Page 374 of Born of Blood and Ash

My chin dipped, and then I broke into a run, Attes’s armies turning to follow as a roar shook the land.

A draken dove from the thickclouds, releasing a stream of fiery eather. Iswallowed a shout as I slowed, throwing up my arm to ward off the heat assilver flames erupted before me. Fire swept over soldiers, indiscriminatelylighting up everything on the field as the sound of pounding hooves jerked myhead up. Through the receding flames, I saw a line of horses bearing down onme.

“Motherfucker,” I spat, straightening as Aurelia arrived,her greenish-black scales bloody in some spots. She swooped down, digging hertalons into the back of the other draken.

From the dying flames, a god lunged at me. Don’t takeunnecessary risks, I repeated to myself. With a deft sidestep, I swung thesword around, deflecting the blow and pushing him back. Another soldier droveher sword through his back.

“Meyaah Liessa,” she said, wrenching her blade free.

“Hi!” I ran, leaping onto the ruins of a wall. I twisted,the sword arcing through the sky to pierce red armor, knocking a god off hishorse. “Please don’t bow!”

I took off toward the battling Primalsas I summoned eather, releasing a wave of essencethat swept adversaries off their feet, clearing a small space amid the chaos.

Above, the sky roared with the fire of a new draken. Ehthawn. Hiswings blotted out the sun intermittently, casting moving shadows over thebattlefield. He unleashed his flames, turning patches of the field intoinfernos that consumed both soil and flesh. Even as I shoved the blade througha god’s chest, I felt the heat on my face, the acrid smell of death anddestruction lacing the air. I jumped from the wall as Ash landed, shadowytendrils whipping out.

He and I surged forward, but it was different than beforewhen I slipped away into battle. There was a pattern to how we moved, almost asif we were one. In the back of my mind, it made sense. We were two halves ofthe same whole, our movements nearly synchronized, punctuated by the thrust ofmy sword and the arc of his.

We wove through the combat with swift strikes and fluiddefensive moves. Ash would maneuver a god to meet my sword, and I would kickanother into his, each act a testament to our inherent understanding of eachother.

But I knew there was a difference as I met fierce blows withthe same strength and lashed out with the essence. When I fought before, Icould always let go of my fear. I couldn’t this time. Each swing and thrust wastinged with bitter emotion. I wasn’t scared for myself or even Ash. I worriedabout the babes I carried inside me. My fear for them made each swing harder,every release of energy more violent. The fear didn’t make me a worse fighter.

It made me a far deadlier one.

Overhead, Aurelia tore through a draken’sthroat, releasing him as he shifted into his mortal form and fell to theground, only to be swallowed by the warring soldiers.

I drew in a stuttered breath as the pulse of death was acontinuous throb in my chest. A wave of eatherwhipped out of Ash, slamming into the Dogs of War. The scent of burnt furmingled with that of flesh as I shouted, swinging the blade down on a god’shead. Blood spurted, spraying the front of my tunic and face.

The death…

There was so much.

A sudden wrenching sensation in the center of my chestcaused me to stagger. I cried out, clutching at my breast, expecting to see abone blade or blood, but there was nothing there. The pain wasn’t really pain.It was more a dull ache but not a physical one. More like a loss…

Oh, gods.

I’d felt this when Keella died,and I knew who it was. I saw them in my mind, and my heart ached.

Ash was at my side at once, folding an arm around my waist.“What is it?” he demanded. “Where are you hurt?”

“It’s not me.” I rose with his help, the sudden knowledge ofwhere Phanos had gone with his ships and armiesweakening me. “It’s Maia. She’s fallen.”

“Fuck,” snarled Ash.

A blast of intense eather drewboth our gazes to the hill. My heart clenched as I saw Kyn rise into the airahead of us, driving Attes to the ground. Ash took tothe air again, but one of Kyn’s draken dove for him.Ash’s cold laugh caused a sea of soldiers to look up at the gathering darkstorm of energy.

A crack of power drew my attention to the hill. Attes was once more on his feet.

The field shook with the fury of the Primal brothers’ clashas they came together, trading blows upon the hill that split the horizon likethe spine of a slumbering draken. Dark clouds rolledabove them, responding to the tempest of emotions inside them as their rawpower beat the air. That kind of Primal energy kept the fighting gods fromthem, pushing the soldiers farther and farther back, but Ash and I pushedforward.

Kyn’s and Attes’s forms were blursof motion, each strike a mirror image of the other. Their brutality wasrelentless, even as their swords shattered when they clashed. I pushed faster,picking up speed. I didn’t want Attes to be the oneto end his brother’s life. I didn’t want him to carry that with him. My wideeyes met Ash’s. I could see that he felt the same.

Fuck.

I threw the sword at a soldier on horseback, hitting him inthe chest. Then I shadowstepped, appearing severalfeet down the hill. Summoning eather, I started torush up the remaining distance, Ash right beside me—

A wave of Primal power knocked both of us back as Attes yelled, slamming his fist into the center of Kyn’schest.

The impact shattered Kyn’s armor. I stumbled, falling to myknees as fragments spun through the air, glinting like stars flung from thenight sky. They fell to the ground below, merely discarded remnants.

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