Page 101 of A Dance With Fire
He loomed over her, his face etched in grave lines. He didn’t speak or give her any kind of warning before he yanked the arrow from her shoulder. She barely had time to scream or register the pain before his palm covered the wound and warm magic glowed from his hand. In a single moment, the pain vanished, and Shula pushed to her bare feet.
Dozens of men erupted from the trees clad in the dark leather of soldiers. Weapons gleamed beneath the sunlight and when they charged, the scene was nothing but chaos.
Swords clashed together, sliced flesh, maimed, killed. Ten outnumbered their seven, and with iron surrounding the humans, the Fae found their magic weakened.
Adrenaline spiked through her system. Her body moved, instincts of weeks of training taking over. Her feet ran, her body bent, and her hand grasped for the sword on the ground. With a cry, she yanked it from its sheath and ran, clashing to meet a charging human.
Fire swirled around her, its power flickering and waning against the proximity of iron. But she’d been suppressing her magic her entire life. She didn’t need it, because now Shula had a new set of skills. And she meant to use every single one of them.
Julius’ instructive voice rang in her mind as she parried. She used her strength to her advantage, pushing against her opponent with a fierce brutality until he slid back, leaving his side exposed. Shula didn’t think before she sliced the sword out, cutting him down. He fell into a heap on the ground, but she was already turning, going for the next soldier.
She hadn’t heard them come close. Her argument with Ryker had distracted her from watching her surroundings. It had distracted the others, who fought as fiercely—if not more—than she did.
Even outnumbered and the iron giving them a disadvantage, it didn’t take long to dispose of the threat, and when they did, Shula hurried to slip into her boots and jacket, shouldering her bag.
“We need to leave,” Valerio commanded, swiping splattered blood from his forehead. “I can hear more of them… the iron prevents me from knowing how many.”
So they grabbed their things and ran, and they didn’t stop. Even as morning converged into night. Even as Shula’s lungs heaved until she was practically gagging between painful breaths. Shula’s ears rang so loudly and pulsed that she didn’t think she could catch sound or scent of the humans anymore.
When they finally stopped running, the sun was already rising. A whole day had passed of nonstop moving, and Shula could feel the effects on her body. Her knees vibrated from the impact as they hit the ground, her palms digging into the earth as she promptly vomited the contents in her stomach.
“No more,” she groaned. “I can’t go anymore.” She craned her neck up to look at the others. They looked just as winded as she did, pink-faced and heaving.
“We are far enough away now,” Valerio whispered. He was staring off into the trees, gauging the distance of the humans. Shula couldn’t hear anything beyond her own pounding heart. “But we should keep moving.”
Shula groaned aloud. “We’ve been running for hours.”
“We’re in Dana now. If we cross the river, we’ll make it to Orknie and we can rest then.”
“Not a good idea. We don’t have a boat. It would take us two days of swimming to cross the river.”
That’s how wide the Arcana was. Shula imagined swimming across the rapid waters and failed. Her limbs were weak and aching, and there was no possible way she could make it across the river alive.
“If we wait, the humans will catch up to us.”
“Then what do you suggest we do?”
Shula pushed herself up, groaning as her limbs creaked. Voices rose and fell in a rapid rush around her, planning in arguments and counterarguments. Her knees wobbled as she settled into a standing position in time to hear as they finalized the plan.
“I will transport us as close to the shores of Orknie as possible,” Uric said. His words were uneven, a betrayal of the strain he felt.
Before Shula could question whether or not he was strong enough to even transport them, a portal opened behind him. His face scrunched up in pain-filled lines.
“Hurry,” Valerio urged.
Shula’s eyes felt heavy, threatening to close with exhaustion, but she managed to make her way to the portal and step through to the other side.
36
Orknie
Shock exploded through her system as she landed in freezing water. The icy freeze chased away any lethargy she’d been feeling as she gasped, taking cold air into her lungs. Her feet kicked on instinct as she was dragged beneath vicious waves, the arms of the river threatening her death.
Her arms flailed, helping her to break the surface. Blinking away fresh water from her lashes, she turned and found the other Fae breaching the surface and kicking towards shore. She followed, though it felt like it took them forever to reach the muddy bank.
She crawled up through the mud, inhaling grateful breaths. Her whole body shivered, demanding warmth, but she was so exhausted, too tired to summon even the barest flames.
Her fingers slipped as she found purchase to push herself standing again. “Please,” she groaned, not afraid that she was reduced to begging. “I can’t move another step…”
