Chapter 17 #2
Zander knelt near a pile of burned debris, picking up a charred piece of wood. Rain dripped from his chin as he studied it, rubbing the surface between his fingers.
“This wasn’t rebels,” he muttered.
I frowned. “How do you know?”
Zander turned the blackened wood over in his palm before tossing it aside. “Dragon fire leaves a certain residue. This isn’t a normal fire.”
Something heavy settled in my gut. “What are you saying?”
Zander’s jaw tightened. His lavender eyes flickered with something sharp, something dangerous.
“This was a dragon attack.”
I heard the gasp from Cordelle or the way Naia shifted uneasily beside me.
Because the words had barely left Zander’s mouth before the realization sank in.
I swallowed hard. “ That means… ” My voice was hardly above a whisper.
Zander finished the thought for me.
“This was a Blood Fae.”
Dark hooded figures slithered out from the wreckage, moving like shadows given form. They were silent at first, the rain slicking off their cloaks, their faces hidden beneath the black cloth.
“Are they merchants?” I asked, narrowing my eyes as one moved closer.
Then I saw it.
A glimmer of deep-crimson under the hood. A pair of glowing, inhuman eyes.
“Blood Fae!” Zander’s voice was like a whip cracking through the night.
The figures lunged.
Weapons were drawn in an instant. Only Jax and Zander carried short swords—the rest of us had daggers, but there was no time to wish for better steel. I pulled both of mine free, adjusting my grip as the first fae came at me.
Chaos erupted.
Zander moved first, his hands igniting with black fire. He slashed his blade through the air, and the Dark Flame responded—snaking outward like living shadows, curling around the squad in a protective arc as the Blood Fae charged.
Magic burst across the battlefield.
Cordelle’s eyes flashed with power, and when he pressed a hand to the ground, thick, gnarled roots surged from the earth.
One of the Blood Fae shrieked as the vines wrapped around his legs, climbing his body in rapid spirals before dragging him down into the ground.
The soil sealed over him as if he had never existed.
Another Blood Fae locked eyes with Tae. His entire body stiffened. Then, without a word, he turned around and simply walked away.
Tae let out a choked breath and dropped to his knees.
“What in Charrem’s name was that?” Ferrula asked her voice hoarse as she dodged an electric charge emitted by the fae she was fighting.
Tae shook his head and got to his feet. “They have some fucked-up magic.”
Riven let out a furious snarl, her hands bursting into flames.
She hurled a fireball straight at one of the attackers.
The air crackled, the smell of burning cloth and flesh filling the space as the figure ignited in a pillar of fire.
The Blood Fae screamed, stumbling, but before he could fall, another placed a hand on the scorched earth—and ice shot outward in jagged, glowing veins.
The frost struck Zander’s black flames, smothering them.
Zander cursed under his breath and turned his focus on the robed figures, his blade flicking out, aiming to take them down one by one.
I had no time to think about anyone else—I was locked in my own battle.
The Blood Fae in front of me had yet to use magic. He was fighting hand to hand, his speed unnatural, his movements calculated. His blade clashed against my daggers, and the force of it vibrated through my arms.
Every time I parried, he forced me back. Step after step, he was herding me, drawing me away from my squad.
My boots slipped slightly on the wet stone, but I adjusted, twisting my body as I slashed upward. He dodged effortlessly. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.
He wasn’t in a rush to kill me.
He was testing me.
The Blood Fae danced around me, his movements eerily smooth, calculated. Every strike I threw, he blocked before I even completed the motion. Every feint, every shift in stance—I might as well have been fighting a ghost that had already seen this battle play out a hundred times.
I gritted my teeth and adjusted my grip, switching my dominant blade to my left hand, trying to throw him off. But he didn’t falter. If anything, he seemed amused .
He was toying with me.
I growled, driving my dagger forward in a thrust meant for his ribs. He twisted at the last moment, letting the blade graze just above his hip, but I had no time to celebrate. His foot lashed out, catching my knee, sending me staggering back.
A sharp, electric burn licked up my spine.
No.
Not now.
Heat flooded my veins, burning from the inside out. My heart pounded as my vision flickered—lightning crackled in the sky above, an eerie echo of the storm building inside me.
Kaelith!
I reached for her, and this time, she answered .
Do not do this, foolish girl! You are not ready!
I don’t have a choice!
The Blood Fae lunged, but my body moved before I could think. I twisted just out of reach, feeling the shift in the air around me, like the storm itself was guiding me. When I struck, it wasn’t just steel meeting flesh—it was raw energy, sparking at my fingertips as the clouds crackled above me.
The Blood Fae hissed as the air boomed between us, an unseen force knocking him back a step.
His red eyes flickered, and for the first time, he looked... intrigued.
Kaelith’s voice was sharp in my mind. You are losing control!
I don’t know how to stop it!
She let out a frustrated growl. I am on my way to you. Do not die!
The Blood Fae recovered fast. Too fast. His hand flicked up, and a sharp gust of wind slammed into my chest. I gasped, stumbling, and he used the moment to close the distance.
Kaelith roared in my mind. But I felt her essence infuse me.
Do not fall!
But I was falling—falling into something dangerous, something unknown. I could feel the power inside me, pulsing, clawing, begging to be let loose.
The Blood Fae grinned as he brought his blade toward my throat.
Instinct alone saved me.
A bolt of lightning split the air, erupting from my palm. It shot past his face, scorching the hood of his cloak, forcing him to jerk back. My hand trembled, my breath ragged.
What is happening to me?
The dragon’s mind brushed against mine, hesitant. Your power is building. I have anchored you as best I can due to the circumstances, but our bond is too weak to sustain this kind of power.
That didn’t sound promising. My dragon had anchored me, and it wasn’t enough. Why?
The Blood Fae recovered quickly, his red eyes locked onto mine with something that almost looked like recognition .
The Blood Fae stepped back, lowering his blade as his glowing red eyes flickered with something unreadable—curiosity, maybe even amusement. He tilted his head, studying me like I was some kind of puzzle.
“I thought you were a myth.”
I tightened my grip on my daggers, suppressing the violent shiver running down my spine. The way he said it made my stomach churn.
“I think you’re an asshole,” I shot back, adjusting my stance, my legs still shaky from whatever storm had just torn through me.
His lips curved into a smirk, slow and deliberate.
“I may ask for your hand myself.”
I blinked. Of all the responses I expected, that was not one of them.
“Really?” I sneered. “Because the only thing my hands will do is strangle you.”
His smirk deepened, those crimson eyes glinting with something dark—something I didn’t understand.
“We will see.” His voice was velvet, smooth and taunting. “Soon, you will learn you are on the wrong side.”
Before I could lunge, before I could even breathe, he was gone , vanishing into thin air like a ghost. The air crackled where he had stood, the scent of storm-charged ozone lingering in his wake.
I sucked in a breath, my hands trembling.
What just happened?