veins bulged and turned black. Shadows filled their bodies, pushing against their skin until they cracked from the inside.
“Devora!” Nox shouted from behind me. “Devora, stop! Look what it’s doing to you.”
His words barely managed to break through my anger. I glanced down to find my own veins darkened with black and red, shadows flowing like rivulets down my body.
My breath quickened. Fear returned, only to be slammed back by the force of my magic.
Finish this, it hissed, more powerful than ever before.
Magic rose inside of me, all the way from my feet to my hands. My arms trembled. With a scream that made my throat raw, I slammed my hands into the ground.
All seven bodies crashed with it.
But instead of landing on the grass, they vanished into smoke.
The second my shadows seeped back into my skin, I staggered backward, the exhilarating surge of power suddenly morphing into terror.
Tessa, Kieran, Everett, and Milo all stared back at me. Their clothes were ripped, their faces bloodied, their weapons limp at their sides. And their eyes…
Scared. Wary. Distrusting.
Nox came into view and kneeled before me, those navy pools full of concern. I realized my entire body was shaking. I could barely draw breath. He slowly reached out and cupped my face in his hands.
“Nox,” I whispered hoarsely. “What have I done?”