Page 126 of Throne of Ice and Blood

Yanking up my right hand, I slam my remaining knife towards his throat.

Shock flashes across his features, and he jerks backwards.

A snarl rips from my throat when my blade yet again only cuts through empty air. This guy is too well-trained. His reflexes are too damn quick.

Still straddling me, his hand shoots towards his sword. But my hand is closer. Slamming my free hand outwards, I manage to shove the sword away right before his fingers can brush the hilt. It scrapes against the ice floor as it slides across the room before hitting a pile of coins.

Anger crackles in the guard’s eyes as he snaps his gaze back to me. But he doesn’t have time to do anything other than dodge again when I ram my remaining blade towards the side of his neck.

Throwing himself sideways, he evades the dagger. But by doing so, he also lifts his weight from my hips as he leans to the side. Twisting in the same direction, I shove my hips upwards at the same time as I slam my free hand into his shoulder. And because he was already leaning sideways, the move makes him tilt even more to the side.

My heart leaps in my chest, and I scramble backwards to get out from underneath him.

A snarl rips from his lungs as he lurches back towards me.

His hand closes around my ankle right before I can pull it out of reach. I gasp as he yanks hard. The skirt of my dress bunches around my thighs as I slide back along the floor. I kick my other foot, desperately trying to break his grip. He pulls again and drags me fully back to him with one hard yank.

I swing my dagger blindly above me as he once again tries to straddle me. But he expertly shoves my wrist aside before it can hit. Then his weight lands on my hips and his hands close around my throat.

Terror rips through my chest as he squeezes hard, cutting off my air.

My mind screams in panic, and I struggle furiously. But the blind panic is making me stupid, and all I manage to do is to slam my flailing arms and legs into the shelves beside me. A sack topples over, landing on its side on the shelf. Tiny pearls trickle out from the opening as the string comes partly undone. They clatter to the floor and roll across the smooth ice.

The guard isn’t wasting a single second. He knows exactly how to strangle someone to death and keeps applying pressure in all the critical spots.

Black stars dance before my eyes and panic screams inside me.

Think!Goddess damn it, I need to think.

Clarity cuts through the blinding panic for a second.

Yanking up my dagger, I ram it right through the guard’s wrist.

And the moment it hits, I summon my magic and throw everything I have into the pale red spark of pain that flares up in his chest.

He gasps and jerks back as I turn that small spark of pain into agony so deep that it will make him wish for death. A bloodcurdling scream rips from his lungs as I yank the blade back out. His hands disappear from my throat as he instead grips his bleeding wrist.

I suck air back into my lungs. Coughing desperately, I blink against the black spots that float before my eyes and draw in ragged breaths. But I can’t waste this moment. Lurching upwards, I slam my entire body into his while I stab the blade towards his throat.

But even with the world-ending pain I’m pouring inside him, his instincts take over and he manages to slam his hand against my wrist and redirect the blow before it can strike. However, the move made him crash down on his side on the floor.

Scrambling to my knees, I shove him over on his back and ram the blade at his throat again. His hands fly up, gripping my wrist and stopping the blade.

I snarl in frustration as I try to force the blade down into his neck. But he’s too strong.

The crackling of lightning and clashing of swords echo from outside the door, drowning out the faint clattering of pearls that keep trickling out of the bag right above me. Putting all of my strength into it, I bend forward as I try to drive the point of the blade home. But the guard keeps his hands around my wrist, holding it immobile, even though his eyes are glassy with pain from my magic.

With a cry of frustration, I yank my other hand up and slam my fist right into his injured wrist. Then I shove with my magic again.

An earsplitting scream shatters from his lungs as I magnify the pain.

And the moment he opens his mouth, I yank my hand up and rip the string off the bag above us.

A torrent of tiny pearls pours out of the bag and streams down right into the guard’s open mouth.

Releasing my grip on his pain, I instead force my magic straight into the spark of bone white fear that flickers to life in his chest. His eyes almost bulge out of his head as he tries to scream in sheer panic and fear. But that only makes him swallow even more pearls. I increase his terror to the point that it must feel like he is drowning in a sea of beads, gasping in tiny round pearls instead of air.

And while he is thrashing in panic underneath me, I finally yank my wrist out of his grip and then slam the dagger down right through his throat. He gasps and jerks. The flood of pearls is still pouring down over his mouth. I yank my blade back out.

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