Page 22 of The Sins of Silas

“Please don’t make him do this,” Lena pleaded, and he pushed the dagger closer.

No more.

It happened so quickly, the release of my arrow. I always shot with precision. The arrow just missed Lena’s head, striking Finnan’s skull right between the eyes. Lena gasped as Finnan’s hold on her ceased, and the boy slumped to the ground, his blood pooling beneath him.

I didn’t have time to mourn, not as the other Otacian soldiers bellowed, shooting their arrows at once.

Lena, the powerful being I now knew she was, took only a millisecond to catch her breath before swirling, hands going up to create a forcefield so giant that all arrows that hit it ricocheted, falling to the ground.

Merrick lowered his bow, shooting his right hand out to freeze the soldiers’ feet to the rocky floor.

“Era!” he shouted, chucking her his bow.

She stumbled and just barely caught the weapon, her eyes blown wide as she looked at him.

“Time for some more practice.” He flicked his head toward the men, who were now attempting to free their feet from the ice entrapping them.

“I-I can’t!” she exclaimed. “I’ve never killed before…Gods, I…” She shook her head, her panicked eyes flitting between the Empath and the Otacian soldiers.

“You think they’d hesitate with your life?!” he exclaimed.

I was about to pummel him for raising his voice at her, but I realized he was right.

“Do it, Era,” I ordered, and her terrified eyes met mine.

Viola’s enchanted sword shifted into a mace, and she ran forward, roaring as she swung at a man’s head.

I knew these men. I fought with them…but I also knew how we were trained.

No mercy.

Roland and Edmund rushed in next, and every time one of my father's men released an arrow, Lena shot fire, melting it before it could impale anyone.

Hendry shot from his bow, easily piercing the neck of one of the soldiers. At that moment, I realized that Hendry, Edmund, and Roland knew and had fought with these men, too. Yet here they were, standing by my side without a doubt. I placed my bow down, reaching for the new blade that Immeron crafted for me. Grasping its hilt flecked with purple-red metal, I paced to where the men were trapped.

Hendry, Edmund, and even Roland shouldn’t have to live with the guilt of killing our men, haunted by the memory of their desperate faces. So, I started from the back. The soldiers shook in place as their frightened stares met mine.

They knew the type of man I was. They had seen how easily I could kill. They didn’t even bother to beg for their lives.

One by one, I began impaling their chests with my weapon. In the front, Era trembled as she held Merrick’s bow, the Empath standing beside her, guiding her shot.

She released the arrow just as I completed my second kill, her arrow off the mark. Merrick whispered something to her, and she readied the bow again.

An arrow was traveling toward me as I killed the third, but Lena quickly melted it. She then proceeded to fling her arm out, sending a bolt of electricity straight for the soldier. He shrieked as he convulsed, his eyes rolling back just before he slumped to the ground.

Fourth kill. Viola swung her mace.

Fifth kill. Roland slit the throat of another.

Sixth kill. Lena refroze the feet of those who had managed to break the mold.

Seventh kill. Era’s arrow finally struck true, killing the final man with a shot to the heart.

My wife’s eyes filled with tears, her knees wobbling as she lowered her weapon.

“You did good, Era,” Merrick said gently, placing a hand on her shoulder. Her face scrunched, and she pushed him off, returning his bow as she did so. She crossed her arms and hurried away from the bloodshed.

My eyes trailed over the many bodies before landing on Finnan’s, at the young boy’s lifeless eyes.

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