Page 84 of Shadow Master
If anything happens to us out there, I need you to take charge. Her words ring in my ears. My heart screams at me to run full pelt toward sector three, but my vow keeps me rooted here, barking orders to the shadow cadets, rounding them up to lead them to the border of sector two.
The militia has already left, but the shadow cadets need a leader. With the troop gone, there is no one to pull them together. It has to be me, just like Indigo made me promise. I expect them to look at me with disgust, but they listen. They don their armor and follow me. The nightbloods will need to remain in their tents or at barracks till sundown.
“You.” I point at a nightblood shadow cadet. “You stay behind and bring the nightblood students to the border at sundown.”
I order the tutors back to the Academy, where it’s safe. I order them to reinforce the wards on the port just in case. They do as they’re told.
“Move out!” My bellow echoes around camp, and then we’re marching toward the border.
I’ll lead them to their position but can’t stay with them. Indigo is out there, and once I’ve delivered the cadets to where they need to be, I’ll be free to go to her.
Twenty-Seven
My blade crashed against another, and the force brought me to my knees. The wave of darkness that was Laramir’s army was less than a couple of minutes away.
We had to run, we had to stop fighting and retreat to where our forces were. But Laramir’s goons weren’t making it easy. They’d surrounded us and blocked off the exit with their blades.
Hyde fought to my left and Lugh to my right. I caught sight of Lloyd swinging his blade to bury it into his opponent’s shoulder.
A stab of satisfaction shot through me, but then I was being forced to duck and roll. I kicked out and slipped into blur mode, fighting to overpower my larger, stronger adversary. I called on shadows to create a barrier to keep my opponent at bay. Darkness swirled around me like a shield, blocking the fir bolg’s attack. I willed it to spread out to my allies. To protect them too, but it remained clinging to me, stubborn and resilient.
We needed reinforcement.
Kash … Had he heard me?
The connection had been weak. It was hard to focus when fending off a fir bolg. They were fast, they were strong, and three of our hounds were already dead. That left five hounds and seven of us against eight fir bolg. Those should be good odds, but they weren’t. Not really.
Laramir had ridden away toward the bulk of his army, leaving us to skirmish here. Fuck, we needed to get away before the army descended on us. I managed to land a blow that had my opponent staggering back. It was enough for me to blur-kick him in the head and then bury my blade into his throat.
The gurgle was satisfying, but then the howl of a hound meeting its demise balanced out that scale.
Shit.
I ran toward the injured hound, slashing at a bolg horse’s flanks as I went. The hound was on the ground, twitching in pain as the fir bolg buried his blade into its neck.
Hyde got to him first and slashed across his back.
The fir bolg jerked, arms flying up in a starfish pose, and I was there to shove my blade into his neck.
My shadows hugged the fir bolg’s torso for a moment, as if feeding on his pain, and then shot up my blade and wrapped around my arms.
Hyde’s mouth fell open in shock, but he snapped it closed again and nodded curtly. “Good shot.”
They were like armored bears, and the face and neck were the only fucking part of them that was bare.
Lugh ran toward us, his face streaked with blood. “Go. Now.”
A figure ran up behind him.
“Watch out!” Hyde called out.
Lugh turned just in time to block a blow from an ax. Hyde and I attacked the fir bolg together.
He didn’t have a chance.
There were only three fir bolg left now, and they were surrounded.
Lloyd, Devon, and Aidan had dispatched the others.
