Chapter 46
Darrow
Iunderstood the Frostdar’s recklessness now because I would have done the same in his position.
Jacthor hadn’t been heading straight for the dark elves in some foolish attempt to break their lines, but rather for his wife.
With Lillian and his son in immediate danger, he couldn’t hold back any longer.
The first few enemy soldiers leaped into his path. He sent ice darts into their throats without missing a step. They collapsed, swords clanging to the ground. Fifty feet from reaching him, more Karganoth troops rushed to circle him, blocking his way to Lillian.
He bellowed in rage and swung his blade at the nearest ones, forcing them back, but there were too many.
They flung fire and shadow spells at him.
He blocked those with his ice shield that stretched and molded itself into whatever shape he needed to protect his body.
Still, a few grazed him as they moved to surround him, making it impossible to block all attacks.
I skidded to a halt, letting the God of Wrath’s power sizzle down my fingertips, and grabbed two dozen of them.
With a jerk of my hands, their necks snapped.
The sounds of cracks and pops fractured the air.
They never saw it coming. Several more from the fringes continued running our way, working around their dead comrades, but they were few enough that I let Jacthor deal with them.
He didn’t hesitate to send more ice darts. The rage in the Frostdar’s silvery eyes was unlike anything I’d seen from him before as he fought every dark elf who stopped him from reaching his wife. Again and again, he felled them with ice or sword, as if they were nothing more than annoying gnats.
With my path clear, I sprinted toward Lillian, where the royal guard struggled against the forces encroaching on them.
It was more challenging to use my powers while on the move, so I focused on killing four or five at a time.
When I finally reached the princess and her protector, they had a stack of lifeless dark elf bodies surrounding them on three sides, so high that only their heads and shoulders were visible.
“You’re going to get yourself killed doing this,” I shouted, stomping over the mangled dead to reach her. One of the bodies groaned, not quite off to the afterlife yet, so I ground my boot into his neck until I heard a satisfying crunch. That shut him up.
Lillian’s upraised hands against the shield were shaking, and sweat beaded her brow. “I’ve almost got it.”
Her guard didn’t even look at me, focusing on the next enemy climbing over the pile.
Dare, soldiers are moving in from everywhere. In a few minutes, you’ll have hundreds surrounding you. Get them out of there! Faina said into my mind, urgency lacing her voice.
I was well aware of that. They’re being stubborn.
Well, do something!
“You’ll have no power left to protect yourself or save your son,” I said to the princess.
Every time another group of soldiers approached us, I waved an arm to end their existence.
The pile around us grew wider and higher as each minute passed.
My muscles no longer burned from too much power.
Instead, weakness slowly crept through my body as I drained my magic from killing waves of dark elves.
I’d pulled a lot from the God of Wrath in a short span of time to stem the tide.
Lillian’s arrival ruined our element of surprise and destroyed all our careful plans that would have avoided this. On the other hand, we had no other way to bring down the shield we hadn’t anticipated. I raged at the impossible situation. How did I fix this?
Tears ran down the princess’ cheeks, plastering her hair to her face. “I don’t care about myself, but you will save my son. That is my final order.”
“Don’t ask that of me.”
She was King Worden’s daughter, a woman I’d sworn to protect, and what about her husband?
Even together with her guard, they had no chance of survival against this onslaught without more help.
I could bring my sister, brother, and Jax down here, but they’d end up trapped in the swelling ranks of dark elves converging on us as well.
Jacthor leaped from the pile of corpses and came to stand beside me. “Zelthor is the best of us—born of two powerful bloodlines. You will rescue him, Darrow. He is the future, not us.”
The vow I’d made to the king tore at me because there was no way I could save them all. I glanced between them. “This is what you both want?”
“Yes,” they said simultaneously.
The Frostdar joined the light elf guard to fight off several more Karganoth soldiers appearing above the mound, saving me the energy.
The flow had slowed with the corpses acting as a grotesque barrier.
From just over the top, I spotted the next wave had paused to gather in the distance, likely discussing strategy.
