Page 253 of Born of Blood and Ash

Rhain grabbed my arm, shoving me behind him as he rammed hissword through the underside of a sekya’schin, catching it in midair. He grunted, taking its weight. Withdrawing hissword, he had already faced me as the thing hit the ground and shatteredinto ash. Rhain was speaking, but I wasn’t listening as I slowly turned back tothe other sekya. That one hadn’t brokenapart. I looked down, and my mouth dropped open.

Filaments of tissue stretched out from the two halves of thesplit head. The fibers connected and twisted around one another, drawing thetwo sides together.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” I shouted.

Rhain paled as the head stitched itself back together. “Thatis…” He swallowed hard, stepping forward and bringing his sword down on itshead.

The sekya broke apart ina musty shower of ash.

Eather pulsed in my chest, warning me that death was afoot.“I really can’t kill them!”

His brows knitted. “Then you should get inside,” heinstructed. “We’ve got this handled.”

A sword fell between us, bouncing off the ground. A bodyfollowed, smacking with a wet, fleshy sound.

I raised my brows.

“We’ll get it under control,” he amended with a wince. “Nyktos should be here shortly. Go inside.”

“That is not happening.” I dipped, not looking at theguard’s stomach or what was hanging out of it as I picked up the fallen shadowstone sword. “I can still use this, right?”

“I…I guess so.” Rhain frowned. “But I also don’t know whyyou can’t kill them with eather. That’s what Nyktos does.”

“Of course, he can kill them,” I muttered, turning around asmy grasp on the sword firmed. The answer to why I couldn’t was somewhere in myhead, but I really didn’t have time to figure it out.

A sekya had taken noticeof me from where it hovered. Raising my free hand, I wiggled my fingers. Itcocked its head to the side. The sekyasmiled, baring its dagger-like teeth.

I returned the smile.

Letting out a powerful shriek, it flew toward me. I waiteduntil it was inches from me, and then I moved. Twisting to the side, I poppedup behind it as its talons dug into the ground. Stepping forward, I drove thesword through the back of its head. The feeling of the shadowstonemeeting little resistance brought forth a twisted surge of satisfaction. Itfelt like forever since I’d held and used a sword outside of training. The lasttime… I wasn’t going to think about the last time. I watched with relief as thesekya shattered.

Ignoring Rhain’s glare, the robe’s hem snapped at my anklesas I spun toward the cluster of guards hacking away at the sekya.One of the creatures with a shadowstone arrowprotruding from its chest swooped down, aiming for Kars. I rushed forward andgrabbed the first thing I could get my hands on. Fingers sank into thesurprisingly soft wings, and I jerked the creature back.

The sekya’s screech endedabruptly as I jabbed the sharp edge of the blade through the back of its skull.It spasmed and then disintegrated into a fine, dusty mist.

“Fates,” Bele snarled, cleaving a head from a sekya’s shoulders. She stared northwest. “What isgoing on?”

The rich, metallic scent filling the courtyard settled inthe pit of my stomach as I followed her gaze. My heart sank. Another dozen orso sekya neared the Rise. Nearly the samenumber of guards stood, but many were injured, and the creatures were fast withtheir talons and teeth. This was about to get really bad.

I turned to the guard I quickly recognized as Eamon. “Helpget the injured inside.” He gave me a quick nod and I spun back to the others.“I’ll take them down. While they’re out, go for their heads,” I instructed, theeather throbbing in my chest. “Be quick.”

“Done,” Kars shouted.

I was already walking forward, raising my right hand. Theair around me hummed with power as fine threads of silvery-gold eather drifted from my fingers, covering the ground. Theweb of eather formed, its branches clawing at the skylike ascending stars. I willed the essence toward the sekya—

Suddenly, the realm became silent.

Still.

Everything north of the wall turned black as the night skyseemed to deepen and come alive with dark, violent power. The pulse ofawareness in my chest intensified as the air charged, raising the fine hairsall over my body.

Several of the sekya inthe sky shrieked, their wings pounding rapidly at the air as thick shadowsrippled over crackling arcs of energy, snuffing out the light—my light.

My mouth dropped open as I slowly lowered my hand. Allacross the courtyard, the sekya on theground spun toward the smoky mass.

Whirling shadows poured down the side of the Rise and the sekya scrambled in different directions. They werefast.

But he was faster.

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