Page 131 of Land of Monsters

A spell from a Druid.

Those types of spells were very intricate and took a huge toll on the spellcaster because they constantly pulled at the caster’s energy, always needing to adapt and change with the body and environment.

“You fool,” she hissed. “You think I hadn’t planned for something like this?”

Bang!

Another bullet rang out in the air. This time it reached someone near the castle gates, burrowing deep into flesh, bursting through tissue and bone.

Dubthach’s body jerked, his blood painting the snow. The instant his heart stopped beating, his living spells sputtered and snapped, dying with their source.

The invocation dissolved around Sonya, and a flicker of genuine fear danced through her eyes, her grip going to the necklace around her throat.

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Gunfire rained down on Sonya. Crying out, she shuffled out of the way, each bullet missing her by a hair. The stone did its job of making her the luckiest woman on Earth.

It was time her luck ran out.

I struggled to my feet, spotting the disregarded knife next to Iain. Staggering for it, I grazed the surface, but right as my fingers touched the cool steel, another hand snatched it from my grip.

Sonya stood over me, her hand holding the blade, a sneer on her lips.

“You and your whore will die, just like your last ones.”

“Not before you.” Revenge roared through me like a beast, my body swinging, lunging for her and snatching away the dagger. It wasn’t revenge giving me strength, it was my love for Raven, love for Lukas and Kek.

“No, wai—” The blade cut through the flesh of her throat, slowing as it serrated bone and muscle. A howl tore from my soul, unleashing the final death cry of my energy.

Sonya’s scream was stopped, her vocals severed, her head cut from her neck in a mist of gore. The Cintamani stone necklace flung into the air, hitting the ground.

Her body collapsed, her head rolling a few feet, streaming a shower of carnage between the severed pieces.

I stared at the corpses numbly, my brain trying to understand the significance. Robotically, I leaned over, grabbed the gore-splattered necklace, and stuffed it in my pocket. Thegunfire from the tower had ceased, and Kalaraja was gone. The reverberations of shooting and screams from below filtered up to our place on the wall, feeling like another world still stuck in chaos as silence encompassed us.

I heaved out, staring at her corpse. Iain lay only feet from her.

They were dead.

Their demise was a mirror reflection of Kek and Lucas, as if the two of them were with me. Had a say in their end. Okay, this would be totally Kek. The sick, twisted justice would make her smile.

“Good work, fairy.”I could hear Kek as if she was next to me.“Now don’t die yourself, otherwise who will tell legendary stories about me in bed?”

A sobbing laugh bubbled up my throat, the blade falling from my hands, and I staggered until I lay not far from them.

I completed my mission. I could die in peace.

“Ash! Don’t you fucking dare.” Raven was next to me, pulling me into her lap.

Go!I tried to tell her, but nothing came out.

She knew me too well.

“I won’t leave you.” Grief streamed down her face, her throat thick with emotion.

My gaze met hers, my eyes conveying deep love.

“Ash, please,” she begged. My lids drooped lower as I drifted away. “ASH! NO!”

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