Page 261 of The Wild Prince's Favorite
When two more men arrived, her chances of survival had already risen dramatically thanks to it. Not only was her baby shielding her, but the narrow tunnel also worked for her. The men were forced to line up to face her, and Alezya had somehow gathered her composure enough to get into the fighting position Kiera had taught her, and got ready for their attacks. The first man glared at her with the most disgusted look she’d seen in a while.
“You damned witch,” he spat at her. “This is all your doing! You dragon slut!”
“This dragon slut is about to kill you,” Alezya hissed back with a fire she didn’t know she had.
He launched himself at her, but this time, she was ready, and she side-stepped at the right moment to avoid his blade and swung her dagger, stabbing his arm and forcing a scream out of him.
Kiera had taught her better than to stop moving mid-fight, so she ripped the dagger out and planted it again in the next available piece of flesh, his flank. Alezya had never been much of a fighter, and apparently, they had thought so too, because both men looked utterly confused.
She didn’t give them time to recoup and stabbed a third, a fourth, and a fifth time, not stopping until the man collapsed off to the side with a groan, his partner looking horrified.
“You’re going to pay for this!” he roared.
Alezya wasn’t confident nor foolish enough to answer his taunt, so she focused on his incoming attack, bracing herself for it.
She was grateful the narrow space didn’t allow for large weapons because he swung his sword fast, and she barely had room to avoid it.
The blade grazed her arm, but most of it fell on her white scales, and she barely felt the flicker of pain. Instead, she lowered herself and just about managed to stab his leg twice before she was brutally hurled against the wall.
Her head hit the rock painfully, and for a dizzying moment, the world blurred. Agony spread through her body, her left side crushed before she was wrenched away and slammed onto the ground.
A brutal kick landed against her ribs.
Then another. And another.
The sharp snap of bone stole her breath, and she barely managed to suck in enough air to let out a strangled cry.
As soon as she could, Alezya fought through the pain to curl inward, arms tightening around her belly. She took thebrunt of the next hit on her shoulder, her ribs aching, but her baby was safe. They had to be safe. It felt all too familiar, that overwhelming, desperate need to protect her child at all costs, just like when she’d hidden Lumie away. Just like before, she would endure whatever it took to make sure her child lived.
She thought she might have heard Kein growl in fury, but her ears were ringing too much, and she felt too dizzy to process any other sound.
Her attacker was enjoying this, she realized. Stomping her on the ground, kicking her, beating her to death.
Panic clawed at her mind as she tried to move, to crawl, to do anything, desperate to get away. The pain was insufferable, and fear rose as she thought about her child. She knew the baby had to be strong, but neither of them could take much more of this.
Alezya let out another yelp, desperate. She was drowning in a sea of agony, and it wasn’t stopping. She couldn’t even tell if the hits were still raining down on her or if she was just enduring the ripples of pain.
The man shouted something, and she tried to regain her senses, but she couldn’t. Then she saw it. The blade. Swinging down toward her.
Alezya had no time to think, no strength to fight back. She closed her eyes.
A scream echoed, but the pain didn’t come.
Instead, Alezya somehow caught her breath and forced one eye open. To her surprise, the man was the one with his mouth wide open in horror, stumbling back, a furious black shadow hooked to his throat, blood gushing everywhere.
It took her several seconds to align her senses enough to recognize the black lump of scales ripping his windpipe out.
“Nii-... Niiru?” she gasped.
The man fell, choking on his own blood, and the little black dragon finally let go with an enraged growl, its tail furiously whipping the air and its body on alert.
“Niiru,” Alezya muttered, forcing herself to sit up through the pain.
Again, she could feel the magic helping her pain recede, and she allowed herself a few seconds to catch her breath and let the young dragon’s presence sink in. What was Niiru doing here? It was supposed to be back atKalat Unshreik, safe. Had it flown all the way here on its own? Once the man had stopped moving, the young dragon turned its big wide eyes to her and hopped over to her side, with a little high-pitched growl that almost sounded concerned.
“I’m alright,” she muttered.
At least she was still alive, which she wouldn’t have been so sure of just moments ago.