I reached out to Faina’s mind again. Put as many to sleep as possible who head this way, and have Hagon blind the ones you miss.
We’ve already been doing that, but there are more than we can handle! Jax is taking turns keeping us invisible so we can spot our targets. Still, it’s not enough. You said yourself that Karganoth brought thousands of soldiers to guard the city, and it won’t be long before all the assholes are here.
I should have known they wouldn’t have sat there doing nothing.
“Do you have any last words?” Kaius shouted to Zelthor on the stage.
I swung around, able to see in that direction clearly since the enemy couldn’t approach from the barrier.
The newly crowned king was desperate to hurry and kill the heir before we found a way to reach him, able to watch our progress from his high vantage point.
Only the crowd and soldiers near us had turned to see what was happening, but the rest still watched the events on stage.
My blood ran cold when Kaius pulled a large, glinting dagger and pointed it at the boy’s neck.
At some point, he’d removed the chain that had been wrapped around it.
We were out of time. Did I stay or go? Not even using cold calculation made the decision easy.
The odds were against me saving all three here, but I could get at least one out…
or save their son as they wished. I only had enough power to teleport a single person to safety.
It depended on whether the barrier came down, since otherwise, Zelthor was doomed.
“Almost done,” Lillian said through gritted teeth, a mixture of despair and frustration in her eyes.
“Yes, I have something to say.” The young Frostdar ran his gaze across the crowd before he stopped to look at us. “RUN!”
He lifted his palms outward, and screams split the air as Spit Yellow Frogs sprang from his manacled hands, two at a time. Kaius quickly jumped back several paces, eyes rounding in horror. As he should, considering what would happen if their saliva touched him.
Zelthor kept producing them like a fast-moving waterfall of lemon-sized amphibians until they surrounded him like guardians.
The sea of venomous creatures leaped straight toward the dark elves with deadly intent as the wiser soldiers attempted to back away, pushing into the fae crowd.
The frogs croaked loudly and flicked out their long, forked tongues.
“Ribbit. Ribbit. Ribbit.” The sound filled the air like an ominous chorus, warning everyone to stay back.
They hopped in every direction and continued darting out their four-foot-long tongues at any fool who lifted a boot or weapon toward them.
I nearly laughed, considering I used to keep one as a pet to annoy my father.
They were generally harmless as long as they didn’t feel threatened, but too many people panicked at the sight of them.
Wails of pain rang out as their saliva splatted on their targets, burning through clothing and bringing untold agony. Elf bodies, especially, absorbed the poison fast. Those victims would die in under a minute as it soaked into their skin and hit their bloodstreams, stopping their hearts.
Lillian’s son smiled from where he stood on stage as he produced even more yellow frogs.
I’d never heard what magic he had, but that particular ability had not come to mind.
He was a rare frog charmer. It meant he could summon them from any nearby source and set them loose at will.
There were several options for him in this region.
Apparently, due to his bloodline, he could also summon faster than anyone I’d ever heard about or seen, among the few who had the magic for it.
“We must not bend to my uncle,” he shouted to the crowd. “You owe him nothing!”
Kaius and Radan had failed to consider that Zelthor was only half fae.
Usually, iron affected mixed bloods like Aella and blocked their powers the same as a full blood, but on rare occasions, it didn’t.
He and his family must have kept that a secret.
The eighteen-year-old had waited for the right time to use it to his advantage.
Lillian groaned as the shield came down, and my ears popped.
Jacthor gave me an urgent look. “Get my son out of there!”
Dark elves from the field converged on our position as well, with the barrier down.
No piles of bodies blocked them from that direction.
Pulling harder on the God of Wrath’s power, I winced as my throbbing muscles protested, but I had no choice.
At the very least, I could buy the princess and her husband a little time.
I killed the first twenty enemy soldiers with a flick of my hand, creating a new pile.
My power reserve dipped even lower, so I only had a few moves left before I’d drain myself.
I focused my mind on my sister. The three of you need to get to the tunnel now. It’s going to be a stampede down here with the frogs on the loose, and you need to leave before the crowd reaches that building.
What about you? she asked.
I must save Zelthor.