Page 28 of The Dragon King's Curse
“I don’t think it knows. This realm has been this way for so long. It doesn’t know anything else. The fae commanded it to prevent anyone from leaving without their permission. That’s all it’s ever known.” There was an uncertainty in Feryn’s voice. I didn’t like the sound of that.
“There has to be a way out. If we can find the border, maybe you can convince it to let us pass.” I refused to accept that we were trapped here. We both needed to get back to our people. Our homelands.
Something about the thought of parting ways with Feryn bothered me. That itself bothered me. A dragon was fiercely protective of its mate. I’d witnessed it many times among my people, although I’d never experienced it myself.
Feryn was not my mate. She wasn’t even a dragon. The last thing I wanted was to spend a minute longer with her than I absolutely had to. This was about the escape. Working together would free us both. Then we would part, and we would never see each other again.
It had to be that way.
We continued on at a brisk pace, stepping over tree roots and ducking low hanging branches. The forest let us pass, no longer trying to interfere with our progress. Feryn held out her free hand, projecting her magick as we went. Keeping up a continuous flow of communication with the land around us.
Everything seemed to be going smoothly. Until we broke through the trees into a small clearing and found ourselves face to face with three fae guards. Two of them were in human form while the third had taken the form of a large bird. That must be how they’d managed to get ahead of us. They’d flown above the forest and dropped down to wait for us.
Fuck.
“Nice try. Impressive really. The king will have your heads for this.” A fae with dark plum colored hair and a feather tattooed on one cheek drew his sword. The blade glowed with magick.
Feryn and I drew our weapons. Three on two. We could handle this.
I didn’t wait for them to make the first move. Instead, I flung out my free hand, igniting a blaze of fire at their feet. The flames quickly rose. The fae responded swiftly. The one with the tattoo twirled his wrist, producing a shower of rain that doused the fire.
Their retaliation was immediate. One of them created a flurry of ice shards that dangerously rushed toward us. Feryn was able to stop them with a hand, turning them back on the onewho’d thrown them. He frowned, not amused by her ability to manipulate his magick.
Throwing a fireball in the face of the fae with the tattoo, I swung with my sword at the same time. The blade bit into his flesh, slicing deep into his sternum. That wasn’t nearly enough to kill a fae. Like most magickal beings, they weren’t immortal, but they were harder to kill.
The second fae, a tall man with a thick beard and blue wings, focused his attack on Feryn. With a snap of his fingers, he was able to throw her off her feet. Using his magick to hold her in place, he advanced on her with his blade held high.
“We’ve been told to kill anyone who tries to escape. Even you, princess.” His blade whistled as it cut through the air toward her.
Forgetting the other two, I flung myself in front of her. His blade slashed across my upper arm, cutting deep. My beast raged. If only I’d been able to shift, I’d have obliterated all three of them in a mere breath.
Instead, I settled for another fireball. One that exploded right in his face. He let out an ear piercing scream and jerked back. Taking advantage of his momentary distraction, I lashed out with my blade, cutting his sword hand right off. Feeding the fire so it would not go out, I silenced his screams with my blade through his face.
The tattooed fae was on me suddenly, tackling me to the ground. A long, sharp blade of ice appeared in his hand. He pressed it to my face, aiming the point for my eye. Catching his wrist, I struggled against him, fighting to keep the icy blade from making contact.
Feryn was back on her feet. She slammed her sword into my attacker’s back. Pulling the blade free, she swung again. This time she stabbed the sword into his skull. He slumped on top of me.
The third guard continued to circle above us. He swooped down low, talon’s extended. Feryn raised a hand, silently calling to the forest. A vine lashed out from one of the trees, wrapping tightly around him.
He was flung to the forest floor at our feet. Before he could think to shift, we were on him. Together we chopped him into several pieces.
Feryn sucked in a deep breath, shoving loose tendrils of hair back from her face. Her gaze went to the bleeding gash on my arm. “You’re hurt. Let me take a look at it.”
“It’s fine. It’s nothing. I’ve had much worse. We should keep moving. There might be more guards on the way.” I pulled my arm away when she tried to push up my sleeve.
A frown creased her brow. “Why are you being like that? Let me look at it.”
“It’s not necessary. Really.” Wiping my bloody blade off on one of the fallen guards, I shoved it back into the scabbard. “Which way now?”
“Noxx, your wound is literally dripping on the ground. Leaving a blood trail for someone to follow right to us isn’t going to help us get out of here. Stop being a jackass and let me bind your wound.” Her tone hardened. Dropping down next to one of the guards, she ripped a strip of cloth from his tunic.
The expression she wore told me that it wasn’t worth arguing. Not unless I wanted a real fight on my hands. Damn this woman was stubborn as a mule.
I stood there with irritation on my face as she rolled up my sleeve to check the wound. Even I had to admit that it was substantial. A deep, ugly gash that streamed blood down my arm.
“I’m not a jackass,” I muttered, sounding as stubborn as she had. “Just don’t want to waste any time.”
Feryn set to work, tying the strip of cloth tightly around the wound to help slow the blood flow. “We’ll have to clean this properly when we come across some water. Hopefully this helps the bleeding.”
