Page 77 of When the Moon Met the Sun

“Dismissed, soldier. Find somewhere else to be,” she said, her voice full of authority as she stood in front of me, shielding me partially from view.

The soldier, who was most definitely confused, didn’t object and easily fell back into the fury of war.

The moment he was from earshot, Quinn turned on her heels to face me.

“What were you thinking? You havegotto be more careful, for crying out loud! You’re lucky I’ve stayed nearby to prevent incidents just like this.” She shook her head as if she was in disbelief.

“I would have been fine,General. You worry too much,” I bluffed, trying to downplay the situation and how close I was to being skewered. By one of our own soldiers, no less.

Quinn went to make a likely sarcastic retort, but I held up a hand to pause her as I stared back towards the edge of the forest I had just come from, movement snagging my attention.

At this point in the battle, all of the South’s soldiers were on the battlefield. There shouldn’t have been anybody else in or around the forest.

“What is it?” Quinn asked, squinting in the direction I was staring in and sheathing her sword.

The sun hadn’t risen just yet, so I was still able to see better than Quinn could in the dim lighting.

And the sight unfolding before me from afar caused my breath to get stuck in my throat.

Peeking out from behind a wide tree, I spotted Margo’s little face.

Panic laced through me like nothing I’d ever experienced before at the sight of her being here, in the middle of a battle, so close to the front lines.

“Quinn,” I breathed, unable to express what I was seeing.

I watched as a large Northern male with light gray wings broke off from the main battle and began stalking towards Margo.

And she was looking the complete opposite way, totally oblivious to the fact that she was about to face her doom.

“Margo!” I screamed, then shot into the sky.

It wasn’t until I was in the sky that I saw the blur of brown and white racing towards Margo, too.

I flapped as vigorously as possible, aware of Quinn somewhere below me racing to keep up.

I saw Quinn pause, but I didn’t stop like her and the blur of brown and white did. I watched as they locked eyes, and Ezra smiled at Quinn—a smile full of sorrow, apology, and love.

Then I watched helplessly, flying as fast as the winds would carry me, as Ezra ran the final stretch between himself and Margo, then threw himself in front of the small child at the last possible second.

“Ezra!NO!” I heard Quinn scream from the ground, not too far behind me.

We were so close, but not close enough.

We both watched as the Northerner thrust his sword at an upward angle into Ezra’s side, just below his ribs, and twisted.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Icouldn’t tell if I was screaming, or if I was hearing Quinn or Margo scream. We all watched as the Northerner yanked the sword out, causing Ezra to stumble back. His hand went over the wound, but still did his best to guard Margo with his crumpling form.

The panic in my chest ignited, turning into pure fury. I landed swiftly a heartbeat later, unfastening a dagger from my belt and plunging it into the main artery of the Northerner’s thigh with no hesitation.

He bellowed, teetering backwards when Quinn appeared from the edges of the battlefield and finished the job with an efficient, clean slice across the male’s throat.

It was a greater mercy than he deserved.

She didn’t even wait for him to fall to the ground before running to Ezra, sliding to her knees to catch him as he finally fell.

I ripped the messenger’s cloak off, balling it up and pressing it to his wound, which was pouring more and more blood with each second that passed. Quinn took over, pressing it firmly in place, when I finally turned back to Margo.

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