Page 86 of Brutal Fae King
I don’t know if he’s wrong… That teleportation spell was almost more than I could handle.
He comes toward me again, and I block him. Then, I feel his hand push against my torso.
No!
The magic explodes out, and it’s all I can do to work my own magic to absorb it. It still takes me out of the air—I’m shooting toward the ground like a rock flung by a trebuchet. I’m plummeting too fast to straighten my wings to fly, but something hard hits my lower back. I’ve stopped. I fold over it backward, pain tingling all the way up my spine.
I crack open my eyes and wheel around. I’ve hit the wall on the edge of the battlements—one breadth from falling off it. I try to get off the wall, and I see Dralis swooping down, sword bared. I throw myself to my left, rolling away. There’s aclangof metal on stone behind me, and I turn, already holding my sword up as a defense. Just in time—Dralis has swung his sword toward my neck. I feel sparks catch on my skin as the blades grind against each other.
Dralis pushes his sword down harder, and his strength just seems to be increasing more and more. Just as I feel like he can’t possibly get any stronger, he does. In fact, he takes a hand off his sword, and his strength doesn’t deplete at all.
No…
He grins at me.
“Are you understanding now?” he asks. “As long as I’m the conduit for Mischevil, you can’t defeat—AH!”
Dralis’s sword eases up on mine. He looks over his shoulder—and I see Ebelor stick a small knife in his hip.
“Ow! You quim!” he snarls at her. “As soon as I’m done with him, you’ll pay for that!”
Ebelor looks at me, and a few sparks escape her.
“Vicmar, move!”
I push off, keeping my sword between my body and his blade, but put some distance between him and myself. As soon as there’s some space between us, Ebelor cries out.
There’s abang, and I see Dralis hurtling backward. I sprint over to Ebelor as she doubles over.
“Was that your lightning?” I ask.
“Yes.” She grins weakly at me. “Directly into his body! If that doesn’t give us a few moments, then nothing will.” Her expression becomes more serious. “Don’t we have something to help capture him?!”
“Yes!” I answer back, then offer my hand to her. “Can you help me with that?”
Ebelor’s eyes sparkle determinedly.
“Of course!”
She clasps my hand, and we both run over to Dralis. He’s slowly starting to get to his hands and knees. As we get close, I hold my hand out toward him, spreading my fingers wide. I start chanting the unknown words—just trying to recall the memorized syllables the witch told me. I can feel Ebelor’s power adding to mine, our strength collecting together in my form.
As the spell ends, purple streams of light burst out from the tips of my fingers and soar toward Dralis. He looks dizzy, barely conscious at all—until the ropes of illuminance wind around his body, even around his eyes, blindfolding him. As it attaches to him, it turns into thick black, looking like ink binding him. Dralis cries out and begins writhing in his binds. As his mouth opens, the magic moves in and becomes a gag.
“Don’t bother, Dralis,” I say. “You might work for a god, but you’re still dark fae, and that spell binds dark fae and our powers.”
He continues to wriggle in his binds, but that’s it. That’s all he can do.
I feel odd… he’s always been such a mythical figure since he went rogue. He felt very godlike in his own way.
But he’s just a dark fae—just like he always was…
A weight falls on my shoulders, and I look over to see Ebelor. She looks exhausted, almost sick, as she leans on me. I wind an arm around her waist, sheltering her with my wing as well.
“Is it… is it over?” she asks quietly.
I look toward Dralis. He’s as thoroughly captured as he was before, still trying to escape, but his powers are as bound as his body is. It’s specially designed. It was made for this purpose, but a part of me still worries.
Then, a cheering starts ringing out from below us.
