Page 108 of Bonded Chaos

I reached down and plucked my blade from her body before I turned to face the clearing. More of the Wraith Borne broke through the tree line, and Ryker sent out a wave of shadows. I watched, unable to pull my gaze away, as the darkness consumed everything in its path.

Even as Ryker extinguished one life after another, more Wraith Borne charged forward.

“There are too many of them!” Malesh yelled. His voice was barely audible over the cacophony of battle.

I moved with a speed I didn’t know I possessed as I threw myself into the fray. My dagger flashed in front of me as I cut down the enemy one by one. My movements were more confident than they had been when the Wraith Borne first appeared, but each strike brought me closer to the edge of exhaustion. I hadn’t been training long enough to build up my stamina.

When I made my way to Malesh, his face paled as he took me in.

“Cadence, what are you still doing here?”

“I can help!”

He opened his mouth to speak, but his words were cut off as another Wraith Borne ran towards him.

Without thinking, I sent my dagger sailing through the air, and it landed with a sickening thud at the base of the man’s throat. Fountains of crimson spurted from the wound, and the man clutched it, trying to stem the flow. He leaned forward, swaying on his feet before he careened towards the ground. The bloodied tip of my blade was pushed through the back of his neck as his body met the earth.

“Shit, that was my only weapon,” I hissed.

Steel glinted in my periphery, and I turned to face Malesh. His hand was outstretched, offering me another dagger. This one was longer than my last, and when I picked it up, it felt heavier in my palm.

I grinned, and Malesh shook his head.

“Anytime you want to end this, Ryker,” Riordan called, driving his sword into the gut of the warrior who had tried to sneak up on him. “Would be fine by me.”

Ryker sank his teeth into one combatant as he decapitated another. When he stepped back, an enormous chunk of flesh dangled from his mouth before he spat it on the ground. I pressed a hand to my stomach in a futile attempt to settle the nausea churning inside me.

“When I’m having so much fun?” he replied, the blood painting his face, making his wicked grin seem even more sinister.

As I tried to dispel the image, an eerie sensation crept up my spine, and my hands moved instinctively as I rubbed the nape of my neck. It felt as though unseen eyes were boring into me, watching and assessing my every move.

I was drawn out of my reverie when a woman stepped forward, the sharp edge of her blade swinging in a wide arc before she brought it down toward me. I raised my dagger to meet thebiting steel of her sword, and my arm shook from the force of it. But I refused to give up, if only to prove to myself that I could survive and that Ryker was a fool to underestimate me. I lifted my knee and drove it into her lower abdomen. She stumbled back, clutching her stomach tight.

The woman was formidable. I knew I’d have to act quickly if I had any hope of overpowering her. With a battle cry, I charged forward and jumped on her back. I wrapped my legs around her waist and plunged my dagger into her carotid artery. When warm liquid gushed from the wound, drenching my hand, I knew my strike had found its mark. I tore my dagger free as I awkwardly slid down the woman’s body and surveyed the damage.

I never imagined that the knowledge I’d gained as a healer would serve me on the battlefield.

The same sensation from earlier returned tenfold, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I scanned the area, searching for the source of my unease.

My gaze locked on a cloaked figure standing at the edge of the tree line. It was a man, judging by his height. There was something about the way he carried himself that felt oddly familiar. The man raised his hand, and I braced for an attack, but when nothing happened, I took a tentative step forward.

“Cadence!” Ryker hollered, and I turned to see him stalking towards me.

Three of the Wraith Borne used Ryker’s distraction to their advantage. Two circled him from the sides as another stepped into his path, their arms outstretched as they reached for him.

But they had forgotten who they were facing.

They had forgotten that Ryker was the Night Cursed Prince.

And it was a lesson they would pay for with blood.

Ryker crouched low as the first warrior descended on him. Shadows snaked from his palms before they crawled their way up the warrior’s body, binding his hands in place.

As Ryker rose from the ground, he pulled his wings tight against his sides before snapping them out again, impaling the other two assailants on the sharpened points. Their screams rang out all around me, suffocating me as their agony pierced the night air.

I stumbled forward, my palms pressed to my ears as I tried to block out the noise, but it did nothing to mute the sounds of their anguish. A moment later, Ryker stood to his full height, and a tearing sound filled the clearing. I watched in horror as the pointed tips of Ryker’s wings ripped the warriors in half. Their mangled bodies fell to the ground, yet Ryker hardly noticed as he snarled at the one still fighting the hold of his shadows.

The man opened his mouth to scream, but Ryker was faster. He darted forward, his fangs sinking into the side of the Wraith Borne’s neck as he tore out his jugular. A torrent of blood spilled down the man’s tunic, and I could no longer deny the needs of my body. I hunched over my knees just in time to empty the contents of my stomach onto the ground.

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