Chapter 49
Chapter
Forty-Nine
The high I had been riding came crashing down like a ton of bricks.
The Hykah stood about twenty yards from us. How it crept into the courtyard so silently was beyond me. But there it was, its decaying, mangled body pointed directly at us.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Sebastian whisper-yelled, throwing his muscular figure in front of me.
Cautiously and silently, he backed up slowly, guiding us behind a stone column, not that it would be much protection from the monster awaiting us.
“What should we do?” I breathed into the back of his shirt.
His body completely blocked my view of the situation, but the tension in his stance told me enough.
“Move aside,” I whispered when he didn’t respond, tapping his shoulder blade. “I can kill it.”
He glanced over his shoulder at me. “Oh I’m sure you can, love. But can you kill ten of them?”
Ten?
Rising on my toes, my lungs dried up as I peered around his figure.
A small army of Hykahs stood behind the first in a uniformed manner. The most terrifying aspect however, was not the number of monsters in the courtyard, but the magnitude of the one in the back of the group.
The final Hykah stood at least a foot taller than the others, and by the looks of its mangled, scarred flesh, it had been around for a while.
“Is that like…an alpha or something?” My voice shuddered.
“I’d say so.”
Sebastian turned, putting his back against the column and his face towards me. “I want you to go. Go get Kohen and the others.”
“What? No! I am not leaving you here alone,” I fought back, grappling at the front of his shirt.
“We need back up. We can’t take all of these on our own.”
A heinous screech spilled into the space around us, forcing my fingers to plug my ears.
“We have to,” I answered when the quiet of the courtyard returned. “So what do we do? Take them one by one?”
Without a response, Sebastian turned back around, hugging the column as he peeked around it.
I matched his motions, hiding my body behind his while I studied our opponents, their mouths drooling while they waited for our return.
Dark eyes locked on Sebastian and I, and the group of monsters screamed, the sound so torturous and high pitched that I hoped it woke everyone in the palace up.
“What. Do. We. Do?” I repeated under my breath, my lips barely moving.
As if it heard my question, the alpha growled, then charged at us, its deformed, gray legs cracking as it ran.
“We fucking run!” Sebastian hollered, turning and practically shoving me forward. “Get through the archway and behind another column!”
We threw ourselves through the opening and under a covered terrace. Behind the ivory stone, I took the briefest moment to prepare my mind to wield. Sebastian drew the dagger that he always had on him, but aside from the singular blade, we were unarmed.
“We can’t outrun them,” I stated the obvious.
“I know,” Sebastian said flatly.
“And we can’t fight hands on with only one blade.”
“I know.”
“Magic is the only option, but there's so many of them. If I can't control it—”
“Maeve,” he growled. “I know. I’m trying to think.”
I peered one eye through the archway and by the looks of the situation, we didn’t have time to think. Though their speed slowed in our absence, the army of Hykahs followed their leader’s instructions, advancing on us unknowingly.
Returning my attention to him, I drew a throaty breath. “There's no time to come up with a perfect strategy, Seb,” I whispered, my eyes fluttering in the way I knew usually got me what I wanted from him.
He took his own glance at our current situation, his palm skimming my waist when he looked around where I stood. “Okay,” he grumbled as he returned my patient stare. “Just be careful. If you are going to blow something up, make sure it’s not me.”
I nodded and without a moment's hesitation, I reached an engraved arm around the pillar. Closing my eyes, I stretched my fingers and called upon the starlight, praying that I had the aim I hoped for.
My blood rumbled my veins, strumming every nerve in my body. I shook with the power, using each fiber in my muscles to tightly contain the energy I held. With my purposeful release, a screech made my ears ring as cosmic rays struck the nearest Hykah.
With the others distracted, I moved out from behind the pillar to view my damage.
I had hit the monster in the thigh, crippling it enough to give me a chance to direct the next light beam at its heart.
I heard its final attempt at a breath, but I still didn’t let up.
