Page 119 of A Deception of Courts

CHAPTER 33

My back pressed into labradorite stone as the Hunters continued their attack. Magic-fuelled humans and steel-carrying Hunters came in waves, each one I forced back. Bodies froze to ice, shattering like glass. Flesh scorched then exploded as Duncan called down his lightning. On we fought, killing many, and yet more came. Soon enough, I felt the rough edge through my jacket, scratching at my skin. The discomfort reminded me I was very much alive, and this was very much happening.

The ground trembled with the stampede, the air alive with the cry of battle. I steadied my footing, calling forth the power that lurked within, and brought it to the surface. The force split through my skin and exploded in a wave of furious mist that shot forward across the garden. Whatever it touched turned to ice. I felt every rotten blade of grass and flower shatter beneath the force. The first wall of Hunters didn’t care for the cloud of mist that greeted them until it was too late. My starved power clung to flesh and spread like a plague. The first humans it graced didn’t have a chance to cry out. My ice claimed them. Their bodies froze to the spot so suddenly that the Hunters behind them couldn’t slow down. Humans barrelled through my wall of frozen statues of flesh. The bodies of my victims exploded in smatterings of blood and skin.

As long as they ran toward me, giving Althea and Jesibel time to evacuate, that’s all that mattered. I’d let Aldrick watch as I destroyed everything he’d worked for, and then he would follow.

I inhaled the cold sharply, drawing it back to myself.

Snakes of pure light crackled at my side. A Hunter, who scrambled carelessly over the pile of dead comrades, gathered himself and ran toward me. He made it a few steps from the barrier of frozen corpses before he joined them in death. A burst of light struck him, tearing him from his feet. One moment he was racing toward me, the next, his body cracked into another oncoming group of enemies. Melted flesh smeared across those he hit. Even from a distance, the smell of charred hair, meat and skin suffocated me.

“Are you all right?” Duncan panted, placing his body before mine. It was shrouded with bursts of hot, blue light that charged the air around him.

“Excellent,” I replied through a smile. “But they’ll keep attacking until they are freed from Aldrick’s control. We either kill every single one of them or the strings that tether them to him.”

I couldn’t locate Aldrick amidst the bedlam, but his cry still rang out through my mind. The more time passed, the more frantic and desperate his pleading became. He was losing and he knew it, the sound was a joyous thing to hear.

“Take the Icethorn heir. Duwar will bless the brave warrior who sees his blood is spilled upon the stone!”

“Lies,” I spat. I could’ve given my power to the stone if I wanted, and Aldrick knew that.

“I need to get you out of here,” Duncan said as he sent a chain of his lightning into the Hunters closest. The spark of light shot between four bodies before fizzing back into the static air.

He didn’t see the threat of a blade coming in from his side. But I did. I conjured one of my own, spilling my power into a spear of ice that grew into a sword. The cold bite burned into my palm, and I welcomed it. I thrust the cold edge into the belly of the Hunter who lunged for Duncan. The force ripped the ice from my hand.

As the Hunter fell to the ground, she landed upon the spear and forced it deeper into her belly. She didn’t move again.

“I’m not going anywhere until Aldrick is dead,” I replied, grunting as I gathered a pressure of frozen wind between my palms before sending it into the chest of another Hunter who drew close. “Duncan, I’m not leaving you, either. We started this together, we end it together.”

I expected him to refuse me, but he didn’t.

An arch of fire exploded in the distance. It moved with grace and control. It drew the attention of the Hunters and drew them toward it like moths to an open flame. It eased the wave of those who tried to reach me.

“Althea?” Duncan breathed, now pressing his back to mine. I felt his deep voice rumble through him. We moved as one unit, throwing power out to anyone who drew close enough to cause risk.

Another burst of unnatural flame answered Duncan’s question.

“She must’ve got Jesibel out of here,” I exhaled, relief swelling in my chest.

Time was a strange concept when all I could do was worry for my life and the life of the man I loved. Knowing we were together made us fight harder and smarter. I growled through my exhaustion, grappling with the adrenaline that would soon wane. Every step we fought our way from the labradorite stone was slow. It felt as though we were kept in place. Stuck in a web with dwindling hopes of getting out.

Aldrick’s fuelled commands would quieten, and I grew hopeful that Althea or Gyah had reached him. But the Hunters didn’t stop, and Aldrick soon returned with more demanding pleas.

“Kill the Icethorn. Duwar will reward you. Do. Not. Stop.”

I wished to form words of encouragement to share with Duncan, but I couldn’t hold a breath. Even the desire to shout for help, as the wave suffocated us, I couldn’t so much as gasp as I threw arrows of winter outward and conjured ripping winds of ice to devour those who got close. And they did. Each attempt was getting closer. Fingers grasped at my skin, and swords were thrust out toward me in the hope they would cut flesh and spill blood.

The Draeic beasts didn’t discriminate over who they attacked. Their powerful wings forced gusts of scorching, stale air upon us as they dove and picked people from the ground and took them skyward. It was another reason I’d drawn all of Aldrick’s warriors, beckoning them forwards to become a shield of flesh – just like how Aldrick used Jesibel. He could control his followers, but not chaos-made monsters from Duwar’s realm.

I delighted in the terrified screams as bodies were sliced in two by serrated teeth and plucked between the Draeic as they fought each other to devour the limbs. Blood fell from the sky like rain, splattering across my hair and face as I continued my fight.

As much as I wished I was limitless, that wasn’t the case. Exhaustion soon crept up on me, a silent assassin. I longed to throw out my power, as I had at Imeria, but I couldn’t. Not as the crowd around us was filled with my allies. So, I kept my magic gathered and intimate. Which allowed the Hunters to press closer with each passing second.

A swell of enemies coursed forward as one. Duncan cried out, trying to carve a path through them. But it was no good because every Hunter we killed, another two took their place.

It seemed the tide was changing, and not in our favour.

Until something slammed into the ground before us, sending bodies flying in all directions from the force. The comet of gold and grey blurred with speed and barrelled into the unexpecting Hunters who pushed toward us.

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