Page 68 of The Lost Guard's Healer

None of this feels real. I am the last magic source of the Dark King’s bloodline. The last with light magic. Without me, he won’t be able to grow to full power. My family’s existence has allowed him to return to this world.

Once he has combined with my power as he had once tried to with his queen, he will be unstoppable. I can’t let that happen.

Rourk engages Thanek in combat, their swords clashing and spirals of black magic shooting out. A blast of magic strikes Rourk’s shoulder and sends him spinning to the ground. He gasps and collapses, his shoulder blackened and scarred. Thanek raises his sword to strike a killing blow.

I cry out as I summon an explosion of light between them that pushes Thanek back. The exertion forces me to my knees. I stay there, panting, sweat dripping from me.

Beside me is a fallen dagger. It calls to me.

“Enough!” I scream, with tears flooding my eyes. All of this pain, all of this turmoil, it has all led to this moment.

Thanek turns to me.

“I know what I have to do,” I say, my lips quivering. Rourk looks up at me with fierce intensity. “I’m sorry, Rourk. I need to cut off his light magic at the source. When he is weakened… finish him. For me.”

Horror dawns on Rourk. “Galene! No!”

“I’m sorry.” Tears stream down my cheeks. “I love you.”

I grip the knife and thrust the blade into my stomach. White-hot pain burns through me, taking my breath. I make sure the last thing I do is force the blade firmly in. A killing blow.

I drop to the roof and cough blood. Darkness takes over. The last thing I hear is Rourk calling out to me. My Rourk.

Chapter thirty

Rourk

Aguttural cry bursts from me as Galene falls.

Blood seeps from her stomach and stains her clothes. Horror and rage fuel me. I charge at Thanek with a sword in one hand and a spear in another. I can’t think about losing Galene. I channel the anger and lash out, striking with my sword and swinging the spear.

Thanek blocks or avoids my attacks, and the ones that land on him do no damage at all. But that thrumming sensation is no longer jarring me. I realize, as I duck under his sword, that something has changed. Galene has done something to him.

Thanek strikes out and the sword gets knocked from my hand, so I spin the spear in a flourish and bring it down into his boot. The spear tip pierces the boot and causes Thanek to jerk and reel back.

Relief floods me as I side step a swing of his sword while he staggers away. He has been weakened. His attacks have slowed slightly, as well. Galene harming herself has removed some of his power.

That’s it. Thanek’s bloodline. It needs to go. Removing his family will weaken him and allow us to defeat him. That’s what Aldus had implied, and what Galene was trying to tell me in her last moments.

But Thanek is enraged and I know he’s still too powerful of a foe. He slams his sword down, and I jump away in time to feel the rush of air and the shockwave behind me as the blade strikes the roof.

I spare a glance at Galene’s fallen body and my blood runs cold. Did she just move? I can’t be certain. I need to stay focused on my enemy. Tears sting my eyes as I fight.

It’s then that I see someone is watching us from a nearby roof. Across the street, on a lower building, is Aldus. Nearby flames on the street highlight him in a blood-red light. He’s been watching us this whole time. Waiting for Thanek to consume Galene’s power. The man is a monster. The sight of him churns my stomach and floods me with dark anger. I can tell he’s proud of himself for getting the better of me with his earth manipulation magic. He thinks he’s better than everyone.

I duck and roll under Thanek’s next sword strike, and as I come up, I run to the edge of the roof. I let my spear fly with a heavy grunt. Aldus has a second to register the trajectory before the spear pierces his chest and pins him to the roof.

Weaken the bloodline. Weaken the enemy. So be it.

Thanek growls with anger as he comes to me. I snatch up a sword and then roll to collect a second sword as a wave of black magic passes by me. He is weakened. I can feel it. His magic and presence no longer jar me.

“Insolent wretch!” he yells as he swings at me.

I meet him in a flourish of strikes. He is furious and relentless, and my left arm has begun to numb and weaken. Twisting away from his sword swings, I lash out and manage to slice through his shoulder armor. A pauldron drops to the roof with a heavy thud. Despite my bruises, the blood seeping from several places, and the numbness in my arm, I fight on, fueled with renewed energy. I can no longer feel myself. I just know I have to do everything I can to send this demon back to hell.

While I duck and sidestep two sword strikes, I unleash a quick succession of attacks with both swords to slice through Thanek’s thighs and shins. That will slow him down even more. One of my swords gets stuck in his leg and I lose my grip on it.

A wave of black energy crashes down on me, but I twist to the side and drop to the ground, letting it crack through the roof. I come across a spear on the ground. Now’s my moment. I throw the sword at Thanek’s face, causing him to deflect it with his broadsword. As he does so, I spring up with the spear. He moves faster than I expected and a torrent of burning black light erupts like a rupture of water from the roof. It knocks me into the air and breaks the spear in two. Crippling pain grips me as I’m thrown upward amid the gushing black flames, my bones trembling and muscles burning.

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