I continued to blast the monster until its entire body was a pile of ash.
Without mourning the death of their own, another one of the creatures began to sprint towards us.
“Are they going one by one?” I asked, though the answer was obvious.
“Seems it.” Sebastian tried his luck with the charging Hykah. He precisely wielded blades of clear ice, shooting them into its unnaturally stretched skull. The blades distracted the monster, but did not pierce deep enough to kill it.
He cursed with each shard he threw at it, his frustration and fear evident in his worsening aim. “I’m too far away!” he yelled, tossing one more icy weapon at the creature. “I can get closer and be more effective, but I really would prefer to have a sword as backup.”
I reached around him, stretching a finger towards the creature. I sucked in the starlight, letting it fizzle throughout my skin before releasing it.
Though I aimed for the Hykah’s skull, I narrowly missed, skimming the side of its neck and eliciting a blood-curdling growl from it.
“Shit!” I prepared to try again, but Sebastian pushed me back with his forearm.
“Go get help, Maeve. Please,” he begged, his eyes swallowing me whole.
With another terrifying bellow from a Hykah, Sebastian shifted his full attention back to our opponents. He discharged blade after blade of thick, jagged ice.
A monster bellowed in agony when a shank of ice settled between its eyeballs, where it stayed static, sticking out of its bleeding skull.
“I need a fucking sword so I can get closer!” he yelled, frustration fueling his words when he realized his hit didn’t kill the thing.
“Here!” a familiar, though disembodied, voice called back.
We turned our heads for just enough time to see Sawyer toss Sebastian a weapon. Kade, Pia, Kohen, Azain, and a bunch of other soldiers I had yet to meet following closely behind him, all armed and sporting the same look of focus.
“Excellent timing,” I yelped while returning my power to the approaching Hykah. I called upon the heavens and my body warmed once more as the light consumed me, swallowing me whole before exploding out of my fingertips in a wave of galaxies.
A low growl pushed me backwards, and when the glittering smoke cleared, I was face to face with another Hykah. It screamed again, the deadly noise making me jump out of my skin and lose my focus.
Sebastian lunged from my side unexpectedly.
“Please be careful, Seb. Use magic as much as you can. Safer and more effective, remember,” I called out after him.
He smirked back at me. “Now you sound like me.” He turned, striking the approaching creature across the gut with his sword.
The Hykah’s dripping jaw cracked as it turned towards him, getting a front row view to the blade Sebastian shoved into its throat.
It stumbled back, then Sebastian summoned his power, delving blades of ice into its heart.
“Three down, seven to go,” I called to the others, then despite my best interests, I lunged back into the war zone.
Palms splayed in front of me, I crossed the courtyard. My senses noted that Sebastian was close behind me, and though normally I would argue about holding my own, his presence was very much appreciated at the moment.
The alpha hung back as its groupies attacked.
In my peripheral, I saw a four-stoned Hykah lunge at Sawyer.
He utilized his water magic, blasting the creature and granting himself a moment to slice his sword at its face.
Blood poured from the wound, but the Hykah advanced on him.
I didn’t have time to find out what happened, because I had my own opponent before me—a five-stoned Hykah, all gems, fire.
The hairs on my arms pricked up as the creature dropped down to all fours, crawling towards me, its legs creaking and distorting with each step. Fire shot out of its nostrils, the lava-like flame scorched the air, burning my throat.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
I shivered, my hands shaking as I tried to calm myself. Overwhelm had crept up on me, and now was not the time to lose myself.
As if he sensed my apprehension, Sebastian's hand grazed the small of my back, reaching around towards my navel, pushing me behind him, “I got this one. Breathe.”
I didn’t fight him. I breathed like I had never fucking breathed before, counting each harsh suck of air, holding the vital oxygen tightly in my chest until it was forced out.
Fighting the piece of my brain that begged me to shut down—the piece that told me to drop to my knees and cower—I regained enough composure to watch the Hykah fall flat in a puddle of its own blood and shards of ice.
