Page 94 of The Lands Defying
“Rhea, move!” The panicked tone from Josh has me instantly diving out the way to the floor. Another ball.
I look back and see Frederick smiling, not even caring that he just killed one of their guards.
Darius growls and goes for him.
I get up off the floor and lift my blade as another sword comes for me, brown eyes full of hatred.
“They don’t care about you,” I try to reason with him. “They will kill you all just to get to me. Leave.”
He sneers. “Traitorous whore.” Gods dammit.
I let loose my dominance, and he whimpers, his body folding in on himself a little and I stab him in the heart.
I’m suddenly knocked to the side, a heavy weight on me, sending my blade flying. I groan, getting my hands up to push the fucker off me as Josh shouts my name.
I push power out of my hands and it sends the guard soaring across the room, landing against some other guards and they topple to the floor.
More shouts, and more fucking guards come in as Damian can be seen slicing through them. An inhumane whimper has me turning my head to watch Zaide fighting with the beast, its huge claws gliding through the air at him.
Darius and Leo are dodging the Highers balls of power, keeping them busy but I see Darius sending out his own magic, his face furious. A black mass turns to short spikes and propels them out of his hand, but the Highers put up their barrier, protecting them.
A hand on my ankle has me sucking in a breath, and I don’t even look as I kick out with my other foot, aiming for their face. I hear bone crunch over it, and then my hand is to his chest, sending power into him.
He stumbles back, and my eyes go to the grates below me that I landed on. To the snarls and growls.
The glow of eyes look back at me.
Hundreds and hundreds of eyes, and my body trembles.
Gods.
I get to my feet, hissing at the pain in my thigh as the guard just sort of stands still, then collapses. Seeing how many of our enemies are still here, I drop back down and place my hand on my thigh, letting the blood soak into it. Once I have enough, I place my palm on the stone floor. “Va ka reidu, lec fa dienn,” I chant. “Zahariss, grant me protection.”
A wave of magic coats the floor, and some of the guards drop to their knees as Josh, Damian and I back up and reassess.
Darius and Leo are where the shelves are, fighting with the Highers as Zaide is fighting the beast near the center, rolling over the stone in the middle as a clawed-hand crashes against it, instantly crumbling the side.
“I’ll go in the back,” Damian says, as he nods his head to a doorway where the guards were coming out of. Josh and I nod.
As he goes, Josh and I back up to one side of the cells, eyeing at least twenty guards who are coming closer and closer. Once they hit my wave of magic, I pick up a discarded blade and we pounce again.
We get lost in the fray of battle, dodging and slicing, stabbing, and hitting.
I pant, swinging my leg around and kicking a guard across the face as I turn and stab another in the shoulder. Blood coats me and the stone floor, the sound of the others fighting reaching us.
I need to take these out before I can take a Higher’s head.
Runa growls within, liking that thought.
A guard manages to catch Josh in his stomach, and I send out a ball of my own magic, knocking him to the side when itconnects. He cries out, holding his ribs. When his hands come away, they’re full of blood.
“You okay?” I ask Josh, leaning back before a sword takes my head.
“Fine,” he growls.
I slice my blade through the air, clashing with another guard as I kick my leg out, hitting him in the ribs while I turn and send out another ball, hitting the guard in the face. He’s knocked back, tripping over a body on the floor, I bring my blade down through his chest, the vibration of hitting through both bodies and the stone floor, traveling up my blade and shaking my hand.
“Roll!” I don’t know who the command is for, but both Josh and I do so, then an arrow is lodged in a guard’s face.
