Page 20 of The Shadow Fae Rhapsody
“Magic,” he says easily.
No.
This is no magic or trick. In that scant moment, I glimpse a summoning circle in the air.
Shade is a summoner.
I don’t have time to dwell on that when the rats lunge at us with terrifying speed.
With a weapon in my hand, I cast my fear aside. I take on a defensive stance, waiting for them to come to me. When they do… I tear through them like the wind.
Limbs and heads fall from my borrowed sword. The beasts’ dying screeches soon fill the dark chamber.
Whatever creature I miss, meets its swift end at the assassin’s blade. His skill works so well with mine. We understand eachother without talking as he passes me whatever weapon I need. I don’t think I’ve met someone with a fighting style so compatible with my own.
Shade pushes one against the wall and the monster thrashes violently against him. We exchange a single glance in the dimness. He is crafting an opening for me. I run towards them, using the momentum and my weight to shove the blade into the creature’s heart.
These creatures may have crawled out of nightmares, but they are no match for the Grimsbane of Tiamat and me. Shade and I stand back to back, our eyes watching the tunnel in all directions.
Another one perishes and another one appears. More of those creatures surface from the water. They can’t die… and they keep coming.
“There’s no end to this.” A low snarl slips past Shade’s mouth.
He’s right.
There has to be a better way we can stop those rats. I’ve thought of calling Ed or Brock who live in the swamps of Astefar. They can swallow these creatures whole, or better yet, Miss Bernadette.
But I can’t summon them here.
We might yet survive these demons, but summoning a being from Astefar is certain death for Shade and it may endanger the people living right above this tunnel.
Skills and strength are how we will survive this. My gaze shifts to my fighting companion in the dark. “I have an idea.”
“All ears,” he mutters, his breath comes out in short, ragged bursts.
“Do you have a limit on the number of weapons you can summon?” I ask Shade.
He arches a brow at the question.
“I’m stealing them from one of the guild’s vaults in Tiamat,” he confesses. “That means it’s limitless.”
I focus on the wordlimitlessinstead ofstealing.
Good.
“We spear them to the wall, Shade,” I share my plan with him. “That way they can regenerate all they want, but they’re stuck.”
I can almost feel the assassin’s smile underneath his mask. “Let’s do it.”
One by one, we hammer and nail them to the wall. My wrist sings with pain but I ignore it. We keep trapping them until there’s only one of the rat demons left.
It lurches straight towards me at full speed. I lose my footing on my limp leg.
Shade charges towards the rat without hesitation, burying his stiletto deep into the creature’s soft abdomen. They stumble on the walkway, wrestling each other for dominance. Their struggle lasts long enough for me to worry.
Relief shudders through me when Shade rises from the ground, victorious. Blood drips down his arm to the tip of his fingers.
“Shade, your hand…” I mutter, pointing at the dagger jutting from his arm.
