Page 154 of Brambles and Bellflowers
“To stab it in the heart!” Miles explained, eyebrows raising like my question was ridiculous. “I’ll bind it, and you can disperse the energy.”
I barely had time to process his words before Julian was between us, jaw tight, as he pulled me to his side. “She can’t fight!”
A twinge of annoyance twisted at me, followed by doubt. He was right, though—I was in over my head.
“You’re her Supporter.” Miles glared at the necromancer. “How is she supposed to be confident if you can’t even believe in her?”
“I do believe in her!” Julian squeezed my hand, and his features darkened as his doubt grew. “Don’t put words in my mouth. I just don’t think she should—”
“Get a grip.” Miles narrowed his eyes. “You’re letting your personal issues interfere with how you treat her!”
“I’m not!” he stammered.
I looked between them and bit my lip. They seemed ready to fight, but for what reason? Could it be exhaustion?
Everyone—except Titus—seemed worse for wear. Conversely, the dragon seemed to have gained a second wind, and his slowing movements quickened. I wasn’t sure what his problem was, but since Miles had sucked me under the ground, he’d gotten into such an uproar that he wouldn’t even look in my direction.
He lashed out at the Snallygaster with a heavy paw, and ivory claws slashed across the beast’s chest. Green blood poured from the wound, and it stumbled slightly, but it had already begun healing by the time it regained balance.
“Ready?” Miles asked again, but I was on my way before he’d even finished speaking.
What did he say—to stab it in the heart?
My sword was as long as my arm but weighed less than a feather. Moving with it was effortless. I couldn’t be distracted, so I focused only on the creature that’d somehow come from my childhood drawing.
It was almost sad. It was rare that I put that much effort into a project, and I still could feel the anger I’d poured into it. That thing had been my masterpiece, and it was a shame to destroy it.
But it wasn’t meant to be in this world, and people had gotten hurt…
I had no choice but to let it go.
The monster seemed to recognize its fate and met my gaze with a wild, confused look. Just as I raised my blade, it froze, its limbs locking in place.
I paused and noticed Damen and Julian beside me before spotting a line drawn in the dirt encircling the battle. Miles stood just outside the barrier, his eyes shut and his lips moving in silent incantation.
As it was no longer a threat, Titus, who’d been on the Snallygaster’s back, jumped away from the monster and landed beside Miles. There was something heavy in the air as Miles’s chanting slowed, and as I watched, the Snallygaster lowered its head pathetically to the ground.
“Now,” Miles shouted.
The urgency in his voice barely registered. My fingers curled tighter around the hilt of my sword as I stared at the thing in front of me.
The Snallygaster’s form flickered, shifting from solid to something less real—almost ghostlike.
But it wasn’t a ghost. It was energy and magic clinging to this form. Refusing to let go. That was why it couldn’t be killed.
It wasn’t alive in the first place.
I didn’t know how it happened—or how Kathleen had come by it—but this thing existed becauseI’dcreated it.
“Why would you do that?” Damen’s voice cut through the haze. “Now she’ll think it’s a spirit and feel bad for it. What if she wants to keep it?”
“You mean like you did?” Julian shot back.
Their words drifted into the background as my pulse roared in my ears. The Snallygaster didn’t lunge, didn’t attack. It only watched me, hunched low, wings half-spread, as if waiting for me to decide the next move.
Miles knew. That was why he’d given me this gift.
Spellslayer.
