Page 38 of King

I stomp on the ones directly in front of me and leap over the row behind them. One clamps onto my boot as I pass. It screeches as its roots are torn from the soil, but it doesn’t let go.I don’t have time to reach down and pry it off. It will either chew through my boot or be snagged by something and fall off. I focus on putting as much distance between myself and the bolluses as I can.

I barely get a few steps before thick vines shoot up from the dirt, reaching for me from all sides. These plants aren’t rooted in one spot. And they’re too quick to outrun. In seconds, they’ve latched onto my waist and ankles, almost tripping me to the ground.

I’ll have to use my power. There’s no way around it. I cut through them with small bursts of my magic, leaving the severed pieces to flop around in the dirt. More grab hold, and I have to slice through them as well before searching for the elemental behind the attack.

A thick vine wraps around my waist as I look, pulling my attention away. I cut through it and pry it away from my body while scanning the forest again.

I finally find the lanky fae crouched behind me with his fingers buried in the ground. His eyes shoot wide open when he sees me, but that’s the only reaction he has time for. I drop the severed piece of vine and shoot my hand out in his direction. He goes down with one searing bolt of magic to the chest.

With the ground no longer a threat, I pick up my pace.

“Behind you, idiot!” Nydal calls down to someone, giving my location away yet again.

A few seconds later, the air thickens, wrapping painfully around me. I push against it with my heat, but it only tightens its grip. It quickly becomes difficult to breathe. My limbs grow heavy. My steps slow to a crawl. I grunt and drag myself forward, reluctantly unleashing bursts of my magic around me from my paralyzed fingers.

It does nothing. The pressure is almost deafening. The ringing in my ears drowns everything else out. I’ll have to rely on mysight to find my attacker. I scan the part of the forest I can see, but he must be behind me. I strain to turn my body around, but the squeeze is too tight. I’m stuck.

Just as I’m about to shout in frustration, a loud crack echoes through the trees. A body falls from the branches and crashes to the ground at my feet.

It’s Rien, an air elemental. He lands hard on his head, and the pressure instantly releases me. Air rushes back into my lungs. I can breathe again, and I can move my limbs.

I didn’t realize how strong Rien’s magic is. I can’t leave him for later. That kind of power would cause a lot of trouble for us. I crouch down and watch his chest for signs of breathing. He doesn’t move. His head is unnaturally cocked to one side, and blood is pooling around his temple. He seems to be dead. I check his wrist for a pulse to be sure he’s gone. Thankfully, he is, and I won’t need to waste any more time or magic.

The tree he fell from creaks and shudders. Its branches shake, ridding itself of any trace of the noble it just cast down. I thank the dryad for knocking him out of its branches as I take off once again.

I can’t see Nydal through the thick canopy, but he must have caught sight of me. “The coward is over here!” he yells. “Get him!”

If I weren’t in a time crunch, I’d ask how a fae hiding in the air can call anyone a coward.

Shouts echo through the trees, followed by the thunder of boots pounding against the ground. Shards of ice hurtle toward my face, and the forest becomes completely swallowed up by shadows. I throw up a wall of fire just in time, melting the ice before it reaches me. But the bright light from my magic blinds me to what’s happening in the dark beyond its glow.

I cut my magic off and dive behind a thick bush, narrowly missing another shower of ice. Once my eyes have adjusted tothe dark, I peer through the branches in search of the water elemental and shadow caster.

A vicious growl followed by a wet, gurgling sound draws my attention to my left. Two glowing, yellow eyes pierce through the darkness, staring right at me. Seconds later, the shadows retreat, revealing the full form of the massive, white Alpha wolf the eyes belong to.

The shadow caster lies at his feet with a mangled throat and a geyser of blood spilling out onto the ground.

The wolf leaps aside, letting a wave of ice shards whiz past. The Alpha’s senses are too sharp. Not only did the water elemental miss, but he also gave up his location. I quickly spot the bright white of the queen’s uniform against the deep blue tree trunks surrounding him.

I step out from behind the bush and drive a fiery bolt of my magic deep into his stomach. His body erupts into flames. He rolls on the ground in a frantic ball of blue fire, desperately trying to save himself.

A larger gray and tan wolf bursts through a thicket of fillana bushes behind him. He’s gripping Shylah, a weak fire elemental, firmly in his jaws. I’m surprised to see her here. She knows her fire is a mere spark compared to my own.

Or rather, it was. The chunk missing from her side tells me her scorching days are over.

I move toward the wolves to thank them but freeze when I hear Nydal shout at someone in the clearing. The wolves take off, leaving me behind with the dead nobles. Whatever is meant to happen in that clearing has begun. I need to get there before Nydal fucks everything up.

I race toward the edge of the forest and burst into the clearing. My eyes find Rue immediately. She’s standing with Allina just inside the opposite tree line.

Her arms are empty.

Rue would never let go of Vaegon once she got him back.Where the fuck is he? Has something happened, and I’m too late?

I start toward her, but a blue glow in the center of the clearing draws my attention. A tall, confident fae stands with the two wolves, staring up at Nydal with his hands lifted to the sky. His bright blue hair matches the blue bolts of magic shooting from his fingertips.

The same blue hair that grows on my own head. The very same magic that I shared with my son. This fae could well be me if it wasn’t for the sharply-angled eyes he’s using to peer up at Nydal. Those are unmistakably Rue’s.

This fully grown, powerful fae is Vaegon. It’s impossible, yet there he stands.

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