Page 202 of Blood of the Stars

The soldier swore, dropping his sword to pull the iron door back in its place. But half the men inside pushed forward, perhaps unaware of the winex and eager to do battle, forcing the doors back open.

“Come on,” Holm shouted, pulling Kendalyhn’s arm to the right. The four of them raced out through a different door onto another battlement. As the door shut behind them, Orra caught sight of the winex leaping on Mayvus’ soldiers.

They all paused for a moment, heaving deep breaths and licking their dry lips.

“Let’s go,” Holm said. “Whichever group survives, they’ll be after us.”

CHAPTER 81

The scent of blood filled Aeliana’s nostrils before she registered the battle around her. Two soldiers lay near the entrance, while two others fought Gaeren and Cyrus, their blades moving at vicious speeds on her left. To her right, Lukai crouched over Jasperus, healing a wound on his side while Velden fended off two other soldiers’ swords with his own.

Beyond them all, Arvid and Sylmar faced off, Arvid’s hands already drenched in the blood of a third dead soldier at his feet.

Aeliana shivered, wondering if he was taking advantage of the dead soldier’s blood or if he’d killed the soldier himself to extract more power.

The goosebumps on her skin rose higher as the familiar sense of dread settled around her. Arvid would let the dark spirits fuse with him. He’d let them take over, knowing they could do far more damage than he could do on his own. She had to stop him before he reached that point.

And she had to resist the spirit’s pull on her.

She drew out her dagger with a shaking hand. He would see her coming and probably force her to turn the dagger on herself. He’d always preferred using her blood to his own.

She tossed the dagger behind her and stepped forward, ignoring Iris’ calls of protest. The men would have protested too if they weren’t already busy fighting for their lives. She winced as a sword tip came deathly close to Gaeren’s neck, another slicing the air near Cyrus’ liver. But their distraction cleared a path for her to make her way to Arvid.

He reached for the wall behind him, letting it crumble just so he could send the stones flying toward Sylmar, whose molten staff became a shield. Cold wind blew in through the missing portion of the wall, brushing across Aeliana’s face and stinging her cheeks, reminding her of just how high up the cliff’s face they’d traveled within the fortress walls.

The men didn’t speak, their glares intently focused on each other, assessing one another’s power and weaknesses. Aeliana did the same with fresh eyes. The last time she’d watched Arvid use blood magic, it had felt like an unlimited well he could draw from, but now she understood it better.

His magic was as limited as Sylmar’s, maybe even more so, because his either remained stuck at the hub of the Wheel, forcing him to manipulate objects around him, or he skipped to the rim, creating fire that could harm himself as much as Sylmar.

But as long as he could draw blood from the soldier, his magic would last longer.

She glanced at the soldier’s body, then gauged the distance to the fresh gap in the wall. The stones continued crumbling, the gap now from her ankles to her chin. She couldn’t fight Arvid, not like Sylmar could, but she could weaken him.

Arvid seemed to have similar plans for Sylmar, and he shifted, placing Sylmar in a sideways dance that put the old man in front of the gap. Sylmar showed no concern, and Aeliana suspected he welcomed the change. Through the gap, the setting Sun’s rays hit the older man’s back, likely replenishing his blood’s power.

With Arvid’s back to her, it was the perfect time to make her move. She crept forward, drawing Sylmar’s attention. When his eyes met hers, he shook his head, eyes wide. Arvid turned right, forcing Aeliana to drag the soldier’s body left, out of his view, attempting to reach the room’s new balcony, which was still several feet away. Even with her starlock pushing energy into every muscle she had, it wouldn’t be an easy thing.

She passed on Sylmar’s side, but there was no way she could hide now.

Arvid let out a yell, and she winced, waiting for the strike, but it never came. A glance up revealed the two men grappling, whatever magic they might be using lost beneath chokeholds, elbows, and knees. She kept dragging, the scrape of leather and flesh on stone making her stomach heave. Blood spread across the floor with the dead soldier, beckoning her to draw on it. If there was ever a time to lean into such strong magic, it was now, when her friends needed her help. The temptation slowed her progress.

She held her breath, but instead of smelling the blood’s allure, she tasted its metallic tang, the sensation making her mouth water. When she reached the edge, the distance below was dizzying, and she froze, waiting for her vision to still as she gripped the broken stones jutting out from the wall.

Sylmar grunted from behind her, and when bones cracked, both men hollered, jarring her from her stupor. She glanced back to see them separated once more, Sylmar’s nose bleeding into his beard and Arvid’s left arm tucked in close to his chest.

She bent down, shoving the corpse as close to the edge as she dared to get. When the body’s weight finally shifted and pulled the soldier over the lip, she nearly tumbled with it, falling flat on her stomach with her palms scraping against the jagged edges of the floor.

She scrambled back, running into someone she didn’t anticipate. She whipped around, reaching for the dagger she no longer had, then instinctually lifted a knee, aiming for a groin.

Gaeren sidestepped her at the last moment, crying out in surprise before angling her away from Arvid and Sylmar.

“Are you all right?” He gripped her elbows and held steady.

“Sorry.” Her breath came out in ragged gasps. She glanced back at Arvid’s hands, where the blood had dried up, and hopefully the magic with it. “We need to get rid of the bodies. He’s using them.”

Gaeren followed her gaze, catching on without more of an explanation. He pulled Lukai from Jasperus’ side, and then together they grabbed the two closest dead soldiers. After skirting Arvid and Sylmar, they tossed the bodies over the edge like sacks of potatoes. They each returned for another, eliminating Arvid’s sources of power far quicker than Aeliana could have. Jasperus sat against the wall, no longer bleeding, but still spent from his injury. Of the two soldiers who had been fighting Velden, only one remained upright, now forced to defend himself against Cyrus’ attacks while still battling Velden.

He wouldn’t last long.

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