Page 50 of The Book of Legends
He grunts, folding to the ground with a painedoomph. His face turns a deep shade of purple.
Guess it worked. He’s not wearing full armor like Kainen.
And I don’t wait for him to get back up.
I run.
I run as fast as my feet will allow.
I can hear footsteps behind me, each one louder than the last. There are no places to hide—just skeletal trees, blackened and dead, jutting from the ashen ground like bones.
"You can’t run from me, Selene," Tristan’s voice chants like a curse, far too close. Like he’s breathing against the back of my neck.
Panic hammers in my chest. My lungs burn. My throat feels like it’s been scraped raw. But I keep running.
Then—I'm yanked off the ground like prey in the jaws of a predator. I slam into the dirt, air punched from my lungs, the impact rattling my bones. Stars burst behind my eyes as I try to suck in breath.
Above me, moonlight flickers between the warped branches. The phases blur—full, crescent, blood moon. I blink, and Tristan is there, smirking with wicked triumph.
“You really thought you’d get away from me?” he sneers, voice laced with venom.
Rage lights through me, sharp and burning. Every muscle aches, every breath hurts, but I don’t care. “And you’re the asshole chasing after a girl who kicked your ass.”
His smile fades. His eyes flash with a silvery glow.
Then I’m choking.
I clutch at my throat, but there’s nothing there—no hands. Just the pressure. Invisible. Unrelenting. His magic. My lungs scream, and my eyes fill with tears.
“Tristan, stop! You’re hurting her!” Nieve’s voice pierces the clearing.
“She’s just a liability! Everyone knows what the prince is going to do with her anyway. I’m just doing it early.”
“Tristan—STOP IT!” I wheeze, gasping, my body trembling. My vision blurs into spots. Nieve is crying, her hands glowing faintly as she tries to intervene. But he’s too strong.
Until the earth shakes.
A tremor splits the forest floor. The trees groan. The pressure on my throat disappears as I drop to the ground, coughing violently. I drag in air like it’s the first time I’ve ever tasted it.
A roar shatters the night sky—feral, fiery, ancient.
Malachi.
Then—
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
Kainen’s voice booms like thunder. Malachi’s wings beat once above us, casting firelight across the trees.
Tristan stumbles back, terrified. Kainen strides forward, bare-chested, his sword drawn, fury etched in every hard line of his face. His body bears a fresh wound down his back, still bleeding.
“She—attacked me!” Tristan pleads, trembling.
“She’s mine,” Kainen snarls, sword pressing against Tristan’s throat. “And not your concern.”
The other warriors shift uneasily behind him, watching but doing nothing.
Nieve rushes to my side, her hands shaking. “Selene, look at me. We need to get you to a healer.”
