He huffed, shaking his head. “Kar, you should reconsider—”
“I said I will deal with it then.”
“She’s his stepdaughter. What do you think he’ll do to her? You on the other hand? He expects more from you.”
“That’s enough!” I couldn’t stop the anger in my voice. Even though Drek had known me for years, he startled at my enraged shout. “You shall not say another word on this topic, and I expect Ronya to not utter a word either. Isay gave up a lot to do what she did for her.”
“It was just a rabbit.”
It hadn’t been just a rabbit. Not to Isay. I would’ve thought the same as Drek a few weeks ago, but something had changed since then. I’d seen the despair in her eyes. I’d felt her trembling body against mine.
The look I gave Drek shut him up. I was glad Isay had left, because I was sure I looked every part the monster she envisioned me as. Even Drek was afraid of me.
“I hope she’s worth it,” he finally said in surrender.
I knew he’d hold his tongue. Now I just needed to find Pir, and we had to take care of the delthers.
Based on the amount of smoke coming from the direction where I’d left the corpse, there were more than fifteen of them, and they were waiting for something. Reinforcements quite likely, as a full pack could be as big as fifty raging, smouldering beasts.
If that hit you, you’d be unable to see anything other than the smoke they emitted before you got hit by the tentacles. A pack this size would easily devour us for lunch.
Chapter 13
KARMUTH
THE TOWERS WERE CROWDED WITH ARCHERS WHILE THE WARRIORS gathered just behind the gate. I was a decent shot, but now that Prince Hiko was here, I needed to watch his back. I didn’t mind, though I felt a grip around my heart I couldn’t explain.
Must’ve had something to do with Isay. Every new sensation I’d had led straight to her. She didn’t care if I lived or died. I’d never cared if I lived or died either until now.
I said I didn’t mind playing the part of a trooper. Okay, I lied. I wanted to be safely in the tower, to survive this battle and go home to Isay. Even as completely ridiculous as that sounded. I had no home with Isay.
The smoke cloud moved steadily closer, and from the distance the sound of galloping hooves strode closer. The pack had reached its limit, and whether it was fifty delthers or less we’d find out shortly.
A flash of golden-brown hair brought my gaze away from the impending doom, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest.
I would not be able to focus if Isay decided to not stay in her room as I ordered her to. Not that I had any authority to command the princess. I still hoped she’d have some common sense in her.
I searched the warriors around me, trying to see what had caught my eye while hoping my mind had played tricks on me. It hadn’t, but I let out a sigh of relief when I picked the queen out of the sea of black. It hadn’t been Isay.
Next to her, in full body armour stood the king. He was not happy to be dealing with delthers on his wedding week. He was likely more miserable with his queen insisting to stick around for the battle.
I for one was glad to have her on our side. If she could do what Isay had done in the forest I’d gladly have a pile of ash bordering our court.
As the noise grew closer my body automatically switched to fight mode. I’d killed one of those today already, my skin was crawling with the ecos Isay had pushed into me. I would last longer than any other warrior in this troop.
I was more worried about Drek beside me, who’d just gotten back his reason to live. The rest of my troop did not concern me as much.
“Archers, ready!” a fae called out, and the swish of hundreds of arrows being drawn silenced the rest of the warriors. Ferro was up there, while the rest of us flanked the prince.
The smoke was upon us, but when the delthers travelled in a pack, it always preceded the group. Everything grew still around us as we waited in the intensifying dark mist.
“Shoot!” the same fae shouted, and the arrows flew towards unseen markers. Several wails emitted from the smoke, but the pack did not slow as the rain of arrows continued nonstop after the first shout.
“The fence is going to keep them out,” Regar muttered. “It has always kept them out before.”
Still, several warriors jumped as the first delther followed the trail of blood I’d left behind and slammed into the iron. A sizzle of electricity followed the impact but didn’t stop the crazed animal.
Several fae with spears stepped forward, launching their weapons through the bars, hoping to kill the beast from safely behind the barrier when a second one suddenly sent the fence rattling, followed by another sizzle of electricity. The sparks flying highlighted the magnificent beast leaning against it and the warrior in front of it.
Just before the flashing ceased, I saw the tentacles creeping out of its mouth and then the fae cried out through the complete darkness.
A horrible sound pierced the pitch black that could’ve only been the warrior being ripped right through the bars, being pressed into a bloody pancake in the process. I only saw the guts stuck to the bars in the next flash of the electric fence.
“Hold the line!” Hiko shouted when the warriors in front of us started stepping on our toes.
I had no clue what was happening in the front-lines, as the periodic flashes weren’t enough to see by, and the screams only told me one thing: Our men were dying.
So long as we stayed behind the fence, the archers had a free aim. Once we’d be on the other side, they could not shoot anymore. The likelihood of hitting a fae instead of a beast was too grand in the smoky darkness where aim meant nothing. But as the slamming against the fence continued and a loud crackle sounded across the battlefield, I knew we’d be facing off with the delthers within moments. That’s when the electric current stopped, and the iron fence received double hits for it.
“Brace for impact!”
And then the pack was through our borders.
Chapter 14
ISAY
THE WINDOWS IN MY ROOM OVERLOOKED THE SOUTHERN courtyard. If I leaned over the edge of the balcony, I could quite possibly make out the raging battle to the west. The sounds cut through the walls without trouble, however. Screams of pain, horrifying wails, slashing of weapons.
