Page 96 of A Court So Dark
Without hesitation, they jumped into the fray to aid their king. And just like that, we were the ones outnumbered. Not that Mythorne seemed to care. He was an army all unto himself.
As my friends found themselves attacked from different angles, Silver pushed me out of the way, raised his sword, and blocked an attack from a barrel-chested male. I lurched sideways, then whirled and turned to help. Our opponent held a huge ax over his head, ready to split Silver in two.
“No!” I ran and jumped onto the male’s back, taking hold of a thick braid and pulling on it. His head whipped back, and I took my chance.
Fingernails digging in, I slapped my hand on the back of his neck and drew on his life force. The giant male immediately went down on his knees, then face-planted with me on top. Silver’s blue eyes were wide as they met mine. He had never seen me use this power. In fact, few had.
My ribcage tightened as the energy I’d drawn settled.
“Well done,” Silver said as he charged into the battle, sword raised above his head and a fierce battle cry on his lips.
Glancing around at the chaos, I wondered where Kalyll was. That thunderclap, it had been Varamede. He must have attacked Kalyll, and I was sure it had served as a signal to Mythorne, an agreed-upon indicator that we were impostors.
I wanted to tear through the forest to find him, but I had to trust that he could take care of himself. Besides, I was needed here, and I shouldn’t lose sight of our goal.
The Unseelie King.
I quickly tracked him in the melee. He was fighting Kryn, whose tremendous skill with the sword made him look like a child playing chess against the Grand Master. My chest felt tight, but I was still ready to siphon every last bit of his energy until Mythorne was nothing but an empty shell. And if that didn’t work… then I would unleash my light and let him have it in a single blow. If I could deliver a blast straight to his head or heart, his immunity might not matter. I could only hope because I had to try something. I couldn’t just watch while the others fought.
Ducking past Silver’s opponent, I rushed in Mythorne’s direction, my fingers flexing as if hungry for more. A guard stepped in front of me, teeth bare, sword ready to slice my throat. I ducked and tackled him, gripping his forearm in the process. His eyes rolled back, and he fell backward. I let him go before he took me down with him.
I’d barely regained my bearing when I had to twirl to avoid Cylea’s opponent as he collapsed, a dagger through his eye. Luck wasn’t on my side because I found myself in front of yet another guard. He stabbed his sword toward my middle, and he would have skewered me if not for Cylea’s quick reflexes, which helped her block the blow. The guard forgot about me and pivoted toward the opponent who was wielding an actual weapon. And that was his mistake because I leaped forward and took hold of his arm. He face-planted on the ground before Cylea made her next move.
My ribs ached as his life force filled me, and for a moment, it was hard to draw breath. But quickly, the energy seemed to find places to fill other than my chest, and I was finally able to inhale
“Gotta go,” I said to Cylea and continued on my path toward Mythorne.
As I rushed past, Kryn noticed me out of the corner of his eye. Guessing what I was trying to do, he shuffled to one side, forcing Mythorne to turn his back on me.
My steps were light and silent, and when I found myself only a few feet from the Unseelie King, I jumped up, anchoring my hands around his neck, flesh to flesh. Teeth clenched, I worked my healing powers in reverse, determined to suck him dry.
Nothing happened.
Nothing except me flying above Mythorne’s head and landing in front of him, flat on my back. A jolt of pain traveled up my spine and drove nails into my head. I winced, seeing flashes of white light, which intertwined with Kryn’s agile feet as he positioned himself between me and the Unseelie freak.
A ball of fire streak past right above me, smashing into a horned female as tall and wide as Kryn. She used a magic-imbued sword to block the attack. It split in two, but part of it struck her arm, singeing her flesh and sending the stomach-roiling scent of charred meat into the air.
I sat up groggily, my back cracking like popping corn. I struggled to get my bearings. More fire, ice, and arrows whizzed by. The din of metal against metal filled my ears. The scene before me swam.
A scream came from Cylea. I glanced in her direction and saw her limping backward, a huge gash across the side of her leg. Behind her, Arabis ordered a male to impale himself, and as he did, another one jumped on top of her, pressing a hand to her mouth before she could issue more orders. The male, who was twice her size, pulled out a dagger to stab her.
I jumped to my feet, hoping to aid her, but she bit his hand. Her lips barely moved with a command, and he drove the dagger into his own neck, splashing her face with a jet of blood. She sputtered, her bared teeth and blue eyes two beacons in her crimson-stained face.
A female that looked like the mix between an orc and a zombie came running at me, a huge mallet twirling from a leather strap wrapped around her hand, ready to do my head in. I saw my life flash by in an instant. I closed my eyes. The hiss of Silver’s magic resounded in my ears. When the blow didn’t come, I opened my eyes to find the female’s ugly mug frozen right in front of mine.
“We’re even,” Silver said as he released another stream of ice at another foe, though this attack was met by a shield with enough magic to withstand the blow.
The world around me kept tumbling. Nausea hit my stomach. The blow to my head had been too much, and I was having all the symptoms of a pretty wicked concussion. But I couldn’t let that stop me. There was one more thing I needed to try.
Everything went quiet. The fighting had ceased, the last of the guards dead.
A growl from Kryn drew my attention back to him. I found him on his knee, his arms trembling as he held his sword above his head. With glee in his eyes, the Unseelie King bore down on my friend, ready to kill him.
No, you won’t.I was on his blind side, so he didn’t see when I thrust my hands forward and unleashed all the energy I’d drawn in, catching him unprepared.
A blinding light filled the clearing. I shut my eyes and turned my head, but kept my laser beam focused on Mythorne.
Everyone around me went silent, and I felt like a mote floating in a sunbeam.
