Page 121 of When Storms Ruin

I flattened to the dirt as I scrambled for Stormslayer, finding the handle and gripping it tight. My core was still filled with the storm magic I had pulled from the sky, and I lashed out. As I did, Donika raised her hand against my attack, the storm magic bouncing off her own. The rain was falling in such a thick torrent it was difficult to see what was happening as I raised my dagger against Donika, and she parried, taking a step back.

Tess was still being held by the soldier whose arms were wrapped around her, but Puck had broken free. The Noctani approached me and Donika stepped back, a sinister grin on her lips.

She hadn’t struck me down…because she didn’t truly want to kill me. She wanted my magic, and the Noctani was the way she was going to get it.

I lunged forwards, but the Noctani werefast. In a blur of motion the Noctani before me had moved out of the way of my blade, and was behind me, their hands on either side of my head. I bucked, knocking the Noctani in the face with the back of my head. My skull throbbed as I moved out of their reach.

“Diana!” Tess screamed as another Noctani approached.

I turned towards them, slicing out without hesitation. I was fast enough this time, and my blade sliced through theabdomen of the Noctani easily. The Noctani fell, slumping over as I pulled Stormslayer free and whipped around.

They appeared to be susceptible to our blades just as they would have been when they were Shades. That was good news, at least.

I could see out of the corner of my eye Tess struggling to break free as the soldier held her tightly, Puck coming up behind him and running him through with his Katana. Tess fell to her knees as the hold of the soldier released.

Nik was moving across the battlefield with incredible speed, his sword swinging true with each strike.

How many of them were there? When I had seen Donika last, she had only recently started having success in creating them. I hadn’t imagined she could have created so many in such a short period.

I wasn’t sure how,exactly, they stole magic, but I had to assume it was through their fangs and hands as the Noctani kept descending. Their goal appeared to be placing their hands against our skin instead of striking us down, maybe to get a better vantage point to sink their fangs into us.

My eyes searched for Donika, but she had disappeared in the melee.

That bitch.

Warrick was gone, too. As was Nik’s father. Had he only made an appearance here to torture us? To weaken Nik?

I ran forwards, burying my dagger in the chest of another Noctani as I heard a blood-curdling scream from behind me.

Before I had time to turn, before I could register what was happening, I felt something deep within my core shift. Thepiece that I had become accustomed to over the last week, the piece that had been added during the binding ceremony…that piece was…broken.

I fell to my knees, Stormslayer clattering to the ground before me as my hand clasped my chest. My breaths were coming in short, rapid pants as I turned, unsure of what I would find.

Everything moved slowly as I slid into a puddle of rain, my heart constricting and causing my lungs to sputter.

I couldn’t breathe.

Couldn’t see.

Couldn’t speak.

Tess was kneeling on the ground, her hand clasped over her mouth, sobs racking her body as she grasped tightly to Puck’s jacket with her other hand.

Annelise was sprawled out on the stone, a dagger protruding from her leg. Zion hovered over her, trying to form a tourniquet to pull the blade free.

The bodies of Noctani were strewn about, not having disappeared as the Araneoch did when they were dispatched from this realm.

And Nik…Nik was on his knees. His head hung so I couldn’t see his face, a Noctani standing behind him with a sickening smile, blood trickling down its chin.

I could feel, without knowing, that something was impossibly, horribly wrong. The piece of Nik that resided in me after the binding ceremony felt…fragmented.

Shattered.

Broken.

My other hand flew to my chest as I tried to suck in a breath, but I only managed a small amount of air.

I felt as if I was breaking apart.

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