Chapter 57 Isi #2
Trew rushed over and pressed his back against mine. “You’re amazing,” he grunted, parrying a blow that would have taken my right arm off.
“So are you.” I sank a blade into another creature’s neck.
We moved as one, him anticipating my lunges, me covering his retreats. Pure instinct. Two halves finding their rhythm in battle. He was all brutal strength and overwhelming force while I was speed and lethal precision. Together, we were unstoppable.
A short distance away, Lexie had left Levar and fought on the ground again with feral grace.
Levar kept swooping in from above, scorching a path through the Skathes.
A Skathe rushed her, and she dropped into a slide, slicing through both of its knees before rising to drive a blade through the back of its neck as it fell.
For every monster we killed, three more took its place. The tide remained endless, a sea of chittering hunger that was determined to swallow us whole.
We appeared to be outnumbered, and I started to worry we wouldn’t be enough.
Trew must have sensed it.
“Stay with me, love,” he said, his voice a low growl. “Don’t you dare leave me now.”
“Always. Even if the world ends, you’ll find me at your side.”
My gaze swept the field, looking for the next weak point in our line, and landed on Maddox.
He was cornered, his war axe a great defense against the Skathes, but not with three circling him.
Treane had been pinned beneath four others.
Maddox roared, swinging his weapon in a wide, desperate arc, but the creatures were too fast. They darted in and out, leaving bloody slashes on his arms and chest. He was bleeding out. Slowing.
“Pherin, to Maddox,” I yelled. She unleashed a wave of heat that forced the horde back, clearing a path directly to him. I sprinted into the gap, my boots barely touching the ground.
A Skathe turned, its empty sockets fixing on me, but I was already moving, sliding low and driving a blade through its hamstring.
It collapsed with a shriek, and I lobbed off its head.
The second lunged, and I met it head-on, my other blade finding the soft spot under its jaw and punching straight through to its spine.
One of the Skathes pinning Treane left the wolf-cat and swiped at me with its spiked tail. Before it could connect, a cry ripped from Maddox’s throat. “For Jaxon!”
He surged forward, bringing his war axe down with all the force of his grief and rage. The sickening crack of the Skathe’s skull exploding echoed over the furor. The creature dissolved into a shower of ash.
With the immediate danger gone, Treane scrambled to Maddox’s side. Maddox swayed before dropping the head of his axe on the ground. He lowered himself to his knees, staring up at me.
“Jaxon…” he gasped. “He shouldn’t have gone for the honey. He shouldn’t have left his post.” The hatred I’d seen in his eyes since the trials was gone. “It wasn’t you, Isi. It was never your fault.”
I ached for the loss of his brother.
Reaching down, I offered him a hand to rise. “Let’s honor him by wiping out the rest of the Skathes.”
He stared at my hand, then back at my face, grief, shame, and pain warring in his eyes, before he took my hand and rose. For the first time, he didn’t look at me as an enemy.
He snatched up his weapon, and I took a stance beside him. Treane fought near Pherin. We became the center point in the swirling conflict. The line that had been crumbling solidified.
The battle shifted, turning into a slow, grinding reclamation of our land. Every Skathe we eliminated was a step taken back from the wasteland. The screeches of monsters began to fade.
The Skathes faltered, their ranks thinning under the assault from both beasts and blades. The horde broke apart, scurrying back toward the gray haze of the wasteland. We gave chase, killing all we could until the last had vanished into the desolate land.
Silence echoed around us, broken only by the groans of the wounded.
Blood and ash slicked the ground, and the smell of rot, smoke, and death hung in the air.
Every muscle in my body screamed. My arms felt like lead, my blades too heavy to lift. Exhaustion sank its teeth into me, a bone-deep weariness that went beyond the physical. We’d won, but the real battle wasn’t over. It felt like the world was only holding its breath before it gasped again.
Trew came over to stand with me, staring toward where the last of the Skathes had escaped. His gaze swept over the remains of the village, adding up the cost in a way only a king could. Pherin and Gavelle padded over and dropped to the ground nearby, equally exhausted.
Kira wove through the fallen bodies, her armor dented and smeared with filth, her red hair matted. Her companion had reverted to its death adder shape and coiled tightly around her forearm, but its head hung low.
She stopped in front of Trew. “The wounded are being tended to. The village is secure. The losses are…significant.” Her voice came out hoarse, and she cleared her throat.
“If it’s alright with you, instead of returning to the castle, I’ll remain here with patrols to ensure the border’s secure.
” She kept her attention studiously on him, never once looking at me. “I need time to think.”
Trew nodded, his expression softening. “Thank you.”
Kira held his gaze for a long moment, then gave both of us a sharp nod. Turning, she strode away.
Trew’s focus narrowed on me, his golden eyes drinking me in, cataloging every scratch, every smudge, every tremor that shuddered through my frame. He closed the space between us.
His hand lifted, hesitated, then came to rest against my cheek.
The rough edge of his thumb traced away a streak of dirt or dust. “Are you hurt?” His voice was raw, deeper than usual, heavy with everything we’d just survived.
“I’m fine.” Though my ribs ached. My knees trembled. My magic had been scraped thin. But the moment he touched me, I was fine.
The battlefield stretched around us, scorched and broken, yet all I could see was him.
