Chapter 33 Freija #2
I recreated and lifted my shield just in time to beat back an arrow.
Barreling toward the two of them, I drew away from Halvar and that melee, making sure my back never faced any of our opponents.
The two of them watched me with baited breath, knees bent at the ready.
They were heads taller than me, and as wide as tree trunks…
If they both charged, they could potentially overpower me with sheer brute force.
I needed to use my powers and size to my advantage.
Throwing my shield into the air, I unleashed a wave of Fjell Fae magic, shattered the broad slate of stone into hundreds of pieces, and spun my arms out and in as quickly as I could.
The shards and rocks wrapped around me like a tornado—a force filled with lethal projectiles.
The two fae yelped and tried to get away, but it was too late. They were too close. Weaponless took a hit to the stomach, knocking him to his knees, while the other was smacked in the head with a book-sized rock and crumpled in a daze, the scimitar falling from his hand.
Withdrawing the magic, I lunged for the latter fae and drew my sword across the tender flesh of his throat. His hazy eyes stared at the sky as blood seeped from the gash on his neck.
I turned to make sure I didn’t give my back to the other fae who was thankfully still trying to catch his breath, and checked on the pulse of the one at my feet.
Warm, clammy skin met my fingers and… no pulse.
He was dead.
One down, one more to go.
The remaining fae’s eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, retreating toward the forest like a mouse seeking refuge from a hawk. I raced after him, sword and a new shield at the ready, even though he was still unarmed.
He retreated beneath the tree line, the heavy boughs casting him in shadow. I slowed my approach as he spun and leaned against a tall birch.
What on earth is he doing?
Weaponless grinned like I’d stepped into a trap, and my gut sank.
Roots erupted from the ground around him, coiling into the air like thick snakes.
Ancestors, he’s a tree speaker. I may not have been Forest Fae, but even I knew how rare they were—capable of commanding the roots and trees around them.
One of the roots lashed out at me and I swung my sword, cleaving through it. It retracted like a worm before shaking off the hit and attempting to strike again. I batted it away with my shield and struck at another tentacle with my sword, but narrowly missed the latter.
Damn.
They were fast. And the fae barely moved. He stood there, backed against the tree, motionless save for the slick grin.
More and more roots shot out of the ground like weeds. Very thick, very hardy, weeds hellbent on hurting me.
I was going to need help. Loath as I was to ask for it, I couldn’t deny that me versus…five, six, seven… Ancestors save me, twelve individual strands was not good. Not good at all.
Spinning on the spot, I raced back into the field, jumping over rocks and thick tufts of grass. Halvar was in the middle of tackling two of the other fae. If I could get to him, perhaps he could help, or maybe the roots couldn’t reach that far?
Roots snaked out past me, as if racing and teasing me that I wasn’t fast enough.
A thick tendril wrapped around my ankle and tugged.
I yelped and slammed into the soil with barely enough time to get my hands beneath me and stop my face from smacking against the dirt.
The impact reverberated through every cell in my body, shaking me to my core.
The root tugged again, and I strained against it with every ounce of strength I had.
But it kept pulling, kept yanking… I needed leverage.
My shield!
I sank the lower pointed edge of the stone into the soil and hauled myself onto my knees. Twisting, I flicked my sword and cut off the root around my ankle.
A breath of relief slipped from my lips—
Something slithered behind me, and a thick band wrapped around my middle and pushed me onto my stomach. My grip slid from the sword, leaving it behind, but the stone arm-fastenings on my shield held tight to my arm.
Another tendril joined the one around my stomach and yanked. My arm screamed, my shoulder begging not to be ripped from its socket. I had to release the shield or I’d lose my arm.
Disintegrating the magical stone shield, I sighed with relief before being hauled across the ground.
I clawed my fingers into the soil, screaming.
A roar matched my pitch somewhere in the distance, but as I was flipped onto my back and tugged against the tree trunk, all I could see were roots and a snarling Forest Fae.
The root-tendrils wound across my body, tying me to the tree. I clawed and scratched to no avail. Every time I wiggled, the pressure only tightened, squeezing the air from my lungs.
Oh, no.
A single root snaked around my neck and constricted.
I sucked in a flimsy breath, and my heart galloped faster and faster, panic setting in.
No, no, no.
Trapped. I’d been trapped.
Please no.
“If you don’t move, it won’t hurt,” the Forest Fae snarled and raised his hands above his head. The other roots tangled together into one thick and sharp spike, readying to do something while the nodes around my neck painfully poked and prodded at the soft flesh there.
My pulse thundered in my ears, and I tried to call forward another rock to smash against him. But the roots tightened around my throat, constricting my airways.
“Who… sent… you?” I wheezed.
“You should be more careful about who you put in leadership rol—”
An axe sank into the man’s side right where his heart was, and the roots fell from my neck like ropes given slack.
Sweet, blessed air rushed down my throat and into my lungs. I screamed as the fae’s eyes widened and he dropped to the ground with a thud.
Halvar appeared in his place, covered in blood and soil.