Page 6 of A Kiss of Embers
The tree groaned again, and it almost seemed to shake its branches, as sunlight managed to sneak through the thick boughs overhead.
He fingered the knives on his belt as he stormed toward the training grounds. He needed to release his steam, and fighting was the only way he knew how to do it.
Besides, he needed a clear head if he was to figure out how to break the fae child out of the jailhouse.
Seraphina!
Pri’s cries for help still echoed in Seraphina’s head days after she first realized her little sister had snuck away from home, and she didn’t know who to kill first—her sister, the damned Forest Fae who had captured her, or the entire Attleglade village. Because if anyone killed the child she had helped raise since birth, there would be hell to pay.
And plenty of it.
She reached for the Ember stone hanging around her neck and clasped her long fingers around the cool, smooth surface. Seeking. Searching.
Nothing.
The communication between them had gone cold, which likely meant Pri had shattered her stone. Not enough remained to keep the communication strong over a great distance.
Fear crawled up her spine that her sister may already be lost. But she batted it away with the same hand she swiped at an overhanging branch with.
Her eyebrows drew together in concentration, her semi-translucent, leaf-like, emerald-green wings draping down her back as she hopped onto a log stretching across a raging river. Her bare feet created no sound in the dim light of early morning, her movements muffled further by the coursing water. All the while, her gaze carefully scanned the area for enemy fae.
But if someone attacked her, she was ready.
She fingered the blow-dart gun tied to the sash around her waist, stashed with a variety of darts ranging from poison to sleeping powder to vivid hallucinations and everything in between. Two daggers lay sheathed on the band strapped around her right upper thigh, barely visible under one of the two long slits of her dark turquoise dress. Most of her legs showed through the slits, as well as most of her arms. She was unarmored, exposed, yet the black scales on her hands, feet, shoulders, outside arms, and outer legs protected her.
A fierce breeze tugged at her clothing and pulled her long black hair out of her tie. She didn’t dare let her guard down for a single second, not even to secure her hair.
The breeze settled when she hopped down from the log on the opposite side of the river, her feet landing on plush pine needles. She paused to listen to her surroundings.
Birdsong lifted into the skies above. The river rushed by behind her. But what lay in front of her?
Her jaw set as she tightened her fists. If a single white-haired fae crossed her path, she would show no mercy.
She kept to the shadows of the forest, moving swiftly as she weaved through the tree trunks. But knowing the Forest Fae often kept watch far above, she flitted her wings, her body momentarily as light as air before she silently landed on a thick tree branch. Far above the forest floor, the branches created a winding path of their own from tree to tree. Perfect for watching, sneaking, and catching the enemy before they caught her.
The Forest Fae possessed keen hearing, especially the patrol guard who traveled the forests day in and day out. The Attleglade Guard was vigilant, skilled, and ruthless. One well-aimed arrow could ground her. For good.
Dusk settled in the sky, which cast shadows around her as she crept forward as slowly as she dared, relying on her wings to camouflage her with the forest leaves. The shadows jumped and danced with each lift of the breeze, and she moved along with them.
Scuff!
Seraphina halted in her tracks and tipped her head to the side as she listened to her surroundings. Faint birdsong. A distant river. Rustling leaves.
But then a dagger made of bone swiped at her head, seemingly from nowhere. She ducked beneath the attack and drew her own dagger, striking against the other weapon in a lethal dance of blades.
She found herself facing a tall woman with white hair, most of the strands hidden beneath a saber-toothed cat skull ensemble. Fierce brown eyes glared at her behind wicked, sharp teeth.
“You had no chance of sneaking into our territory, Ember Fae,” the woman growled as she struck again.
Seraphina blocked the attack and snarled back. “I never intended to. Rather, I planned to fight through each and every one of you.”
“Fat chance of that.”
The woman withdrew a second dagger and attacked again with a ferocious spin that forced Seraphina to retreat a few steps along the thick branch they shared. She unsheathed a second dagger of her own and fought back. When the woman proved herself a strong fighter, she clenched her jaw. The patrol guard always traveled in groups of two to six. Another would show themselves, and she preferred to be long gone by then.
With renewed determination in each confident step, she changed fighting styles and jabbed forward repeatedly. The fae woman managed to keep up with each of her strikes, but the attacks forced her backward until her back rested against the tree trunk behind her.
“I am growing tired of games,” Seraphina hissed. “Get out of my way.”
