Page 161 of Fate and Flame
The dragon soared around and behind Autus and Ara on the stage and roared louder than any sound the bloodied battle would make. He moved low to fly just above the ground, scorching flames pouring from him. One pass and I knew we had made the right decision. Until the giants began to lift the boulders the cetani had dropped and threw them at us. The first hit the dragon just before his tail. He roared and whipped around so fast we nearly slid off his back.
He reached forward and grabbed the giant from the ground, filling his entire claw, and squeezed. The giant exploded into pieces, and the dragon threw him to the ground. Again, he was struck by a boulder.
All of the magic wielders for both sides attacked each other with a vengeance. The ground rattled, fire burned the field along with several fallen fae. Wind whipped around as if it were a tangible weapon from both sides, and great creatures made from unsourced water pummeled the battlegrounds. Chaos took shape as the battle continued in every direction.
Again, the dragon charged. Back and forth. Until his wing became so damaged, he could barely keep us upright. Until blood poured from him to the ground like a waterfall. Until I was sure he would die too.
Thousands. He’d killed thousands with his fire, but as he crashed, just outside the battle, I knew he was done. He’d fought as much as he could, and if he dared push any further, he’d die. I could feel the pain, the wounds in his great body. I grabbed Nadra’s hand and began to heal him, but he stopped me.
“Go. Tell the little liar I tried.”
His body was so massive I knew he was right. No matter how much Nadra could increase my power, I would be here until tomorrow healing him. We slid down and Nadra reached for the beast one final time. She placed the palm of her hand onto his great snout and thanked him. And then we were running.
Slamming into the battle, my sword crashed into a high fae with milky skin and hard eyes. The shriek of metal came from behind me as Nadra faced her own opponent. I could barely think of myself with her right next to me. The sword fight with the high fae was a power struggle. We were equally matched, but I had southern training. I knew moves he didn’t. I struck, he blocked. I turned, he swung. I dipped low and brought my sword up to impale him under his armor. He gasped, and I kicked him away, turning to help Nadra, but she had already taken down her opponent.
We made it only two more steps before, again, we were assaulted.
Rhogan came soaring through the air and landed on Nadra’s attacker. He was bloodied to hell, and I only recognized him because of his wings and size. The beasts were not far from us. We worked as a team fighting, helping Nadra, moving as much as we could to the back line where I could start healing anyone who could possibly help us. I reached out to several along the way and did my best. I took several hits to the arms and one deep gash to my thigh I had to heal and I healed Rhogan twice as we moved. Feeling a rush of air beside me, I knew we were close to Greeve and Gaea. They’d left a pile of beasts in their wake, but the sky was bleeding. Greeve was bleeding as he moved on the wind.
A minotaur charged me, his head lowered, his sharpened horns a weapon. I couldn’t hold him back with my sword, though I tried. Rhogan was busy helping Nadra with a slithering narb, his rows of teeth gnashing to protect his wormlike body.
Great arms came from behind and wrapped around my throat. I tried to swing back with the hilt of my blade. But I couldn’t. The minotaur slammed into me at full force. His horn impaling my stomach as he continued to charge with me, limp, bleeding and still attached to him.
With the pain, so incredibly strong, my vision blurred. He’d severed an intestine for sure. I felt, rather than saw, the beast jerk to the side. He tilted his head down and I slid off his bloodied horn. He swung wildly into the air. I called my magic forward to heal the wound in my stomach before I lost consciousness. Without Nadra, and with the other healing I’d been doing, I could feel the draining. The emptiness.
I heard a gasp caught in a throat, a small whimper, and I watched as the angered beast plucked Gaea out of the air. She had been the one to protect me. She had stopped the minotaur from killing me. But now he held her in his muscled hands and roared.
A storm-like wind whipped through the air as the minotaur was slashed down his back, blood spraying the ground behind him in an arc. But he did not hesitate. Did not release his hold on Gaea as he held her in the air by her throat.
I pulled myself to my feet.
Greeve slashed the beast again.
I stumbled. Stood. Rushed forward with my sword in front of me. And then watched the greatest horror of my life as he tilted his head down, shoved Gaea onto his horns, and rammed her into the ground, severing her in two, before falling dead atop her.
The deep, primal, guttural roar—the severance of Greeve’s soul—was a sound that would haunt me the rest of my life. I fell to the ground and crawled to her fallen body. If there was anything I could do, I would do it. Memories filled with those beautiful eyes and that enchanting smile filled my mind, but I shoved them away.
My vision clouded as giant tears burned down my cheeks. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat and shoved and pushed until the minotaur’s body rolled off her. I reached for my dearest friend. The one I’d never given a fair chance. The one who had always been there for me, but on a breeze, she vanished, and so did that draconian fae.
“Temir!” Nadra shouted, pulling me back to the real world.
I looked up just in time to see Rhogan block an axe coming down on top of me. And that was when I knew it was over. We would all die on this battlefield no matter what any of us did. It didn’t matter how well trained you were, when you were just completely outnumbered and out muscled. There was nothing to be done. I dropped my shoulders. Defeat slamming into me.
“I know it hurts, Tem, but don’t lose focus.” Rhogan yanked me to him by my collar. “You get up and you fight for her, do you hear me?”
I nodded, and my eye caught a glimmer in the far distance. In the north. A trumpet sounded, and then two. Rhogan released me. He turned—most on the battlefield turned—as ten thousand armored fae descended a hill in the distance. The leader was a broad-shouldered fae with horns that matched mine. My father had come.
I stood. Red filling my vision. Rage ripped through the sorrow in my mind. I had more fight in me. I was still breathing, and as long as I was, I was not yet done.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Ara
“Are you watching, Princess?” Autus asked.
Princess . . . Something familiar flitted before my mind, but it faded before I could grasp it.
“Our enemies will fall today, and we will rule this world together soon.”
