18. Esther #2
I lean back, dodging the edge of one blade that slices past my throat, and come up strong with an uppercut, plunging Blaze’s blade in through the bottom of his jaw.
I immediately pull the blade out, dipping closer to the ground as the next sword swings overhead.
With lightning speed, I slam it into his intestines, twisting with a smile as he grunts and cries, his sword dropping to the thick grass.
“Stupid greer,” Regent says as he approaches me through the tall grass, and I yank the sword back out. “I told you to fall back.”
“Strange how you’re still under the pretense that I follow your orders.”
I sense a greer’s fire magic, my chains rattling with excitement as soldiers wearing Dahlia’s colors walk out from the trees.
“Something’s off here. Stay out of this one, and I mean it,” Regent seethes as he plucks his sword from my hand.
My magic swirls viciously at the command, as if my magic is a wild beast pacing back and forth.
Not even a tangent of fear can find me on this high.
Even looking back into the eyes of Dahlia’s beast, I don’t fear her or these soldiers.
In fact, I dread that I won’t be able to confront her soon enough, and that is what has my hand tightening on Blaze’s blade.
I try to cling to a piece of rationality. If I tap into their fire magic, the second element I’m somewhat familiar with, then I’ll be exposing what I really am to Regent.
The man at the front of the entourage wears protective leather and a red cape representing Dahlia’s kingdom. Behind him, her flag waves in the subtle breeze as the men carry an arrogance about them.
“We’ve finally found you,” the man in command says.
“Finding me and catching me are two separate matters,” I purr.
Regent steps in front of me, purposefully blocking my fun.
“We demand that you move aside, if you don’t want to be caught in the crossfire, old man. This woman is a fugitive and is condemned to be returned to Caldom Kingdom at once to be judged for her treachery.”
That’s what the story is? I’m a traitor now? And I certainly know there will be no judgment.
“And what did this woman do to have such a tenacious group be sent after her?” Regent asks.
My jaw grinds because of how perceptive he is.
He always calls me little greer, but at their mention of being only a woman, he doesn’t correct them.
In fact, he’s probably already realized that they’re men sent on a mission with no understanding at all of who they’re seeking or why.
I scan the group of soldiers, hoping to spot Blaze among them, but to no avail.
“That is none of your business.”
That rage only paces back and forth within me. Were they on those boats that evening? Were they a part of the attack on Master Kain?
Regent’s hand flies up, catching me by the back of my hood when I haven’t even realized I tried to get past him. “Stay.”
The leader quirks a smile. “Well, since you’re protecting a fugitive, we have no choice but to strike you down. You chose the wrong side, old man,” he says as he raises his hand, and half his men fall to attention. Three archers who sit on top of tree branches pull back their bowstrings.
With the flick of the commander’s fingers, an array of arrows shoot through the trees, whistling toward us. I sense the shift in Regent’s magic immediately, his speed unparalleled, leaving the air behind him to stir in his wake as he runs toward them.
With the twitch of his wrist, a torrent of earth twists up and over us like a clay barrier, crafted into an open-ended tunnel that he runs out of.
It crosses my mind that I could run now. This would be the perfect moment and distraction I could gamble with. But my rage and the insult from these men keeps me in place. Why the fuck does he get to have all the fun when he doesn’t even know what he’s fighting for?
They ruined everything for me. And though they may be the puppets at the end of the string, they all contributed to Dahlia’s rise and Master Kain’s fall.
Something darker prickles at my senses, as if dancing alongside my own magic. It calls to me like a beacon, more than one, actually. Dark beasts come from the jungle as if possessed, and they call to me like a child would their mother.
That rage hooks into them like a thirsty beast, thriving off the delicate promise of death that oozes from them.
There’s plenty of dark beasts in the jungle.
But none that have yet faced me.
“Link.” The tug to Regent’s magic is like a heavy anchor, yet it’s pulling me physically forward. The last time I connected with it, it didn’t feel like this. It twisted and tried to detach itself from my dark, frenzied magic, but it made me only want to devour it more.
Men’s screams echo from outside the tunnel as magic explodes against magic.
I look up and into the clay barrier Regent crafted around me as if I needed protecting.
I raise my hand, concentrating like I did when I ripped away Regent’s mask the first time, and hook my magic into the clay, understanding a few silent words and chants now.
Then I yank. The wall crumbles, and I feel the pulling at Regent’s magic again, as if by splitting or using his magic, it works as a pendulum acting in my favor and away from his.