Page 45 of War Of Fire and Fortune
“NO!” I screamed.
Valla’s arm shot skyward, and the bolt tore from her fingers with a sound like the world being ripped in half.
Straight at Emeris.
My dragon shrieked as she was struck in the chest. The force of it rocked the sky. Light flashed across the battlefield, illuminating everything in blinding white for a heartbeat before Emeris fell.
Wings going limp. Smoke trailing behind her.
I ran, screaming her name, my voice cracking as I stumbled over bodies and ash, reaching for her even though I knew I was too far. Too late.
The ground trembled as she hit the earth in the distance, a thunderous crash that silenced everything.
My knees nearly buckled.
My chest ached like something inside me had beenripped out.
“Emeris!”
And Valla—she just stood there, smiling, the lightning still dancing along her fingertips. I knew I was putting myself at more risk by running away. Valla used her lightning as a distance weapon most of the time and she could shoot me inthe back if she wanted, but I knew she wouldn’t. She lived for torment like this . . . craved it even, destroying you in every way she could before claiming your life.
My legs barely worked, my breath came in gasps, but I ran. The recurring pains continued to shoot through my body, but I didn’t care. I had to get to her.
“Emeris!”
She lay crumpled in the charred earth, her massive body twisted, wings torn and scorched. Smoke curled from the blackened gash across her chest, and blood—thick, dark, and steaming—pooled beneath her.
Her eye fluttered open as I dropped to my knees beside her, my hands scrambling to touch her, to dosomething. But there was nothing I could do. No wound I could stitch. No magic I could summon to save her.
“Stay with me,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Please. Please, girl, don’t go—don’t leave me, not yet.”
Pain hit me then, sharp and agonizing, and I growled as I gripped my stomach. “Fuck, not now.” I cried, tears streaming down my dirty cheeks.
Emeris gave a low, rumbling exhale, her breath hot and trembling against my skin. Her eyes found mine—full of sorrow and love. She tipped her head slightly, just enough for her snout to rub against my swollen stomach, and then she released a small huff of smoke, her smokey ash and milkweed rose scent engulfing me. Reminding me of home. “No, please,” I begged. Then she stilled and her eyes went vacant.
Emeris was gone.
The grief hit so hard, I didn’t hear it at first—the sudden change in the battlefield.
The screams that had started. I thought it was mine.
One.
Two.
Then dozens.
All around me, enemy soldiers dropped their weapons, clutching their heads and howling in terror. Bloodcurdling, primal fear. Their eyes went wide and empty, as if they were seeing things no living soul should ever see.
A wave of shadows had slithered across the battlefield like a living tide, thick tendrils of inky darkness rising from the ground and wrapping around ankles, throats, arms. Where they touched, men fell—some twitching, some silent, most screaming as they were fed visions pulled straight from their worst nightmares.
I didn’t think Kade was capable of destroying so many minds at once, at leastnot on his own.
The battlefield became a graveyard of the writhing and broken, and the air turned cold with shadows so dark they pressed against my skin like hands.
Even Valla froze.
Her head whipped around, eyes scanning the carnage, her mouth twisting in fury, and was that fear in her eyes?
