Page 251 of Born of Blood and Ash

My landing still knocked the wind out of me.

Kars staggered back a step with a gasp, “Good gods.”

The flash of pain was even duller and faded quicker thanbefore.

Wishing Ash had been here to see what I was confident had tobe one badass landing, I rose.

Kars stared, his mouth hanging open.

“I’m not going to use the stairs ever again,” I told him.

He lowered his sword. “Uh-huh.”

“Show-off,” Bele yelled from where she was perched on theboulder. “Nice to see you joining us. Hopefully, you’re going to do somethingother than stand there looking proud of yourself.”

I grinned. “Honestly? I hadn’t thought past jumping.”

“That’s reassuring,” Kars replied.

“What did I say?” Bele released another eatherarrow. “About your absurdity?”

A shrill yelp of pain silenced whatever I was about to sayto her. I had come down here to do more than look proud of myself.

Drawing in a deep breath, I focused on the sekya as one flew under Bele’s arrow, aimingstraight for where I stood before the guards. I had no more moments to waste.No time to overthink.

Summoning the eather, it respondedin a heady rush. Power surged through me as I lifted my hand. My skin warmed.Silver light seeped out from under the sleeves of my robe—silver light lacedwith gold.

Energy erupted from my palm. Like a bolt of lightning, itsliced through the air, striking one of the creatures in the chest. Its wingscollapsed as it fell, spinning in midair. The sekyacrashed into the ground, kicking up dirt and dust as it rolled, coming toa stop a few feet from where we stood. Realizing that, like with the dakkais, I didn’t feel its death, I looked down. Smokewafted from the charred skin of its chest—a rather voluptuous, barechest. My gaze shifted. Its scraggly hair was blown back from a pasty grayface. Its eyes were vacant, empty of life, and the color of heated gold,matching the streaks zigzagging through the undersides of her onyx wings. Thecreature’s mouth hung open in a silent scream, revealing a row of teeth shapedlike daggers.

The sekya looked like theAncients had drunk too much whiskey when they constructed the creatures,seeming to want to create a new breed of bird, then changing their mind halfwaythrough and giving them a vaguely mortal appearance.

But the sekya wasn’thideous. Her features were still somehow delicate. Beautiful, even. And thatmade the thing all the more disturbing.

An arrow of eather blazed throughthe sky, snapping my attention from the bizarre creature. Two sekya dodged the eatheras at least half a dozen more flew over the courtyard, speeding toward us.

Flipping my palms outward, every part of my being fixed onthem. Gold-tinged silver light once more sparked from beneath the sleeves of myrobe. Wisps of eather swirled around my wrists andthen my palms, moving faster as a silvery web of eatherformed in my mind, stretching toward them like bony fingers.

The air vibrated as thin arcs of silver laced with goldseeped from my fingers, dripping to the ground as I walked forward. Tendrilstook shape, rapidly spreading across the ground and lifting. The eather erupted into the web I’d conjured, each branchripping through the sky almost faster than the eye could track. Veins of eather struck the sekya,one after another, catching them in mid-flight and sending them falling to theground. I pulled the eather back—

A hot, dry hand clasped my ankle, jerking me back. I gasped,twisting at the waist.

The sekya Bele had firsttaken out smiled up at me. I froze in confusion, just for a second, but thatwas all it took. The creature pulled, throwing me off balance. I went downhard, landing on my back with a grunt.

The thing hissed like a feline and then leapt.

“Shit,” I grunted, throwing my hands up. I caught the sekya by the upper arms a heartbeat before itlanded on me, holding it back. “How are you not dead?”

It screeched, its face and gnashing teeth inches from mine.

“Seriously?” I glanced down at the thing’s chest to makesure Bele had struck it with the essence, and…yep, there was a charred holebetween the creature’s flat breasts. “I’m so confused right now.”

The sekya drew up afeathered leg. My eyes widened as I got an up-close-and-personal look at itstaloned feet. Cursing, I drove my knee into its thigh, blocking it just as itstalons snagged the robe.

“If you tear my robe—”

The tip of a sword suddenly burst through its chest,creating another hole as hot, musky-smelling liquid sprayed me.

Ugh.

---