I glanced at where Sawyer had been fighting his own demon, noting the creature's carcass in a mangled pile on the grass.
Five down. Five to go. One of which was still the alpha.
“We should get that one out of the way,” I angled a shaking finger towards the largest Hykah.
It stood static, watching the bloodbath before it, the array of colored jewels on its crippled knuckles flashing in the moonlight.
My gaze caught on its fist, making me pause in my tracks. Six jewels, all but mine and Eloise’s.
“Agreed,” Sebastian answered, his head darting to the right. “Sharpe!” he called out, gesturing his neck towards the Alpha when he had Kohen’s attention.
Kohen nodded, finishing off a Hykah who stood in a mini tornado before him with a swift stab through the eye, straight into its brain.
Four left.
In the heat of the fight, Sebastian found a moment to melt me with his striking eyes. I matched his stare, my lips parting as if it were just him and me here. “Take care of the last three with the others. We’ll handle the alpha.”
Taken aback, I argued. “What? No. I can take that thing out easily.”
His brows knitted. “Not risking it. Stay here.”
He turned on his boots to meet Kohen, but I grabbed the back of his shirt. “I’m not risking you,” I countered, the tone in my voice borderline carnal.
He ripped his shoulder to the side, tearing the fabric from my fingers. “Not the time to be stubborn, Maeve.”
“Not the time to be bossy.” Jumping to the side when he reached for me, I ran past him, throwing my body through the carnage and towards the alpha.
I had no doubt that he and Kohen could kill the thing, but I could do it so much more efficiently. And if me risking my life protected theirs, it would be worth it. It would always be worth it.
The Hykah set its black, soulless eyes upon me as I strode towards it. It growled, and without any ounce of a fucking warning, tossed a flame straight at me.
I bit my tongue to prevent a scream while the flesh of my upper arm was torn open.
No doubt scorched, I could still feel the warmth of my blood dripping down my fingertips.
Thank the gods for adrenaline, because I powered through, blocking out Sebastian's cursing as I drew in the starlight above me.
Before I could use my power, the Hykah struck again, this time knocking me in the chest with a clash of thunder.
I fell back, my tailbone cracking as it hit the ground.
I turned the pain into motivation. Hands outward, I blasted the alpha with the cosmos, not letting up until I was confident it was dead.
Wrong.
It was injured, though.
One leg hung limp by its side, but it dropped to the other three limbs, spreading its jaw in a howl.
Sebastian curved around me, lunging at the thing and with a jump, striking it in the cheek with his sword.
The Hykah snapped its jaw near his face, but its attention was redirected towards Kohen, who repeated Sebastian's injury on the creature’s other side.
“Back away!” I yelled to them, using one hand to support myself, I shot a flame of starlight out of the other. I directed the power at the Hykah’s brain, not letting up this time until I was one hundred percent certain it was dead.
When a hefty thud shook the ground, I released my power. My tailbone too painful to try and stand upon, I dropped to my stomach, rolling to the side to evaluate the rest of our situation, and sighing at the sight of ten Hykah corpses, along with a few soldiers.
Gingerly, I returned to my back, my hair falling to the sides of my face where I laid, catching my breath while counting the stars to try and regulate myself.
It was upon that self-regulation that the pain of my burn resonated, and my stomach pitched as I ran a finger over the fleshy skin, warm and wet with my blood.
“Fuck,” I drawled, pulling my hand into view, confirming my suspicion. That would need stitches. Or Pia.
As if on cue, Pia ran to me, immediately pulling my arm into hers and sparking her healing magic into it.
Just when I thought we could breathe, the shadows of an infantry clouded the courtyard. There were anywhere from fifty to a hundred Draemornian soldiers, and behind them stood eight more Hykahs.
Gently I pawed Pia away. “It’s good enough for now.”
My friends and the Mealiorian soldiers gathered together in a cluster, weapons drawn and ready to attack the next string of our enemies.