Chapter 116 Lex
Chapter One Hundred Sixteen
Lex
“She’ll never see us coming,” Ilyas panted as we dodged attacks, parrying and striking when anyone approached. We were running on pure adrenaline, arms laden with exhaustion, muscles jumping with fatigue.
I grunted an affirmative reply, sinking my blade into the gut of an Earth Mage as his magicked stone dagger caught me in the side.
Pain exploded beneath my rib cage as I gritted my teeth against the raw, pulsing feeling that was all too familiar.
“Lex, are you okay?” Ilyas asked, his brows drawing deep over ocean eyes as sweat dripped freely down his face.
I nodded once, gasping for breath before physically shaking myself.
We’d split from Rohak, intent on creating a diversion with Solace so that our friend could attack the goddess from behind. Neither Rohak nor I planned for Faylinn to take matters into her own hands.
I paused briefly, our path relatively unobstructed at the moment, to wipe the sweat from my face with my dirty shirtsleeve and inspect my most recent wound.
My body was a litany of bruises and cuts, burns and wounds. Nothing that wouldn’t heal, but the continuous battering was dwindling my energy to nothing.
We have to end this soon. Many of our Mages—and theirs—were down to the last dregs of magic. Some of the Elemental Mages were able to refill their reserves from the wind and earth nearby, but the more specialized of us were drained completely.
My gaze flicked to the hill where Torin and Ellowyn waited for an opportune moment to strike.
“Any time now would be great for them to join,” Ilyas murmured, an annoyed huff in his voice.
“For who to join?” a familiar female voice sounded from my right, and I turned with a smile to see Folami. She was absolutely, devastatingly beautiful, in a feral warrior kind of way.
Her normal billowing pants were marred with the evidence of battle, sticking to her body where they weren’t cut away to expose expanses of creamy, dark skin. Her braids slapped wetly against her back, blood marring every inch of her skin.
Even her spear dripped with the evidence of her prowess.
My mouth watered as I absorbed all of her savage glory.
When we survive this, I’m taking her to bed for a week. My eyes shot to my Pleasure Bonded, the same fire and desire in his tired eyes. Both of them.
Gods, they were a sight to behold.
“You, ayaba,” Ilyas rumbled, gripping her jaw possessively for a brutal, sloppy kiss.
Folami pulled away, her pupils blown wide even as she said, “Is now really the time?”
“What can I say? Battle makes me horny,” Ilyas returned.
“Everything makes you horny,” I argued half-heartedly, eyes still trained on my Pain Bonded.
She flashed me a savage smirk. “I suppose that’s why fucking and fighting go so well together.”
Ilyas groaned audibly as I shook my head in mirth.
“Focus, you two,” I admonished, pulling my gaze back to the battle.
In the time our little exchange had taken, Solace had moved, a dark figure trapped in her claws.
“Is that Faylinn?” Folami asked, moving to stand by me. She smelled of earth and petrichor, and I greedily drank in her scent, even as I squinted to ascertain the identity of the woman trapped beneath Solace’s grip.
There, underneath the hair in Solace’s grasp, was a litany of runes written in a vertical line.
Only one person in Elyria had rune tattoos like that.
“Faylinn,” I agreed, my gut clenching.
A quick glance showed Rohak careening across the field before collapsing to his knees.
“He’s not going to make it,” Ilyas said uneasily.
“Neither are they.” Folami pointed with her spear as Ellowyn and Torin finally entered the battle, the Bondsmith hot on their heels.
I quickly assessed the distance between Solace and each of them before coming to the same conclusion as my Bonded.
“No,” I affirmed, adjusting the grip on my sword. “But we are.”
I didn’t wait for their approval, simply took off at a run toward Solace. We were considerably closer than Rohak and the gods, but all we had to do was distract Solace long enough that one of them could get Faylinn out of her clutches.
“Use me,” Folami shouted, stabbing inconsiderately with her spear at anyone who came within three feet of us. The ground rocked under our feet, momentarily stalling our progress as a big fucker of an Earth Mage jumped in our path.
With a growl, I latched onto Folami’s arm, pulling a heady dose of Pain Magic into my palm and releasing it just as quickly.
The man fell with a scream as we continued onward, a well-placed stab from Folami’s spear ending his pleas.
With a grunt, Ilyas tossed his sword at Solace when we were within ten feet, his throw landing true and striking her wrist, the blade sinking through her flesh to spear Faylinn’s shoulder beneath.
Solace released the Rune Master with a shriek of pain, and Faylinn, despite the gushing wound on her shoulder, scrambled back and away from the goddess.
Her throat was a mottled shade of black and blue, and rage clouded my vision at the sight.
“Who,” I bit out as soon as we were within earshot. Faylinn raised a shaky, tattooed finger, pointing directly at the bitch goddess herself.
“Good,” I said, positioning myself between Faylinn and Solace. Folami and Ilyas moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with me, creating a human barricade between Fay and the Goddess of Lies.
“Lex,” Faylinn rasped weakly, her shaky hands pulling at my tunic. “Please don’t. She’ll kill you all before—”
Folami gently dislodged Faylinn’s hold on my tunic, squeezing her hands with low, murmured words of assurance. Faylinn fell back with a sob as Solace turned her enraged gaze upon us, blood dripping freely from the fresh wound on her arm.
I handed Ilyas my sword, never peeling my gaze from Solace as I reached to grasp Folami’s hand once more.
Solace prowled toward us, hands outstretched and fingers clenched, as if she desired to strangle us with her bare hands.
I turned my head over my shoulder to speak briefly to Fay.
“Think of our debt from so long ago in that dungeon as paid in full, Rune Master,” I said with a wink before turning to face our impending death.