Page 296 of A Flame of the Phoenix

The soldier who tried to strike her was pulled out by a commander, stripped of his bow, and led away. No one else moved.

Folding her arms behind her, Zaiana surveyed the front line. “My name is Zaiana. I am your general, and you will answer to me without question. Once again, if anyone has a problem with that, step out now.”

No one moved. In fact, to her satisfaction, most squared their stances. Focused. Determined. Ready to abide by her leadership. This was a Rhyenelle legion, and they had the utmost loyalty and belief in Reylan Arrowood. By his word, they were choosing to stake their belief in her to lead them through this battle. She had expected more resistance and fear, but she was glad to have charge of a predominantly fierce legion. It was a small force compared to what she’d led before for the dark fae, but better than numbers was the strength and skill of these warriors.

Zaiana’s advantage in this fight was that she knew the enemy. Had fought among them and knew the ways of every dark fae attack strategy. The commanders listened to her instruction, and with expert swiftness, their lines were reorganized, the arches better instructed, along with spearmen for the likelihood of aerial attacks. She quickly schooled them on the weakest parts of the wings, which would incapacitate dark fae more efficiently.

Though she was leading an attack against her kind, these were not her people. She’d announced herself clearly from her actions under the mountain before she collapsed it. Word would have spread through the dark fae ranks, and it was their choice whether to believe and join her, or brand her a traitor and face her on the field.

This war would bring to light once and for all that it had never been one species against another. It was power against power, a clash of vision and belief, different perceptions of the world they wanted to live in.

Izaiah had come with them, helping pass her orders through the other commanders. He was another highly respected leader these soldiers turned to for guidance.

“You’re magnificent,” Kyleer commented when she stood alone, assessing the soldiers for the third time. The enemy would be upon them any minute now.

“You don’t need to flatter me,” she said, strolling down the front line.

“Just admiring.”

Kyleer’s hand slipped across her lower back, and he stopped her pace by tugging her to him.

“This is distracting and inappropriate for the soldiers to witness,” she said, but her tone was enticing of its own accord.

“We’re about to face a whole lot of fighting and bloodshed—we’re granted a little distraction. As for the soldiers…I don’t really care.” His lips came down on hers, hard and needy.

The kiss was short, but it stole her breath. She craved him so much it was both annoying and glorious.

“They’re here!” a scout called.

Zaiana slipped into her battle calm and focus in an instant. To fight at her best she had to disregard everything around her.

She spoke loud enough for many around to hear, and the rest would carry her words back. “On this field, you do not falter. On this field, you prevail. Your heart knows what it fights for, so listen to it roar, and death will not stop you today.”

Tynan stepped up to her side. “Never thought we’d be fighting our kin.”

Zaiana raised her chin with a deep, sure breath. “I did.”

She pulled her blade free. The cry of it sang to her battle senses before it sliced, sharp and precise, through the neck of the first dark fae to descend for her. Then all she knew was her blade, her lightning, and the field that began to splatter with its first drops of red and black blood.

It was morbid for her to be enjoying herself. Killing was in her nature, and she was not ashamed of it. She darted through the relentless charge of bodies, using only her sword for now. Zaiana had missed the adrenaline that raced in her chest and released through every swing of her arms, twist of her body, and shift of her feet in a dance so exhilarating she was lost to the world beyond.

She felt unstoppable. A stroke of shadow reaping through the masses before they ever saw her coming. Her smaller size was an asset to the brutes who clumsily swung and lunged, allowing her to maneuver around them like the wind, felling them as she passed and did not falter onto the next.

Zaiana liked to count, and by the time she’d reached her twenty-sixth body and his head had rolled from his shoulders, she decided it was time to make it storm.

She’d been charging lightning through her body since she began fighting, and with a battle cry, she released it to surge through her metal-guarded fingertips, which she pressed into the ground. It roared across the ground in a line that broke the land through the enemy hoard, tripping them, seizing them with her bolts, slowing and breaking their formations.

“Impressive,” a Rhyenelle commander named Fareman said. He smiled at her, only pausing for a second before he yelled for his comrades to join him, surging forward to push into the weakened enemy.

In all her years of fighting, she’d never experienced such a thing. A moment suspended in the thick of vicious fighting to acknowledge one another. A single boost of encouragement and loyalty.

Zaiana had done enough here, and the commanders were taking over the front lines. She unglamoured her wings, taking to the skies to get a new gauge of the field.

They were winning. The dark fae numbers were dwindling, and what remained became uncertain and frantic. She didn’t welcome triumph yet. She knew firsthand how fast the odds could shift by something unexpected.

Amaya was in flight, spinning and twisting through the air while nocking her bow again and again. Zaiana had never seen another use the weapon so expertly while flying. It was admirable. She watched her with pride, and maybe it wasn’t the most appropriate time to get distracted, but Zaiana couldn’t help but to reflect on how far the darkling had come from the timid, uncertain thing she’d taken into her circle. Zaiana actually welcomed the excitement to see how far Amaya could continue to grow in confidence and skill. She could be a leader herself someday.

Tynan fought in the sky with her. His blade stopped any from getting too close to Amaya, and Zaiana actuallysmiled,recalling how stubborn he’d been to accept her into their group at first, yet over time, he’d protected Amaya more fiercely than even she from the bond that had grown between them.

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