Page 146 of Faeling
A horrid screech rent the air, followed by a percussive wave of magic. The force of it brought Vallek to his knees.
Grasping Ravenna’s arm, Amaranthe tightened her grip until the irons fell away.
Ravenna made a distressed sound, one that called to Vallek’s beast.
Mate, get to my mate.
Surging up from the sand, Vallek swung Hormhím at the tangle of fae. At least three swords rose to catch the axeblade, arms straining under the weight of Vallek’s attack. He pushed forward, using his superior size and weight, frantic now to grabhis mate and retreat.
Nothing mattered except getting her out alive.
The sound of clashing bodies met his ears, his berserkers throwing themselves into the fray.
“Vallek!” he heard Mattias call, but it was too late.
Fae warriors surrounded him, encircling him, Ravenna, and Amaranthe. His mate wouldn’t give up, clawing at Amaranthe’s face like a wildcat, even as the Fae Queen bent her other arm back to the point of breaking.
Gone to her rage, she didn’t respond when Vallek shouted her name.
“To the king!”
“Secure the king!”
His berserkers slammed against the forming wall of fae, but despite their speed and force, the line held.
Vallek swung Hormhím, throwing back the three fae and dodging the blow of a fourth. The warriors circled him like lions waiting to pounce, but Vallek only bared his tusks.
They came at him in a coordinated rush, forcing him to swing Hormhím as fast as he could just to keep them back. He dodged and danced across the sand, catching any fae he met with his axe, buying what time he could.
The next time he spun, he found himself facing Ravenna and Amaranthe, locked in their own strange duel. Lashes of magic whipped the sand, the two women struggling over the manacles. One of Amaranthe’s hands clutched his mate’s arm, her claws sunk into the meat of her bicep.
Red trickled into Vallek’s vision as drops of his mate’s blood trickled onto the sand.
Vallek roared, throwing himself forward. The sting of a blowlanded across his back, but he hardly felt it.
His legs pumped, getting him closer. Fae leapt onto his back, held onto his arms, but still he ran, desperate to get to her.
He’d almost made it when finally, six fae brought him down. Knees buckling, Hormhím went flying from his hand.
“Enough.” The Fae Queen snarled, catching Ravenna by the throat and tossing her back.
His mate landed in a heap before him, blood soaking her sleeve.
As fae closed in around them, Ravenna’s wide, horrified eyes snapped to his.
We’ve failed.
“Take them!” Amaranthe cried.
No.
With his berserker strength, Vallek seized Ravenna by the waist. Throwing off some of the bodies holding him down, he got two running steps before tossing her through the air—across the fae line and to his own warriors.
“Vallek!”
“Fall back!” he bellowed. “Fall back!”
A hiss pierced his ear as more fae swarmed him. Thesnickof irons locking shut hit him next. Cold burned up his arm, suddenly weak and lethargic. The fight in him stuttered, the red bleeding from his vision.
