Page 41 of Of War and Realms

That was the price for her to open the bridge to Breoqan? Her fucking life?

I may hate the witch, but she was so in love and so loyal to Andras. She stayed in the human realm to watch over me for decades for him…and this is what she gets in return? Him laughing about her death as if she meant nothing?

“You’re fucking pitiful, Andras.” My tone conveys the disappointment I feel, and I swear I see a flash of hurt in his eyes before he masks it, gesturing with his hands as if to say this has to be done.

He opens his mouth, uttering one word that sends my stomach spinning in several directions. “Attack.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Anellah

Electricity squeezes the air around our large group. I’m not ready for this.

On impulse, I throw my wall to several feet in front of Andras. My breathing is shallow, a weightlessness soaking into my head. I’m already fucking everything up—I need to calm down.

This is what we’ve trained for. Yeah, physically.

The only light gracing our eyes is from the moon, casting an eerie glow over the demons. They truly look like something from a nightmare. They surge forward, followed slowly by the fae, only to run through my wall. One of the fae smacks into it, causing Andras to bellow out a laugh.

“Did I forget to tell you, my sweet? My new friends are immune to the magic of our realms.”

“Fuck!” I drop the wall, surveying every little movement as thousands sprint toward us. I call to my essence, using it to carry my voice to every brave soul behind me. “Our main priority is figuring out how to kill the demons. Your magic will do nothing to them. Do not waste it.”

We have seconds. The longest fucking seconds of my life. The demons hold the front line, skipping in our direction as if this is just another fun day for them. I want to look back at the others to check-in one last time, but I cannot move.

I tug on my three bonds. Call to me if you need help. Tell everyone you can as soon as we know how to take these things down. Stay alive.

Their confirmations do not reach me before the other side does. There’s suddenly claws the size of my arms swiping toward me, and I just manage to duck out of the way, rolling right under the creature. As I move to stand, I spot Andras still at the edge of the field, arms crossed and a smile on his smug face. He can wait. I have more important things to do at the moment.

My magic may not affect the demons, but it can still help me. I wrap the one who attacked me in a ring of fire, lighting up each part of its body. I ignore the screams coming from my people as I dart around the demon, keeping its attention on me. It is extraordinarily quick, though with so much sound around us, I think it’s having trouble determining exactly where I am. I use that to confuse it, calling out just as I jump to another spot, giving myself a slight break each time.

I gag when I land next to its leg; there are rotted pores in its skin the size of my fist. I really do not want to touch it, but I have no choice. I grab a dagger, slicing into its calf and dragging it down. The creature screeches, whirling around, but not before I see the thick, black sludge oozing out of the wound. Disgusting.

I step back, keeping my fire near me. There’s a slap to my shoulder, and without thinking, I reach to wipe whatever it is off. A hot, sticky substance greets my hand. “Oh, my gods,” I whisper shakily, slowly dragging my eyes up as if I’m in a horror film. My lids flutter involuntarily when I see the demon’s mouth directly above my head.

Well, if it’s going to eat me, I should get some useful information out of it. I flip my dagger, catching the hilt with my palm underneath as I jump and swing my arm at its neck. The surrounding battle slows, my heart thumping loudly in my ears. With as much force as I can muster from this angle, I thrust the blade just under where an ear would be on any being of this realm and grab the hilt with both hands. I tug hard, using the weight of my body against the blade to slide it through the thick skin. I wince when the demon screeches right next to my ear, sure that I will lose my hearing, but refusing to let go. It proves extremely difficult to drag the blade through the demon’s throat, though when I wound it well and it’s still standing, I know that this is not the way to kill it.

The creature jolts up and my hands slip against the slick hilt, betraying me as they release the dagger against my will. My head turns to quickly survey the field as I fall, glad that those with fire are helping our people see. Hundreds of makeshift lights hover above the battle, casting a sinister illumination amongst the raging fight.

The flat of my back thuds when it hits the grass, and I waste no time rolling to the side, avoiding the three claws that whirl through the spot I occupied not a moment before.

I think my heart has traveled into my throat. There’s a quick, incessant pounding from the object lodged in there, making it very difficult to swallow or breathe. Or maybe that’s just the sandy dryness of my mouth. I throw my knees out, landing in a crouch and regretting the moment I stand as I see another set of claws racing toward me, leaving me zero time to move. I bite my lip hard enough to cry out, trying to prepare for my sad attempt at being anything useful in this war. But the claws do not impale me like I expect, instead the demon’s arm slams into my gut with a force I can only describe as absolute. In the next moment, I hover in the air, well above those on the ground. I gasp for air, my vision spinning at the edges from the impact.

My brain recovers too slowly and I land on my shoulder, several snapping noises greeting me before I roll several feet away. A shrill ringing in my ears stops me from getting up—

No, the ringing is me. I’m screaming. I cannot move because the left side of my body no longer works. I make a quick assessment, deciding that my shoulder and arm are certainly broken, at least one rib cracked, and my hip feels severely out of place. Or maybe it’s no longer there. The area feels too empty for the answer to be anything good.

This is going to take too long to heal, and it will use more magic than I can safely give up. The ringing quiets to a sobbing whine. It worries me that I can barely hear that…my throat is too raw to be doing anything except screaming, and yet it’s almost as if someone is squeaking at me through a wall. Add that to the list of damages.

“Nell!” a familiar voice yells. I barely manage to open my eyes enough to see Calix when a new wave of pain washes through me, worsening near my ribs. “Fuck, okay. What can I do to make this quicker?” I peek at where he’s on his knees next to me, hands hovering over my mangled body like he has no idea what to do with them. His blonde hair is streaked with crimson, the same blood that runs across his face, highlighting his eyes.

I open my mouth to speak, feeling the wheeze for the first time. “Shoulder.” He nods frantically, turning his attention to my limp arm. His brows furrow deeply before he bends to assess the issue.

“I need to touch you a little.” I scrunch my eyes closed, giving him permission. He won’t know where to adjust if he can’t examine it first. A hard, grimy object presses against my mouth and I recoil. “Bite down,” he orders, pushing dirt-caked fingers into my mouth to shove a piece of what I think is leather inside.

Where is the demon? My head turns right, catching Xamira snap at the creature that did this to me. She flies too quickly for the demon, mewling in satisfaction each time it trips while trying to spin to grab her. As it stumbles again, she rushes forward to sink her teeth into its neck, where I had already started cutting.

My throat constricts when Calix presses in various spots, not bothering to pay attention to me. I’m glad for it. He needs to remain focused, not worrying about my feelings.

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