Page 274 of The Lands Defying
“Let them drop!” the guard shouts, and another guard pulls a lever on the platform they are standing on. A breath or two seems to pass through the crowd, through me. And then, the females hang.
I pull out a blade and aim. It slices through the first female’s rope, the choking and grunting traumatizing my ears, but she lands with a heavythud.
Two more knives fly through the air, courtesy of Seb, and the others also drop.
The people go crazy, pushing forward to the dropped females while others try to get to the long line of all the others waiting to meet their fateful end, fighting with the guards.
“Control them!” The guard roars, pointing at the others to do something, but we defy the odds and the people push back, fueled by fury, fear, by grief and threat.
My pack helps, pushing the crowd to spread out more, throwing the occasional knife here and there, and I think Anna and others have begun boiling a few guards as I can hear distant screams.
When I reach the edge of the platform, the guards raise the alarm for back up, readying their swords as I smile. Which makes them even more angry.
“I am the Heir of Zahariss,” I say loudly. Even though nerves rattle through me, I have to be what I am meant to be.
A balance to the people.
A helping hand.
Hope.
I raise a hand and let Runa out, her growls are menacing. The crowd gasps, rushing to get away from me.
“Let the females go, and you will live.”
The guards stare at me as more come to their aid, and then, they laugh.
This is not quiet laughter, this is loud and harsh. My hackles rise.
I take a deep breath. “Last chance.”
They laugh harder, and the guard who was announcing the crimes comes to stand at the edge of the platform, looking down at me as more guards come to the battlement’s walls above, looking down.
“Now, I’m about to get some hefty coins,” the speaker says. “Lord Higher will be delighted with me when I bring him a mad Heir. Don’t worry, people of Vrohkaria, we will protect—”
My magic wraps around his neck, squeezing. Choking him.
Just like he did to these females.
He grasps at his neck, his mouth opening and closing like a fish, but I simply curl my hand, crushing his windpipe.
When his face turns purple, I frown and step aside, letting him fall off the platform and face-plant the ground.
I shake my hand out.“Thanks for that little trick, Vihnarn.”
“Which one,”he replies on a rumble.
“Choking.”
He hums down the link.“I will use that particular skill the next time I fuck you.”I huff. “Now, be a good girl and kill them all. I will be there soon.”
I plan on it.
There is a deafening silence as everyone seems to freeze, looking down at the dead guard.
“Die it is,” I tell them. “Runa.” Her muzzle peels back in a snarl. “Let’s hunt and show them just howmadan Heir can be.”
Runa goes for the guard next to the platform and I go for the one who pulled the lever. The crowd screams, dispersing as guards try to come through them to get to us.
