Page 99 of The Daughter of the Scarred Elf

Kolfinna’s hope shattered.

That was right. He wasn’t going to expose himself as a fae. That was more important than Kolfinna’s life.

“Let me go,” Kolfinna said weakly. The wind tore through her hair and her knees felt weak when she looked down below.

“We have been looking for you,” the man rumbled with a dialect she didn’t recognize, with a thick accent she couldn’t pinpoint either. “Commander Alfaer wants to see you.”

The fort became smaller the higher they went and the skirmishes looked like pretty, flashing lights from up here. Kolfinna protested against the man, kicking and screaming and smacking his back, but her punches became weaker and she could barely keep her eyes open.

Right when she thought it was futile, a blast of air crashed into the man and stopped him from going any farther. Inkeri was a few feet away from them, wind swirling beneath her feet and keeping her somewhat upright—although a tad shaky.

“Let her go!” Inkeri screamed.

The man raised his sword to meet Inkeri’s. In that exact moment, Kolfinna kneed him in the stomach and wrestled away from him. The man yelped in surprise and Kolfinna wrenched free from his grasp. Except, she didn’t have wings. And she wasn’t an air elemental.

She saw the flash of panic on the man’s face, the same instant she saw Inkeri’s mouth open wide.

And then, she plummeted.

Her scream ripped from her throat, and she spun and spun in the air, falling faster and faster. The ground grew closer by the second. The colors blurred around her. The flashes of blue, red, white, and black conglomerated together into a blurring light.

She would die.

Painfully.

In seconds, her head would crash into the ground and she would splatter.

How idiotic, she thought.How truly idiotic?—

Something collided into her from the side. Her head snapped back violently and she couldn’t breathe for a few moments. She blinked slowly, and her dizzying vision began righting itself. Her stomach clenched tightly, and she realized that someone was holding her.

“That was close.” A fae woman with blazing purple eyes cursed. Giant, white wings flapped behind the woman.

Kolfinna looked down at the ground, which was only a dozen feet away from her now. Kolfinna didn’t think and punched her savior in the face. Her nose crunched beneath Kolfinna’s fist and she released her immediately—instinctively.

And Kolfinna flew again, but this time she braced herself for the impact.

She crashed into the ground. Her shoulder cracked and she bit back a scream. A wave of nausea rolled over her, and it took all her willpower to not fall into the dizzying darkness. Above her, she could make out the fae warriors flying. The woman was diving toward Kolfinna again, but ice speared her shoulder and she went careening backward. Kolfinna barely turned her head in time to see Blár and Gunnar running toward her.

“Kolfinna!” Blár dropped down beside her. His gaze roved over her body and she could tell by his stricken expression that she didn’t look pretty. His hands trembled over her shoulder and she bit back another scream.

“I’m fine,” she hissed through the pain. She clutched the grass beside her and tried to sit up but found she couldn’t.

“Are you sure? You … literallyfell.” He cringed, his hands hovering over the bleeding sections of her uniform. To the blooming deep red on her chest and then to her mangled shoulder. His face was pale, even in the darkness of evening. She wasn’t sure if it was because of worry for her that he looked that way, or if it was something else.

Kolfinna tried to laugh. “Come on, I can’t look that bad?”

“I wish I could agree.” Blár tried to smile, but it came out strained.

Gunnar peered down at her with a grimace and then looked away at the skyline. “They’re retreating.”

Sure enough, the fae warriors were flying away while the elves were running, their swords dripped through with blood.

Blár tentatively touched the side of Kolfinna’s neck, and despite the situation, warmth spread over her face at being so close to him. At him being so gentle with her. “Nothing’s broken, is it?”

“I think I might have broken my shoulder,” she whispered. “But I don’t feel too wounded.”

“You’re likely in shock.” His finger brushed her cheek when he pushed back her hair, and even with a broken body, her body moved in response. His eyes caught hers for a second before he inspected her shoulder. “We need to get you to the physician. Along with …” He glanced behind himself at the soldiers; some of who were screaming and clutching their ink-stained bodies, others who were unnaturally still. “Many others. Those elves really did a number on us.”

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