Page 122 of Savage Crown

Disoriented.

They clearly weren’t expecting war to land inside their own walls.

I keep close to Rylan, letting him cut through the worst of it, my own blade a second shadow to his.

One guard manages to catch my side with a shallow cut, but I don’t feel it yet.

The adrenaline is too thick in my blood.

Another lunges.

I duck.

Drive my dagger up into his gut.

Rylan grips my arm, pulling me forward, urging me to keep moving.

We burst through the back entrance just as another explosion detonates behind us.

The force throws us forward.

I hit the ground hard.

The wind rushes from my lungs in a violent gasp.

Rylan hauls me up before I can even register the pain.

I stumble, dizzy, lightheaded?—

And then I feel it.

A wet warmth spreading down my side.

I look down.

And see the blood.

Dark, soaking through my tunic, seeping from a deep wound near my ribs.

I hold onto it, my hand shaky and eyes unfocused.

Not good.

Rylan turns in time to watch me falter.

His face darkens.

He grabs my chin, forcing my gaze up.

His emerald eyes are burning, furious, frantic.

"Stay with me," he growls.

I try to nod.

I think I do.

But my vision is already going hazy.

---