Page 69 of The Lost Guard's Healer

I fall back toward Thanek with the two pieces of spear on either side of me. Before the tumultuous agony overwhelms me and I pass out, I snatch the spear tip from the air and slam it down into the flesh of his neck. A beam of black energy shoots out from the puncture and throws me off him. I hit the roof hard and look up to see Thanek staggering back, his steps faltering. He drops his enormous broadsword and falls to his knees, the spear tip still in his neck.

Thanek reaches a weak hand up to the spear tip, but he is too wounded to grasp it. His helmet is cracked and, as I push myself to my feet, the helmet begins to snap and break apart. It falls in three heavy chunks and thuds onto the roof. A bone-white face is revealed with matted hair the color of straw. He is just a man, who looks no older than me. His face is hardened with pain, gasping for breath with blood sputtering from his mouth. Other than his height, he could be any man I walk by in the streets. Hardly what I expected the Dark King of Old to look like.

Waves of nausea crash through me as his power disperses. He’s down. His power is leaving him. But it’s not over yet. Life is still in him.

I push myself to my feet and pick up Thanek’s broadsword with great effort, managing to get it up and resting on my shoulder. The dark, thrumming energy from it rattles me, but I ignore it as I stand over him. On his knees, he reaches my height. There is a dull melancholy on his smooth face, as if he is waiting for me to strike the final blow. Accepting it. Thankful for it. His lips move as if he’s trying to tell me something, but no sound comes out.

Thanek sways in place for a moment, before I bring the broadsword down with a heavy grunt to slice into his torso. The blade slices through his shoulder and almost cleaves off his arm.

A torrent of black energy detonates from him, throwing me off my feet. The power dissolves into the air and vanishes in the night sky. The Dark King becomes a corpse once again.

I lay on my back, gasping for breath and fighting through the pain searing through me. Now the fight is over, my injuries are hitting me at once. But I have enough left in me to push myself up, and I stumble over to Galene’s body.

Chapter thirty-one

Rourk

She looks dead.

But relief floods me and gives me new life when I see Galene is still breathing. She’s alive, but barely. I kneel beside her and gather her in my arms, holding her close. I can feel the life fading from her and it poisons my heart.

“No, no, no,” I mutter incoherently as I look upon her smooth features, not knowing what to do. The knife is embedded firmly in her stomach. Her blouse is stained with so much blood that it looks entirely red. “Why did you do that?”

Galene sputters and gasps quietly. “I… had to.” She swallows, needing a moment to continue. “Is it… over?”

“Yes, yes.” I wipe her hair from her face and stroke her cheek. My hands are dirty and bloodied and I leave marks on her face. “It’s over. Now you can stay with me. You don’t have to go.”

Her eyes glaze over for a second. Her lips are dry and cracked, but she tries to grin. “Too late. I think.”

I pull her closer to me, not wanting to let her go. Fear and anger roil within me, but they are no match for the grief consuming me. I well up with tears as I take in the depths of her blue eyes.

“Rourk,” she breathes. “I love you.”

The words hit me hard, like they have cracked open my very being and tugged at my core. Tears fall. My soul feels pained and tortured as I flood with emotion.

“I love you, too.” Chills wash through me and shiver my shoulders.

“You are the… The greatest man I have ever known.”

I lean down and kiss her brow. “No, no. Galene. Stay with me. Please. Please. I can’t lose you.”

I’m overwhelmed with grief as I hold her, seeing the life draining from her. All I can do is stroke her cheek and stay with her until the end.

An explosion lights the night sky across the city. The rooftop trembles and the rest of Thanek’s army continues to devastate The Kingdom. The sounds of battle ring out all around, coming to me muted and dull, like a distant dream. There are still too many of Thanek’s forces. The battle is not over. The city has not been saved.

I should go out there to keep fighting, but I can’t let go of Galene. All hope drains from me and weights down my shoulders. We are all going to die. Thanek may be defeated, but his forces are still strong. I can feel the tide of battle swaying in their favor, and the diminishing defenses.

I just want to be with Galene in her final moments. In our final moments. That’s all I want.

Galene reaches a weak hand up to touch my cheek. But her shaky hand moves beyond me, and I realize she is pointing into the sky. The first red glow of daylight has blended into the fading night sky. We’ve fought through the night. I look up to see a blue light in the darkness, like a star falling toward us. My mind is in so much turmoil, I’m not even sure of what I’m seeing.

The blue star grows bigger as it plummets toward the city, leaving a faint trail of light. I watch it shoot down and crash into the city center, throwing out an explosion of blue-white light.

I squeeze my eyes shut and blink back my focus to see tendrils of light billowing out from the impact point. The vibrant tendrils strike into the undead horde and detonate their bodies, exploding them in a bloody, gruesome mess. Hope begins to swell within me.

More stars fall and land throughout the city, blue spheres expanding from their impact points. My eyes adjust as the light around the stars fades, and I see they are not falling stars, but giant birds with sharp beaks and long tails. People are riding these birds. No, not birds. Griffins. Bird-like horse creatures, like from the storybooks. A hundred or so of these people have flown here on these griffins. The riders swoop around the city, throwing down blasts of magic at the undead army. It takes me a long moment to believe what I’m seeing.

Many of the griffin riders are throwing down spears. Somehow, they seem to have an endless supply of spears to throw. And these people are wearing the armor and uniforms of the Oathlands Military. The Oathlands have come. And not a moment too soon. I don’t even try to understand how all this is possible.

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