Page 147 of Of Blood & Stone

“Miss me?” he said through panted breaths.

“Damn you,” Sylzenya breathed, the smile on her own mouth wide and impossible to hide. “I thought you left?”

Elnok smiled, sliding his hand over her arm, her skin electrified despite the chaos around them.

“I came back,” he said.

“Obviously.But why?”

“You know why.”

Tears burned her eyes. “What about Orym?”

“I couldn’t?—”

A serpentum appeared from behind Elnok, jaws extended as it rushed in. Sylzenya stepped in front of him, raising both hands into the air. The roots from before finally shot up from the ground, piercing the serpentum through its jaw, its throat, and all the way down to its belly.

She turned around, Elnok cracking his whip as he sliced another serpentum straight through its jaw, the mouth crashing to the ground, the serpentum writhing on the forest floor.

“I hate to admit it,” he said, “but your goddess makes some damn good weapons.”

Kharis landed in between them, grabbing their shoulders with such force Sylzenya almost slipped. Sweat slid off his body in rivulets, his veins glowing golden.

“Look, this is all very sweet, but we need to prioritize,” he said, voice like that of a commander, “Let’s finish off these last serpentums and arachnis, and then we can chat, hm?”

Elnok clapped his back. “Right.”

Sylzenya sent her power into the dirt again. “Ready when you both are.”

Kharis smiled. “From here on out we work together. Elnok’s whip is the most effective besides Sylzenya’s roots. Sylzenya, how are you doing with those?”

Her back stung and her head had become fuzzy. She wanted to fight through it, but the blood dripping down her back said otherwise.

“Not great,” she admitted, “Getting them up and out of the ground takes a lot of power.”

“That’s fine. We need to save you for Distrathrus, so don’t go for the big kills. Just assist us where you can. As for Elnok, slice up these monsters as much as possible. I’ll do what I can to steady them and give you a good shot.”

Elnok grinned. “Sounds like fun.”

Kharis smiled even wider.

Jumping high into the air, Kharis soared towards one of the monsters. Sylzenya called upon the dirt and sent a mound of it up to meet him. He used it the same as Elnok, stepping on it and sending himself up and over until he landed on top of a serpentum headed their way.

“Have I ever told you how sexy you look when you use your magic?” Elnok yelled as he ran towards the serpentum.

Sylzenya smiled, shouting, “What else can your whip do besides slice through monsters?”

He cackled. “What do they teach you at that temple?”

Digging into her bones, she timed his jump with the dirt, pushing him up with her power. Kharis had sunk his sword into a serpentum’s head, the monster writhing but steady in one spot. Elnok flew forward, cracking his glowing whip across the serpentum’s head, jaw, and throat, nearly hitting Kharis.

“By the gods,are you serious?” Kharis yelled as he jumped off, “Nearly removed my legs from my torso!”

“Would you hate me if I told you I’ve only been aiming for their necks this entire time?”

A shriek sounded behind Sylzenya. Whipping around, she wrapped her power around some of the protruding roots, the ones that had missed the serpentums in her first attack, and pushed them forward. One hit a serpentum’s clouded eye, black liquid seeping from their eye sockets while another root found its way down a second serpentum’s throat, impaling it from the back of its neck out into the rotten air. Another speared through three arachnis

“Keep going!” Kharis shouted.

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