Page 95 of The Lands Defying
Ducking one blade and side-stepping another, I bring my own up to clash with a new one.
We spin in a circle, his back to the Elites. I kick out, catching him above the knee and then ram my blade through his stomach. He gurgles and slumps forward, his hand coming to my face as he starts hitting me.
I grab his hand with my own and bend it back, listening for the snap of his bones. He screams as he bleeds out on my blade, then slumps further into me. Fuck, he’s heavy. I stumble back from his weight, trying not to trip over my feet. I grunt as I try to dislodge him, but with my blade running through him, it’s not easy.
A glint to the side has my eyes widening. I can’t move, I can’t defend myself from the sword that’s coming for me.
The guard looks me dead in the eye as he starts to bring his sword down, but then a blade is suddenly in the side of his skull.
I blink, then look to where it came from to see Darius’s arm dropping. He threw his blade to protect me…
And then he’s suddenly off of his feet, getting hit with magic.
“Darius!” I shout, as he gets thrown back, panic thrumming through me.
He rolls on the floor as he lands, over and over, but then his magic comes out and stops him from crashing against the cell walls, rising to his feet in one swift movement with cold fury on his face.
I breathe out a sigh of relief and finally dislodge the guard on my own blade. All I see is red and guards, the clanging of metal and grunts the only sound I hear as the beast’s claws can be heard scraping against stone. I don’t know if we can—
“Ahhh.” A blow to the side of my head has me stumbling, and then falling to the floor. A thunderous growl from Darius sounds as a weight crashes on top of me, hands instantly wrapping around my throat.
I bring my blade up and stab into whoever is on top of me, blindly as I try to clear my blurry vision. He cries out in pain, but after releasing one hand from my throat, he grabs my wrist and slams it to the ground again and again.
I drop my blade as pain vibrates down my arm, and I growl up at the guard. His face twists as he still digs his other hand into my throat, and I groan as it feels like he’s crushing my windpipe.
I wriggle and buck, eventually getting the other hand and throwing him off of me. I punch him in the face as I cough and splutter, taking in ragged breaths. Then I pick up my blade and stab, anywhere and everywhere until I’m sure he won’t survive, but I realize too late when his blade comes my way and scores my side.
Fuck.
I bring the blade down to his neck, and when blood spurts out of it, I know he’s dead.
Blood covers me, dripping down my body as I collapse back, staring up at the stone ceiling as I catch my breath for a single moment. Knowing I don’t have much time to be vulnerable, I getmy hands under me, lifting to a sitting position before using my blade to help me stand.
A pained growl has me lifting my head and see Zaide fighting with the beast still. Claw marks track down his arm as he circles it and blocks his clawing attacks while slicing at its flesh. Darius’s black tendrils snap the necks of two guards trying to sneak up on him before they travel my way, not once looking.
His magic reaches me, traveling up my legs until it rests on the side of my neck. Its coolness seeps into me, caressing my sore neck and I swallow over the lump in my throat over his carefulness with me.
I raise my hand and place it over the top, feeling his magic wrap around my fingers before I check on Josh.
His hands are around a guard’s neck as his face twists in pain before turning a shade of blue. The guard’s hands come up but it’s no use, he drops to the floor. Dead.
There are still a few guards left, and Damian slides up to Josh, having come out of the back room at some point, panting but nowhere near done if the look on his face is anything to go by.
He hands Josh his blade, and he takes it without thought. Then, Damian’s wolf is there, teeth and claws as he lunges on the next guard as their numbers dwindle.
His screams fill the air.
Wobbling over to the cells, I make my way down the front, mindful of Zaide and the beast as I try to come to the side of Mathew and Frederick. Leo and Darius are keeping them busy, and if I can get the right angle, when they drop their barrier to attack, I may be able to hit him.
But I forgot about the beast that is still in the cell.
Clawed hands rake down my shoulder and I cry out, stumbling forward as my opposite hand goes to the wound. The beast snarls and grunts, black foam dripping from its muzzle as I stare at it with wide eyes.
A roar comes from behind me, so fierce that I sense its vibrations on the floor, and then a slimy voice hits my ear the next moment.
“Are you wanting to come to us, traitor of Vrohkaria,” Frederick says, closer than expected. I spin around, seeing he has separated from Mathew who throws magic at Darius and Leo, holding them back as he puts the beast and Zaide between them.
“Fuck you. If anyone is a traitor it’s you!” I snarl, lifting my hand. He’s a good distance away, but he’s slowly creeping closer.
