Page 36 of Monsters of Air

Oh, god.

My stomach tightened and I stiffened, the sound echoing through my panic as the splash of my father’s blood played on repeat.

Zilon sensed the change in me and his finger slid from me, the loss acute. “We can stop, Rayna.”

“No, it’s not that. It’s-” A whizzing sound cut me off, the sharp snap of a bow echoing seconds before Zilon threw himself backward and me out of his arms. A thud echoed through the space and by the time I could look, there was a spear in the ground where we had been laying.

“Shit,” Landers said. “Fae.”

Landers and Philit jumped to their feet. The air around us filled with a magnetic hum of energy that all seemed to crackle from Landers.

“Landers, don’t shift. We don’t have the space and they’ll just hide in the trees,” Philit barked out as he ran to my side, both he and Zilon flanking me protectively. At some point, he had grabbed a long dagger, the sharp length was held before him like it was an extension of himself. Fae came pouring out of the woods around, charging at us with their weapons.

“Protect Rayna,” Philit snapped as he darted forward, the silver knife flashing.

“With pleasure,” Zilon answered, already racing behind me as he grabbed one of our attackers and threw him back into the trees. The lanky man crumpled like he was made of paper.

Watching Philit fight was like watching a boulder rolling into a crowd. His wings were tucked tight against his body, his tail whipping around like a second weapon. Philit charged into danger without hesitation and went head to head with the Fae, his dagger flashing like it was lighting pouring from his palm.

Zilon was just as impressive, his motions sharp and low and anything but what the Fae expected. They would move one way with their inhuman speed, but Zilon had already countered, his bulk blocking their way to me.

“Stay behind me,” Zilon said, racing back to my side and pulling a short sword out of his bag.

“Watch out!” Landers screamed from where he fought, just as a Fae came charging at us.

Zilon moved quickly, blocking what could have been a killing blow. The green dragon spun, pushing the Fae away and taking a swipe that would have gutted the tall ethereal Fae if he hadn’t jumped back.

Another Fae came at him and Zilon whipped out his tail, tripping him. Zilon tried to bring his sword down, but the Fae was already gone.

“Shit!” Landers struggled to fight off a Fae who was pushing him back, he clearly hadn’t done anything like this before, and his motions were stumbling, his punches thrown more like he was trapped in a bar fight.

My heart thundered in my chest. The others were too distracted and Landers was quickly overrun. I could let him die, he was being a jealous asshole, but that wasn’t me.

This was bad. I needed to do something. Anything.

I looked around in a panic, finding nothing but a few stones. It was better than nothing. I grabbed the biggest one I could lift and threw it, hard.

It didn’t even make it half way.

Okay, plan B.

I glanced around, finding the stick I used to stoke the fire. I dove for it, ignoring Zilon’s yell and Philit’s scream.

Zilon tried to reach for me, but the Fae intercepted him. I ran hard, spinning away from the reach of a Fae that was now bee-lining for me. I raced by Philit who was desperately trying to keep two Fae back, and tiring. In two steps I was by Landers, my heart thundering in my ears, the sound of my rushing blood muting the sounds around me.

The Fae that had been about to pin Landers from behind turned to me, but I was already stabbing, using all the strength I had. I may have been short and tiny, but I had a lot of confidence in my strength, and it proved true as I managed to stab between the light armor the Fae wore and right into his stomach.

He screamed as warm blood sprayed over my hands, the glittery stuff hot and tingly as I continued to push all my weight into him, both of us stumbling. I nearly fell on top of him, but someone wrapped their arm around me and turned me, making sure I was back on my feet.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?” Landers growled at me, expression dark.

I glanced down at the Fae withering in pain with the stick in his stomach.

“Me? You were almost killed by a Fae!”

“I had it under control!”

“Get over yourself, Landers. I’m not going to let you get killed no matter how pissed you are that you didn’t get to sleep next to me,” I snapped at him.

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