Chapter 20 #2
Flipping the dagger so the blade was in her fingers, she looked at the closest creature and took a long breath. Swinging her arm back she flung that dagger through the air, the blade spinning frantically towards the creature's head and when it hit, her eyes widened.
A blood curdling scream came from the creature as the blade found its mark in the center of its skull, white fire spreading around its body and disintegrated into ash.
Guess that solves that question.
She didn’t have time to think about it before one of them was reaching for her, her sword slicing towards it and met with its claws to block the blow.
The claws were not made of natural substance, but of iron. Iron blocked fae magic and just the touch of it on their skin could cause them to weaken instantly.
These creatures were designed to kill fae, there was no doubt about it.
She heard the snap of the creature's sharp teeth, its head tilting to one side as if studying her and she just snarled at it. Quickly she shoved the creature back and swung her blade at it, slicing through its neck in a single blow.
Another creature was on her before the first one’s head hit the ground and she had to dive out of the way to avoid its claws slicing through her. Another strike upwards and its head too fell to the ground with another only a few feet away.
With what little power she could muster, she let the sword burn in flame in her grip and darted after the approaching creatures.
Two more creatures fell with screams before their body became ash and she was going for the next nearest one when she was blindsided from right.
A creature barrelled into her and had her pinned on the ground, her sword flying out of her hand.
The only thing blocking the iron claws from penetrating her were her fighting leathers on her arm.
She let out a frustrated yell and let the last bit of her power surge to her hand, the creature disintegrating seconds later above her.
Quickly she stood once the weight vanished on top of her and dived for her sword, one more creature coming at her and she took its head in a single angry blow.
Her eyes found Kaden a few yards away, multiple creature bodies laid to waste around him and she could see more barreling his direction. She had taken out less than half a dozen, and it looked like there were only three left that she could see.
She darted toward him, one of the creatures trying to come up from behind him and she knew he didn’t see it coming. Last of her daggers in hand, she flung it straight ahead, the blade hitting the creature in the arm and distracted it from its target.
A few seconds later, her sword cut his head clean off and she took in a long breath seeing Kaden drop the last of them a few feet away.
Silence filled the air, their eyes meeting instantly and she saw a flicker of relief in his eyes that she was unharmed.
Her sword was still in her hand and her weight was resting on one leg as her muscles ached from the sudden large exertion of energy.
“My magic kills them.” She breathed heavily.
“Good to know,” he said over his shoulder looking at the mass of bodies around him.
She too glanced around, headless bodies and burnt ash littered the ground. Looking up towards the hillside, she saw a flash of silver in the treeline, her eyes narrowing on it.
It was a face, a silver mask hooded by a red cloak and she clenched her sword tighter. She had never seen them before, but she had a dark feeling wash over her as she saw the person disappear into the trees.
Commotion came from behind them and a few dozen of the king’s soldiers came running from the main gate towards them. They slowed as they got closer, many of them looking at the mutated creatures at their feet.
“Kaden.” one soldier started. “Are there any more?”
“Not that I can tell,” he snapped, his eyes still scanning the edge of the meadow.
“We’ve never heard of them coming this close to the capital,” another soldier muttered.
Kaden didn’t say anything but she could see his shoulders get tense at the soldier's words. She knew they had troubles at the border, but for them to get this close to the king, there was something else going on that they were unaware of.
Maybe whoever betrayed her people really were betraying their own king like Emris warned her at the ball. She would bet the masked person was who they should be looking for.
“We need to get constant patrols along the outer border and warn the other towns nearby.” Kaden barked and started towards her. “We need to get you back to the castle.”
“I can obviously handle myself.” she barked back.
He stopped inches from her, reaching for her like he was going to grab her face but he stopped and clenched his hand into a fist. The intensity of his eyes made her bristle in a good way and she kept staring at him, her breathing shuttering from her lips.
“I will not let you out of my sight until we figure out what is going on.” His voice was surprisingly gentle and she felt her shoulders relax instantly. “You did good.”
He let out a rattled breath before she could figure out a way to respond. His eyes watched her a few seconds longer, a softness to them that felt more real than she had seen before and then he gestured to follow him towards the castle.
Curiosity got the best of her and she fell into step with him, two soldiers holding onto their horses that had run back to the gate earlier.
“We need to go see Emris.” Kaden glanced at her as he mounted up on his horse.
She just nodded and settled onto her mare, giving her a gentle pat on the neck before they both took off at a gallop to the castle.
What happened today hit close to home and it made her snap out of whatever depression she was in. There was a war coming and if she didn’t get her full power back soon people were going to die.
She wasn’t going to let that happen.