Page 96 of Taloned Heart

“I don’t think it’s likely any of that will happen. I think she will rain arrows down upon us and laugh as we run.”

“Then we won’t run,” she replied.

Abraxas saw it. The darkness in her eyes that had never really gone away since she’d come back to him. The darkness that he’d come to realize was the power welling up inside her until she couldn’t think or breathe through it.

It was... Horrifying.

Wonderful.

A nightmarish twist of the women he knew and a woman he now knew to fear.

But it was still Lore underneath all of that. Still his elf who had come to him in a forest with starlight twinkling on her skin. She was still the woman who wanted to save this kingdom and would stop at nothing to see it returned to its former glory. Or better.

And that meant he had to trust her in this. He would keep her safe. He would become the shield she needed so that she could continue forward and save everyone from this cursed throne.

Nodding, he turned his attention back to the castle, where he could already see soldiers lining up. They’d been spotted, but then again, that’s what Lore was hoping for.

Her dwarven armor gleamed in the morning light. The metal molded to her skin like it had been made perfectly for her. The runes glittered, protective spells ready to beat back any blade that even got close to touching her. She held the helm on her hip, and had promised she’d put it on, eventually. If it came to that.

She rolled her shoulders back, teeth bared in a grimace. “Stay alive for me.”

“It would be impossible to do anything else.” He reached for her hand and brought it to his lips. “You lead us all, my love, my life. Your taloned heart will bring us into a new world. Not because of any prophecy or elf that predicted it. But because you have fought tooth and nail to get us here.”

Her fingers flexed against his, and he felt the little breath that came out of her mouth brush his knuckles. When had she gotten so close? It didn’t matter, though, because now she was here and he could smell her and feel her. Their lips touched, clung to each other, with hope and love bursting in between them like a bubble of magic.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I will remember that through all this.”

“We will fight if we must.”

“And we will win.”

She pulled away and Abraxas saw that darkness slide over her eyes. He saw her turn into the goddess before him, the woman who would turn this entire kingdom to ash if she desired, but never would, because she loved the land she walked on with all of her heart.

Together, they strode out of the Gloaming and into the dangerously open fields toward the castle. He could feel their armies behind them. Countless humans who were ready to fight, dwarves in all their armor, magical creatures who had arrived out of the fog to say they didn’t agree with the way their neighbors had been treated. Even the Ashen Deep, waiting in the shadows where they would eventually appear like wraiths in the night.

Their people were ready to fight if they needed to. They all expected this to be a battle. Today they would take back their throne in a single, bloody fight.

Margaret likely thought that was impossible. She thought this battle would rage for months on end as they slowly picked each other off. But that was not Lore’s plan.

It was the only time he’d seen Beauty’s father and the Baron look at her with respect. They knew she could uphold what she was saying. They knew she would make her promise come true.

Even if that meant sacrificing the last pieces of herself that remained.

The guards on the towers and walls all turned their weapons toward Abraxas and Lore. He stiffened, his chest already filling with flames as the dragon in him readied to burst out.

“Not yet,” Lore muttered. “I’ll tell you when.”

He hated waiting. He hated this.

But when he saw Margaret step up onto the wall nearest to them, he knew that settling was the best choice of action. If only to hear what this Darkveil elf had to say for herself.

“You’ve returned,” Margaret said, her voice wringing out in the clearing. “Alone.”

“I am never alone,” Lore replied. And somehow, her voice was even louder than Margaret’s. “But your numbers are few, Darkveil.”

“Not so few when there are trained warriors who have spent hundreds of years learning their craft.”

He watched Lore’s expression, seeing it shift with anger as she stared up at the wall. “Aren’t you missing a few humans, Margaret? I have found them in places all over the realm. You’ve been hiding them away from me.”

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