Page 13 of Forged By Heart and Claws
He shrieked, and the crossbow clattered away as he clawed at my ear with his other hand. I reared back just enough to reposition my jaws around the base of his neck and bit as hard as I could.
Behind me, Rhielle screamed, “Here!”
The guard’s artery pulsed hot and wet across my tongue. I released him, letting his body collapse against the wall, his head lolling and his eyes wide open in death.
Something metal groaned, then snapped. I spun in time to see one of the massive chandeliers slam into the stairwell with a thunderous crash. Glass globes shattered in a deafening cascade, shards scattering across the marble like a spray of frozen rain.
The chandelier’s iron arms twisted, and the frame collapsed on impact as several guards stopped short or screamed. Oil bled across the stone, the scent rising thick and acrid in the air. “Southern hall!” Vad shouted from the chandelier over the eastern hall.
I raced back into the large room, the thick taste of copper in my mouth.
Quen struck again.Tchk—tchk—tchk!Sparks cascaded, bouncing and dying, until one landed in the curled threadson the painting and this time caught. A faint glow bloomed. Stronger smoke curled upward, thin and gray. Quen bent low and exhaled in careful breaths, her hair swinging forward. The threads darkened, then flared orange, small flames licking the edges of the canvas as the oil paint blackened and blistered.
The hall lit with a wavering glow, golden light granting everyone sight. Quen squealed and clapped her hands. “We’ve got fire!” She grabbed one of the lamps and picked up a piece of the flaming tinder to light it, not bothered by the heat as it curled around her fingertips.
Velessa’s eyes widened, and she grabbed another lamp with her good hand and brought it to Quen. She took the lit one to Thalira and Yuki then grabbed another unlit lamp.
Veralt snatched up a piece of flaming canvas and hurled it into the stairwell as Vad swept down, grabbed a couch, and shoved it toward the eastern hall.
The stairwell erupted in flames. Orange tongues leapt up the walls and licked down toward our attackers, who stumbled back in a confusion of curses and hoarse shouts. Glass popped in the heat, and the sickly sweet smell of burning paint and resin bit the back of my nose as I ran back in. Veralt picked up a couch and chucked it into the stairwell, laughing loudly as screams rose up from below.
Silus settled Elara on another couch and carefully climbed to his feet. He ran to the pile of furniture Veralt and Rhielle had made and broke a leg off the coffee table, then ran to the side of the southern hallway and waited with the table leg raised as if he was ready to hit a home run with someone’s head.
I raced toward the southern hall, blood thundering in my ears. Five more guards charged through the southern hall with swords and spears. I set my sights on the nearest swordsman, who wore leathers.
“Watch the ground!” one of the armored guards behind him screamed. “The bitch is a shadow beast now?—”
Vad dropped from the ceiling straight onto the screamer. “What did you call your queen?” He seized the guard by the helmet and yanked his head sideways, then slammed it again and again into the marble wall.
The ringing clang of the guard’s head became a drumbeat for my own attack amid the chaos. The leather-clad swordsman swore and swung his sword at me. The blade whistled past my muzzle as my hind legs skidded on the slick marble. I twisted midair, jaws snapping at his sword arm. He managed to wrench back, but it cost him his balance. I lunged for his leg, jaws clamping below the knee. He cried out and swung again, catching my shoulder with a slice that burned through fur and skin. I ripped sideways, yanking him off his feet, and his head bounced off the floor with acrack.
Blood spattered the black marble. I let go long enough for him to start to crawl away, his hands scrabbling at the tile. Then I lunged again and bit through his throat with everything I had. His cartilage and windpipe collapsed under my teeth, the taste hot and metallic. I shook him once, then let his body fall to the floor twitching, blood pumping out in spurts.
Another guard charged me, spear leveled at my chest. I ducked and caught the shaft between my teeth. The man yanked back, trying to wrench it free, but my jaw locked, and the wood splintered. I whipped my head sideways until my own muscles ached, throwing him off-balance.
I’d barely knocked him over when another swordsman came at me. I darted to the side and felt his blade nick me, cold and sharp. I spun and went for his ankle, crunching bone and sending him sprawling. I leaped onto his back, slamming him to the ground. His face was a mask of terror, his scream brief as I crushed his throat.
Vad continued to slam the head of the man who’d insulted me into the wall until a chunk of helmet and skull caved in. The man’s body slid down, staining the stone with a glistening dark smear.
Vad then flew toward the southern hall and landed hard on a sword wielder’s back. He stomped his boot down and snapped the man’s neck as Silus struck another in the face and snatched up his sword, then drove it across the helmeted skull of another attacker.
A spear wielder charged Vad, but he clamped one hand on the spear and redirected it, then seized the man by his throat and ripped through his jugular. Blood sprayed in a wide arc, hot and metallic, splattering the marble and Vad’s black silks.
One of the aerial fae swept in, spear lifted high. Thalen tackled him around the middle and drove a blade he’d snagged under the neck of the man’s helmet. He jammed it in deep and twisted, then let the body fall, his feet balancing on the ledge of the arch as his wings compensated for the angle. He then leaped down and tackled another plated guard, who sprawled to the floor. Myantha darted forward, seized the guard’s helmet, and pulled it off. Thalen slit the guard’s throat.
I shook my own dying swordsman, jaws clamped tight. His flailing blade sliced my shoulder, and I howled inwardly with pain and rage. I flung him hard, and his body smashed into the marble then sagged flat, limbs twisted.
Another soldier raised his sword high and aimed for my withers. Quen vaulted onto the man’s armored back, shrieking, “Eat fire, wanker!” She jammed pieces of flaming, shredded canvas straight into his helmet’s eye slit. He howled and clawed at his face, stumbled backward, and struck the half wall overlooking the floor below. Rhielle dove and grabbed him at the knee, then hefted his unwieldy frame over the edge. Black smoke billowed up as he screamed.
More and more guards raced in, most armored but wingless. Velessa and Quen had lit over a dozen lamps, and the ghostly golden light now lit the landing. Black smoke rolled up, choking those who were flying, and Silus, Rhielle, and Veralt defended the injured. Vyraetos was trying to form a better tourniquet on Yuki’s hand, blood flowing from his shoulder where he’d been shot with a crossbow bolt. Vad, Thalen, and I fought to take down the guards entering through the southern hall, but I kept watch on the other halls.
A deep grating howl of pain had me snapping my head left. One of the swordsmen had caught Veralt in the side with his blade. Rhielle struck the guard with a table leg; then Veralt seized him and snapped his neck. Blood soaked Veralt’s shirt, but he stayed upright, snarling.
“Get that tied off!” Rhielle dropped the table leg and seized the swordsman’s weapon.
Veralt grunted, picked up a spear, and flung it at one of the other attackers. It missed its mark and clattered on the floor.
A flash of metal caught my attention. I spun just in time to see a blade arcing at me, and I flattened myself and shot forward. The tip of the blade caught my tail and raked down in a painful slice. I yelped.
