Page 119 of Faerie Hunted

“We should have made weapons before we got here,” Mike said.

Onyx sniffed and said, “Weapons aren't going to do much. The creatures we’ll see inside are different.”

“They can’t be cut and bleed like anything else?”

Mike was desperate for an answer but the way Onyx’s lips thinned into a harsh line, we all knew what the answer would be.

“No sense wasting time worrying about beasts.” Livvy strode forward. “The sooner we get in, the sooner we’ll be able to get out.”

Maybe she didn’t see it but I did—the similarities between us were right out there in the open. We were the same kind of person, only this time I wasn’t the one barreling ahead with full steam despite not knowing the situation.

It was Livvy.

She jumped first and asked questions later—if later ever came for us.

My teeth chattered together as I followed her, the others behind me. The shadows quickened around us, swirling masses caught only in glimpses out of the corners of my eyes. Until they weren’t.

Suddenly the shadows separated from the darkness and formed incorporeal but very human shapes.

“Watch out!”

Bronwen yelled the warning before one of the shadows moved in a flash to her side, striking the stone beneath her feet. Sparks flew where it touched and a deep crevice formed, the edges smoldering.

She fell, cracking her hip against the stone.

“Guardians of the Abyss!” Onyx explained.

I caught another flash of movement, this time headed toward him, and moved as quickly as my senses allowed. I hurled myself between Onyx and the shadow guardian, throwing up my arms in an X in front of us. A blast of magic rippled out to shield us against the hit.

“What are these things made of?” I yelled.

“Nothing good.”

That came from Laina.

A green glow emanated off of her and spread out toward Mike, their magic the same color. A halo of forest-green witch and fae magic spread past them and dissolved the edges of the shadows where they met.

She hadn’t drawn her weapons, so she must have somehow known what Onyx meant about the guardians.

Unfortunately for the rest of us, the shadows were not deterred.

If anything, the witch magic made them angrier.

Could a shadowbeangry?

These guys were. Their limbs became weaponized extensions of their bodies, swords of glittering night.

I used myself as a shield for Onyx. I wasn’t the best at forming weapons out of nothing. That wasn’t my forte, not in the least. I’d had a terrible time of doing the barest minimum required to get through the Faerie Trials.

Maybe the shadow guardians read my mind.

They came at me with weapons raised and their swords sliced through the air in a unified wave. They were everywhere and nowhere at once, just like the temple ruins.

Livvy cupped her palms in front of her face and blew out a breath. Her air magic became a ball of pure light. The closest guardians moved away from her, hovering at the edge of her light.

Bronwen’s yelp came a second later. One of the guardians had maneuvered behind her, slicing its sword across her ankles, just as she made it to her feet. She went down with another cry of pain and the surprise of the attack had Livvy turning and Noren bounding toward my friend.

The guardians knocked the ball of light out of Livvy’s hands and the moment it left her physical touch, it guttered and died.

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