Page 123 of Oaths & Vengeance
“You’re on our side,” he said, voice trembling. “You can’t do this.”
I pulled the dagger sheathed at my left thigh and stabbed the man in his stomach. My wind power ceased at the same time, leaving the man to collapse face-first on the ground. I kicked him onto his back with my boot.
He choked up blood, but that wasn’t good enough. I pulled my dagger back out and stabbed him in the groin next, twisting my blade for maximum damage as the soldier screamed for the same mercy he’d refused to give the woman moments before. Finishing him would have been a kindness, so I pulled the blade and left him to bleed. It wouldn’t take long to die, but he’d feel every moment of it until the death god came for him.
I ran through the smoky darkness, saving old men, children, and women as I found them. At first, my powers remained limited from opening the portal. Much of the time, I attacked with blades. As time wore on with endless death and intervening where I could, I knew I needed to conserve my magic for the return trip. None of my uncle’s forces would dare harm me anyway since I was their only way back to Therress. I managed to injure some enough that they backed off, a few were too malicious to leave alive, and still more ran the moment I called them out for their behavior. It went on for so long that I lost track of time.
As I ushered a sister and brother—maybe five and six years old—to safety, the pounding of horses' hooves drew my attention. Through the hazy smoke, I caught sight of dozens of troops on horseback. The crest on their armor—two crossed swords with a red snake—proclaimed them to be Veronnian. I breathed a sigh of relief. With any luck, they’d end this battle soon.
Guiding the children to a stone house that didn’t have a burning roof, I ushered them inside and told them to bar the door. Only after I heard it slam into place did I turn to watch the soldiers pass, pressing my back into a wall to appear as harmless as possible.
Thankfully, they ignored me. I was dressed in a gray fitted tunic and top with a blade strapped to me, and my blonde hair was pulled into a tight braid, then looped into a bun. It wasn’t necessary for me to dress like therest of the Therressian forces since I usually didn’t enter the battle, and our side could all recognize me. That gave me a bit of anonymity in Veronna, but I didn’t want to take chances since I was armed.
Once they passed, heading toward the fiercest fighting, I ran southwest toward the Bassaci Sea coastline. I’d seen a group of the Therressian troops go that route ten minutes before. Cutting between burning homes and quieter streets, I reached the edge of a cliff.
The drop-off was maybe fifty feet, and what I saw below chilled me to the bones. Dark elves were streaming out of boats pulled up to the beach. Each could hold about twenty soldiers, with a dozen currently emptying while countless more glided across the shadowy water toward the coast. Their black sails billowed in the wind. Lord Morgunn’s forces met the first group to disembark and were undoubtedly discussing their plans. My uncle and cousin were nowhere to be seen, though.
I didn’t know how many soldiers Darrow and his father could have mustered on short notice, but it surely couldn’t be enough to face down my uncle’s army and the coming dark elves. Without hesitation, I gathered power from deep within myself. I’d regained most of my strength since arriving hours ago. I used it to send hurricane-force winds full-scale into the boats. Screaming as the power pulsed through me, I pushed harder than I ever had before to spread the gusts far and wide so that no one on the shoreline would avoid my wrath.
It sent soldiers flying into the sea, capsized boats, and a massive wave formed to crash into the larger ships farther back. Shocked, I took in the damage while I pushed until nothing remained unscathed. I’d never truly let myself go like this. The well of magic had been there for a long time, but I’d never needed to use it on such a vast scale.
I maintained the wind for nearly a minute, ensuring every boat and ship had either overturned or been pushed far back to sea. Most of the soldiers on the beach were submerged in the water, except some who’d made it to a set of stone stairs a few hundred feet away.
My focus on my magic prevented me from seeing the threat until it was nearly too late. From the corner of my eye, I caught the blade's arc a split second before it came down. I shifted to avoid it, but not quickly enough.The tip tore through my tunic and cut into my shoulder. I cried out in pain.
Backing away, I tried to focus my magic to push my attacker away, but the agony made it difficult. The dark elf who’d evaded my attack on the beach had bitter hatred in his eyes. He wore a black leather uniform with countless blades strapped to him, and he had long, dark hair that framed his face.
“You’re going to die, girl,” he said, raising his sword again.
I pulled my dagger, determined to block him as best I could.
“Not today, she isn’t,” Darrow said coldly, riding up from my right. He sat on his dapple-gray stallion with blood splatter across his face and uniform. The moonlight revealed features that were fierce and full of wrath.
He lifted his hand, and the dark elf screamed. A moment later, my attacker’s body crumpled to the ground in a misshapen heap that shouldn’t have been possible for a human body.
“Did you just crush all his bones?” I asked, horrified and relieved at the same time for my husband’s timely intervention.
His lips spread with a disturbing smile. “Yes.”
“Usually, you settle for breaking their necks,” I said, still shocked at his appearance.
Darrow rode his horse closer. “He shouldn’t have hurt you.”
I gripped the wound on my shoulder, attempting to staunch the blood. “Thank you for stopping him. He caught me off guard.”
“I came as soon as I heard the roar of wind, suspecting it had to be you.” He nodded toward the sea, where only a few of the dark elves had managed to pull themselves from the water so far. “Thank you for repelling most of them. It would have been difficult to face two forces at once.”
“It was the least I could do, considering I brought one of them here.”
His gaze narrowed. “Speaking of which, I thought your uncle didn’t know you could transport his soldiers this far.”
I ran my gaze around us, making sure no one from Therress was nearby to see us. The smoke and darkness made it difficult, but all I could makeout were figures fighting between buildings in the distance. No one was close.
“Apparently,” I said, returning my attention to Darrow. “He had someone track me while I was supposed to be visiting my sister. He knows I went to Penoria, but he has no idea who came with me. Unfortunately, that trip was enough to prove I’ve been lying about the scope of my power. It also showed I could bring his troops here. They didn’t tell me any of this until it was time to open the portal, so I had no way to warn you, and he threatened Rynn if I didn’t do it.”
Darrow cursed. “Forcing you to transport him here is likely not all he’ll do to you.”
It might have been if I had behaved and stayed by the ring for the duration of the battle, but that was a moot point. I’d definitely pay for helping the Veronnians tonight.