His armor glinted in the dying light, dented and smeared with ashes.
He looked like one of the fates carved from ruin, the kind that could unmake worlds.
And he was looking at me like I was the only thing left worth saving.
He cupped the back of my head, his palm sliding into my tangled hair.
“You terrified me,” he said, the words scraping out like confession. “When that Skathe lunged, and you—” He broke off, his jaw tightening. “Don’t ever do that again.”
His mouth found mine.
The kiss wasn’t gentle. It was everything we hadn’t said through a hundred glances. It was desperation and relief, fury and love, tangled together in the space of a heartbeat. His hand cradled my jaw, his fingers trembling with emotion.
I leaned into him, tasting salt, blood, life. His breath hitched against mine, and the world went silent. No wind, no screams, no clang of steel, just the soft sound of two people who had beaten the odds.
When he finally pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine. His breath shuddered out. “We did it.”
“We did,” I whispered.
He smiled, a small, weary, devastating grin. “I’ll never stop thanking the fates for you.”
The words undid me. My throat burned, my eyes stung. I wanted to say everything that filled my chest, but instead, I kissed him, gentler, slower, a promise instead of a victory cry.
Around us, the air began to stir again. The groans of the wounded carried across the field, followed by cheers from all.
Trew slid his hand down to mine, linking our fingers.
We walked together through the wreckage, helping those in need, calling for healers.
Trew directed his staff to start cataloguing what they’d need to rebuild.
Our boots crunched over the ash-strewn earth.
Pherin fluttered from a broken fencepost to my shoulder, her tiny talons digging in, trilling once.
Gavelle soared above us, his sharp gaze surveying the area for threats.
As we passed, a few people clapped. Others joined in, until the sound grew, cheers rising through the air like a second sunrise.
“Blessings on you, King Trewyn,” a woman cried.
“And on the warrior who fought beside him,” another shouted. “She brought back-up just when we needed them.”
Heat rushed up my neck, but Trew’s hand tightened around mine. He inclined his head to the crowd, and when I tried to lower mine, he tugged my chin up. “You’ve earned this.”
I stood straight beside him as we walked through the ruined streets. A few warriors from Trew’s regiment saluted as we passed, nodding not just to their king but to me. For the first time, I felt like part of something bigger than my own fight.
Lakast waited in the field beyond the village, a mountain of scales and molten eyes, his wings folded tight against his sides. The dragon lowered his head as we approached, his low rumble of acknowledgement vibrating the ground.
Trew looked at me, exhaustion and pride warring across his face. “Home?”
I nodded. “Home.”
The dragon nudged Trew’s shoulder before dropping to the ground. Trew helped me climb to the top and settled behind me, his arm snugging around my waist. I nestled against his chest, my head tucked beneath his chin.
“Ride or fly,” he called out to our companions.
They landed on Lakast’s spine behind Trew, settling together as closely as I did with this man I loved like no other.
Seeing Kerralyn, I called out. “Take Kyreth back to the aerie?”
She saluted me with her crossbow.
A quick glance around showed that most of those who’d ridden with us were mounting, my friends among them. Each loss sliced into my bones.
The flight back to the castle was a silent dream.
The world fell away below us, a blur of forest and plains painted in the colors of twilight.
The only sounds were the steady, powerful beat of Lakast’s wings and the thud of Trew’s heart.
My eyes drifted shut, the bone-deep ache in my body soothed by his gentle touch.
Dusk had crept across the sky by the time we landed in the aerie. Trew slid off the dragon’s back, helping me down.
Gavelle and Pherin soared out through the open gate, aiming for the castle. They’d sleep well tonight.
“See to Lakast, please,” Trew called out to the stable hands who rushed toward us.
They bowed and nodded, telling us all the dragons would receive the best of care after their battle.
Outside the stable, I staggered, quickly righting myself. Trew caught my hand and tugged me close. He gently lifted me into his arms and started striding toward the path leading to the castle.
“I can walk, you know,” I said.
“You’re a fierce warrior. Seeing you battle…You’re amazing. You carried the kingdom today. Let me carry you this one time.”
The battlefield still clung to his clothing, but he held me like I was the only war he’d ever surrender to.
“Well, when you put it like that.” I melted into his chest.
I’d faced monsters with hollow eyes and spiked tails, yet his tender devotion left me trembling far more than claws or fangs ever could.
Part of me wanted to laugh, to point out that I was hardly delicate. That I’d fought, bled, killed, and somehow survived. But the truth hummed through my bones: I wanted to be carried. To let myself collapse into the strength he offered and not feel guilty about it this one time.
I was a queen today. I would be a queen tomorrow. But for now, in this man’s arms, I was just Isi.
Trew carried me all the way to the castle, taking the stairs inside to his chambers. A few of his staff watched him pass, their jaws dropping, but many just smiled and nodded. I kept my face hidden against his shoulder, a smile playing on my lips.
He kicked open the door to his royal chambers.
The heavy wood closed behind us with a click, shutting out the rest of the world.
Moonlight spilled through the tall windows, painting the room in misty light.
It smelled like leather and books and the faint, sweet scent of camellias from his private garden.
His golden eyes searched mine, holding the fire of the stars, the weight of a crown, and a love so fierce it stole the breath from my lungs. “Now you’re truly home, my queen.”