Page 136 of Storm of Fury
It felt like the world slowed down. Bryn lifted her arm to cry a warning, her heart slamming into her throat. “Tormund!”
His head jerked toward her, and then he turned to stare into the path of the arrow’s flight.
It was like watching fate unfold.
Tormund jerked the princess out of the way of the arrow, shoving himself into its path. Of course he fucking did.
Even as she watched, Vadim drew his bow.
She’d never reach Vadim in time.
She couldn’t reach Tormund.
Bryn staggered to her feet, clasping her hands together as she tried to summon the weapon that had long forsaken her.Please, oh please, oh please…. Grant me strength, Great Odin.Desperation swept the veils from her mind’s eye. Suddenly she could feel an immense force quivering through her. A god turning his focus upon a once-loyal servant. Power trembled through her, almost searing her from the inside out—the ability to summon pure lightning dancing from her fingertips.
Lightning lashed from the sky, striking toward thedrekiwarrior. Illarion stepped forward, deflecting the strike with his own elemental magics.
It was all she could do to summon one bolt, and even that left her on her knees, gasping for breath.
But it was too late.
As she lifted her head, she saw Vadim’s arrow fly true.
Bryn followed the path of the arrow, the world slowing down to a breathless second as it arced through the air.
“No!” she screamed as the arrow sank into his chest, driving through the weak leather body armor he wore.
The sound it made would echo in her memory forever.
“Tormund!”
He staggered back in shock, the cloak falling from his nerveless hand. Startled brown eyes met hers, as if, even in that moment, he couldn’t help look for her.
I will be your shield. I will be your axe. I will be the one to watch you sleep.
But who had ever been his shield?
The scream that tore from her lips crashed across the world as all of her old fury rose. But she was helpless to do anything but watch as the man she loved slowly toppled backward like a felled oak.
Ishtar screamed, and the winds whipped up around her again, more violent than ever before. And then she vanished, her magic inking out so swiftly that it left shocks of after-image in Bryn’s eyes.
Sprinting up the hill, Bryn slid to her knees at his side.
No, no, no. Her heart skipped a beat when he gasped in a sharp breath. Still breathing. But her eyes saw the damage, even as her trembling hands clamped around the shaft of the arrow.
No mortal man could survive this.
There was blood everywhere, and his chest heaved as he tried to suck in a breath, a terrible wheeze whining through his gaping mouth.
“Damn it.” Sirius slid to her side, his hands trying to stem the blood flow. “What happened?”
“We have to cut it out of him.” The words were hers. And they were cold and distant, as though another voice spoke them.
Sirius looked up.
And in that moment, she saw all her fears coalesce into being.
“No,” she spat. “No! I will not have it! I will not let him die! Heal him!”
