Page 119 of Bloodguard

The red-haired guard who ripped me out from under the bed goes pale and tips over.

It’s understandable, seeing as his shins were sliced clean through when I swung my sword.

“You bitch!” the guard clutching his groin hollers from the ground. “That’s my twin. You’re dead. You’re dead!”

“We need her alive, Tav!” his twin screams.

Slice.

His mouth stays open as his head rolls away.

I slip out the back door.

Thick black smoke billows from the manor. My stomach sinks, and my pulse quickens. Oh, phoenix, why did it have to be fire? I look around. The long way through the forest is the safest way, but there’s no time to be safe.

Every member of my household who’s not at the arena is in the manor.

I start for the trail, doubling back when seven guards on horseback thunder toward me. They crash through the natural flora and my well-kept gardens, their steeds trampling everything in their path.

There are too many. I run to the other side of the cottage. Three of them laugh and turn their horses, intent on chasing me down. The other four stay put, expecting to catch me when I round the other side of the cottage.

I run as fast as I can, my muscles straining from the effort. I round the side of the house and head back to the front. I start for the path to the manor but not before lifting the planter of lilies and slamming the hidden match into the stump soaked with serpent oil.

My body is flushed with heat from the wall of fire that immediately erupts behind me, encircling the perimeter of the cottage. There are frightened neighs and shrieks as the guard in the lead is launched into the flames when his steed abruptly stops. The rest of their horses refuse to move any closer to the flames, backing away and balking when urged to skirt around them. This buys me time to sprint to the manor unfollowed.

My bare feet press over pebbles and sharp forest debris as I cut to Pasha, Musy, and Sonu’s house.

Sonu is the first I see, his face pressed into mud, the hilts of four daggers protruding from his back. Musy, dear sweet Musy lies on her side, her body spilling blood from deep gashes across her chest.

Her mouth is stuffed with a soiled rag, and her blank stare is fixed to where Pasha’s body swings from a tree.

Pasha’s feet dangle above the brush, her toes disrupting the leaves as she sways in the breeze. Instantly, I fall to my hands and knees, bile burning a path through my throat and nose and onto the blood-soaked ground before me.No, please! Let this be some cruel dream. Please.

But it’s not.

They weren’t fighters. They were friends. A scream claws its way up my throat, and my eyes burn with tears I don’t have time to shed. I must keep going. Damn it, I must! I drag myself from the ground and take off at a sprint. I fucking hope I run into soldiers now. I will kill every. Last. One.

My ears twitch when I’m halfway to the house. Knight is neighing in panic and kicking at the stable doors. But there’s more—he’s in pain. I glance to the left of the house, where a separate and smaller cloud of smoke is building. It wasn’t enough to set the manor on fire. The guards are burning the stables.

“Knight, we must protect our home!”

His frightened neighs morph into fury, fueling the adrenaline soaking my veins.

Splintering wood never sounded so sweet. My brave moon horse is taking action.

And I follow his lead.

A guard on horseback charges up the forest path toward me, and I run right back at him. I spent every summer in this forest. I played beneath the trees and napped on its cool floor. No one knows this place better than me.

With the war cry of my female ancestors, I leap onto the flat rock ahead and push off it.

Anger makes me strong. We collide, both of us falling away from his horse. He gets to his feet first, raising his sword. I’m right behind him, bringing my blade up to meet his when he tries to gut me.

My next few strikes are defensive. Once I gain a sense of his pattern, I become the aggressor. I spin, slicing across his stomach. He’s injured, but his mail protects him from mortal damage. I try again. He blocks my strike, cutting into my right arm in the process.

The gash burns.

I suck in air through my teeth, and using both hands, I drive my sword underneath his mail and through his torso.

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