Page 98 of Feathers and Thorns

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Enara wrapped the blade of her staff around the back of a kestrel’s neck, bringing it to the ground. She placed her boot between its wings before bringing Coraxis up and planting the curved blade into its skull. Then she scanned the blood-soaked field, looking for Soren’s blue hair.

It was still too dark to see. The sun was beginning to rise, but it had yet to crest the horizon. The inky black sky was slowly melting into pale blues and light golds, yet she couldn’t bring herself to enjoy the sight.

Sunrises were supposed to be a thing of beauty, but there was nothing beautiful about this day. Bodies littered the field, the majority of which were people she had come to know over the last few weeks. Where most would have looked away to avoid the pain it would cause, she did the opposite. She looked into the dead eyes of the people she had called friends and etched them all into her memory. If she survived this, she would mourn every single one of them.

Her attention moved to where Callan and Baz were pushing back against a group of Xian-Dao warriors. Her heart squeezed a little tighter as the man, who held her heart, cut down his enemies. He was the epitome of goodness, and she would annihilate anyone in her path to get to him, which was exactly what she did.

Coraxis held no prisoners as she parted her way through the bodies like a stone parts a river. Enemies fell on either side of her as her warpath separated soul from body and blood from bone. She created a new kind of river, one that flowed like liquid rubies. By the time she reached Callan and Baz, she was smiling.

“Hey,” she called to Baztien as he finished off the last of Bao-Ren’s group.

“Hey back,” Baz replied, returning her smile. Then he grasped her arm, pulling her in for a chaste kiss before refocusing on the battle. “Shit,” he muttered angrily, and Callan and Enara followed his gaze across the field.

The sun had breached the pasture’s edge and casted light over the space. It was a pure chaos. Their numbers had been greatly depleted. Most of the calvary lay in ruins, their mounts sprawled out in miniature lakes of crimson, their eyes unseeing.

Enara’s heart broke a little more. Though she would mourn every life lost, the pain of losing an animal always hit harder. Their loyalty was unwavering, and they had not chosen to fight. They rode into battle on command from their riders and fell alongside them. In that moment, Enara promised to put them to rest, as well.

A cacophony of loud booms rattled the field, causing the fight to momentarily pause as everyone looked toward the gate. Adriel had arrived, and he was not alone.

A blast of power shot out from the gate, knocking anyone within a fifty-foot radius backward as the new Architect strode forth while the rest of his demons filtered in through the archway behind them.

“Ach Fecknaff,” Callan swore in his native tongue.

“Yeah, we’re fucked,” Baz agreed as more and more enemies marched forward.

Jai was using the temporary distraction to cut through some of the battle haze and regroup the troops they had left. Meanwhile, Soren and Rook were helping the squadron get into one large formation. There were so few of them now that Jai knew their best hope of survival was to stick together. Their numbers had dwindled down to a few hundred, and things were looking bleak.

“Humans!” Adriel’s deep voice carried across the field.

A silence fell over everyone as the god-like man spoke. Even with the red scar etched angrily across his face, he was still inhumanly handsome.

“You have fought valiantly, and I want to show mercy to those of you who have looked your gods in the face and dared to stand against them.” His eyes scanned the crowd, and the coldness in them made Enara shiver.

She now stood next to Soren and Rook, noticing how rigid her brother’s stance had gotten. She knew the feeling well. The moments when her father’s rage would cause her skin to tighten and her heart to race in fear. The nights she knew she would go to bed with blood loss and broken bones. Suddenly, she understood him.

Soren had shared stories of what he had gone through at his father’s and General Corvus’s hands, but seeing the outward effect it had on him made her soul ache. Now she felt connected with him in a way that went so much further than blood. Scars of the soul were just as binding as a mating bond.

She glared daggers at Adriel as he continued his speech.

“Bow before me, and I will spare you. You will be given free pass to Anistera, and all will be forgiven,” he said, flashing his perfect teeth.

“He lies,” Rook growled, his voice deep and angry. “Mortals cannot enter Anistera. He will execute us all if we surrender.”

This caused Adriel to level him with a stare. “My son knows not of Anistera’s magical capabilities. I let him believe he could not join us in the above realm to protect him.”

There were a few mutters from the crowd from those considering switching sides.

“Do not be fooled by his charms,” Jai continued where Rook had left off. “Whether you die in battle or by his hand, there will be no mercy on this day. Do you see any remorse for those who fought from the East? He cares not for their lives, nor yours. He wants all of Entheas to burn. Do not go up in flames with him!”

This seemed to steady the unrest, and Enthea’s ranks solidified their place.

The change on Adriel’s face was instant. His eyes turned to glaciers, and his features curled down into a disgusted grimace.

“Then so be it,” he spat before his horde descended upon them.

The Entheans braced themselves as Adriel raised his arm and beckoned his beasts forward. There had to have been nearly fifty massive black creatures crawling toward them while the last few kestrels circled hungrily in the sky. They preyed on the weak and injured as a vulture would, swooping down to strike their prey with their talons before returning to the clouds. The remaining archers had managed to take out a few of them when the fight had begun, but they were now out of arrows, and the ones they attempted to scavenge were broken or too difficult to remove from their previous targets.

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