Page 70 of Black Onyx
“I’m not going to ask you what happened. If you choose to tell us at some point, great, I learnt my lesson.” Storm starts, and I nod, eyeing him warily.
“I sense a but?”
He smirks before it falls quickly, and he becomes serious again, “but I want you to promise me that you going back there is not going to put you in more danger.”
The surprise is palpable from the others as they all slow their horses and just stare at him.
“Fucking hell, man, you’ve changed your tune,” Loki exclaims.
Storm ignores him, still looking at me, “Farren?”
“I promise that I will not be in danger going back there,” I vow.
“You mean any more danger than you already would be going into the shadowlands.” Rival scoffs.
“Yeah, that.” I agree, ignoring the narrowed eyed stare from Killian.
He knows me better than the others, and we’ve worked together enough in the past that he knows when I’m being evasive. Thankfully though, he doesn’t say anything.
After that, we speed up a bit, trying to make decent time to the only stop that we’re making on the way to the border, the one to refuel ourselves and our horses. There’s no way we want any of us to be distracted by hunger when we get to the Shadowlands.
It’s a fair ride before we finally stop and find ourselves in a relatively large clearing with a small stream running through it, perfect for the horses to have a drink and eat before we continue. Once we’ve all settled on the floor, and everyone’s munching on the food, which I had no idea we brought who even thought to get, talk turns to how long we have left to go.
“Probably about a two hour ride, and we’ll be at the border. I wanted us to get as much done as possible before we stopped for food.” Storm explains.
“Fair enough.” Kill replies easily.
We’ve been sat down for fifteen minutes or so, and the conversation is deliberately being kept light since we’ve gone over the plan multiple times by this point. I’m just enjoying listening to them and seeing the change in Storm when I’m suddenly hit by the feeling that something isn’t right. Keeping my food in my hand and trying to make sure I remain casual and keep my body language calm, I lean back on one of my hands and start to look around.
The first thing I become aware of is the signs of agitation in the horses that weren’t there before, and then, below the noise of the guys talking, I notice the absolute silence. The surrounding forest is utterly devoid of all the usual noise that was there only moments ago.
Leaning closer to Killian, his tail, which always seeks me out when I’m close, is resting on my thigh, stroking it every now and then. I quietly say, “Do you hear that?”
He tilts his head at me, gauging my expression before listening, “Nothing, and there should be. We’re being watched.”
The guys start to notice that something is amiss, and I make a motion with my hand for them to keep talking like normal. Storm and Killian seem to do some communication thing with their eyes, and then I see the subtle hint of their shadows flow across the ground, searching the surrounding forest for whoever is watching us.
When both their eyes widen, the rest of us abandon the guise of talking casually and place our hands on our various weapons.
“I’m picking up at least twenty,” Kill says, and Storm nods in response, confirming the same number.
As one, we climb to our feet, drawing our weapons and proving how closely we’re being watched, when we hear a shout. The horses immediately scatter like they’re trained to do in this situation, so they don’t get hurt, and we don’t lose our escape.
My eyes widen as at least twenty assassins exit the forest surrounding us on all sides and clearly working together.
“At least we know for certain that it was a setup,” Loki says drily, twirling his sword.
There’s no more time for talking as they all rush us, and the clang of metal suddenly surrounds me. I don’t have the chance to keep an eye on the others and make sure they’re okay, as I’m surrounded by at least five of these fuckers. There’s something about them that is almost familiar, but I get no time to really ponder that strange familiarity as they all attack at once.
My double blades practically sing through the air as I slice, spin and dive to avoid attacks. I’m showing them no mercy as my years of training, and all my skills come out to play. A spell comes at me from the left, and I throw my magic at it, unravelling the death spell and reforming it before sending it straight back to the fucker who sent it at me, watching as he drops to the floor paralysed but still awake and seeing a living nightmare I weaved in.
It's one of my favourite things to do.
The bodies start to pile up around me, and I get a brief reprieve from attackers just long enough to glance around at the others. They’ve all got their own bodies surrounding them and look excited by the fight and being able to use their gifts to their full advantage. They can move fucking fast, faster than they should be able to. Not only that, but they’re each using skills and magic that they shouldn’t be able to. Storm’s shadows are behaving as weapons in their own right, slicing and invading various attackers. Watching the shadows enter through someone’s nose and then explode them from the inside is both fascinating and terrifying at the same time.
Killian’s having a field day moving through the shadows and slitting people’s throats with his tail and his blade. Loki is looking every bit the vampire he is as he uses his speed and fangs to cut through his enemies; blood drips down his chin as his eyes glow. The twins, Mayhem and Rival, are not only using Water and Air to incapacitate their opponents but seem to be using all the elements that are available to the fae and that they shouldn’t have control over. It looks like I’m not the only one who was keeping things to myself. I highly doubt that the Headmaster knows just how strong they are and how many gifts they each have. Reaper is using his strength to take down his opponents and that mysterious fire he used when I had to go into the Void, but there’s no sign of his beast. I know that’s probably a good thing, but I’m still disappointed I don’t know what he is.
Just before I turn away, I see Killian and Storm fighting together back to back. They get surrounded and, after a quick glance at each other, explode into shadows. When they reform, it’s in the shape of enormous shadow beasts, their horns still present and wrapped in their flames. I had no fucking idea that was even possible; you’re either a shadow weaver or a shifter. I didn’t realise it was possible to be both, and it's fucking mesmerising to watch them. I have so many questions.
