Page 46 of A Blightress of Wrath
Ilet it grow, let it build just to the point whereIcould carry the weight of whatIhad long, long ago been chosen to bear.
BeforeIcut her off completely,Ilet her in on the secretI’dbeen keeping. “Icould have loved you.Saelyncould have loved you.Butnow,Iwill do everything in my power to end you.”
Chapter24
Rev
Heimlenhad calledmy love forKarusmy weakness.Hewould have said the same ofSaelyn.
Theman who had mentored me haunted my thoughts at the line ofBlightasIheld onto the womanIloved.
Hehad tried to teach me that we wereBarons.Weled alone, we died alone.
Yearsago,I’ddecided to fuck that tradition and give my heart to the womanIdidn’t want to live without.
ThenI’dlost her.
Iwould not lose her again.
Toancient evil, to the spell we both knew could kill her, to beasts of abhorrent power, to time, to death.
So, instead of turning around and pulling her back to theFortressand our rooms by force,Ifound the hand of hope once more in my life to help her destroy what had taken root in our home.
Heimlenhad claimed loving her made me weak.
Iknew it made me strong.
Iheard the firstBlightbeast beforeIsaw it as it trampled through theBlightto my right.I’dbeen ready, already sifting through all the scenarios of what theBlightresswould attempt once she realized what we were doing.DestroyingtheBlighthere inFelgrenwould weaken her power, if only for a short time.
Allblack limbs and red glowing eyes, it leapt into the air, pouncing on theGrowerat the far end, bringing it down into the forest floor.Ipulled back on some of my power, churning the earth where theGrowerfell, swallowing them both into the ashen soil below.Instantly,Isiphoned enough power to shield our people,Moira, and half the line ofGrowers.Itwas a risk to pull any of my power away fromKarus, who picked up her pace, holding onto the sun the size of our rooms in theFortress.Anothervicious snarl sounded to our left as two moreBlightbeasts emerged from the shadows, taking down one, then another of theGrowerswithin seconds of their appearance.
“Talon!”Icalled.Understandingmy urgency, he conjured his golden light behind us at the beasts, forcing his power across their bodies.Tendrilsof magic wove over and through the beasts’ wooden sinew, striking through them at the last word of his spell.Eachfell to the ground, and theGrowersregained their footing, running in a mass of twigs and leaves to catch up to their brethren, continuing their growth back into the soil.
Theashes behind us were covered in the beginnings of new life from theGrowers, a promise that what was broken could be renewed.Iprepared for the next round, hearing the howls in the distance, but was not ready for the blackened trees ahead as they pulled their roots from the earth, forming into the sharp limbs and features of the treesKarushad told me about when she’d been pulled to theBlightress’slands.
Easilyfifty feet tall, theBlightedtrees rose in an unnatural stiffness that cracked and snapped with black sap oozing from their gargantuan maws.IunderstoodKarus’shorror at these creatures as an ear-piercing bellow echoed through the forest.Oneof the abominations swept its limb forward, striking threeGrowersat the end of the row, launching them into the trees behind us.
“Pompeii,Renn!HelptheGrowers!”Icalled, pushing more, sending more of whatIcould toKarus.
Ablast of purple and red power flew from the both of them, winding over the new growth of saplings theGrowershad planted in the wake of theBlight’sdeath.Theiragricola magic grew the small trees to massive ones, their branches winding around the jagged limbs of one of theBlighttrees, rooting it to the earth in a haunting screech of anger.TheotherBlightedtree darted around the new growth with a surprising dexterity, raging and running right forKarus.Beforeit could take another earth-shattering step, it splintered in two, the swipe of an azure axe slicing through one tree, then the other, both husks falling in crashing thuds to the ground.
Liacaught my eye andIwinked, returning what powerI’dtaken to destroy them back toKarus.
Shecarried the sun steadily, despite the battle around her, and picked up her pace, each of us running out behind her, none of us letting her go.
TwomoreBlightedtrees formed from the darkness around us, smashing into the line ofGrowers.Moiracried out in the destruction of her kind, but stayed inside the shield of powerIcarried, leaving her faekind behind in the wake of their demise.
FivemoreBlightbeasts burst from theBlightahead, their bodies slamming into my shield, knocking them back.Karus’ssun disintegrated them the instant they hit the solid earth.Anotherfour hit the shield again, this time with what looked like a long-dead muri at their side.
Iheld onto the shielding spell with ease, knowing there was only one who could break it.
Andthen, she was there in a billow of black shadows as if summoned by my confidence, slicing through the last line ofGrowerswith ease.Thelast ten outside of my circle of blue light fell to pieces on the ground, dead before they could even look her way.
“Fallback with me!”Liashouted, letting go ofKarusand breaking through my shield to face her sister.Pompeii,Renn, andPhiliusfollowed, splitting from the group.Karusstumbled slightly from the loss of power, but kept her focus forward, sending her sun upwards, her growing streaks of white hair billowing around her face.
“Go!”Iyelled behind me atTalonandIlyenna, pointing towardLiawho held her hands out before her, pulling every stone she could find from the ground and hurling them toward theBlightressand the array ofBlightbeasts surrounding her.Theyflew through the air, captured inLia’ssilvery tendrils of power, hitting the iridescent shield theBlightressheld.
Karusstopped running, turning for a moment to look back at the scene behind us. “Wehave to help!” she shouted over the sound of snarls and roars from theBlightbeasts andBlighttrees that tore at my shield, fueled by theBlightress’spresence.Withone last swipe of thorns and branches against my shield, it finally broke, exposing us to the creatures.Karus’ssun held them at bay as we resumed our pace, never escaping the fight that raged behind us.
