Page 120 of An Honored Vow

He stepped through the portal to safety and Dynara closed it behind him. She held two small blades and gave me a hard look. She planned on staying. “You need as many as are able.”

“Have a portal ready.” There was a flash of light and I took flight above her head.

The Halflings who hadn’t picked up fallen swords to fight had congregated along the edges of the battlefield. Only a small line of soldiers stood between them and our fighters. I let out a loud screech and hoped Dynara knew to track me through the skies. I tucked in my wings and dove for the soldiers. There was another flash of light, and I landed on the middle man’s shoulders, perched like a bird, with my dagger through his neck.

I didn’t kill the others with steel. Instead I cast a line of hot flame as tall as the white wall that surrounded the city and turned them to ash. Dynara was there in an instant. Her fingers still lit from her own portal as she opened another, four people wide.

“Run!” I shouted at the Halflings, ushering them through. I scooped up four children into my arms and handed them to anyone able-bodied enough to carry them.

There was a flash of red curls behind them as Gwyn tackled a soldier to the ground. Two others fell to the side, Elaran’s arrowssticking out from their chests. They both pointed their weapons to the sky as awaateyshirplummeted toward us.

I tried to conjure water from the air, but it was too dry under the fiery canopy. I turned to Gwyn. “Create a storm!”

She gave me a sideways glance. “The smoke will just melt it away.”

“I know.”

Gwyn didn’t need to be told again. She wiped her mouth, smearing blood across her face, and painted a rune into the air. When the amber light fused together into a gold spell, she pushed it toward the sky. As if from nothing, the spell transformed into gray clouds, growing wider and wider under the thick smoke. The snow had barely begun to fall when it liquified to water instead. That was all I needed.

I spread the water thin and waited for one of theshirakto fly beneath it. I took all my focus, but I wrapped the water around the beast mid-dive, trapping it in a liquid cage. Its shriek was muffled by the water, wings stretching, trying to find its way out. I fisted my hand and the orb turned to ice.

I looked to Gerarda but she was already running. The frozen orb dropped with the beast inside it, shattering on the ground as its shadow leaked out in all directions. Gerarda used her own shadow magic to blend into the darkness. Thewaateyshirdidn’t even know she was there until she punched her fist through its heart. Light erupted from its chest and the creature exploded into tiny pieces.

A chorus of deadly shrieks filled the sky. There were still over a dozen of the monsters left.

Gerarda kneeled to catch her breath. Her magic was almost spent.

“We’ve bested the other line.” Elaran’s voice rang out in my ear.

Dynara nodded without a word, disappearing through a portal to take the rest of the Halflings to safety. I tracked the beasts in the sky, waiting for one to attack.

The doors to Koratha opened once more. Tall catapults crawled out of the opening while thousands more soldiers marched at their feet.

“Did Damien sell everything except his throne?” Gerarda seethed. She held two short blades in her hands and snarled up at the first catapult.

The Arrow rode the machine like the crow’s nest of a ship. His silver fastener gleamed in the light of the torches from the troop below. He raised his hand and the catapult sent a cascade of molten rock and purple flame through our ranks.

It was chaos. People lunged in every direction to avoid being hit. The Arrow sent his men running after us. The pendant along his chest shone bright and the lowest of thewaateyshirakseemed to calm as they watched the chaos unfold.

Gwyn launched arrow after arrow. I used my gusts to send them farther into the ranks of our enemy, lighting their tips just before they hit. The earth shook, and Feron split the ground in two. The unprepared soldiers fell into the giant chasm and were crushed as Feron sealed it as quickly as he had created it. It killed a third of their men, but our magic wouldn’t hold out for much longer.

Black cloaks led the second charge. The silver shield and dagger gleamed along their necks, but they didn’t wear a glowing pendant. I gritted my teeth. Damien was still keeping one for himself even while his entire city died for him.

Dynara appeared behind the young Shield. The young man didn’t stand a chance. She pounced on his back, his throat red with blood before he hit the ground. She spun her arm and jumped upward into another portal and fell from the sky on top of the Dagger.

I turned to Gerarda. “What have you been teaching her?”

She stabbed her blade through a distracted sellsword. “Efficiency.”

The Dagger collapsed before Dynara could land her blow and they both tumbled to the ground. He reached for his sword but an arrow pierced his eye. He lay dead. Elaran nodded at me and lowered her bow.

Gwyn ran toward the catapult. Elaran used her arrows to clear a path as one of thewaateyshirakdove toward us, but it wasn’t quick enough.

Fyrel jumped over all of us. The soldiers froze in their boots as she swatted them into oblivion.

“Throw me!” Gerarda shouted at Fyrel.

The brumal bear turned its head and grabbed Gerarda between its claws, her tiny frame like a thorn caught in its foot. Fyrel snapped her wrist and launched Gerarda into the skies. Thewaateyshirakopened its beak, whistling as it sucked in a deadly breath. Gerarda’s hand grabbed the bottom jaw and aimed her fist at the beast’s red chest.

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