Page 35 of Slaying the Shadow Prince
Drue’s cheeks flamed.
One of the older men laughed. ‘Warsword or not, keep getting on her nerves and my coin’s on Drue.’
‘Hear, hear,’ Adrienne added.
But Drue had stopped listening, for the steel around her wrist had heated against her skin, to the point of searing. Her gaze shot to Talemir, who was already on his feet.
A strange hiss filled the room, as did the pungent scent of burnt hair.
Drue heard Baledor shout from the top of the tower, but it was too late.
The monsters were upon them.
Steel sang as weapons were unsheathed from their scabbards and Adrienne barked orders about staying in formation.
Drue’s eyes fell once more to the Warsword, the accusation on her lips. Had the half-wraith somehow alerted his brethren as to where they were? Had he sold them to the darkness?
The horror on his face said otherwise, but there was no time.
A gust of icy wind plunged through the tower and glass shattered, whips of shadow lashing.
Drue brandished the sword her father had given her. Now was not the time for questioning. Now was the time to fight for her life.
8
Talemir
Darkness coiled around their unit like a viper, timing the perfect strike.
Talemir held a sword in each hand, but the ground floor of the watchtower was too close-quarters to light them aflame.
Screams pierced the air as the shadows took the shape of nightmares incarnate and wrought their unique brand of horror upon the group of rangers.
Talemir didn’t waste time thinking. He simply struck. He sliced through the black tendons behind one of the monsters’ knees. Its answering screech told him to attack again while it was weak, and fast. He delivered swift and precise slashes, causing the creature to buckle before him.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Wilder pivoting against two wraiths, his blades gleaming with black and red blood.
Though Talemir longed for open space and the freedom to advance in a manner of his choosing, he knew it was strategically better to contain the skirmish within the walls of the tower.
‘Draw them inside,’ he shouted to whoever would listen, his heart thundering. ‘We can bottleneck them here.’
Darkness battered him, but the pain didn’t land as it once had. Instead, his own shadows yearned to answer the call. He had fought against wraiths several times since that fateful day and each time he’d experienced the primal longing to be one with the night. But those instincts clawed against those his Warsword training had instilled in him, the second nature that had been forged to slay the monsters, slay them all for what they’d done to the midrealms, to him, to Malik… To punish them for the stain they had left on his now black heart, and for the way they’d hardened Wilder, the boy, now man, who had once been so carefree.
A guttural roar escaped Talemir as he broke free from the whips of power threatening to take him. He shouted again as he advanced against his monstrous opponent. Then, he leapt upon the creature, digging his blades deep into the wrinkled sinewy flesh and carving out the first heart of the skirmish.
The shrieks were spine-chilling until the beast fell silent.
Talemir threw the pulsing black mass to the ground, dark blood spurting, that pungent scent singeing the inside of his nostrils. Wisps of obsidian blocked his view, but he vaulted into the path of another wraith, lunging expertly, delivering as much Thezmarrian punishment as he could muster.
From what he gathered of the blinding chaos, their unit of ten rangers and two Warswords faced at least five wraiths. All the while, their nightmares swarmed them, dragging them back into past trauma. Talemir scanned the crammed space madly, spotting Drue and Adrienne fighting back to back, Drue wielding a beautiful sword while Adrienne hacked at wraith limbs with a battleaxe. Both women held their ground impressively, while the other rangers tried to keep the lashings of dark magic at bay.
Drue moved as a dancer. Her rhythm and discipline were abundantly apparent as she ducked and weaved through the attack, but Talemir could also see the instincts of a killer honed by necessity. For a split second, he imagined what the midrealms would be like had she been afforded the opportunity to train at Thezmarr. Perhaps she would be a Warsword, wielding Naarvian steel, carving out the hearts of monsters alongside him.
Talemir and Wilder took the brunt of the force. They fought side by side as they had many times before, understanding each other’s patterns and manoeuvres. But they found Drue and Adrienne at their sides as well, creating openings for them to drive their final attacks home.
‘You’re not at risk of joining them, are you?’ Drue hissed in his ear as he delivered a vicious slice to their current opponent, severing its arm clean off.
Talemir whirled to the ranger, disbelief curdling in his gut. ‘You can’t be serious —’
