CHAPTER 26 MAX
F rom my position in the tree, I can see two things. One: Port really, literally should be dead. Two: Cory is a brilliant – and terrifying – fighter.
Cory has just finished off one of the wicked assassins, and though I can’t hear what he’s saying from here, it certainly looks as if he’s told Port to buzz off. I see Port scramble backwards as Cory turns to face the remaining assailant, cracking his neck viciously as he does so.
Oh, this is going to be good.
I can’t help but start to smile as Cory paces over to the assassin, glowering as the man tries his best to muster up some courage for what he knows will be his last battle. He’s turning this way, debating whether to run, when Cory slings the war hammer into his chest armor again, deepening the dent from earlier.
The assassin stumbles backwards, but Cory isn’t deterred –no, he trudges forward and hits him in the chest once more, this time opening a small crack in the black metal.
“Had enough?” I hear Cory shout out, loud enough to ring across the clearing all the way to me, and probably to Mili – wherever she is. Huh, that’s a good question: where is Mili?
As if she’s reading my mind, I feel wind whooshing past me. I whirl around to see Mili land on the branch next to me, holding a finger to her lips to tell me to keep quiet.
I can’t help but roll my eyes. “I think Cory’s got it, little faery.”
“I know that,” she shoots back. “Still, it’s better to be safe until we’re sure.”
I smirk at her, but we both whip around to face the ongoing battle as the sound of crunching bone reaches us. Cory, it seems, has aimed perfectly for the last assassin’s leg, and he’s crumbled to the ground.
Cory moves to stand behind him, easily evading the sloppy swings of the assassin’s blade, and brings the war hammer down on his other leg. I wince at the thought of how bad that must hurt, and at the sound of the assassin shrieking out in agony.
Then Cory kicks the blade out of the assassin’s limp hand, and swings the war hammer down on his right arm. He watches the bones snap, then swings for the left.
Realm’s Mother, he’s vicious .
I turn to Mili, expecting that she’s having a meltdown of sorts watching her dear lover-to-be torturing this man to death, but she’s just staring at him, hypnotized, her jaw hanging open.
“Cat got your tongue?” I offer. Mili just shakes her head in response, and I shrug. “Tough crowd.”
Just as I turn back to face Cory, he’s dealing the finishing blow to the assassin, one swift plunge down of the hammer, and the man’s skull splits nearly in two perfect halves. It’s brutal, it’s bloody, and I realize, in that very moment, that Port and I couldn’t have found a better packmate if we scoured the Realm looking for one.
The thought of not having Cory suddenly startles me, and I find myself thinking of how empty Port and I both felt only a few months ago. What would it be like without him? I don’t even want to know. Luckily, we found him. We’re a pack. He’s ours, and we are his. Simple as that.